12th May 2016

A typical stay at Longmead

Every day, is an unfolding story…

Every day is so different at Longmead, but to help paint a picture of what to expect, we’ve taken extracts from a number of typical guest visits and threaded them together. Come and make it yours…

The excitement of a fresh new day. It’s not long after waking up, but there’s already activity outside where the pigs are being fed. By the pig pen the chickens are noisily clucking as giggling children race towards eager to look for fresh eggs and try to pick one of them up. Fuelled by energy from a big fry up everyone gets to work on making sure all of the animals have food and water and then grab wheelbarrows and forks to clean out the pens. Working and laughing together all the jobs get completed in time for a drink and play in the garden. For a while these families have forgotten the urban estate where they live – the fighting with neighbours, the kids who are a bad influence, the drugs being pushed, the endless noise of traffic. Just for now they are enjoying the open space and fresh air without mobile phones beeping and video games machines firing.

The great outdoors. All too soon it’s time to find a goat stick and give the goats a walk down the lane. It’s really funny watching them try to reach the tastiest bits of the trees. One goat is so big some think he is a camel, but he’s really soft to stroke and loves being scratched on his head.

Mucking in together. There are rotas for tasks too when it comes to meal times so that everyone is involved in making the meals and clearing up. This day’s lunch is pizzas with salad and we get dough everywhere as we knead it but the sticky hands are repaid by delicious artistically homemade pizzas with salad picked from the garden.

With full tummies all head in different directions together with someone else to do the things they have chosen to do, some building dens, others making a birdhouse or painting a canvas. Some just have enough time bake some cakes before a game of French cricket.

Longmead lamb smells waft through the house as they get the table laid for dinner. Then it’s time for building a camp fire and finishing our day listening to owls whilst toasting marshmallows and watching the stars. The day has flown by and all can barely keep their eyes open for the bedtime story.

Peace and reflection. In a comfie bedroom all can rest up for the next day and more activities together undisturbed by noise and the concerns from elsewhere. It’s so nice to just have time together as a family with a few people from Longmead sharing their time and the house and farm with us.

The excitement of a fresh new day. It’s not long after waking up, but there’s already activity outside where the pigs are being fed. By the pig pen the chickens are noisily clucking as giggling children race towards eager to look for fresh eggs and try to pick one of them up. Fuelled by energy from a big fry up everyone gets to work on making sure all of the animals have food and water and then grab wheelbarrows and forks to clean out the pens. Working and laughing together all the jobs get completed in time for a drink and play in the garden. For a while these families have forgotten the urban estate where they live – the fighting with neighbours, the kids who are a bad influence, the drugs being pushed, the endless noise of traffic. Just for now they are enjoying the open space and fresh air without mobile phones beeping and video games machines firing.

The great outdoors. All too soon it’s time to find a goat stick and give the goats a walk down the lane. It’s really funny watching them try to reach the tastiest bits of the trees. One goat is so big some think he is a camel, but he’s really soft to stroke and loves being scratched on his head.

Mucking in together. There are rotas for tasks too when it comes to meal times so that everyone is involved in making the meals and clearing up. This day’s lunch is pizzas with salad and we get dough everywhere as we knead it but the sticky hands are repaid by delicious artistically homemade pizzas with salad picked from the garden.

With full tummies all head in different directions together with someone else to do the things they have chosen to do, some building dens, others making a birdhouse or painting a canvas. Some just have enough time bake some cakes before a game of French cricket.

Longmead lamb smells waft through the house as they get the table laid for dinner. Then it’s time for building a camp fire and finishing our day listening to owls whilst toasting marshmallows and watching the stars. The day has flown by and all can barely keep their eyes open for the bedtime story.

Peace and reflection. In a comfie bedroom all can rest up for the next day and more activities together undisturbed by noise and the concerns from elsewhere. It’s so nice to just have time together as a family with a few people from Longmead sharing their time and the house and farm with us.