One down, one to go; the Black Rock chickens that is!  I have been studiously ignoring the fact that the two Black Rocks which were not fox dinner, have now reached the end of their laying career and are enjoying a retirement filled with luxury organic food, drinks fortified with vitamins and minerals and a nice little des.res. with a grassy garden in which to spend their lazy days. 

 Not any more!  I decided on action after inquiring about a neighbour's chickens and then listening to her bemoaning the fact that she has fourteen little layabouts living in luxury and no longer laying a single egg and this with feed bills going through the roof!  If you have seen  the film"Chicken Run" then you'll know what happened next and no they were not clever enough to come up with an escape plan!

It is now politically correct and advantageous to health to know where your food comes from and how it has been reared and fed so I don't feel too bad about it but I think Black Rock number two may enjoy retirement a while longer before I manage to psych myself up to do it again!  Meanwhile I am off to buy some more new pullets.

The best time of the day at the moment is early morning.  When I go out to feed the chickens at 7:30 the sun is shining, the grass is sparkling, jewel like with heavy dewfall and the birds are singing.  The sheep are still lying down under the old ash tree at the top of the field and get up as Otto and I approach.  They are mostly this year's lambs and are used to seeing the dog from being young but now they are young ladies with attitude and boldly march up to him and stamp a hoof confrontationally just to let him know that they are the boss in this field!

  The four baby swallows in the barn are just about ready to take the plunge and fly.  I hope they will be strong enough to make the trip to Africa in just a few weeks!  It is nothing short of miraculous how fast they develop from tiny blind hatchling to full grown bird gracefully swooping and wheeling around the field, catching insects on the wing.

I am more than a little miffed that the birds have not helped me out with caterpillar extermination, they don't seem to understand that the deal is: I feed them in Winter and they feast on slugs, snails,greenfly and caterpillars in the Summer.  My sprout plants are now a fast disappearing delicate lacework and I have  given up on trying to win the war against the dreaded cabbage white!  I suppose it is my fault really because we have filled the gardens with Buddleia and Lavenders and suchlike which act as a magnet to butterflies so it's no surprise they stay and lay their eggs in 'butterfly heaven'.

I could'nt believe how fast my Calor Gas had gone down.  "We only run a little gas cooker off it in the Summer, when the Rayburn is switched off." I said to the delivery man.

"I'll tell you the answer to that",  he said , "Squirrels!  Look they've eaten through the rubber hose on your tank and now all the gas has leaked out!"

This is how they pay me back after I have turned a blind eye to them raiding the bird table, (well sometimes), protected their nest in the Ivy banks,(O.K.I did'nt know it was there) and fondly watched as the youngsters emerged ,carried by their mother; they now eat my rubber hoses and get high on my gas!

A while ago some guests at The Cruck Barn told me they had been to Bakewell Farmer's Market and seen 'squirrel burgers' on a stall.  I laughed at the time but it does'nt seem such a bad idea now;  I wonder where I can get the recipe from.  It's war,  make no mistake about it!!

Another loss last Thursday!  This time it was Maud, the biggest hen and one of the best layers.  I'm afraid we can no longer claim,  "Free range eggs",  they will now have to be,  "Fresh, severely restricted range eggs"!

The fox population is proliferating, individuals are getting short of territory and therefore having to take the risk of hunting by day and coming close to human habitation to steal poultry and anything else they can get.  This is bad news for the fox in the long term but devastating for my chickens in the short term!

Normally I am a bit of a technophobe but I am getting carried away with how much fun it is to create this web-site and I'm looking for new things to do to it all the time, (yes O.K. it's sad and I should get out more!) 

Anyway I've put on a guest book now for anyone who cares to make any comment, either about your stay here or a place or a walk or restaurant that you particularly recommend or a story you have to tell etc.  Please use it to communicate with others about The Cruck Barn or about this part of Derbyshire or just to tell me what was special about your stay so that we can carry on improving things.

As those of you who have stayed at The Cruck Barn will know, we have four chickens who provide us with ample eggs for our own family use and for guests at the barn.  No longer........!   We now only have three. 

Matilda disappeared on Wednesday whilst they were free ranging in the field.  She always was one to wander away from the rest and now she has paid the ultimate price, she has become dinner for some young fox hunting the fields during the day.  No - one heard or saw anything and there was no trace of her going, save for one solitary black feather blowing in the breeze at the top of the field.  Poor Matilda!

