Cups On

Learning all things gelato! 😋❤️🐄🍦

Recently, Alice (aka ) kindly invited me to join her local discussion group, SoilEd, a group of farmers and growers with a passion for soil, regen agriculture, food production and the environment.

Last night Alice organised a brilliant meeting for the group , our neighbouring dairy farm ❤️🐄. This was my 1st meeting, I felt super nervous beforehand, I always do when doing something new, but I needn't have worried, everyone was so friendly and it was really nice to see some familiar faces too.

is a great example of a thriving farm diversification business. Lawrence runs the 350 cow, Spring block calving, low input:low output, grazing dairy farm, whilst his wife Lee, and daughter Zoe run the gelato business.
The Jersey cross cows supply milk for the gelato business, whilst the majority of milk is sold to . Their gelato business started in 2018, and has gone from strength-to-strength, even through the tough Covid days where they did a successful door-to-door delivery service. It was fascinating to see everything that goes into production and the tight margins that need to be constantly scrutinised to make it profitable.
We were lucky enough to sample the delicious gelato and of course I had to purchase a pot for Abel and Casey too!

📷:
1. 's iconic blue cow!
2. Looking towards the coastline that we farm!
3. The gelato processing plant.
4. The goods! When printing these tubs, the minimum print quantity is 10 000 tubs! 🤯
5. Sunset over the coastline 😍.
6. Me sat nervous in the car just before heading into the meeting! I'm in my "don't say no to doing things just because you're nervous" era!!

Do you know what makes gelato different to ice cream? Pop it in the comments ⬇️...

Back to school 🥹

Can't believe Abel headed into year 2 this morning 🥹🥹. There was a mixture of excitement and nerves, but overall he can't wait to see his friends (and start searching for Bigfoot again😆!!).

Drove home feeling really choked up, Casey cried, we all miss him already, but so proud of our Abel 🫶. Roll on pick-up time!

Thinking of everyone going through starting school/back to school moments. It's not easy for everyone, school places, those that should be there but aren't ❤️‍🩹. Thinking of you all.

P.S. grateful for our beautiful commute, definitely lifted my spirits seeing the calm water.

When you try to dress fancy on holiday, but your kids are huge Paw Patrol fans!! 😆😘

We traded in our hi-vis workwear for some hi-vis inflatables! 😎

judging day! ❤️

I arrived this morning at Agriconnect feeling a bit nervous, but having had such a great time, I left on a high. Everyone was so friendly and welcoming, and the whole experience was an honour to be a part of.

Having won the Farm Worker category last year, I've had the exciting job of being one of the judges for the same category this year.

They announced this morning that in it's 12th year, they received their highest number of enteries. A massive congratulations to everyone that has been nominated, shortlisted or reached the finals. 👏👏

I had the absolute pleasure of judging alongside and . These 2 women deserve a massive shout out, they were so awesome and I'm so glad we all clicked and worked as such a great team. We met the candidates online, they all did amazingly well, and I can't wait to meet them all in person in October at the awards.

Having spoken to the very lovely .l.ashworth a few times before, it was so good to finally meet in person. I also had a really lovely time chatting with and Rosemary from , both of whom won their categories last year, and are doing wonderful things in the industry.

I'm sorry I didn't get everyone's name, but what a pleasure to meet so many wonderful people behind the much loved as well as and .

📷
1. Obligatory photo by the entrance sign! 😆
2. Frozen on screen deep in judging duties!
3. Slight panic as we tried to fix a few technical hitches (logging in and out did the trick!).
4. being the legend she is! 😆 (Back story on the chicken...in my nervousness I whimped out of eating the tasty looking chicken for fear of making a mess at the standup buffet. We celebrated Amy's bravery! 🤣)
5. Selfie with The sign!
6. have the best foot stalls!

Off on our "great escape"!!

The last couple of days have been full of farm prep work, packing, tidying the house (my aim was to come home to less chaos than we did last year 😅) and handovers. It's been a tough time recently with Adam being unwell and the juggle of work and life etc., but so excited we've made it away and started off with the 1st leg of our (very much needed) breakaway!

Whilst Adam and the boys get a bit of hotel chill time, I am so excited to be attending the Agriconnect headquarters tomorrow, home of and (BFA's), for the BFA's judging day. I am honoured to be judging the Farm Worker category this year alongside and Molly Chenery, can't wait to meet you both, and the amazing finalists (via zoom).

📷
1. Enjoyed room service whilst going over my notes for tomorrow.
2. 1st leg of our great escape...here's to family time 🎉!
3. & 4. Fun at the services, showcasing their 1st ever haircuts (Adam and I got the ✂️ out yesterday!).

