Limousin Farm Holidays Family BlogIf you want to keep up to date with what's new at Limousin farm holidays, find out here. If chicks hatch, a rabbit gives birth or I discover a great new french food recipe, I will let you know. The kids give their input too. Maisy lets you know about french teenagers, Nelly tells us what life is like in a french swimming team and Fergus tells us about mud and stones. If you want to subscribe to our blog, click on the orange button. May 18, 2010, Wild and UnexpectedA strange thing happened last weekend. I was standing in the garden when Graham said, "Look behind you!", obviously I ignored him but then the look on his face made me turn round. I saw a wild boar piglet desparately trying to get into our pig enclosure.
Graham crept around and let it in, where our pigs greated it enthusiastically.
It became apparent that this wild boar wasn't quite so wild as we first suspected as it joined in the others at feeding time. Where it came from remains a mystery, but it is quite happy where it is, despite Graham's only other comment; "This place is turning into a blooming wildlife park!"
The kids have christened him 'Bolter'. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Wild and Unexpected" Apr 25, 2010, Planting up the Veg GardenThis year we have extended our vegetable garden so we can offer you a wider range of home grown fruit and veg and have more to turn into jams and chutney and hopefully have some left over for ourselves!
He are the kids hard at work getting the tatties planted.
Permalink -- click for full blog post "Planting up the Veg Garden" Apr 19, 2010, Your Limousin Farm HolidayBook your limousin farm holiday here; Tipi or Yurt ? Come in June to see the lambs, August to swim in the lakes or September to gather mushrooms? Permalink -- click for full blog post "Your Limousin Farm Holiday" Apr 19, 2010, Half Term HolidaysThis is not a volcano!! This is just a beautiful sunrise on the farm.
With the farm situated only 6 hours from channel ports by car, why not book a holiday for half term, that you know you will be able to get home from. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Half Term Holidays" Mar 20, 2010, Campfire PreparationsWe are starting to prepare for the season ahead and clear up after the winter storms.
Campfires are encouraged at Limousin farm Holidays and all the kit you need to cook on them is in your tipi or yurt. All the produce you need to make great campfire meals is available in our shop, and firewood is free. We are busy stockpiling supplies!
Permalink -- click for full blog post "Campfire Preparations" Jan 28, 2010, Family Friendly HolidaysAt Limousin Farm Holidays we offer a perfect way for you and your children to relax, interact and explore. There are always plenty of new friends to be made, new walks to discover, new bugs to identify.
There are always jobs on the farm to help with; here are two youngsters off to feed the sheep.
Permalink -- click for full blog post "Family Friendly Holidays" Jan 26, 2010, Our Farm Shop, Stocked With Delicious Fresh Produce.Our farm shop offes your a great range of farm produce, with EVERYTHING coming from the farm and made here from scratch. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Our Farm Shop, Stocked With Delicious Fresh Produce." Jan 26, 2010, Baby and Toddler HolidaysRelaxed, happy baby and toddler holidays mean relaxed, happy parents. We provide all the baby 'kit', the baby friendly environment and entertainment, so you can enjoy your holiday as much as the kids. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Baby and Toddler Holidays" Jan 25, 2010, Vos Vacances a Camping a la Ferme en Limousin, Contactez Nous .Vennez voir notre camping a la ferme en Limousin. Tipi où yourte? Vennez en mai pour voir les petits agneaux, en juillet pour se baigner où en septembre pour ramasser des champignons. Jan 25, 2010, Les produits de la ferme sont cuit pour faire nos table d'hôtes délicieux.Nos table d'hotes a la ferme sont cuit avec nos produits de la ferme. Toute la viande et legumes pour les tables d'hotes sont produit sur notre belle exploitation. Jan 25, 2010, Hebergement à la Ferme, logez dans nos beaux tipis et belles yourtes.Hebergement à La Tuilerie, notre belle ferme limousine. Logez dans les tipis et yourtes luxueux, un camping vraiment 'cool' et confortable. Jan 6, 2010, Snow here too!We seem to be having the same cold spell as the UK and the animals are certainly getting bored with it, not to mention the humans! Previous visitors might like to imagine 'Pizza night' in this weather;
Meanwhile the tipis and yurts are all dismantled and tucked away inside, leaving the campsite free for our tups. They are having a well deserved rest after all their hard work with 'the girls'!!
