At first glance, babies and farms don’t sound like they marry very well. Thousands of farming families have babies every year though and, if you make your living from farming, you will know that babies just seem to fit into the farming life. If you are feeding pet lambs or calves, what’s another little mouth … [Read more…]
When G was about 15 months old, we had just adopted chicks which had hatched at Boo’s school and I took a load of photographs of them in front of the lambing shed. Most of the pictures were wonderful and I have this one blown up as a massive canvas on my living room wall. … [Read more…]
Lambing is in full swing at the farm and, as I was sitting on my own one night as the children slept and the farmer saw to the new arrivals, I got thinking about lambing. It can go on for six to eight weeks which, on the face of it, doesn’t seem too bad. When … [Read more…]
We are over a year into our family being a five-some. In two years, my eldest went from being an only child for the first four years of her life to having two little brothers. The farmer is one of four but I am an only child and I was determined that I wanted a … [Read more…]
Caroline Jellico farms in South Cumbria, UK. The farm itself is 30 acres plus another 20 rented and rights to graze the common. Its a harsh environment with little to no sunshine and poor quality grass. Farming was a life choice. Caroline always wanted to work with animals and became a zoo keeper for some … [Read more…]
Parenting is a minefield at the best of times but when it comes to feeding your children healthy and nutritious snacks, many parents (myself included) struggle to see the wood from thee trees when it comes to the children’s snack aisles in the supermarket. When my daughter was a baby, everything seemed a lot simpler. … [Read more…]
With today’s busy lives, there can be so much going on that you quickly run out of time to do anything as a family. In some cases, you might not even see each other for more than a few minutes a day. Family time is vital, so it’s important that you try to cultivate time … [Read more…]
I didn’t grow up on a farm. In fact, the closest I had ever been to a farm was a school trip when I was about seven. I remember the farmer asking if anyone would like to hold a piglet and I ran at him. I have always loved animals though and I did … [Read more…]
Living on a farm is hard work. Getting up at the crack of dawn and back-breaking labour. Add to that sleep issues and you have a recipe for disaster. We all need sleep to function properly but most of us don’t get enough. As a result, we become grumpy and foggy. This is not all! … [Read more…]
I love the idea of an Easter egg hunt. The problem with living on a farm though is that by the time you hide the eggs and get the children to find them, you actually run the risk of something else getting to the eggs before you. Goats, chickens, sheep, I am sure they would … [Read more…]
