July 2008 News and Views
News & Members' Contributions from Countryside Connection Village
The response has been so wonderful since I began sharing excerpts from our members' monthly newsletters! After enjoying this month's issue, you will be able to read all of the February 2008 News and Views as well as March 2008 News and Views April 2008 News and Views May 2008 News and Views and June 2008 News and Views you might have missed by accessing the individual links. I will continue to provide access to all future issues in the same way so that you will not miss any of the news from our village. To enable you to enjoy past news and members' contributions from our Countryside Connection Village please simply click on the link to the appropriate month each time you visit our site.
Please Note : As one of our members, Artist Linda Leonard Hughes from Maine advised in our February issue, you will be wise to prepare a pot of your favourite brew before beginning so that you can sit back, relax and enjoy all of the exciting news as well as the latest adventures and offerings our members have shared.
I hope you will enjoy the excerpts from our Members' Newsletter. If you have a small business in Britain or America that you would like to see featured on our site and enjoy the full benefits of membership in our unique networking community, please send me an email and I will be delighted to make contact with you and answer all of your questions. Send your request to enquiries@countrysideconnection.com ~ I look forward to hearing from you, Heléne
Dear Visitors to Countryside Connection Village,
July has arrived and I have been thinking about the weather, as you do when you are in the midst of change and life is full of demands that cannot possibly fit into a 24 hour day. I find it helps to concentrate even briefly upon something which you have absolutely no control over. So, in search of some calm, I spent some time online reviewing the weather for June and July in New England – living here in Britain, I am well aware of the shift back and forth between warm sunny days when everything one might choose to do outdoors seems possible and then there is an instant shift to cold, autumnal weather with rain, torrential storms, heavy winds and a fearful reminder of last year’s floods. We have been away from New England for more than three years – time really does fly by - and I like to check in frequently to keep informed about what is happening in that part of the world where many members of our community and my family live.
In my search, I found this description on a website for Travel Planning for New England during the month of June. If this doesn’t show another aspect of how much international members of our community have in common, I do not know what does. The only summertime difference I can find is the one mentioned in last month’s newsletter about the summer school holidays for children which start much earlier in America than in Britain.
“In June, New England's weather is at its most unpredictable.
On an early June weekend I have sat sweating on a porch in the open air, iced drink in hand, only to huddle in front of a fireplace the following weekend.
You never know!
Though the weather is changeable, it is usually fine for travel if you're adaptable.
Early June is not very busy in New England's vacation areas because most children are still in school.
But when school ends in mid-June, many families head out for their summer vacations at the beach in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, or in the mountains of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.”
Another website presented one of those joyful reminders in life that recalls times past and older friends and relations prone to tales that begin “You think this is bad, you should have been around when . . .”
1816: The Year without Summer
Recent winter weather woes in the East can't compare to "winter" weather that befell the area in June and July of 1816:
Connecticut experienced a rare summer blizzard.
Snow and sleet fell in Danville, Vermont.
Massachusetts had snow flurries.
An unseasonably frigid summer brought crop failures all over New England.
Savannah Georgia has a high temperature of only 46 degrees F on July 4.
Some speculated that Judgement day was near, others attributed the unusually cold summer across the country to the massive amounts of dust and ash spewed into the atmosphere by the eruption of the Tambora volcano in Java the previous year.
I received emails in June, just minutes apart, from members Marilyn Tippett of The Mill at Lloyney in Wales www.lloyneymill.co.uk and Lucia and Debbie at Meadowlark Inn in Brattleboro, Vermont www.meadowlarkinnvt.com who were all spending time in New York and sending an email to say ‘hello’!
