Updates 2008

Happy New Year! We celebrate the end of the third full year of successful B&B, and also the completion of our new house, the Lighthouse, which is a joy to see and to be in. And, with its building, a big step has occurred to move forward with the integration of the farm and the buildings. The Lighthouse, set in the orchards, is built predominantly of wood: oak, with some ash, pine and larch, and now in 2008, new life is coming to our own woodland, in the form of a new 'woodland manager', Stephen West, and coppice worker, Dave Jackson. We also have a new orchard expert, Rob Uren, visiting regularly, using our cider fruit, maturing his brew in the old cider-house, pruning our trees, and replanting new ones. So I feel that the focus has moved from what we bring in to the building structures here, to what also flows out to the immediate environment, and back again, creating another kind of energy exchange. In practice this means that I now have others with whom to share responsibilities, make decisions, and above all, to care for this environment. To truly love and care for it, we need to feel part of it, and to have the ability to be present, here, in an authentic way. Sometimes we can get so focussed upon goals, with their anticipated eventual achievement and satisfaction,(as though life was a thrilling film) that we forget that each day we can find that same achievement and satisfaction in what we do. We need to detatch from the form, and become more aware of the content, and what we are learning, living truly as opposed to making do with virtual reality. This is a wonderful time for the farm, which returns to a stronger light after these years of investing in the houses, and working to make them self-supporting. With continuing sympathetic management of the woodland, and knowledgeable enthusiasm for the land and the wildlife upon it, we can move forward in an holistic way.

I hope you will come and be part of this happening, by staying at the B&B, or in the Lighthouse and Studio, or our caravan, or simply by tuning in as you read about it.