All this snow makes you think of summer and booking a great luxury camping holiday. We only have a couple of available bookings left for August, so don't delay if you don't want to be disappointed. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Snow here too!" Nov 19, 2009, Life in Limousin, How and Why do we Live Here?How we sold our veterinary practice on the Isle of Islay and started life in limousin. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Life in Limousin, How and Why do we Live Here?" Nov 19, 2009, Find Limousin Farm HolidaysHow to find limousin farm holidays,? What are the cheapest, quickest and greenest ways to get there? Permalink -- click for full blog post "Find Limousin Farm Holidays" Oct 16, 2009, See Our Tipis and Yurts.See our luxurious tipis and yurts, tastefully furnished and well equipped. We want our guests to enjoy a relaxed fun, cool camping holiday. Permalink -- click for full blog post "See Our Tipis and Yurts." Oct 7, 2009, Closed for 2009We are now closed for 2009. We would like to thank all our visitors, both those that have come for the first time and those who have come back for more. We look forward to seeing many of you again next year. We shall be opening on 29th May 2010 until 2nd October. Our prices remain at the 2009 rate for the time being. So if you want to ensure a great value family holiday, with fantastic food, entertained kids and beautiful scenery, don't forget to book early. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Closed for 2009" Oct 7, 2009, Camping a la Ferme en Limousin, pour ceux qui aiment la nature et la nourriture.Un camping a la ferme en Limousin, avec les tipis et les yourtes, dans un elevage des vaches limousines, Pour s'accorder avec la nature et manger les produits de la ferme. Aug 9, 2009, Our first hog roastWe had our first hog roast last Thursday. We borrowed a set up from our farrier to see how it worked and hope to commission one from him soon. This pig was a bit on the large size and took 9 hours to cook, but tasted superb.
We look forward to more lamb and pig roasts in the near future.
Permalink -- click for full blog post "Our first hog roast" Aug 8, 2009, So cool!!We have had lots of return visitors over the last couple of weeks and we hope to see them all again next year. The kids are certainly all up for it, if this super poem is to be believed;
Tents are nothing compared to tipis,
Riding on Megan, (Felicity Darwent, aged 8) Permalink -- click for full blog post "So cool!!" Jul 6, 2009, Well connectedSee how the Independent last saturday rated us, and come and see why. Jun 25, 2009, BugsWe have been upgrading our walks around the farm, especially the 'wildlife adventure walk' through the wet meadow.
The insect life down there is incredible, so much so we are struggling to identify all the various bugs.
Here are a few more common ones and any buddding entomologists are welcome to help us with the more unusual ones.
Permalink -- click for full blog post "Bugs" Jun 24, 2009, Tractor TimeAlways trying to keep our younger visitors happy we have aquired an old 'play tractor', removed all the grease and scary pointy bits, installed a bench seat (to accommodate 3 drivers!), repainted and Voila!
Permalink -- click for full blog post "Tractor Time" Jun 4, 2009, Breakfast now included
Breakfast is now included in the price of your stay at Limousin farm Holidays. We provide coffee, tea, hot chocolate, baguettes, butter and a selection of homemede jams (and Nutella of course), free of charge. We go to the bakery or the van comes every morning so everything is fantastically fresh. Croissants, pain chocolate and bread for the rest of the day can be ordered and we will collect it for you. Breakfast is served in a basket, so you can eat it in your tipi or yurt, in a hammock or in the morning sunshine anywhere on the farm. Bon appetite! Permalink -- click for full blog post "Breakfast now included" Apr 26, 2009, Lambs galoreApril is when our weather turns from winter to spring, which is lucky for the lambs, as the grass is growing in the sunshine. We have had a very mild start to the year and the lambs have been strong with lots of twins and triplets. The addition of a very active Suffolk ram last Autumn has meant lots of black and brown lambs and quite a few 'mixed litters'. This is when the lucky sheep gets 'caught' by both tups and has one Suffolk lamb and one Texel! Permalink -- click for full blog post "Lambs galore" Apr 26, 2009, Wildlife NewsWorried about a new large burrow that appeared in the lambing field, but confused that it didn't stink of fox, we dug out the 'tracking' book and discovered we have badgers moved into a hedgerow just below the campsite. All the classic traces are there, and although we have not seen them yet, we hope they are breeding. We also have a barn owl nesting between the rafters and end wall of the new cow shed, we are trying to organise a webcam to watch. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Wildlife News" Mar 13, 2009, Llambing soonWe will start lambing in the next week so Larry is being aclimatised to his 'guardian' role. Can you spot him?