Speaking of Brattleboro, it was that special time of year again and one of our Founding Members, farmer Helen Robb of Robb Family Farm was right in the forefront of this important event:
The 7th Annual Strolling of the Heifers Parade & Festival was held in Brattleboro from Friday, June 6 – Sunday, June 8, 2008
‘Live Green’ Theme of The 7th Annual Strolling of the Heifers Parade & Festival; The Event and Related Activities Highlighted How Simple Lifestyle Changes Can Help Protect Our Planet
Brattleboro, Vermont -- “Live Green!” was the theme of the 7th Annual Strolling of the Heifers Parade & Festival. Many aspects of Vermont’s light-hearted version of Spain’s Running of the Bulls echoed the message of why it’s important for everyone to make lifestyle changes that protect the environment. “Farmers have always recognized the wisdom of living in harmony with nature,” noted local dairy farm owner Helen Robb. She and Dwight Miller are two of the farmers that helped establish the non-profit organization in partnership with some of the Brattleboro area’s civic leaders in 2001. The Stroll’s mission is to promote awareness of the importance of sustaining local agriculture and to raise money to fund educationally oriented agricultural programs for youth. The organization raises funds through the parade and festival which have been named a Top Ten Summer Event by the Vermont Chamber of Commerce for six years in a row. Money from the fundraising event is distributed to schools and other organizations for agriculturally related education projects through the Heifer Educational Fund.
“We chose ‘Live Green!’ as the theme for this year’s agricultural celebration because when it comes to slowing down global climate change, we’ve all got to do our part,” Robb stated. “People are really beginning to understand that we all have to make lifestyle changes in order to save the environment for future generations. With roughly 40,000 attendees each year, the parade and festival offer an unparalleled opportunity to help people embrace the lifestyle changes needed to preserve the environment for future generations."
Introducing Our Newest Countryside Connection Listing
Member, Carla Boulton of Naughty Mutt in our Rural Support Category has been featured in recent newsletters sharing the increasing amount of work and study she has been doing in her first love of Fine Art. I am pleased to announce that Carla’s newest listing has been added in our Artists & Craftsmen Category: Carla Boulton – Fine Artist and Graphic Designer. Please take time to visit Carla’s latest website www.carlaboulton.co.uk
“I have been a graphic designer for over 15 years, working hard to pay the bills and happily drawing to order when the client requested. The focus is now shifting and I am drawing for a living and exhibiting in various venues, including Down to Earth Gallery in Whitchurch, Shropshire and Dearnford Lake, Shropshire on September 20th.
I have always drawn on paper, on walls, clothes – on everything. An earlier series of 'Creature Portraits' based upon amalgamations of animals and plants has become something to explore further, with the use of the 'Creatures' extending to drawings on fine white china plate and cup sets in an ink which is dishwasher safe - amazing, original crockery can be yours!
In the near future I will stay with the 'creatures' theme and continue to look at the links between all things living: The way that pattern repeats itself in nature and how bizarre things look when we really use our eyes.
From September I shall also be spending time in a local primary school working on art projects and delivering workshops in T-shirt making and china decoration with children.
I have a few 'Creature' drawings in stock and will create commission drawings on paper, china or fabric.”
A Fantastic Month For Countryside Connection Recogniton
First I received a lovely email from a woman called Catherine from North Yorkshire County Council – she wrote to me through our website to say she had discovered our site and loved it and also wanted me to know that she had noticed that many of their members belonged to Countryside Connection as well. She told me about their site www.northyorkshirelocalfood.co.uk and asked if she could add a link to our site. We are now the first link on their Links Page.
We have been in steady contact. I look forward to working closely with Catherine and am delighted that she has been promoting all members of Countryside Connection through their county site! Please let your local towns and area agencies know about us and all members in Britain and America will reap benefits!
I spent three wonderful days with Morgan in London the last week in June – I was there to enable us to catch up on ‘mum and daughter’ time, but also for a birthday surprise she had arranged months before (my birthday is at the end of May and she was home with us for a quick weekend break squeezed into her demanding schedule but this had to be done in June). I did not know any more than that and put it completely out of my mind so that the surprise could not be spoiled – I was absolutely surprised on the day to discover that she had arranged for us to see Neil Diamond in Concert at the O2. The last time I saw him in person was 29 years ago when friends took Alan and me to La Scala Restaurant in Malibu to celebrate our wedding the month before and Neil and Barbara Streisand (another favourite!) were sitting with their families at the table next to us - all very exciting! His performance was fantastic and we were fascinated to see a sea of people in the audience comprised of the same combination of generations – clearly lots of parents and their “children” were enjoying this event together. Then, on the following Sunday, the 29th, just after Morgan had returned home from another visit, this time for Alan’s birthday on Saturday (he has his ‘father and daughter’ time in London to come before we move north), I received two telephone calls in a row, the first from Maggie a dear friend who introduced me to Alan – they had been boyfriend and girlfriend when they were 16! Morgan’s call followed, both were to tell me that I could see more of Neil Diamond by turning on the BBC for The Glastonbury Special! I am still singing and listening to the latest Neil Diamond CD, another surprise from Morgan. I will NEVER forget this birthday!