A massive thank you to the farm team at home who will be covering our work, and to my lovely parents who are pet sitting our 🐇🐇🐈‍⬛.

Family fun 🥰

We have had such a lovely time today and feel so grateful for the opportunity to have been invited along for a family experience. We are big fans of the museum, having come here regularly since it was reopened, there is something of interest for all ages, and the best bit, it's free to visit! We highly recommend it to anyone local or visiting.

📷
1. Big smiles after a fun day out.
2. The most delicious lunch at
Kitchen and Bar.
3. Abel and Casey were super proud to have their clay "sea themed" pieces displayed in the museum.
4. Spotting ourselves (when we were all a little younger!) in the I Wonder display.
5. One of our favourite pieces in the exhibition by Njideka Akunyili Crosby.
6. Practicing their contrapposto poses in front of the glorious "As sounds turn to noise" bronze statue by Thomas J Price.
7. Learning about the fantastic artwork on the family tour of The Time is Always Now exhibition.
8. A few more of our favourite pieces. Such an incredible exhibition celebrating so many fantastic artists and their creations.
9&10. Silhouette creations in the walk-in summer sessions (all free of charge).

Come and explore with us!

A little intro about us for anyone following along for the 1st time.... hi, my name is Holly, Mum to Abel and Casey, and wife to Adam (who sadly can't join today as he is unwell).

Today we have been very lucky to be invited out for a "family experience" at our favourite place in Plymouth, The Box museum.

We will be stopping for a spot of lunch in The Box's restaurant, follow by a family tour of their new, visiting tour, The Time is Always Now, and then a family craft session. We'll be sharing in stories and show our favourite bits in a post later on today.

Life lately!! 😅

The last few days have been a whirlwind...poor Adam has been seriously ill, thankfully he's home now and recovering. It's been a big juggling act between everything, and we are grateful for the support we've received, especially everyone we work with on the farm
📷:
1. The ambulance team that attended were super kind to us all, one of the crew sweetly entertained/distracted the kids for a bit with an ambulance tour.

2. I got a flat tyre literally 5 minutes after we had to leave Adam getting treatment in A&E. Luckily I found somewhere safe to change it. Abel was a superstar helping me, Casey was a toddler about it 🤪(as to be expected)!

3. After visiting times were over we went straight to the farm to double check ear tag numbers for a group of cows leaving the farm the next day. My feet got covered in 💩, Casey fell asleep, so carried him to bed with "foot protection" so I didn't walk 💩 through the house!

4. Very late night passport search and refreshments. Abel wanted to keep me company, and did bless him until he fell asleep at the table.

5. Farming with understandably over-tired and emotional kids was a challenge!

6. Fences and bagging cake.

7. R1 and R2 (plus bull) moves.

8. R1 fly prevention and eye infection (x1) treatment.

9. Snacks for the beef groups!

10. R1's on the moooove!

Here's to all the parents juggling work alongside their children this summer, and here's to all the chief, little gate openers helping out during their holidays!!

Abel was desperate to help in anyway he could today on the farm, so I said he could hold open a couple of gates. It was a good opportunity to talk about safety surrounding gates and where he should stand i.e. to stand behind the path of least resistance not against it, so if he dropped it or the wind blew he wouldn't be knocked over as it swung into the path of least resistance. (Hope that makes sense! It was easier to demonstrate it in real life, than explain here!)

P.S. Abel fully embraces our hi-vis policy, good job 1 of his favourite colours is orange! 😆😅

You'd think I would have learnt by now...never say I won't be long when going to check on cattle because you can guarantee that'll be the day it all goes wrong!!! 😅🤦🏻‍♀️

What should have been an easy grazing break move and a concentrate feed out for the R1's, turned out to be an interesting game of remove the intruders!! I arrived to find two R2's had gone on a little jolly and found their way to the R1's! 😆

And for full disclosure as much as I wanted to succeed in getting them back on my own, I eventually had to admit defeat and ask for help. Which is fine, better to get help than get the animals stressed and take any safety risks.

When you say "cheese!!",it's 1 week until
!!

Looking forward to this year's , and sharing all we do on farm. If you haven't heard of this annual initiative, then follow the # , and to learn about agriculture from many different perspectives over a 24 hour period on Thursday 8th August.

When people ask us why we moved to South Devon...it was for this,....this!!! 🩵🌊🐮😍

We've called this home for 7.5 years, and the novelty of farming this system and living by the sea still hasn't worn off!

Farms are not playgrounds...
For children growing up on farms, the farmyard is often their backyard, and with that comes many potential risks.

Here's our youngest "farm safety officer" trying on Daddy's quad bike helmet ❤️.
We always do our best to raise our kid's awareness for their farm safety, but overall it is our responsibility to keep them safe, which means always being one step ahead😅!

