Challenge Complete!!, we sold most of our land and Farm House! Enabling us to concentrate on Purl Design LLP - Sustainable Architecture and allow our guests to enjoy the peaceful retreat here at The Mill Cottages in either of our one bed cottages, along with our resident pets, ponies, chickens, goats, cats and dogs! We have spent the last year renovating the 400 year old mill for us to live in, completed late 2012 and love every minute!!!... We are looking forward to another successful year.
Lucky hasnt seen any of her off spring since they left in May(except Gylly). So it was great to see Simon,Carol & the boys not forgetting Gylly of course. I think Gylly recognised me as he gave me the biggest hug and loved Shadow his old partner in crime. Lucky was overwhelmed I think and had to have a break with Laura from the kids (Shadow and Gylly). The dogs played and Shadow was taken out a few times by Gylly. His colouring has changed which was quite strange, his markings have gone darker and he has lots of freckles!...Thanks for letting us see him though hes lovely....great temperaments, just like our Lucky.
Forget those horses, we have a cat jumping champion, she can climb vertical walls, curtains and do a trapeze act and now also torso jump!!!! My money is on Smartie to win!
We have a couple of hens sitting at present, one in the house that wont be left alone at all by the cockerel, no one is allowed near her, or face the consequences, and the other has made a nest under a huge leaf. We have now moved them into their own places to enable them to relax and perhaps hatch a few eggs, we may have ruined it by moving them, but we'll see. But now the cockerel has gone broody, he wants his own eggs to sit on, and when you go near him he fluffs himself up like a hen.... Who's heard of a broody rooster???? Confused.com!!!!!!
Toby is quite particular where he sits, he likes to sample the night air sitting on the bench outside the conservatory, he loves it there and doesn't like to be disturbed, not even by Shadows great big tongue giving him a kiss..... Hes the coolest toad I have ever seen, not afraid of anything!!!!
The grass roof is doing well (dad has been banned from mowing it!)and the feed store blends in really nice now with the surrounding flowers and weeds!...Although we don't have weeds they are all flowers to me! This feed store looked something like a face from the field but cant really see it now...sometime I wonder what I'm on!... We should by now after 18 months have a solar power light installed...BUT...its still in Pete office with a note on it saying "sort me out please"....We may have to do another winter looking in the dark for the feed!!!!
It took her brute force to pin Steve to the ground ..but she had him and she wasn't letting go. She should have been tired but she kept going and going, she loves to play and loves company.
Pete wont let me have a horse and I really want a real ride on horse... He even tried to persuade me that Dixie was just fine for me to ride and demonstrated how she loves to play....he reckons I wont hurt myself falling from this height!!!.... But PETE its a darn Pig not a ruddy horse......Someone help me...actually someone help that man!!
Just in case I kill off my plants before Paul comes to take some pictures for marketing purposes, I bought some more in readiness! You may well think that is mad, but you don't know what I am like with plants!.... I remember once having a rose bush for our anniversary and Pete always admired it coming back each year.... But ... what he doesn't know is that it was a new one each year because it didn't survive the winter!!! Oh well even I should manage a week with the new flowers!
No its not a new pop group....Smartie found a box that kept her happy for ages, she got quite angry with it in the end, and kept trying to hunt down her toy that was swinging on the outside of the box.....Oh no I hope this isn't a sign of things to come...I hope she turns after Sassy or Smudge and not the fearsome Sky!... Sky's ok really you just got to do things on her terms and life is happy!
Don't know whats got into Shadow but she was on a mission today, she was helping all day and trying her best to be very professional about it. She even used her posing art form to try to pull it off.!! She is great though a big....very big...bundle of uncoordinated muscle and limbs! Its weird really for how big she is...she isnt a fast or greedy eater, She isnt as big as I thought she would be but I guess she is only 7 months.
Look at the size of this flower, thats Lauras hand and she is 18 of normal size in case you thought I had made it up!... They are huge, not sure what make it is, but I am going to put it in the front garden and see what happens!!
Smartie was really happy to be here at Woodmill and fitted in really quickly, she raced around and ate and slept all at once it seemed! So the new comfy bed was a big hit with her as was all her new toys and freedom. She was even lapping she was so happy in the photo!!!