Speaking of the BBC – I returned from London to find a telephone message from a woman from the research department for the BBC Programme, ”Escape To The Country” Her message said “your website is fantastic!” I returned her call the following morning and after talking about her request I asked permission to quote her comment from the message machine. She said that I should also add that she and her department absolutely loved the site and felt certain it would be the first one anyone living in, or moving to the country, would seek out and get involved in! Great news for all of us! I also told her all about our member, Cally Smart www.countrygate.co.uk and her work in Wiltshire.
She explained that with the current “Credit Crunch” they were searching for new people planning a move from the city to the country to appear on one of their programmes during their upcoming eighth season and hoped I would be willing to mention it in our newsletter. I asked her to submit some information to share with members and visitors to our site. The following is the request I received:
Do you live in a hectic city, yet long for the tranquillity of the country? Are you selling your house in the town in pursuit of a new life and home in the British countryside? Then we want to hear from you.
In a new series of Escape to the Country, Jules Hudson and Alistair Appleton will help people make their getaways to their dream rural homes.
So if you’re fed up with living in a busy city or town and are seriously thinking of moving, the BBC’s Escape to the Country could help you find the perfect country home.
WAYS TO APPLY
Fill out the online application form at www.bbc.co.uk/homes
Or email us on escape@talkbackthames.tv
Or call our hotline on 01494 733 583
**If you do pursue this, please let us know so that we can keep readers informed about your experience and your progress in making an Escape To The Country – Definitely a move our members would highly recommend!
Networking News Between Members in Yorkshire and Virginia
An email from member Wendy Blair of Rose Hill B and B in Roanoke, Virginia www.bandbrosehill.com and exchanges with member Paul Mitchell, owner and proprietor with his wife, Carol of The Wheatsheaf in Wensleydale www.wheatsheafinwensleydale.co.uk brought back memories of their shared interest in Greta Garbo. The logical next step – get them networking! I am delighted to report that they were all equally enthusiastic and are exploring ways to enhance one another’s business! A reminder of “The Garbo Connection”:
Quoting from The Wheatsheaf’s Website: “Perhaps our best kept secret is the stay of Greta Garbo in early 1942 during a break from performances at nearby Catterick Garrison. You’ll find the friendly welcome she received in those distant days is as much a part of The Wheatsheaf’s popularity today.”
And from Wendy’s Rose Hill Band B Website:
Garbo Room - Those who want to be left alone will delight in the sumptuous, satiny décor reminiscent of the grand hotels of yesteryear. The antique, queen-size bed was imported from England. The armoire and vanity were crafted right here in Roanoke in 1930. This room has an attached private bath large enough to require its own zip code and includes a claw-foot tub, shower, two vanities and a fainting couch.
"I never said 'I want to be alone.' I said 'I want to be left alone.'" ~ Greta Garbo
News From Down On The Farm - in England and Wales
Wonderful to hear from Sandra Morton of ‘Perilla’ www.perilla.co.uk but sadly, like so many, her farming and business news shows how increasingly difficult life is for members and others in today’s world. Farming and small businesses are at the heart of our countries and we MUST find ways to support them whenever possible.
Hi Heléne,
“So sorry to hear of your dreadful back problems - I have bad arthritis in my lower lumber area (plus hip and shoulder) and that is bad enough let alone what you have endured. We decided this year to stop breeding sheep which I have to say is one of the saddest and hardest decisions we have ever made. Unfortunately my back just won't hack it any more and my husband is fed up with working 7 days a week during the winter months.
However, I am now in the horse breeding season which means checking mares all night on the CCTV and dragging them off to stud when they are ready to be served again. I have lost my stable girl and general helper after 13 happy years of good service and recently lost the eighth person we had to replace her since September!! Anyway, I am having to muck out now as well as everything else which is not ideal. Hey ho, the joys of running a farm in the year 2008. So many of our neighbours can't get the help either - too many people make more money sitting on their backsides unfortunately.
