17th December 2011

Sorry for not blogging this week. Its been manic and my camera is on the blink.

Martyn my very patient nieghbour has been up to rearrange my balls and also light them up. The christmas tree now looks lovely.

We were visited by the Lyon family for the third time this year. Scott their middle son wanted his birthday down on the farm. So they spent the day clearing up all the sheds and yards. It was a messy business but their all helped out.  The animals were all very happy.

They are now fully qualified egg collectors, as they did it all on their own and no breakages..

9th December 2011

The puppies are very mobile! The little monkeys are running all over the place. Aunty Dora is taking her role very seriously.

Sarah Clarke revisited Sutton mawr for a treat, and fell in love with the puppies...

Jessie our last pregnant cow has had a massive red bull calf, which we are going to call Rudolf.

All the cows and their calves are doing really well....

5th December 2011

Our very patiant and helpful nieghbour was at hand to assist in the erection of the Christmas tree.  It was up in no time ....

and before I knew what was happening I was putting on the decorations.

I have been informed by "the boss" that I have put my big balls at the top and it should be the other way round.  We are going to have to rearrange the balls and  install the lights.  I will have to talk nicely to our nieghbour, to do a return visit with his big machine.

The whole process was overlooked by our guests Douglas Hughes and Sandra Martin, who stayed in the cottage, they came down to see the rugby. They had a lovely time, and enjoyed seeing the puppies

3rd December 2011

We got our Christmas tree today, it's massive and its going to to look spectacular in the courtyard. But we are going to need at least 3 strong men to put it up, we are hoping to put it up tomorrow and decorate it. Watch this space.

The puppies are seriously cute...

They are now mobile.

Full tonight with fans going to the rugby. However we do have a french family who have come down from Kent to pick up a new puppy. They have brought a parrot with them. Our first parrot to stay at Sutton Mawr. His name is Charlie. It is his first time to Wales

Trio had her third calf on Tuesday. Its a bull calf and going to call it Moses. Photos tomorrow

27th November 2011

This week we went to the Red Lion pub in Pendoylan. This pub has been closed due to renovation. We had a lovely meal. Large burgers served on rustic oak platters. Vicci had a ribeye steak which she thought was one of the best she had ever had, which is quite an accolade.

It has been finished in a typical gastro style. The staff were very friendly. Worth a visit.

Went shooting with the Nicholls family in Wiltshire had a great day out.  Lovely weather and fabulous birds. Having pan fried pheasant breasts Monday night, can not wait.

Puppies are growing at the rate of knots! Will take lots of photos of them mid week. They do look like miniature Holstein diary cows.

Two more calves due soon from Jessie and Trio. We tagged all the calves . They look so silly with these massive yellow tags in their ears, but its required by law.

The berries are out on the Holly bushes. Xmas is coming!.

I have got to get a tree for the courtyard, last year I got a 25ft tree for half price as its was damaged. A week after I erected it the top 3ft fell off!.Try and do better this time

A mate of mine down in Pembrokeshire delivered two large bags of fallen apples. The pigs have loved them.

22nd November 2011

As promised I have taken a few photos of the puppies.  The small boy has been taken by the Renwick family. It has been named Marvic!  Sounds like a comic book character, but it is in fact make out of our names Mark and Vicci. We are very touched.

Here is Marvic with his new mum....

This is the biggest of the 3 puppies... She has slightly longer hair than the other two.

She was the first to open her eyes.. she has started moving about, it will not be long till she is running around, making a nuisance of herself.

This is also a girl. She has  black patches on both eyes, the rest is white. Really unusual markings, very striking.

This is tiny Marvic, the only boy.  We have to make sure he gets his milk every day, as his two big sisters would have it all!

21st October 2011

There was a lot of mooing first thing this morning. We rushed over and bluebell had given birth to a baby girl. She has been in labour for weeks. The Calf as predicted by the vet is very large.

They are both doing really well.

We had some brilliant dogs staying at sutton mawr. They are French Bull dogs.

20th October 2011

We had a full house this weekend.  The Jolly family joined us from Northern Ireland, to celebrate Johnny Graham 18th Birthday. It was a fancy dress party with the theme "The boat that rocked". 

It was great fun! What a bunch..

                                                                                                      
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The Jolly family,

The  Andrews gang

Ready to rock !

The next day it was Justin Jolly's 16th birthday. It was lovely to be able celebrate it at Sutton Mawr.  We all had a massive Sunday roast, ate far too much!

The Birthday Boy

We have finished our alteration to the main reception.. We think its a great improvement. Guests can now relax on comfy chairs in front of a woodburner .

Just been out to check on Bluebell, still no calf!..Will blog photos of puppies on Wednesday, their eyes have just opened.

16th October 2011

Decided to take Dora and Tiger Lily to Barry Island for  a run around.  There was a number of dog walkers, the tide was right out. Took a few photos... to show you what you were missing...

Dora and Tiger Lily loved it..

The sun was just going down...

not many kids on the rides

Rosie puppies are getting cuter and cuter every day.

Their eyes are still closed.

Rosie is quite happy us picking them up..

Bluebell still not given birth, How much longer?

14th November 2011

The days are getting a lot shorter. The sun went down at 4.30pm today.

We moved all the pigs around on the weekend. Stella and  Ruby were too muddy so we moved them to a new paddock. They are delighted. The move went like clockwork... It seems to either go really well or really badly!  There is no in between. As a friendly pig farmer told me, when I first started. " you only have one chance at moving a pig". He right if it doesn't work first time you might as well give up!.

Rosies puppies doing well. Here are a few photos

They still have their eyes closed.

This is the only boy and he is tiny.. The girls at definitely bullying the poor chap!

I am checking on Bluebell all the time. She has still not had her calf. I have been told it can take weeks from when they first show signs of labour.  It must be any day now.

10th November 2011

We had a bit of a shock this afternoon. Rosie and the puppies suddenly disappeared! We spent hours trying to find them. We looked all over the house, in all the out buildings.  We had given up. Then Alice found them in our bed...She had picked them up individually and taken them upstairs. They were very comfortable. We have now made a more suitable bed downstairs.  Polly Daisy and myself carried them down. Rosie didn't put up much resistance.

The two girls are absolutely enormous!  talk about girl power, the boy is starving, so twice a day we make sure he gets some milk. Rosie only has 2 teats working.

Here are some photo...

One of the girls...

all fast asleep....

Bluebell is in labour, we are checking her every few hours. The vet has told us she is having a large calf so fingers crossed