New arrivals on the farm

Two new calves in two days

 Taking a quick peep at a whole new world

 

A model baby.....curled up and comfortable and fast asleep.

 

This big strong calf, born this morning, is less than an hour old.

He is getting thoroughly dried off and inspected by mum 

and will be on his feet and suckling in no time at all.

Farm buildings; old and new

We very rarely used this tiny hogg house anymore which is on home field by the roadside.

It is two storey and would have housed hoggs top and bottom.  Maybe 35 to 40 altogether.

In the background you can see a new building which has just gone up this summer.

This will hold over 100 sheep, all easily managed and accessible by tractor.

A Magic Autumn Morning

The first fabulous autumn morning of the season.  

Waking up to such a magnificent landscape; dampened spirits vanish like magic.

Ghostly shapes appear as the early mist begins to lift.

Diamond dew drops on a spider's web.

The Shepherd's Hut (now put to bed for winter) catches the sunrise.

Every Barn Tells A Story Lantern Workshop

As the Yorkshire Dales National Park project Every Barn Cowus Tells a Story

 draws to a close preparations are in full swing for the grand finale 

which will take place at the end of the year.

A two day workshop to make life-size cows, calves and a sheepdog has taken place 

during the October school holidays in Muker Public Hall.

 Willow is bent and woven, curled and taped to create the required shape.

To get used to the materials required the youngest children made pyramid lanterns .....

and decorated them.

Once the willow structure was finished the job of covering it 

with special paper soaked in glue began.

Covering the cow's head and ears.

The workshops were well attended by local residents & children as well as families holidaying in Swaledale.  We had everyone from five to eighty-five taking part or dropping by to see what was going on!

The workshops were run by Fran, a professional lantern maker from Hebden Bridge.

Raging River

There's a lot of water in the beck today!

The River Swale rises very quickly fed by water flowing off the fells & scars.

It flows fast and furious and is dizzying to watch.

Its dangerous yet beautiful at the same time.

  

The heavy rain has created spectacular waterfalls.

Keld is home to at least nine significant waterfalls.  

Pick up a Waterfall Walk leaflet from the Keld Countryside & Heritage Centre 

or visit keld.org.uk

After the Rain

Seven Colours of the Rainbow ~ Fifty Shades of Swaledale Green

Learning How To Handle a Hay Rake

As a thank you to the children for all their hard work producing drawings, paintings & collage

 for the new Cow House Children's Guided Walk leaflet they were invited to come to Pry House Farm for an afternoon in the hay field followed by a traditional hay time tea.

 Chris shows the children how to turn the hay.

 

 Then it was time to 'row up' and it was all hands to the rakes!

 

and finally making 'foot cocks' and 'jockeys'.

Handling a hay rake correctly and efficiently is hard work and not as easy as it looks.
Everyone had a go, they worked hard and definitely earned their tea!