Broome Park Farm, Farmhouse Bed & Breakfast Accommodation Cleobury Mortimer, Shropshire

Great excitement this weekend - we have a new puppy! He is 8 weeks old and we collected him yesterday. His mother is a black labrador and his father a working sheep dog. As yet he has no name as my children can’t agree! He seems very contented, spending most of his time snoozing infront of the fire! I’m sure that will all change though as he grows!

As the nights are drawing in and there is less to do in the fields John has bought 20 calves to rear ‘on the bucket’. These are calves from dairy cows which are surplus to requirements so we buy them in and hand rear them. They will be fed powdered calf milk for the first 3 - 4 weeks then graduate onto a milled mix until the Spring when they will go out into the fields. These are friesian crosses but my favourites are the charolais calves which look just like teddy bears!

This year has been a fantastic year for apples - I have never seen so many on all the trees! I have picked sacks and sacks to make juice and now have over 200 bottles safely stored in the cellar ready for guests. Next weekend is our annual cidermaking day so John and I spent yesterday afternoon collectiing cider apples ready for pressing and again there were so many to see on all the trees that they will never all be picked! We are 2 regulars down this year and as Richard is not home to supervise me I don’t hold out great hopes for the 2011 vintage! 2010 was a cracking year so a lot to live up to!!

Guests often wish to visit local National Trust properties and I always recommend Croft Castle and Berrington Hall, which can both be visited in a day and the NT offer a special deal to visit both properties. However I had never visited Berrington Hall so yesterday John and I went. It was a lovely sunny day and as the house doesn’t open til 1pm we started by walking around the parkland, designed by Capability Brown. Next was lunch in the old servants quarters then a self guided tour of the house. The small scale of the house meant it was easy to imagine the families living there. We caught the laundry section of the ‘Below Stairs’ tour and were disappointed not to go on the full tour - something not to be missed if you visit - perhaps next time for us! The walled garden was beautifully planted with easy care perennials and the apple trees were laden with fruit. Well worth a visit!

The sun is already shining this morning and it looks like it might be a fine week! Hopefully we will be able to crack on with the harvest. Yesterday John cut me sheaves of wheat and barley for the Church Harvest Festival - something I don’t usually remember until it’s too late! I just need to remind him to get some barley too. There are still no baby chicks so I think the hen has been wasting her time! The Aberdeen Angus heifer is off to the abattoir this week and after hanging for 21 - 28 days will return as tasty joints and steaks to feed us through next year!

There is an abundance of plums, raspberries and damsons in the garden so I am frantically making jams and preserves and now have some for sale in the B&B so don’t forget to buy a jar or two if you come to stay!