MUCKING ABOUT WITH ACTRESS SARAH PARISH, AND A SUCCESSFUL SHOW.

The actress Sarah Parish came along to the Farm to promote the charity that she set up with her husband James: "The Murray Parish Trust". This was set up in memory of their late daughter Ella-Jayne who died of congenital heart failure. Sarah's passion to this cause was obvious from the moment that I met her: she simply wanted to get as many people involved as possible. My job was quite easy - all I had to do was to provide her with some really mean tasks such as cleaning out the Kune Kune pigs. What I hadn't explained was that these young pigs like to nibble on people's toes, and despite Sarah wearing some heavy-duty wellie boots, she soon found that her legs and feet were the objects of attention from several inquisitive young Kune Kune piglets. Whilst feeding the goats and calves she managed to speak to many of our visitors promoting the sponsored walk that the Trust is organising at Southampton Common THIS SUNDAY 7th September. All monies raised at this event will go directly to Friends of PICU - the charity that supports the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit at Southampton General Hospital. We have made this our charity of the month, so if you would like to help us raise money for this special cause please let me know: there will be a charity churn at the Farm. If you would like to join in with the sponsored walk click here. 

The New Forest Show seems to get busier and busier every year, or maybe it's just me getting older!

If we could convert compliments into a monetary value then we would be very rich now as many people were very kind about the efforts we had put into our show tent this year. Our marquee was busy on all three days, so Dawn and I welcomed the help of the team who worked extremely hard to make it such a success. We left Conor in charge of the animals overnight in case any tried to escape, but he was so exhausted by the end of the day he probably wouldn't have noticed if a herd of elephants rushed through his tent. Samuel the donkey was on his best behaviour and didn't create too many problems this year, that is until the Show President walked by and Samuel gave a loud bray which startled everyone in the area - the President included! George, our large Nubian goat, was a great attraction especially when he reached up seven foot in an attempt to demolish the hanging basket above him. We installed fans inside the marquee this year to keep the animals cool, but found the visitors benefited as much as the animals, as once again, the Show benefited from some glorious weather. Thanks also go to Katie, our talented face-painter, the fabulous Countrywide staff, and our ace cartoonist, Simon Chadwick, who drew amazing cartoon animals for the show tent visitors for the whole three days, and produced our fun photoboard which is now situated at the entrance to the Farm.

  

The cow and tunnel that have been in the outdoor play area for nearly thirty years have finally been laid to rest! I didn't have the heart to put the wooden cow on the fire so she has ended up in our garden. In their place we have installed three new play structures: a Climbing Tower which enables the children to burn off some of their excess energy, the Clamber Stack which helps all ages test their agility skills, and my favourite, a Group Nest Swing, which is suitable for juniors and adults. Obviously, I had to try all this equipment out before we could let the children play on it! Next time you're at the Farm, pack the children off on a tractor ride and have a sneaky swing yourself - great fun! 

I do not watch much television so when Channel 4 phoned me up and asked if they could use the Farm to film a clip for a programme called Four in a Bed I was a bit reluctant; I had visions of this being a bit of a seedy programme and politely told the researcher that it wasn't my scene! She quickly pointed out that the series was about B & B establishments competing with each other, and that the production crew wanted to film some scenes at a local tourist attraction. I suggested some activities for the contestants, but these were dismissed on the grounds of Health and Safety. Where has the sense of adventure gone?

Thank you for all your kind comments about our new chicken website, however most of the remarks have been about how good the cartoons are, and not so much about the details on looking after chickens. If you haven't had a look yet, please follow this link: Farmer Bryan's Chicken Site  and let me know what you think. On the website, you will find lots of down-to-earth advice on keeping chickens, chicken news, and opportunities to purchase online the main items you will need. If you're local, you never know, I might turn up with your order in the new van! Watch out for more details about our Poultry Pack - a very handy pre-packed package for all your chicken's daily needs available on  a 6-week delivery basis. 

 Hope to see you soon. Farmer Bryan

THANK YOU FOR FARMER SAM'S WONDERFUL WHEELS

Farmer Sam 

I don't normally request money from our visitors or friends unless I feel there is a worthwhile reason to do so, but last month, my request for help to raise money for Farmer Sam's wheelchair was one of those exceptions. It's true, I did stand up and tell the wedding guests at our son's wedding that they wouldn't be able to leave the premises until they'd emptied their pockets into the milk churn placed at the exit of the marquee, but I was simply amazed by the generosity of Aaron and Lou's wedding guests. I have been stunned at the generosity of so many of our family, friends, and visitors - even Charley, our granddaughter, raided her money box saying: "Farmer Sam cannot talk, he cannot walk, and I can do both, so the least I can do is let him have all my money." Wow, that brought a lump to my throat. With all the goodwill from so many people, we managed to raise £1200.00 in just 18 days and I'm pleased to report that Farmer Sam's wheelchair has now been ordered complete with all the accessories that he requires. You have helped to make one little boy (and his family) very happy, so a big thank you to all.
FARMER BRYAN'S CHICKEN SITE
What do you get when you put a very skilled illustrator and a talented website designer together with a farmer? A fantastic new chicken website! Even if you don't keep or intend to keep chickens, it's still worth taking a look as Simon's cartoons are hilarious and will make you 'cluckle'! Click onto Farmer Bryan's Chicken Site if you're a keen poultry keeper, you will find lots of useful advice, news, and opportunities to buy chicken products. Do keep re-visiting the site as we intend to build our product range quite substantially.

