Our Tredarrup Starlings taking a bath !!!!!

 Every year we are visited from November onwards by roosts of thousands of starlings that come across from Europe…  They chatter in our trees, give great aerial performances and swoop around the place…but in the last few days they have been busy in the muddy puddles in our lane, playing and bathing…so we thought you might like to share them to…

Happy Christmas

Wishing all our guests past, present and future a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR

Love all at Tredarrup x  

So the summer has begun !!!

A very busy Easter with lots of visitors to Mill Barn and Stable Cottage  and now we are enjoying this truly fantastic weather.  Today is so hot…and they say it’s set to last over the weekend at least (some last minute still available for next week) !!
Weather that has heralded the annual arrival of our Tredarrup swallows, gradually they’ve started to appear , three today when walking in the field, the males are back checking out old nests ready for the females to arrive and start with their first clutches.  They are such a wonderful sight and sound, the fact that every year they can find their way back from Africa to the same eaves is quite amazing.  Many a visitor has enjoyed the chatter of them lined up on the telephone line and watching them of an evening swooping around catching insects as they go and on occasion paying a visit inside Mill Barn.  We normally have 4 or more pairs…here’s hoping for 2010 which results in a total of 40 or more…..pure magic.   

Easter at The Eden Project

Spring is well and truly here, and with it being the Easter holidays there are lots of things to do at Eden during April, so here’s a list of events to tempt you back down to Cornwall for a visit. Freaky Nature Easter holidays 2 – 18 April and May half term 29 May – 6 June Sticky, messy, gooey, seriously weird and breathtakingly wonderful, Freaky Nature in all its glory is the theme at the Eden Project during the Easter Holidays. In true Eden style, delve into the wonders of the planet and discover more about unusual plants and their strange habits. The whole family can literally get stuck in with masses of interactive activities for all. Take part in workshops and interactive exhibits looking at the world of poisonous plants, spiky plants, sticky plants, carnivorous plants and even exploding plants. Put on a sticky suit to mimic a burdock seed and hurl yourself at a spongy wall to see how useful being sticky really is (a small additional charge applies to this activity). The fun doesn’t stop there. Create flying seed machines and gunky seed bombs and test your inventions out by launching them in the firing zone. All the detail is on the website, with information on face painting, film, fancy dress, seed bombs, trails, powerful microscopes and films. Freaky Nature at the Eden Project

Rock Climbing March 29- April 18 View Eden from a whole new perspective! There are five routes up the cliff face to the left of the Rainforest Biome, each of varying difficulty. Expert tuition and all the equipment you need is provided. £10 per session. More on rock climbing

Eden Sessions July 2010 A few (but not many) Eden Sessions tickets are still available for Mika and Calvin Harris and Audio Bullys who headline our series of magical one-day festivals in July. More on the Eden Sessions

Arts Café Friday 2 April 7pm – 12.30am and Friday 7 May 7pm – 12.30am (last entry 9pm) Tomorrow night, Friday April 2 is the Mad Hatters Tea Party! Raising the roof with The Underbelly (album launch party), featuring Australian vocalist Roxie Ray. The fantastic full on funk from this Cornish five piece has been hailed as the ‘discovery of the year’ by BBC 6 music’s Craig Charles. Plus resident DJs Jelly Jazz. Tickets £7 with a free drink if you book in advance. And on Friday 7 May it’s Rumble in the Jungle featuring the South West Drum and Bass Awards 2010. A celebration of the South West’s finest in drum and bass, hip hop, funk, breakbeat, dubstep, arts and live music featuring the South West Drum and Bass Awards 2010. Buy tickets

Special Eden Project offer National Geographic Kids magazine subscription – save 25% National Geographic Kids is an exciting and interactive magazine for children, which makes learning fun! Every month, readers will go on a new adventure, exploring the wonders of the natural world, getting up close with exotic wildlife, and discovering different cultures. Plus, they can test their knowledge with fun quizzes and puzzles, and get creative with exciting things to make and do. A great idea for birthday and christmas gifts! Subscribe to National Geographic Kids today and receive 12 issues for just £26 – a saving of over 25% against the regular price £35.88. More information about this offer

Eden extras News and stories from Eden As you’ll know by now we’re more than just a green theme park, so here’s a round up of the latest goings on. Eden Project directs young people to a real cool future Climate change and civil society Green Living Report Eden Project to offer 5000 green work placements in government scheme Great photos of the Yucca whipplei in our Mediterranean Biome

Our Dexter cattle….cycles of life

How so very often days (and life!) don’t always go as planned – and yesterday was one of those days, not the quiet one we had expected.  Saturday saw the arrival of our latest calf, Biscuit (it’s a girl) but on Sunday when we checked on Mum, Nina – who is 15 – she was not looking good.  So we called out the vet and the diagnosis was milk fever…we administered all that was needed, calcium etc, we held her head, stroked her, covered her in blankets to keep her warm and a tarpaulin to keep her dry (a special kind of raincoat) and put Biscuit in the shed to keep her safe. Biscuit needed some food in the meantime at just a day old, so we enlisted Alice our young cow who can always be tempted with a bucket of feed – tried to milk her, dead loss, so instead we let Biscuit have a go herself…..result!!!  Then after more calcium and a couple more hours Nina was up and looking for her calf.  Reunited in the shed, eating and drinking, looking much better and feeding Biscuit.  A fantastic reward and total joy after a very tough day – far removed from our life before Cornwall – and a few vodkas helped!!  Still looking better today all is crossed that Nina will fully recover and Biscuit be fit and strong and although it will be her last calf she’ll live happily for many more years with the rest of the herd and watch Biscuit carry on her breeding line .

