Best of British

When the offer of spending the Christmas period with friends and family came up, we could hardly resist, what an excellent opportunity to totally overindulge ourselves with everything and everyone that we miss from the UK! So after slaughtering any remaining birds, winterising the house and depositing dogs safely with good neighbours, off we flew. My parents kindly eased us gently back into life in the motherland. First stop on Jamie's hit list was a good pint at an old fashioned local pub, think we managed that several times thanks to my dad. I was then incredibly happy to be reacquainted with our old dog who never quite made it out to Nova Scotia and incidentally now resides like a King with Jamie's ma. After lots of family fun and dog walks throughout the rolling countryside of the Scottish Borders we headed south again and got our fix of pretty market towns, medieval churches, Royal castles and of course nose-to-nose traffic at a stand still on the M25. Along with all the wine and cheese we could politely consume, I even managed to squeeze in a cream tea with real clotted cream, in fact, our only culinary regret is not consuming enough curry during our stay. It was a rare joy to loaf around London like a tourist rather than dash around cursing like a hardened commuter, we even mustered a little excitement for London's big date with the Olympics. Nothing seemed to have changed and we fitted in to step with old friends like we hadn't ever left. In fact, if we didn't have the battle scars to prove it, we could almost merrily fool ourselves into believing that this flower farm in Nova Scotia was all a figment of our imagination. However, after a wonderful break it's now back to reality and so far so good (cold but good). Thanks to the house elves the pipes didn't freeze, the van actually started, the dogs appear to have missed us and the snow hasn't properly begun to settle yet. Of course we are donning the long johns and trying to ignore the icicles on the inside of the window panes but dare I say it, a pretty good start to the year - hurray!

Count down to Christmas

Christmas concerts are on the go, wreaths, holly and the smell of pine are a plenty. There is definitely a festive vibe in the air and I believe it's OK to officially wish folks a Merry Christmas. We've flaunted our wares for the last time so we can at last wind down and get in the festive mood. While we tidy up the farm, Jamie can brave the cold chopping wood confident that mulled wine and mince pies await him in the warmth. (Yeah right!). We've even had a bit more of the white stuff to make it seem all the more atmospheric. Feels like a good time to put our feet up for a well earned rest!

Festive crafting

There's nothing like nearly a foot of snow to get us out of the field and into the barn. The snow blower packed up half way round the pond, fortunately the snow only lasted a few days so we weren't stranded but it was a wake up call that winter is on its way and snow storms are inevitable. Saturday saw the end of hunting season so the woods are safe once more (aside from the coyotes), sadly Jamie has been too busy with the farm to get us a deer for the freezer. However, he has proved himself a fine marksman and, a crafty fox caught in the act of stalking our chickens has been put to rest.
We're busy creating a great deal of mess with a barn full of dried flowers (which seems to have ended up in the house) and putting together festive arrangements for the Christmas markets. Amazing what you can achieve with wire, determination, a glue gun and a can of spray paint. It's a good excuse to fill the house with pine and for Jamie to tuck into egg nog with rum - though to do so he has to fight off the mighty Bertie.