HOP ABOARD
The weather has been perfect for the New Forest Tour's open-top bus, and the start to the season has got off well. The bus drops off visitors at the Farm gate and collects them again later to go to their next destination. It is a perfect way to see the Forest, and I am looking forward to having a trip on one when the holiday season is quieter.

VALUABLE VOLUNTEERS
Our volunteer scheme has been a great success with over thirty volunteers on our list now. We've had such a range of people joining us: some simply wanting to have a reason to get out of bed in the morning, others who have professional jobs but feel a need to escape the rat-race once in a while. There are also those who wish to expand on their animal skills. It seems that all of them enjoy working alongside our regular staff, and are quick to take on the banter thrown at them.


SEE US AT THE NEW FOREST SHOW
Some of the animals are packing their bags to visit the New Forest Show again this year. See us in our show tent from Tuesday 29th July through to Thursday 31st July. This year the theme of the show is hands-on, and you will be able to get close up to a variety of animals including day old chicks, calves, kid goats, donkeys and rabbits in our tent. There will also be lots of fun interactive games with Countrywide, and drawing with cartoonist Simon Chadwick.
Look out for scarecrows this year, which will feature throughout the show ground, but especially at the front of our show tent!!

SHE'S A PEARLER!

After months of searching, I'm pleased to be able to tell you that we have found a new Shire to put into Billy's stable. We found Pearl, a 17.5 hands pure Shire, in Wales. Alan, who buys most of our larger animals for us, phoned me one Saturday afternoon saying that he was at an auction in Wales, and that this wonderful mare was up for sale. He said that he had been watching her for a long time and she appears to be bomb-proof. Unfortunately, I didn't receive his
message as I was busy taking a group, so by the time I phoned him back she had gone through the auction ring and failed to reach the reserve price. My message to Alan was to find the owner and see if he was prepared to accept a private bid; it seemed like hours before I got a reply and a after a few heated exchanges, we agreed a price. She was then loaded onto a lorry and made her way back to Longdown. As the tail-board dropped, I waited with bated breath as she slowly walked down the ramp: have I made a mistake? Had I been conned? To my amazement, this horse was just what I had been looking for since January when Billy had died. As we led her down the yard she nudged me as though to say “thank you”. Pearl is a pedigree Shire, her official name is Catwe Duchess Pearl. She was hand-reared when she was a foal, then eventually trained to pull timbers out of the woods in Wales where, apparently, she struggled with this work, so she was then sold as a riding horse. She was so large, her new owners found it very difficult to feed her so decided to sell her on, meaning that this great horse will now spend her retirement at Longdown - and she seems to be loving every moment of it.

Our Vintage Rally was a great success this year with lots of exhibits and a small food hall. The blessing of a sunny weekend bought a record attendance of visitors and the atmosphere was tremendous. It seems that the decision to change it from the autumn was the right one - for this year at least. I was called into hospital the day that the Rally started, and was kept informed of the progress. I was told how well it was going, how well everyone worked together, and what a great success it had been - I got a complex that things seemed to work better when I wasn't about! During my absence, the staff have been tremendous, taking over the day-to-day activities, and organising the school groups and birthday parties - it really has proved what a dedicated team we have at the moment

Our incubator has been busy hatching  ducklings and goslings during the last few weeks, so we are currently using them at the Animal Encounter sessions. The goslings seem to be a great hit as it's not very often that you get the chance to hold these fluffy little creatures. It's also
amazing the rate that they grow—when they are too large to hold, they will go out into the
paddocks to clear the weeds and grass.

We have been doing a lot of planning for the New Forest Show and are hoping to have an area which will be more educational and interactive than last year. We are taking some of our larger animals along - which ones in particular will remain secret, but I can confirm that Samuel the donkey did not get an invite to attend the show this year after he upset the cows and sheep (well, at least their owners) with his very vocal outbursts last year! We hope that you can come along to the 2013 show, and we look forward to meeting up with you all. Unfortunately, The Queen says she may not be able to attend this year, but I'm sure that we will have some important person come to our display.

BIRTHDAY FUN, EASTER EGGS AND GOATS GALORE!