I am currently training to become a Reiki therapist and hope, in the near future to be able to offer Reiki sessions to any guests who feel that they may benefit from this complementary therapy or who are keen to experience the total relaxation that it can offer.

Reiki, (meaning universal life-force energy) is a safe, gentle, non-intrusive technique that uses invisible, universal energy to balance, heal and harmonise the mind, emotions and body, promoting a feeling of deep relaxation and sense of well-being.  It does not involve any manipulation or massage and takes place whilst you are fully clothed and comfortably covered with a soft blanket and listening to gentle backgound music.

It has been known to bring about significant pain relief, easing of stress and healing of ailments in many people and offers deep relaxation to everyone.

We could never work out why a fluffy white coating persistently appeared on the wall, low down at the bottom of the stairs.  It was'nt damp, it was'nt an outside wall and the wall had been recently skimmed with plaster.  No matter how often we brush it off it soon re-appears!  Now I think I may have found the answer.  This is an excerpt from a book about old farming memories in the area...........

"...........     but I've still got the legacy of salting pigs in my farmhouse.  The salt stays in the walls permanently, it's there as a fluffy white coating.  You'll never get it out.  Even in the room on the other side of the pantry, the wall paper would not stay on without a false front of timber and plaster boards being fitted".                                        (an old farmer now in his 80s.)

So it seems quite likely that that corner of The Cruck Barn could have been the place where the cottage pig was scalded to remove the hair after it was killed and the hams rubbed with salt and hung to preserve and possibly this was happening here over many generations!

The old Walnut tree in the field may also have an interesting past history.  In the 16th.Century, Mary Queen of Scotts was incarcerated in Wingfield Manor,(a mile or so from here), by it's owner, Bess of Hardwick who was given this unenviable job by Queen Elizabeth 1st.  A local supporter of Mary, Anthony Babbington of Dethick, (his manor house still stands, just over the fields), hatched a plot to free her and instate her as rightful queen.  In order to get close to the manor unseen, he and his co-conspirators stained their faces with walnut juice so they would not be spotted by the guards at night.  They were caught and arrested and executed of course.  Apparently there were several Walnut trees at Wheatcroft in those days but only two remain now; could ours have been one of the trees he aquired the walnut cases from to make his dye?  He could never do it today of course because the squirrels get all the walnuts before anyone else has a chance!

We love to have dogs staying at The Cruck Barn; we are very 'doggy' people, but we do have two simple rules and I'd like to take the opportunity to explain why.

First of all we ask that dogs stay in the big downstairs room and do not go upstairs.  The reason for this being, the upstairs is a sleeping area with fitted carpet and various rugs and sheepskins.  The microscopic particles  left behind from a dog's coat could become an irritant to anyone suffering an allergy, no matter how well the room was cleaned.  So out of respect for everyone we welcome dogs but downstairs only.

Secondly, we ask that dogs are walked off -site, on a lead, to wee and all the rest.  The lane outside the gates is very quiet and there are footpaths next to the garden.  If your dog is simply allowed to wander on his or her own outside then the first instinct is to start scent-marking his perceived 'new' territory.  The next dog to come and stay then has the urge to scent-mark over the top of this and I am sure you can imagine the result!  Our dogs would  join in this free for all if they got half a chance and we would be constantly cleaning up!

I hope you agree that our rules are sensible and reasonable and do not in any way detract from your enjoyment.  Anyway, if you go out for a short stroll late at night you will have the pleasure of hearing the owls and perhaps even bump into one of our local badgers!

If you are staying at The Cruck Barn for a Winter break, on a frosty morning, don't miss the view from the balcony.  We have a high vantage point facing South and East, with panoramic views not to be missed at this time of year.  Go out there between 7 and 8a.m. and watch the sun rise over the mist hanging in the Amber Valley.  Look out for the gothic ruins of South Wingfield Manor rising from the mist.  It really is a magical scene on a crisp Winter morning and well worth dragging yourself the few yards from your bed to the balcony doors!  (you can always just put a jumper over your jamas and then go back and snuggle down for another hour or so but don't forget there are some excellent Winter scenery walks to be done!)

November 18th.  first snow of the year!  By evening there must have been several inches of crisp white snow and the guests at The Cruck Barn awoke to a Winter Wonderland scene from the balcony,(it really made someone's birthday apparently), but it did'nt last.  By mid-morning it had all melted away to the chagrin of the children down the lane who have just moved to Derbyshire and can't wait to go sledging and build snowmen!  I'm sure there's more where that came from though.