We really miss Sunny, and I know she can never be replaced, BUT.... Laura and I decided to take a little look at the RSPCA centre just in case someone needed a home! As soon as we walked around the corner a little kitten was pawing at the cage as if to say look at me, we knew right then that one was coming home, even after our chat on the way there saying we wont commit to anything we are just going to look...and we both agreed....then as if by magic we both instantly agreed that plan was out the window!....I did speak to another black one with no tail and one eye, I felt sorry for him... but I tried to pat him, even though the signs warned to watch your fingers, but I just wanted to give him a hug.....well he got my finger and it didn't half bleed, my fault of course.....but as I am trying to stop the bleeding and hide it from the RSPCA lady, it just wouldn't stop and we had to fill in paper work with my finger bleeding, I was holding the pen really silly to try to retain pressure on the bleeding!.. Oh well all in a days work. We finally got the go ahead and Smartie the new kitten was brought home to Woodmill.
Pixie, Dixie, Woody and Buzz, were shall we say, less than impressed that the pinkies had got out on an adventure and they hadn't, so their turn next. We walked them up to the goat paddock with the help of Shadow....help may be too strong a word there!!... Buzz is growing but he is still tiny and just loved the long grass, all you could see was their backs in the grass, it was like being on safari, me and Pete were sat on goat mountain watching them enjoy themselves!
After mine and Laura's rainy episode of repairing the fence for hours to prevent another escape from our dear little pigs!.........It happened again, don't know how, but they got out so they are now on jankers!!!No we just thought maybe they would like yet another change of scenery, so we moved them to the goat paddock (well Pete put me in front with food and told me to run so they would follow!!!!!)where we thought the long grass would keep them amused for hours, but sure enough after about 3 hours they took to tearing up the paddock, if nuzzling was a sport they would be gold medalists....honestly do all people have such rebellious pigs!!
Not really sure where to start, I am so far behind, I might just add snippets! We got back form the US only to find that Sunny had lost a lot of weight, we thought this may be due to missing us, but Laura was here, so that didn't really make sense. Deep down I had one of those "I just know it" moments and I knew the minute we took her to the vets, things weren't going to be happy. Still jet lagged from no sleep for 2 whole days and nights, we were off to the vet, she examined her and could feel a mass in her stomach. I felt sick, .... the vet (Hazel) said that they could scan her to see if anything could be done, so the next day we went back for a scan which was inconclusive and they had to open her up. The tumour was stuck to nearly every organ and there was no hope, Poor Sunny we loved her so much and she was quite a character, she never regained consciousness, she fell asleep. She was a rescue cat and had been mistreated, she had such a great time here, and slept with me every night, we will really miss her. It was awful to come home to such sad news :(
After a grueling 9 days we are back in the UK. The heat was a little hotter than we are used to! It was 98 degrees most days with a humidity of sometimes 92%. It was difficult to concentrate for 5 hours plus 3 hours practice, but Steven did really well.
With 38 different countries gaining a place in the World Championships, we made a few good contacts for the future and a few friends in different places. The first two days were practice rounds played with two American in which Steven played well with good scores and the competition had a good feel to it, even though at one point we were evacuated from the course due to a thunder and lightening storm with 46 direct hits in Pinehurst area alone! I gathered we were lucky as some of the neighbouring towns were flash flooded. The third day was the first day of the competition and the heat was intense, as was the threat of more storms, I think the nerves/heat got to Steve as the first 3 holes is where he dropped the shots, the next 14 holes he played to par, so a good score, but he was cross that the first few holes didn’t reflect how he can play. (Although saying that most golfers would have been proud and very happy with his results…but Steve was there to win and nothing less would do!!!). The second day was exactly the same, and frustration set in, (although we thought he did well), along with another evacuation and we had to wait till late into the night for the next tee times. When they came we fast realized to get a practice in we had to be there at the course at 5.45am which was a 4.30 am wake up!
The last day Steve played to his usual high standard, and came in with a level gross score of 72, a pro would have been pleased, but Steve still harped on about the two shots he felt were wasted when he missed a hole in one by inches and another birdie shot by less!... So to finish the competition playing to scratch was fantastic, the other competitors have personal trainers, psychological coaches, golf coaches, mentors and have had more than one shot at this level, to date it is a different world to ours! There isn’t much between Steve and the others which is a good feeling, he is as capable as the top few, its just how it goes on the day. But to do what he did for the UK and Cornwall he should be very proud. He didn’t win but not too far off doing so another time, it’s just how it goes on the day hopefully onwards and upward…Tiger Woods here we come!!!!
Thankyou so much for your support and thoughts, we much appreciated it.
