Half way up a hill

I am just so grateful that our little campsite is half way up a hill! For although the wind has bent the newly transplanted phormiums and the camping paddock is not exactly dry, it is also not waterlogged. The rabbits have eaten the young shoots on the hebe I transplanted though...grrrrr!

The horses field I have to say is a different story, it's like a mud bath, but we are not flooded like so many places, so again I am eternally grateful. Am also glad we have an open barn for the horses to take some 'time-out' away from the mud, the rain and the wind and munch some hay. The wind and the storms have taken a toll on the coastline however, walking back along the beach last week at the end of the school day we wondered where all the sand had gone?!

February has seen the purchase of some new hens to keep our single chicken-licken company and they seem to be getting along and have not blown away as yet. Bit of a rude awakening for them though, ten weeks living in a barn and then out into the elements in the orchard, with a henhouse to snuggle in at night.....sublime to the ridiculous...  Also snuggling in, are the cats, in a sheltered spot in the hay bales, keeping warm and getting out in the sun 'hunting' when they can.

The geese on the other hand, seem to be loving the weather, completely at ease in the rain and the wind and they have just started laying their large white eggs -which need two pieces of toast to provide for their size - they have also started wandering from the barn to the campsite paddock and reservoir garden, not quite sure why they are venturing so far, but they have a good splash in any puddles they can find.

January - first month of the gregorian calender

At last a fine day. Beautiful in fact. Blue skies and sunshine. Had intended swimming some lengths at St Ives Leisure Centre, only 15 minutes away, a lovely pool, with the most fantastic view of the town and harbour and the ocean beyond, but I had other priorities. Gardening. Tried hard to garden yesterday, but it was hard going in the wet. Today would be different. So onward with the transplanting of some shrubs, hypericum, hebe and hydrangea, phormiums, yucca and a cortaderia richardii.

For all those horrified by my resolve at this time of year, I would say in my defence that, so far this winter, we have had no frost in our perfect piece of cornwall, the gorse is already in flower, daffodils are already showing, so I figured that transplanting now might actually work. Time will tell whether my judgement is misplaced.

Last year I tried hard to turn our campsite boundary fence with the the waterboard into a feature, by utilising it for washing lines with ditsy pegs for campers and pretty solar lights along the top edge. I resisted the urge to plant along its margin, because at the end of the day, when it is not a campsite, the paddock is grazing for the horses and knowing how my horses love to investigate alternatives in their herbaceous diet, I figured ornamental planting may not last long. However, I have reneged and decided to try some to compliment the washing-lines and lights. And, when the horses are in the paddock, try some electric fencing to keep them off the plants! 

Hard to believe we are already almost halfway through the first month of the year. January, first month of the gregorian calender, derived from the roman god Ianuarius, who presided over the gate to the new year. Often symbolized by an image of a face that looks forwards and backwards at the same time, time to reflect on the previous year and perhaps redress or make improvements or new resolves for the year to come. How perfect a month for Ashfarm campsite, time to review last year, reflect on what worked and what could be improved or developed for the ensuing year.  

Our second improvement for this year then, is to move the campfire, which, through trial and error I have decided was too near the entry gate into the campsite paddock. Naturally this meant that it was necessary to have a small but inaugural 2014 campfire to try out the new placement!. Beautiful night for it, stars were out in splendour.

Christmas Wishes

Tom Bawcock's eve tonight and 'the great Storm-Cat' really has stirred, the wind is whining 'like a wild thing'.  Just been out to walk the dogs and put chickens and geese to bed and check horses and tuck some hay in the hedgerow for them to forage at and I can categorically say that 'at the far end of England, the blue-green sea' has most definately turned 'grey and black' and has drawn itself up into giant waves and is 'hunting the fishing boats in their hidden harbours'.  If you do not know the story of The Mousehole Cat, written by Antonia Barber and illustrated by Nicola Bayley then I can thoroughly recommend it as a children's read or film.
 
And the 23rd December is a wonderful night to explore the streets of Mousehole and the christmas harbour lights and follow the lanterns and people's procession as it winds its way round the streets with jigs and reels. It is festive and fun with a serious side.

Rather the same as the concept of the christmas tree. Our tree this year is decked and adorned and has an array of presents surrounding it. We are hoping it survives the festive season (we invested in a little potted tree with roots this year) so that we can plant it out in the reservoir garden in the new year with a hefty shovel of horse manure to encourage it to flourish and grow!

Although the weather is a little wet and windy at the moment, we did have some pretty good weather at the beginning of the month which allowed my 'campsite support crew' to have some productive fun with a small digger, clearing and landscaping the corner of the reservoir garden which was still in need of taming. They did a marvellous job. And thankyou to the weather gods who did not send too much cornish mizzle and rain to dampen what we could achieve.We still have to rake it and grass seed it in the spring but it lends itself now to a little nurturing.

So, here we are at christmas, the stockings are hung, by the chimney with care and we are looking pretty festive. Not really the season to be camping on our campsite, but have been searching for christmas camping pictures and found this picture of a nenets' reindeer hunt camp. It has all the makings of a good campsite christmas card, snow, tents, sledges.... something to work towards for next year.