My daughter is home and is spending most of her time sorting her room out and the enormous amount of STUFF she seems to have accumulated!”
Take it gently,
Best wishes,
Sandra
More lovely emails arrived later in the month from Jinsy with another wonderful newsletter contribution about life at Penyrallt Farm in Wales www.penyrallt.co.uk
Dear Heléne,
“Here is my 2nd attempt to write something for you having lost the one I did yesterday...family distractions, forgot to press file!! Hey-ho, start again.
After a day of horrible rain yesterday we are now bathed in blowy sunshine...from my window I look out onto our lovely stone buildings with a backdrop of tall trees blowing and flowing like the sea in the wind, against a blue sky layered with big fluffy clouds. The shadows of the clouds are skimming across the open fields that are to one side of the view and swallows are swooping and diving around the yard with their constant chatter. It is beautiful.
Walking the dogs this morning they were prancing about in the wind so joyfully making up for the damp misery of yesterday. We walked down through a field where there are a couple of cows with their very new calves, fortunately they are not particularly fierce mothers and they stayed at the top edge with their babies and just watched us going down to the bottom of the field. The calves are only a week old at most and very sweet. They lie flat out in the sunshine while their mothers graze peacefully near by. A very pretty scene.
We are looking forward to a very busy summer with the holiday cottage full and other visitors due to arrive throughout July & August. Now we have the silage crop in and the shearing all done we will be busy with people and various projects, including a lot of re-landscaping of gardens, hopefully creating a lake and building a new farm shed.
Many of the visitors booked into the cottage are families with young children and it is always interesting to see how they respond to the farm. Often they are very torn between staying here and seeing what David is up to and going off to the beach. A compromise is usually reached with Mummy & Daddy promising to make sure that they come back to the farm by 5 'oclock so that the children can watch the cows being milked.
One of the main projects is the re-creation of a garden in the grounds of the 'mansion' that is part of the farm. The garden had been abandoned for 30 years and as result was a jungle of fallen trees, brambles, nettles and thick undergrowth. We cleared all that away and have had area of virgin ground with which to start all over again.
Of the original garden there are a few ancient twisted apple trees in what was the orchard and few massive rhododendrons. We have kept these as they still flower well and the apples produced are wonderful, very good keepers though we do not know what variety they are. Every spare moment is spent in this garden (to the neglect of the garden at the farmhouse, I'm afraid) and it is beginning to look good. Shrubs that we planted two or three years ago at the very beginning of the work are looking established and happy and this last spring I put in a number of old-fashioned roses which are doing well.
'A garden is lovesome thing, God wot.'
The litter of Labrador puppies has been sold and they all went to lovely people who will give them excellent homes. They are huge fun to have around but a time comes when they need to be the centre of attention in a family of their own, not just one of the pack here. The attached photo is of the last one to go...I had got quite fond of him as we had to keep him for a few weeks longer that the others as his new family were going away on holiday and could not have him straight away. As you can see he was lovely and had a sweet nature. I am half looking for new black Labrador bitch as my companion dog, having lost my original one before Christmas. The mother of the puppies is my son's gun-dog and though he has been away in New Zealand for 10 months she is very much his dog.
Yes, Jack is home from his trip to the Antipodes and is full of amazing stories of life on vast farms on the South Island of New Zealand. Very, very different to life on a traditional family farm in West Wales! He was working in some spectacular scenery and in extreme heat, though there was still snow on the mountain tops above the Canterbury Plain where he was staying and the sea was very cold. He also did a month in Western Australia which was so very different again. Kangaroos just hoping across the fields in front of his tractor like we have rabbits!
He is returning to New Zealand in October. It is marvellous experience for him and aged 20 it is the right time for him to travelling the world.
Well, the sun is still shining and the garden is calling so I must finish rambling on.”
Pob hwyl.
Jinsy
I will close for this month leaving you to enjoy the wonderful images of puppies, sunshine and Jinsy’s historic Welsh Garden in the process of restoration, . I hope that July finds you all bathed in warm sunny days and with lots of time to enjoy them ~ please hold a good thought for those of us Britain who are, in the second week of July, still battling with heavy rains and wind with more of the same in the forecast. We know that the rain is why our countryside is the envy of most of the world, but we would be very happy to have a bit of sunshine come our way!
Warm regards to all, Heléne