Maggie

I couldn't resist and I have kept one of our gorgeous cockapoo puppies.

I've called her Maggie after my lovely Mum who was brave enough to come down from Yorkshire and keep an eye on all whilst I went on my adventure into the Sumatran jungle.

She is spending oodles of time with the other puppies at the moment but I will bring her into the house and crate train her. She has had her first immunisation so after her second we shall go to puppy school and she can learn how to be a good girl :)

I am looking forward to taking her out walking with my lovely, well behaved Phoebe as Maggie will just follow Phoebe and it should prove to be very easy. I hope :)

What an adventure :)

 The bridges so rickety

 The views amazing

 The accommodation in the jungle so basic

 Their life intriguing

The wild life stunning
The whole challenge in Sumatra was just fantastic. I haven't laughed so much for years. Sleeping in the jungle was a little challenging and I loved the treking up and down the mountains.
The elephant is Uni I had the honour of bathing and riding on her. We even called into the village shop on the way back to camp


This is all to raise much needed funds for breast cancer research

We are holding a fund raising event 1st November at Lower Damgate farm Ilam if anyone is interesting in attending please drop me a line
We have a page on just giving Peak Girls charity challenge

Making improvements

 Can you see Danni? She is our new pest control officer and Phoebe obviously feels the need to keep an eye on her every move :)

This is our extension. It greets you as you pull through our electric gates. I like to think it makes us look very smart but it also gives me room to breath. I shall install a couple of holding pens for when people are delayed coming to pick up their pets. It gives me lots of storage too. If you remember the rolls of carpet I had donated, I now have space to roll them out, cut them up and store them.
I have no doubt the rest of the space will find a use too.

I also bit the bullet and built the remainder of my cat units. I had to turn so much business away this summer as I couldn't accommodate them so I'm hoping they will come back now I have expended.

I would like to sit back and enjoy a little now and not take on any further projects but we'll see :)

Having a holiday :)

Well, I'm going off to the Indonesian jungle to work in an orang-utan rescue centre, trek 190km through the jungle sleeping under a tarp and digging our own loos, planting trees for a day and the last couple of days we will be helping in an elephant recue centre.

I'm going with a group of girl friends, the purpose is to raise funds for research into cancer.

Personally I lost both my brother and brother-in-law recently to the disease and one of the girls in the group has had the last 15years of her life blighted with it so we though we would join her in a challenge to attempt to raise funds to help to make a difference to others.

Seemed a good idea at the time but I have no doubt it is going to be a tough challenge with temperatures 37-40 degrees and humidity at 94% the conditions are not what we are used to in Derby.
Apparently you are always either ascending or descending whilst treking through the jungle and at times you walk through the rivers. We carry all of our own kit so travelling light.

With just a few days to go before we head off via Singapore airline (we were going Malasian) I am feeling a little pensive :(

Given my day to day living and high level of activity in running my dog and cat boarding which has been very busy this summer I think I am physically ready. (other than a broken bone in my foot)

I don't really know just what to expect as there is no accommodation, we dig our own loo and the bed is the ground by the river. We cleanse in the natural springs and no detergents to be used. The noise, I'm sure in the jungle will be tremendous ( I have ear plugs) I don't want to think about the bugs and slithery things.

Having never left my boys I am having pangs of guilt too which is daft as they are not babies and I have put all sorts in place to ensure they are well cared for in all ways whilst I am away.  I'm sure they won't care a great deal and it may even do them some good as since my marriage broke down some 11 years ago I have jumped through many hoop, ensuring I have always been available to care, help and guide my boys the best I can. They may even be a little more helpful when I return as I know they are helping out whilst I am away.

Peak girls challenge  is the name of the group I am going with and we do have a just giving page setup if anyone would like to sponsor/make a donation to the cause it will be very much appreciated.

On 1st November we are organising a halloween party at Lower Damgate Farm Illam  were we will share a little of our experiences
The evening promises to be fun with live music, food, bar and a little of what we got up to in Sumatra if you would like to join us please let me know either via my enquiry page or mobile 07725 941 421 Tickets are £35

Thanks for reading this blog

Bev

Where do I begin

My middle son had a fantastic time in Tanzania working in a school for orphaned children

My youngest has just gone off to Belfast on rugby tour

My eldest is about to commence his second year of his apprenticeship with Futarba

Summer was fantastically busy with cats, dogs and small pets

I have bitten the bullet and built my last 10 cat units. I have also extended my entrance building which looks great. The new build gives me a nice, organised and spacious reception area, an area to build an isolation unit (just in case), I shall also build a holding pen for those who cannot pick up as planned due to travel delays and generous storage area.

Our manic summer is slowing down now so time to paint, clean and freshen all up ready for the next busy time.

We have taken quite a number of bookings for August 2015 as people are not wanting to risk not getting a space with us. Very reassuring for our future :)

Ready for the summer :)

I decided to paint all of the cat units which took hours but they do look lovely.
They all had a thorough clean too which is just as well as we are fully booked for the start of summer.

I really do appreciate the high level of support we have. Clearly very happy customers as they return time again. We do receive many compliments which is very rewarding.

Thank you my lovely customers.

Dog boarding continues to be very busy too and I am now having to turn business away which is such a shame but people do need to book early as this is my busiest time of the year.

I have permission to extend the dog boarding which I am hoping to do ready for next summer. I plan to set up two additional, large exercise areas too so all the dogs in my care will continue to be well exercised and cared for.

Todays weather gave us a couple of challenges and the dogs were not impressed with it but all are settled and ok

Guess what i've been up to?

Clean and smiling but not for long :)

Off we headed for Stanford Hall near Lutterworth to do something called the Wolf Run
10K run with obstacles. Sounds interesting, intriguing and definitely challenging.

What fun!! the obstacles were ploughing through thick mud, climbing walls built of round poles so you cannot get a grip, swimming through smelly water, climbing a very high cargo net and lots more.

There were 4,000 crazy people who did this "run" over the week end. We were set off in large groups so lots of people to have a giggle with which is what we did, giggle!!. sometimes having to pull each other out of the deep mud or helping each other up a slippery, muddy bank. It isn't a race so everyone finished and what a sense of achievement you feel at the end of it.

I'm not really a runner and am no spring chicken but I was shocked at my ability to run 6.2 miles but the atmosphere carries you along and you slip into the disguising water or slimy mud with no hesitation.

We cannot wait to do another :)

Anyone joining us?

All for charity too