Best Wishes for a Happy Christmas and a Festive New Year from Ashfarm campsite!

November: Gun Powder Treason and Plot

Gun powder treason and plot started the month off with a bonfire and 'homegrown' firework display for just the family at the campsite. We didn't have an effigy of Guy Fawkes to burn, but we did have a significant 'figure'. Both of my sons have used, over the years, a chest of drawers, painted blue and yellow, which we rescued from a field on the shores of Loch Ness twenty-two years ago, the table we rescued at the same time and painted in the same blue and yellow hues, did not stand quite the same test of time, but this chest of drawers with its assortment of children's stickers has served us well.

With one son now finished at university however and the other looking towards secondary school and revamping his bedroom accordingly, the chest of drawers has rather reached a natural-end and so it was, that it found its way, as an "effigy-to-youth" onto the Fifth of November bonfire.

The sleepiness in the campsite has been usurped by an active period in the wooded glade as the garden takes a bit more shape, to the point where I have started calling it the 'reservoir garden', a name which may stick, as a distinction to the 'campsite paddock'.

We have started managing and rejuvenating the garden boundary wall, which has become unruly with hawthorn and elder and holly, grown far too tall, their bounties unreachable and with ivy rampaging through their branches and over their trunks, smothering and threatening to dismantle the cornish hedge to boot.

Unfortunately the process is going to make some of the hedge look a little bleak and bare for the moment, but I am planning to get some beech hedging planted over the winter to improve the outlook.

And I have been trying to turn an old access cover into a bit of a feature, by revealing some of the wall structure and putting some pots with plants along its edge. Along its upper margins I have also begun creating another path, up to the picnic area. All these improvements are in their early stages, but they are slowly occurring.

When we developed the old water shed into a family changing-room a friend said how nice the rug and cushions in there were, "too nice to put in the changing-room" she said. I think she was wrong (she isn't often wrong.) I love them in this small space. But rather than pack them away over the winter, away from the damp and the snails - who seem to be invading the shed since the campsite closed - I have borrowed said rug and cushions for our living-room to "keep them aired" and I think they look rather nice!

October

October is my favourite month and this year is no exception. We have been treated to an equal amount of warm weather, rain and some lovely sunshine, which has all contributed to making the grass a lush, lush green again. Perfect for me to play clover horseshoes with.

The balmy october weather has helped the tree fern I transplanted grow three new fronds, somewhat annoyingly I missed photographing the curly fossil-shaped fronds as they first showed, but I am so chuffed I haven't killed it! And although tempted to cut the old brown fronds away, for right or wrong I am leaving them - unsightly as they may be - in order to protect the new ones from the wind and the cooling climate. The eschiums have all taken and are growing well, but then they grow like weeds here anyway, as do all the campions and forget-me-knots and cleavers, which are multiplying at a frightening rate!

But I love the patchwork of colours as the autumn leaves fall and gather under the trees, amidst the pebbles in the outdoor shower and along the paths.  Golds, brunettes, oranges and browns. There's a sleepiness about the campsite, like a cat curled in front of an aga.
Our miner bees seem to have finally hibernated in their new home. I wait with anticipation to see if they emerge in the spring undisturbed by their last minute home-building. (Don't worry I will keep you all informed).

The campsite paddock is again a pony paddock and we have moved the stones from around the campfire, to allow the grass to repair itself. Might position the campfire slightly differently next year, a little further from the gateway entrance.
I have looked at the undulations in the field with a view to making the camping area flatter and more "mown-lawn" like, but my learned farmer-friends tell me this means spraying, ploughing, harrowing and reseeding which means no camping next year. Not really the option I was looking for. So will have to have a rethink. Fortunately most people have air beds to use with their sleeping bags or duvets, so an uneven floor to your tent isn't such a problem.

 The blackberries are ready for picking on the hedgerows and we have King Byerd, Cornish Mother and Quennie apples in the orchard, to combine into a delicious blackberry and apple crumble.

October also means that the schools are back, which means the house stays cleaner longer and their are more "me" hours, which in turn means more time to horseride. Have had some lovely rides up over Castlegate, through the heather down to the heathland, with views to both north and south coasts, St Ives and Godrevy over to my left, St Michael's Mount and Mousehole on my right.  Herrlech!

Surflifesaving club has finished its sessions on the beach in preference for swim training in an indoor pool. Took the dogs down to the beach for the last session and introduced puppy to the sea, not sure she enjoyed her swim as much as we had expected.

But the old collie had a great time, gambolling along the beach, following my eldest son, swimming parallel to the coast, which was a complete surprise to us!

When the campsite goes camping

Our campsite is small, very rustic with clean, pretty, basic amenities but no "unnatural amusements", so it stands to reason that we need something as a contrast when we go camping ouselves. Hey Presto..... off we went on a camping trip to Woodlands near Dartmouth with a whole posse of Hayle Surflifesavers .

