Mixed Up Calendar and a Winter Garden
We have had quite a confusing week with three festivals happening at the Hall. We were all decorated for Halloween with pumpkins and bats and then we enjoyed a few sparklers for Bonfire Night. Then, it was time to decorate a Christmas tree, only for a photo shoot though! Whilst our one of our cats, Honey, remained shy of the events, our black cat, Marmite, was fully involved. He made sure he was in the Halloween photos and even discovered Santa’s milk and mince pie in the Christmas photo shoot! Both Honey and Marmite have started to appear in the office now the weather is getting colder, and the big wood burner in the apartment is certainly helping make the west wing warm and cosy.
The World Dairy Conference in Belfast that we attended was very informative and it was a great place to share information and kept us updated on current issues and technologies. It was great to see so many people from the industry there.
The park seems quite empty now that the cattle have been moved to their barn for the winter, however, we continue to see wildlife across the park. The pheasants are keeping us amused by their hide and seek antics and their mad dashes across the driveway in front of vehicles as they are coming or going from the Hall. There has also been one or two Muntjac deer spotted in the grounds recently. Research has shown that unlike other deer, Muntjacs have no fixed seasonal breeding pattern.
Whilst major work continues up at the Rectory, we have a little bit of work going on at the Hall. Our local joiner came over to look at the wooden kitchen table in the main kitchen and will be taking it away next week to carry out a bit of restoration work. Colin came over to plant up Miss Anne’s garden with lots of little pansies and violas for the winter and our House Keeper, Jacqui, is all set to do an autumn deep clean ready to have the Hall looking its best through the winter.
The final manuscripts have arrived back safely from the restorers. All the manuscripts have been digitally photographed and we can view all these images without having to unpack or handle the originals.