My biggest tip is to always make sure you have a conversation between any other adults present, to check who is in full "watch mode" of the kids, it's too easy to make assumptions and for accidents to happen.
And I apply the same when at the beach, on day trips, in the shops etc too!

I did it!...😅😬

When invited me to host a farm walk and talk for I was really honoured but also super nervous.

I am so glad I pushed myself, as today I had the pleasure of hosting 14 lovely visitors on farm. As we toured the farm, with support from Evie and Becky from , we reflected on relevant areas of farm safety.

It was great to meet so many lovely people and share what we do here. ❤️

Sharing my as part of the countdown...

Today I ran a calf rearing workshop for the team from the autumn block calving herd within the farm group.

I was super nervous but also very grateful for the opportunity to share my passion, experience and knowledge. Adam introduced the session and then left me to it, whilst taking over parent duties so I could fully concentrate!

We chatted all things calf rearing from birth through to weaning, with my main goal of providing the framework for the team to create their own bespoke calf management protocols. My brain feels a little fried, but I am super proud to have pushed out of my comfort zone to achieve what we did today. I am excited to collaborate with their team again in the future and support them as needed.

Thank you for the nomination to share my . I nominate anyone who would like to join in, and please share your victories in the comments below ⬇️🙌.

When the fog lifts and you find your fencing isn't too wonky after all! 🤣🤣

Fencing in the fog...I always have that thought of how embarassed will I be tomorrow when the fog lifts and I can hopefully see further than 40 paces ahead! Lets see how wonky it actually is!!

Summer 2024 depicted in one photo: Wellies on and ice lolly in hand!! 🤣

Scratches for the sweetest Speckle Park whilst listening to the crashing waves; a massive perk of my job ❤️.

It's always a good feeling when everyone's where they're supposed to be!!

When the early morning shift isn't too bad at all ❤️☀️🐄🌱🌿

TB free!! Say what!?

It's been a long time coming, and I didn't dare believe it after the 1st clear test a couple months ago, but here we are, a whole herd test clear again, and no testing for 6 months!!

I did think twice about posting this because usually we are in the "shutdown" camp and I would hate to upset someone going through a TB breakdown. My heart truly goes out to anyone experiencing losses from TB, I'm always here to listen/chat about it if needed.

But this moment of celebration, be it for 6 months or longer, is a little bit of hope after the continuous, heartbreaking losses this farm has endured over the years. Cows like Valentine (my favourite if you've been here a while you may remember her), or pregnant cows whose calves never got a chance at life, this moment of celebration is for them, because maybe it wasn't all in vain after all. 💔🐄❤️‍🩹

Better late than never...

A day late with my Father's Day appreciation post as a tricky bout of retinal migranes meant I couldn't stare long enough at my phone to complete it!🤪🤦🏻‍♀️But here it is...

Happy Father's Day Adam to our hero, we totally adore you 🫶. Adam works insanely hard, especially over the last couple of years, and has made so many sacrifices. I don't know how he does it!? We grab whatever time we have for little family adventures (like yesterday when we visited the museum for a couple of hours inbetween milkings) and love that we can all make memories whilst working together on the farm. As the hardwork pays off and everything settles back down, we are excited for more adventures on and off the farm.

A massive shout out to my amazing Dad too and to Adam's who we miss terribly.

Father's Day isn't an easy one for everyone, and thinking of those who found the day tough.

From coast to coast...

Yesterday, on the farm, we attended the incredibly moving lighting of the beacon to commemorate 80 years since D-day.

Looking out over a calm and peaceful sea felt extremely poignant as we remembered all of those who faced the terrors of D-day across the waters on the French coast, almost a lifetime ago.

Adam and I toured the D-day landing beaches via motorbike, 9 years ago. I have included photos from that trip, and will never forget the heavy, solemn atmosphere that shrouds that coastline.

We are so lucky to live and work in peace, without fear, yet unfortunately so many are still faced with war today. The little graffiti slogan in my 6th photo says it all. 🫶

Shine bright! 😎💡☀️

Last day of half-term for us today 😥. My littlest team members have been keen to help with farm jobs this week, from security and grazing fencing, to moving and feeding calves. I've also balanced the workload with lie-ins for them when Adam is home, and lots of stay-cation adventures. A tiring but fun balancing act! 😅

Half-term and childcare needs can be challenging, I am lucky that I can blend mumlife and worklife, however farm safety always needs to remain the priority. Farming safely is a mindset we are constantly working on for the whole family, starting with small but effective methods from wearing safety conscious clothing, to giving clear, age appropriate instructions for age appropriate tasks, and maintaining constant supervision.

Grateful ❤️❤️

With everything going on in the world right now, peaceful moments like these make me feel incredibly lucky.