What a start to the new season! Despite the very cold weather it seems that lots of families have had enough of the long, cold winter and just want to release the children! They visited the farm in their hoards during February half-term, and also over the Easter weekend (more of Easter later). We have also been very busy with school groups. Despite the cold weather, everyone seems to be having a great time. Most of the children come wrapped up nice and warm, and do not notice the chill, but some of the adults come in their summer attire and wonder why they feel so cold! The birthday parties are back in full swing; it still amazes me that children come back year after year knowing just what the party involves, yet never tire of it. Maybe it's because I make the birthday person the "Farmer" or "Boss", as we call it, for one and a half hours! One of those who has had birthday parties with us for the past few years is Farmer Sam. Sam is six years old and is completely paralysed. He spends the entire party in his wheelchair, unable to speak and his vision greatly reduced too. What is very touching about Sam is the smile he gives when I put a chick or guinea pig next to his ear. Sam wriggles his fingers in delight when the goat kid that I put onto his lap bleats at him, which makes me realise that all our efforts to communicate with him are so worth it. Most of Sam's friends also have disabilities - some more severe than others, but it is amazing how they all respond to the animals. This year we have taken on four new members of staff to help look after the animals. Their job involves cleaning out the stables and chicken areas before we open the gates at 10:00 o'clock. Tom and Katie look after all the poultry on the Farm, and Kylie and Poppy have the task of looking after the horses and donkeys. Hopefully this will enable the other staff to spend more time assisting our visitors with the daily activities. We say goodbye to Rachael, who has been looking after the goats for the past two years. She has got the travelling itch and is off to New Zealand to work on a large sheep farm assisting with lambing. We wish her well in her adventures. We have been busy planning what we are going to take to the New Forest Show in July. We have lots of ideas and are currently discussing them with the show's committee. Thank you for all your messages regarding Billy the Shire. We have commissioned a craftsman to design a play structure in the shape and size of Billy to go into the outdoor play area. After several meetings, I am confident that John will come up trumps, and produce this for us by the beginning of the summer holidays. Our goat sheds are crammed full at the moment with more young kids than we have ever had before. Poor Kim is at her wits' end wondering where to put them, and also desperately trying to train them to drink off the bottles before the next batch arrives. I stand my distance when I inform her that another group of kids are due to arrive any moment; I'm not a trained lip-reader, but I can guess what she's calling me! The problem this year is that all our suppliers have decided to kid their goats at the same time, when normally they kid down at different times. At least we can guarantee that everyone will get a go at giving a goat a bottle of milk at feeding time. The Easter weekend was a great success with many visitors taking part in our fun Easter egg trails. The little ones enjoyed looking for the nests around the farm, and counting up the eggs inside - although, I suspect they enjoyed the little chocolate treat at the end just as much! We had much rivalry between the visitors to find the hidden golden eggs - and that was just from the dads! As usual, I made sure that the ten golden eggs were hidden at the beginning of each Easter weekend day - NO ONE was allowed to know where they were hidden - not even Dawn! However, they had all been found by the end of each day - you must be getting cleverer! We are open for the rest of the school holidays, and of course, daily after then. Hope to see you soon. Farmer Bryan.

BRYAN MEETS HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN

After months of preparation, we set up our “mini farm” at the New Forest Showground—truck loads of hurdles and equipment, straw and feed then finally the animals. It took seven of us four days to set it up—with me changing my mind every few minutes, however it was well worth all the effort. By the time the gates opened on the Tuesday, we were happy with what we had achieved. We had been sworn to secrecy about our “special guests” months beforehand. Several security briefings, dress code, correct procedure and I was told not to give a farmer’s embrace when shaking Her Majesty The Queen’s hand. No need to bow as this is not a formal occasion, no new dress and hat for Dawn as The Queen wanted to see us at work! (Phew, that saved me a fortune!). There seemed quite a lot of concern on how I would greet her, with one Buckingham Palace official stressing that the correct term being “Mam” - that rhymes with ham. I soon quashed that terminology when I dreamt one night that I greeted her with “Good afternoon, Ham”!! Dame Mary visited us the day before the royal party and she stressed that The Queen loved children and animals, therefore she would spend four minutes with us to discuss our work. Four minutes, I thought—is all this preparation worth four minutes? I can now confirm that those four minutes without doubt were the longest four minutes of my life!! As The Queen was introduced to me, all my rehearsed formalities went out the window, as I took her hand and said, “Good afternoon and how are you today?”. The smile that beamed from this magnificent lady was so contagious and soon we were chatting away as though we were best of friends. What probably surprised me most of all was her genuine interest in the work that Dawn and I have created at Longdown over the years. She enquired on the work that we have done with special needs children and adults, and told us that it’s important that we continue the good work. The visit was unrushed and she spent time watching the children bottle-feeding the goat kids and holding chicks and rabbits. Charley presented The Queen with a picture that she had drawn. As she studied it, she bent down and said, “That’s wonderful”. Charley was overwhelmed. Prince Philip was interested in the micro pigs—”Who on earth would want one of these as a pet?”, he asked. When I replied, “the rich and famous”, he made it clear they must be mad. Someone pointed out that you can get “mini chops” from them and with that Prince Philip burst into laughter, commenting that it would be ideal for those on a diet.

As it was the last Official Engagement of the Jubilee Tour, Dawn and I and all the staff at Longdown Activity Farm were flattered and highly honoured that The Queen spent those four minutes with us in recognition of the work that we do at Longdown. Alan Titchmarsh, the Show President, spent a long time at our farm display, and along with his wife, Alison, we shared our passion in educating our children. My favourite quote for this week:- A young five year old was so excited to hear that I had met The Queen that he asked me, “Farmer Bryan, if you marry The Queen, will you become King Farmer Bryan?”