We had our first calf today, so we expect to be busy looking after all the babies for the next month. Oh, here he is!
If you want to see our babies, now is the time to book your holiday with us. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Llambing soon" Feb 17, 2009, Great Value Family HolidayBeat the recession, find a great value family holiday, get back to nature in body and mind, relax... "This farm Rocks!!!" Molly age 12, England.
We are already filling up for July and August, so don't delay too long, give yourself a Summer holiday to look forward to, and remember. Picture yourself sitting round the campfire, feasting off delicious free range chicken and salad from the farm. Licking your fingers and staring up at the stars. The kids are falling asleep around the campfire with 'fresh air intoxication'. Bliss... See you in the Summer... Permalink -- click for full blog post "Great Value Family Holiday" Jan 16, 2009, NO HIDDEN EXTRASREMEMBER, at Limousin Farm Holidays we do NOT charge extra for bedding, towels, travel cots, high chairs or wood. It is all included in the price. This year we realise people are looking for value for money and not a list of 'extra' charges. At Limousin Farm Holidays you know that if you end up with a bill, it will only be for that bag of chocolate brownies, you just couldn't resist buying from the farm shop.
Permalink -- click for full blog post "NO HIDDEN EXTRAS" Jan 16, 2009, What's New?We are starting to make preparations for our 2009 season already.We have ordered an outdoor pizza oven, so in addition to our extremely popular 'table d'hotes' night we shall be offering a pizza night too. Get thinking of great pizza toppings to try out. We are doing up the shop so that we can extend our range of farm produce for sale. Expect to see home baking, honey from the chestnut woods, chutneys and home made fudge as well as all the usual fruit, vegetables and free range meat.
Permalink -- click for full blog post "What's New?" Jan 2, 2009, Happy New YearBest wishes for 2009 from everyone at La Tuilerie.
In these 'hard-pressed' times we think a family holiday at la Tuilerie is the ideal, cost effective way to forget your troubles without breaking the bank. To make this experience irresistable we are keeping our prices DOWN. Our rates will remain the same as 2008 up until we open on 23rd of May. This means all bookings taken up until this date will benefit from our 2008 tarifs. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Happy New Year" Jan 2, 2009, Limousin farm holidays for lovers of french food, the outdoors and wildlife.A real working Limousin farm offering interesting accommodation, home cooking & a chance to connect with nature. Limousin farm holidays offers birdwatching, walking, cycling & eating. Dec 13, 2008, Le situation de camping à la ferme en limousin, où on se trouve?Notre situation dans la belle region de Limousin, les itinéraires les plus vites et les moins cher pour y aller. Dec 13, 2008, La vie en plein air, promener, randonner, jouer ou détendre.Vivez en plein air à La Tuilerie, Visitez tous les attractions du grand air de la Creuse. Permalink -- click for full blog post "La vie en plein air, promener, randonner, jouer ou détendre." Dec 13, 2008, Notre ferme en Creuse, une belle exploitation pour les vacances.Vennez voir notre belle ferme en Creuse. Nous sommes éleveurs des vaches limousines, et des brebis. Nov 25, 2008, Larry the llamaMeet Larry the llama. Larry arrived at La Tuilerie today as our prospective 'guard llama'.
Llamas are very protective and territorial, and have a particular dislike for dogs they do not know. So we are hoping that when he becomes used to the sheep, and sees them as his 'herd', and learns his territory, he will protect them against fox attack. In America they are used frquently to protect against coyotes, so a fox should be easy compared to that. He also likes to be taken for a walk, and will carry your picnic, so we are hoping he will have a summer job too! Permalink -- click for full blog post "Larry the llama" Nov 5, 2008, Livre D'or, visitors' bookNow that the tipis have been taken down, we have time to reflect on our 2008 season.