It was only our second year joining the trip but it has just what we want. It's Big by our standards! Still quite rural,with the theme park being set in a wooded valley and the campsite set in large flat fields up on the surrounding hillside. Purpose built, plumbed in hot showers and baths, washing-up facilities and toilet blocks.  Lots of entertainment, waterslides, swing boats, mirror halls, troll caverns, peddleboats, gokart-bikes, assault courses and indoor ball pools,rope playgrounds and an amusement room up near the tents. Food and coffee kiosks if you want them and a Sainsburys only 9 minutes away by car!  Fabulous!

The campsite son is now of an age he can hook up with friends and be virtually independent in his travels round the park which makes it much less hectic for me, meaning I can chill in a chair and people watch, getting caught up in the laughter and happiness of it all.

And as if there wasn't enough excitement by day, by night there was a bush-tucker trial, which this year involved no nasty savouries, such as snake entrails or bulls eyes or bat droppings, to taste by blindfold. This year the tasting pleasures were pure chocolate and sweet treats. Lots of and great fun. How noone was sick, when they laid down to bed in their tents was beyond me!

The weather, true to form was variable, we travelled up in torrential rain, but it eased off a bit, to a light drizzle, whilst I erected the tents in the growing dark.  Three tents later, air beds inflated and the children settling into their beds, I did allow myself a well earned glass of vino, whilst visualising the next day's rides! 

Fortunately the tents did not leak and the airbeds did not deflate. But it was cold.  You forget how different the temperature is camping in June or July, compared to camping in September. Second night I went to bed more prepared,  2 pairs of socks, mittens, pyjamas, cardigan, fleece, sleeping-bag, blanket and coat over my feet...much better! Mental note to self to take hot water bottle next year and a duvet, despite the 3 season sleeping bag. Also mental note, that although the pop up tent is fantastically easy to put up, when erecting 3 tents, it also is colder, since it has no inner and seems to create more condensation on the inside, which, again in september is a dangerous thing at 4am in the morning when sneeking out for a wee!

Frenzied gardening and more bees

Frenzied gardening activities have been going on this week. It is our last week of the campsite being open and the horses have been in grazing overnight as we have had solid campers for several weeks and the paddock grass is looking more unruly than ever. This did mean one pair of campers putting up their tent the first night in the wooded glade so that the equines could munch on and mow and an adorable campervan actually had to find another campsite for the night, but the grass did need chomping!
It probably isn't the best time to be starting moving plants and planting out, but this time of year is quieter for me animal husbandry wise with the long days still and the weather is usually good - sunny days and rainy nights - and the ground is warm so I hope what I am doing survives. I have moved a fairly large tree fern from our tiny home garden which it has outgrown to the wooded glade. It was surprisingly difficult to get out the ground. No tap roots but a huge mass of fine spidery roots almost like hessian matting.

Having googled how to do it, I followed the instructions and ensured the ground was well watered and manured and have watered the treefern well since planting, but have to admit it is looking a little unhappy! Took a quick picture after planting whilst it was still looking luvverly. Unfortunately a northerly wind gave it a bit of a battering for 48 hours immediately after planting, so we will have to keep our fingers crossed. And my favourite acer which has survived in a pot for years in our small garden - but which always looses its leaves early - has also been given its own piece of ground and some freedom, so that is another to keep an eye on with the hope that planting out will help it keep its leaves longer next year.

Have finished a stretch of path to take campers safely up and down to the picnic area, instead of scrabbling up the side banks, planted some bulbs - although I am not sure what they are, we found them whilst digging and clearing the newest reclaimed area - so they will be a surprise in the spring and we also found some Tawny Mining Bees.

They were in the ground we were clearing which was full of ivy and periwinkle and rocks and stones and we didn't notice them until we had unearthed there larvae pods. We rescued what we could and fashioned a make shift home for them, which they don't seem to dislike too much. They have been there for 3 or 4 days now and they appear to be busily repairing what we disturbed.

According to our research Tawny mining bees (Andrena fulva or armata) are a species of the sand bee genus.  The males are 10–12 mm (0.4–0.5 in) and the females 8–10 mm (0.3–0.4 in) long.  Covered with fox red hair on their backs and black on their underside, they are not aggressive and seldom, if ever, sting. Indifferent about their nesting location, they are extremely fond of shadeless sunny places, but are also commonly found between tiles and stones in the garden and love well-cut lawns. The bees supposedly fly from March until June - so what ours are doing flying about end of August anyone knows.
Females mate in spring, after which the male dies and the female starts to build a nest. The nest is a vertical shaft in the ground of 200–300 mm (8–12 in), with several brood cells branching off it,  and entrances are often surrounded by a volcano-like mound of excavated spoil. The female fills the cells with a mixture of nectar and pollen, laying an egg in each cell.  The larva hatches and consumes the stored pollen and nectar, pupates within a few weeks and finally becomes an adult bee. The adult bees overwinter below ground in the burrow site. Then during the next spring or early summer the adults emerge, mate, and the females begin burrow excavation and the cycle continues.

Our colony definately has a female who is bigger, less hairy and slimmer than the males. But the males appear to be extremely busy little fellas, despite the time of year, which I suppose may be because we have distrubed them. It is true that we did not notice any activity before we unearthed their nest. Oh dear. Will keep you posted with what happens next.

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