animal antics expected

I don't want to count my chickens too soon but I expect some animal antics over the next ten days as Richard and I have moved into Tregongeeves whilst Judith and John take a well deserved holiday to Ireland.  Usually there is some sort of animal antics  - I moved the children and me in at about 10am, we went and did our animal inspection, and by 11am I have noticed that a chicken has managed to escape their paddock and is currently down by the house.  This is not good.  Chicken catching is one of my least favorite activities, especially with a two year old as a helpful helper and a five month attached to me!    Other than escaping chickens everyone else looked good; Alice is much better after recovering from a sore eye, the pigs were in good voice grunting for a carrot and the sheep looked a bit disgruntled about the slightly damp weather.

I was every excited to spy a healthy helping of blackberries waiting for us to pick and the elder bushes full of berries - I am hoping to make elderberry juice.  Jessica on the other hand was every excited to spy the trampoline, swings and slide; luckily I managed to distract her long enough to get past them without too much of a fuss.  If you are staying over the next couple of weeks we look forward to meeting you and showing you around the animals.

Last week we had a great train adventure.  We went for lunch at Lanhydrock - a beautiful national trust property.  The House is one of the finest examples of upstairs downstairs living - it is really lovely.  We went to the new cafe at the huge bike centre and had lunch there.  We enjoyed one of nicest hot chocolates I have had in a long time - it was HUGE.  If you do go make sure you read the menu board just inside the door - we missed that and missed the seasonal soup.  We ended up having homemade burgers which were delicious.  After lunch we hopped in the car and drove a mile down the road to Respryn and walked the path up to Bodmin Parkway Station.  With a train obsessed child this was brilliant - we got to see two normal trains and the steam train part of the Bodmin and Wenford Railway - a real treat.  It was spotting with rain but this didn't matter as the walk is tree lined so we were well protected.  This will be a brilliant walk over the autumn and winter months and is buggy friendly.

Last week we had not one but two trips to The Lost Gardens of
Heligan.  Mainly because of the piglets.  They are adorable - there are two litters there and the mothers are working very hard to keep all the hungry mouths full! It really is worth a visit.  Obviously we had to sample the cake just to make sure the cake was up to the usual standard.  It was!