Here's what some of our visitors had to say; "I really, really like this farm." Mimi, aged 4, UK. "The stuff of happy memories." Regina, Ireland. "Fantastic stay with a lovely family." Adam Henson, BBC Radio 4. "What a place! What a great family! We want to be adopted!" Neil, UK.
Permalink -- click for full blog post "Livre D'or, visitors' book" Oct 14, 2008, Closed for 2008We are now closed for 2008, it has got a bit chilly at night and the sunflowers have all gone to seed!
We are gathering in the harvests of walnuts and chestnuts, collecting seeds for the campsite next year, and have lots of work to developing the nature trails and our 'rare breeds' area. Watch this space! Remember all 2009 holidays booked before the end of 2008, will benefit from the 2008 prices. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Closed for 2008" Aug 26, 2008, Wildboar on the menu.It is the satrt of the wildboar hunting season. wild boar were shot on the farm last Sunday so the diners at La Tuilerie are in for a rare feast this Friday. Menu for table d'hôtes this week;
Wild mushrooms stuffed with lardons and Roquefort. Roasted wildboar with juniper. Cheese Crème brulée Foolish bramble and elderberry meringues Coffee and mendiants
Permalink -- click for full blog post "Wildboar on the menu." Aug 26, 2008, Limousin Farm Holidays Ecotourism Site Supplying Farm Fresh Local Produce.Stay on our real, working, Limousin farm in Creuse. See beautiful, limousin cows in their native environment. An ecotourism holiday in the heart of the french countryside. Aug 3, 2008, On Sale Now.The harvests are in full swing, so the farm shop is full of delicious home grown and home made produce.
Here are some of the products available;
Cherry & recurrant jam Pork & venison terrine Harricot verts Salads Cucumbers, green peppers and tomatoes Courgettes Fresh free range eggs Fresh fee range chicken Permalink -- click for full blog post "On Sale Now." Aug 3, 2008, What do you think of it so far?Our visitors' book is on the wall of our common room. On departure you can put your hand print and comment for all to see.
Here's what the last family to leave had to say about their stay. "Thank you so much for sharing your lovely farm. We'll take away cherished memories of the days and nights in our tipi, and getting 'back to nature'. We go home to England rejuvinated and ready to face the rat race again. Many thanks again." Adrian, Amanda, India & Jade White, Latchington. Permalink -- click for full blog post "What do you think of it so far?" Jul 7, 2008, Happy as a pig in ....The holidays have started, the sun is out. Every afternoon, 'watering' the pigs is a favorite job.
Pigs have no sweat glands and have to cool down by wallowing. I know why my pork tastes so good, can't you see this pig smiling?
Permalink -- click for full blog post "Happy as a pig in ...." Jun 10, 2008, Nearly FullWe are now nearly fully booked for August 2008, there are only a few days left in a yurt, and a couple of weeks in a tipi.
This is the yurt this morning in the early mist before the sun came out. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Nearly Full" May 30, 2008, Shorn!!Finally, third time lucky, we managed to get the sheep sheared. We have had a week of heavy rain, and twice, when we tried to get the sheep in, it rained. The sun has come out and now we have cleaner, balder, cooler sheep. Graham can shear our sheep himself but it is easier and quicked to pay a shearer and get it all done in a day. Graham does the 'crogging', turning the sheep ready for the shearer, I run about, pack the wool and keep everyone fed and hydrated.
This is the sheep and lambs before shearing this morning.
The sheep are positioned 'sitting' to clip their bellies first.
A quick twist.
Short back and sides.
Nearly done.
90 seconds later.
Starting at 9am, stopping for lunch and finishing at 4pm, Sebastian sheared 179 sheep, to produce about 400kg of wool.
