Where do I begin?

My eldest son is now in Tanzania, working in the school for orphagned children. He has no phone etc so I can only assume he is having and enjoying a fantastic life experience.

He passed his driving test on Monday before he left last Wednesday and had the third phase of an interview for an engineering apprentciship so what a week he had.

My middle son is working very hard at the moment too as he is now raising funds to go to Tanzania next summer. He is helping me (we moved 11 tonns of gravel) He is glass collecting on 7 hour shifts and doing manual labour for our neighbours.

I feel very proud of my boys as I am fully aware of the reluctance of many youngsters to "graft"

Business wise, we are incredably busy.

We have been granted permission to increase our number of dogs as we have been turning customers away since the dog boarding was just 1 year old. Needless to say we are no longer advertising.

The cattery is almost fully booked for summer too. I do think we are doing so well as all of our units have their own outdoor run, especially in this weather but also it offers the cats stimulation as they all have a lovely view too.
We have done quite a lot of maintenance this summer with a new roof going onto the cattery soon too so we are looking very smart.


I am so very pleased with the dog boarding as this heat is a great test of it and the units themselves are certainly lovely and cool. I did heavily insulate the roof and put a grannit floor in all of the units and it is all paying off now as the dogs are clearly very comfortable and cool. The self filling water dispensers are certainly a big hit, providing fresh, cool water constantly and I am not for ever carrying buckets of water.

Phoebe is still such a star as she breezed through her silver Kennel Club award. She is such a pleasure to work with and so very easy to train. She certainly does her breed proud.

Our new lawn mowers!

Well, what better way to get the grass cut :) They are on our lawn:)

If horses feel safe and secure it isn't unusual for them to lay down, Scotty and Rocket are best mates.

I am struggling to keep ontop of the weeds. After a relatively dry spell the heavens opened and the grass and weeds have shot up. Horses will eat nettle once they are cut but not whilst growing, so a big job for me next week is strimming. If I don't strim it leaves very little for the horses to eat and being thorough breds will loose weight easily.

We are looking to create another run for the boarding dogs, taking them onto the island, between the trees but we will bypass the moat. It will be like an adventure playground :)
There have been a couple of times when I could have done with a third run and what a fun place it would be for the dogs. I will make sure it is very secure of course.

A special guest

Our family fun and doggy day was a great success

We had 800 human visitors, both young and old and many, many dogs.
All were very well behaved and the sun shone beautifully, thank goodness!!

The tortoise made a rare outing and tried to escape his pen many times. His owners (Cousins on Blagreaves Lane, Littleover) said "he enjoyed his day out"
He was the focus on guess the age. The attempts ranged from 11 to 140 years. He is in fact 9 years and 7 months so a youngster.

The dog show was very well supported with many smiling handlers walking away with hampers, rosettes and certificates and Derwent valley gave a superb, inspirational demonstration.

My two sisters and niece did a stirling job cooking the BBQ all day for which I thank them.
We had quite a team on the day helping to make it all run smoothly and the feedback has been very good, in fact we have been asked about 2014 so put 5th May in your diary.
I shall post more photographs as I get them

Busy!!

I don't think I have ever been so busy which is fab of course

My boys are getting older, the eldest now learning to drive. We have managed to get him a little car and just about afforded the insurance. I had no idea what an honour it would be sitting next to him as he goes out practicing.
My middle son is GCSE's and studying hard. He is determind to do his very best which is fantastic and very good luck to him
My youngest is going to change school to Denstone College this year which is fantastic news for him and I am sure he will flourish and achieve his full potential.

Business wise, the bookings are flooding in for the summer. Lots of repeat business as well as new. We have vets recomending us too. I do have some help lined up :)


In case I ever had any spare time we decided to host a Family Fun and Doggy Day at our home

The purpose is to raise funds for two registered children's charities.

Findern Community Pre School
Gedeli School for Orphaned children Tanzania Africa

The day is based around a fun dog show and starts with a domonstraion by Derwent Valley Dog club of obedience and heelwork to music
Suppoerted by All For Dogs dog traning

We have a selection of trade stands, BBQ, cream tea and cake stalls.
There is lots to entertain the children with bouncy castle, hook a duck, balloon pop, face painting, wet sponges etc

West Farm, Stenson is the venue

11 am till 4pm  the timing and the great weather is on order so please join us and help to make the event a great one

What a big girl!

I know I am bias but Phoebe is beautiful and generally well behaved. The number of people who are surprised that she is a Rotty and their image is not of gentle or submission which is how she is.

The Labrador puppies are leaving us now and she has played a great role in their education with socialising. If I'm not careful she will be asking for a salary.

Other news
We have sold Storm, our coloured horse as he had no jockey. The money has helped towards my eldest's car insurance which is crippling and towards my middle son's pot for his Tanzania 2014 as he too is going to work in the school for orphaned children.

"smelly cat" has settled in very well. Coming and going as he pleases and not using his litter tray, thank goodness.

Bookings for the kennels are looking good for the summer and I now have lots of help to ensure we maintain our high standards
Cattery bookings look a little slow but that could all change.

The preparations for 6th May are all under way and Mel and I are starting to look forward to it. We are just praying for some sunshine :)

Play time!

No Phoebe, you cannot eat the puppy :)

Actually she is fantastic with them. Of course we never leave them un attended but it is good for their socialisation to have exposure so young.

Phoebe is doing very well with her training other than 2 days ago when she followed Pippa (our Terrier) to the farm next door to steel cat food!!
I called her and yes, I did expect her to turn and come back but no, where Pippa was taking her was so much more fun. I have focussed on this and she was so much better today.

My next stage is to encourage her to wait where ever I leave her until I release her.  She is getting the hang of it.

Guess where I have been :)

Yes! on a much needed holiday and took 2 of my boys to France skiing for a week. (My middle son was away with school) We went to an area called Montgenevre. I am not usually a great fan of Europe for skiing as the runs tend to be narrow and the lifts, too few in number, congested and busy but this holiday has had a good impact as the conditions were perfect with wide open pistes, well groomed and the lifts were plentiful and never was there a que..

We all came back having skied our little legs off and with a good tan as it was very sunny.

Marion and Laura did a great job looking after the farm and all for me as without that back up I would never get away and as much as I love it, it truly is 7 days a week, 24 hours a day and at times exhausting.

We are beavering away and preparing for our fun day 6th May. I do hope the weather improves and the crowds come flocking and we all have a great day.