Meet the goats

I've got loads to tell

I know it's been a while since my last blog, but things have been pretty manic with the farm and the writing.

It does feel very much like things are progressing. On the writing side I've been talking to the assistant editor of the Sunday Telegraph and it's looking very promising that I'll be writing a few freelance pieces for them, which is really exciting.

Lots of magazine work is coming through and i do seem to be very lucky that the work is rolling over. Saying that though, i sent a piece in to the Exmoor Magazine yesterday and realised that's the last deadline i have, which is kind of scary.

I pitched a couple of ideas out this morning (Christmas ideas, oh yes it's that time of year again!), so hopefully something will come of that.

Had a very surreal moment yesterday when needed a photograph for an article I'd written of a Gloucester Old Spot pig under a tree, something very specific but also something i couldn't do because i don't have GOS pigs, so i tweeted for help and ended up messaging Liz Hurley as apparently she keeps them.

My pigs are Berkshires, and at the moment they are somewhat confused Berkshires as i have introduced a new animal onto the farm. I've got goats!

This is Bee...

And this is Amber.

I'm hand milking Amber twice a day and getting about 4 pints. As you can imagine I'm now cooking and making every milk dish in existence, from ice-cream to live bio-yogurt, butter and mashed potatoes to a creamy curry. I get quite excited if i find a recipe that needs milk!

The idea is we'll be completely self sufficient in dairy. It's also a lot of fun to hand milk, and will be a good thing to teach on the smallholding courses we run.