A pile of fleeces ready for rolling and packing. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Shorn!!" May 23, 2008, An emergency mealIt rained on Monday so we were not able to shear the sheep. The clippers just don't work if the sheep are wet and the wool is worthless. So there are no photos of our bald girls yet. I did however, still have to give the shearers the obligatory 4 course lunch, luckily I had some pork at the ready. This recipe takes about 15-20 minutes to cook and can be used with either chicken breast cut into 3-4 pieces, pork loin or rump cut thinly or into 'fingers', I even use this method with a jointed rabbit. You will need; 500g-1kg meat (depending on how hungry you are this will feed 4-6 people), White wine, 250-300g full fat crème fraîche, A good tablespoon Dijon mustard, Salt and pepper, Taragon if you fancy it. Brown the meat briskly in olive oil. Pour in a glass of white wine scraping up any nice crusty bits from the pan. Let it bubble until reduced by about half. Add the mustard and crème fraîche and stir about until the sauce is well combined. Cover and turn down to a gentle simmer until cooked. Small pieces of meat will only take another 8-10 minutes, a rabbit joint about 15-20 minutes. Always extract a biggish bit of meat and cut in half to check it is cooked. Add a good pinch of taragon if you like it. Serve with pasta if you've been caught out by the sheep shearers, baked or mashed potatoes if you have time to think about it. Permalink -- click for full blog post "An emergency meal" May 18, 2008, Some new artworkA preview of some new artwork at Limousin farm holidays. Relax with a herbal bath.
'I love you, I love you not' daisies and the more elaborate french version, which extends to, 'I love you, a bit, lots, passionately, madly, not at all'.
Watch out for pirates!
Permalink -- click for full blog post "Some new artwork" May 14, 2008, Phew lambing is over !Finally lambing is over. All but 2 of the sheep lambed in the first month, so we were very hectic for those weeks. We have been waiting for 2 weeks for the last 2 sheep, and finally they have lambed. Today we emptied the lambing shed, putting out the last of the younger sheep with the main flock. The ewes are still split into those with twins and those with just one lamb. We will be able to stop feeding the 'singles', with their cereals in the next week, as we now have plenty of grass. The ewes with twins will need fed for a few more weeks. We shall be shearing the sheep on Monday, weather permitting. So watch out for photos of wool, sweat, and bald sheep next week. The cows have been turned out to grass too. We shall be putting the bulls out in the next week. As cows have a gestation period of 9 months, they have to go back with bull when the calves are young, if they are to have a calf every year. Today we constructed a new 'tyre snake' for the childrens playground, photos to follow once we have painted it. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Phew lambing is over !" Apr 18, 2008, Table d'hotesTable d'hotes dining at La Tuilerie, experience local produce, cooked simply in a relaxed, family atmosphere. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Table d'hotes" Apr 14, 2008, Pets LambsPet lambs are lambs that need to be bottle fed because their mums cannot feed them for one reason or another. This year we have quite a few for different reasons; 2 sheep both got mastitis (infection of the udder), immediately after lambing and their milk dried up, leaving us with 4 pet lambs straight away.
We also have a lot of 1 year old sheep (hoggs) who are lambing twins. Sometimes these young sheep do not have enough milk for 2 lambs and sometimes they are not mature enough to cope with mothering 2 lambs outside.
We also had 2 sheep which rejected their lambs altogether. Feeding all these lambs from bottles would be quite a chore, so we have specially designed buckets with 6 teats each. The lambs have to be 'trained' to suck the bucket, and then it is much easier for them and us. These lambs cannot be certified under our quality mark scheme, and many people do not bother to rear them. But despite the 4 feeds a day, messy buckets, milk powder and constant "baaahing", we like to give them a chance. They need to be fed for 3-4 months so anyone visiting in the summer will get a chance to meet them. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Pets Lambs" Mar 30, 2008, Spring is sprungThe real arrival of Spring for us , is not the warm weather, the swallows returning or the grass growing. We know Spring is here when we are working 18 hours a day to the mooing and baaing of our livestock.
We are now well over half way through calving, with 44 calves, and very few problems. The calves pictured here like to sleep in a row around the edges of the pens to avoid the push and shove of the cows.
We have put some of the sheep and lambs back outside. The marks on the sides of the lambs, are to enable us to know a set of twins. We use a mixture of symbols and letters which are somehow easier to remember than plain old numbers, especially for kids. This pair have a Charmois mum so they were labelled 'CH'.
Due to 2 sets of triplets arriving, and no spare mums, we also have our first 'pet lamb'.
Permalink -- click for full blog post "Spring is sprung"
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