Pumpkin time of the year…..

Pumpkins a plenty at this time of year……a great variety of all shapes and sizes which reminds me of a Mr Upton in Slindon, West Sussex (nowhere near Cornwall I know!!!). 

Mr Upton's great pumpkins

 It was the best place to visit at this time of year with more pumpkins than you could imagine plenty to choose from for your Halloween lantern’s and pumpkin recipes…   So tonight my baking for our weekend visitors were to be pumpkin cakes…so if you are stuck for some ideas when scooping out your pumpkins for those lanterns here goes….Riverford pumpkin cakes   Abel & Cole pumpkin ideas

And lastly a great easy recipe from Moosewood Cookbook for pumpkin pie….  Enjoy

 

Faultless pumpkin pie

Great food offers at Fifteen Cornwall if you’re staying in November/December

November and December are still great months to visit Cornwall, kick back relax, get away from it all with a reviving short beak – or longer, enjoy some stunning coastal or moorland walks , evenings by the fire and good food.  Check out our availability and why not try the latest offer from Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen Cornwall, great place for a leisurely lunch starring out to sea, followed by walk along the beach….ENJOY !!!!

Wild Cornwall Three course lunch for just £19.50 2nd November – 18th December Monday – Friday.
The days are getting shorter and the temperature is plummeting but at Fifteen Cornwall we’re really happy because autumn is one of our favourite seasons. It’s a time when nature gives us loads to get excited about so we’re going wild! Our Wild Cornwall menu will feature all kinds of wild local game, beautiful fish and lovely plants and vegetables – all from the seas, moorlands and coasts of Cornwall!
To make a reservation call 01637 861000 or book online

Also check out Rick Stein offers in Tredarrup Food Finder Post of 10th September 

The Beauty of Bodmin Moor and its cycles of life

We are lucky to live not far from Bodmin Moor and most days we marvel in its beauty on our daily dog walk.  So today was not unlike any other day apart from a cattle protest – a peaceful one mind!  Cattle may not be able to read your Land Rover registration but they do recognise the model and they love a Defender or County (Range Rovers, Discoveries and Freelanders fear not!).  So this morning I arrived at one of our favourite spots only to be surrounded on all sides by a herd of hungry cattle with many young calves that thought in the back of our Landie was some tasty silage but sorry no …. our two black Labradors!  They protested we set off for our walk, they set up camp around, waiting for our return but sorry no silage to be had……… 

A peaceful protest!!!

 It made me think that one of the many beauties of Bodmin Moor is its cycles of life.  At the moment, there are many young calves – all very rugged and sturdy to withstand the weather – in the summer there are lots of foals, and from 1st March to 31^st July firstly lambing begins and then it becomes the main breeding period for ground nesting birds such as skylarks, snipe and lapwings.
So when visiting Cornwall, don’t just enjoy our fantastic beaches and dramatic coastline but for all that stay with us, use one of our maps and take a walk out onto the Moor enjoy the huge expanse of open countryside, total quiet with only the sounds of nature and a good bracing walk…probably followed by a trip to the pub!      

The top of Roughtor at sunset - a great climb

Cornwall’s Basking sharks

Basking sharks have started to arrive off the coast of Cornwall.  An amazing sight to see from many a boat in cornish waters as they stay with us until September.  We have been lucky enough to see them close up from a fishing boat in the waters off Padstow and Rock. This gentle giant is the largest fish to be found in the coastal waters of the British Isles. Measuring anything up to 12 metres long, and weighing up to 7 tonnes, it feeds on animal plankton, filtering 1,000 to 2,000 cubic metres of seawater per hour to extract its tiny prey. During the summer months, it favours Cornish, Devon, Manx, Irish and Scottish waters as its regular feeding grounds. The basking shark is an internationally recognised endangered species with legal protection. Its main attraction now lies in its highly valued enormous fins, which are a delicacy in the Far East, and hunting remains the single biggest threat to its future.

 

The Royal Cornwall Show

Tomorrow sees the start of our greatly anticipated annual event The Royal Cornwall Show. A fantastic agricultural show where you can see cattle, sheep, pigs, goats, horses, poultry and much more . You’ll see some of the English countryside’s fineness animals up close .  A chance for all to meet and catch up with old friends as they tour the ground and see all that is new in farm machinery and much more to do with our countryside.  So if you are in Cornwall on 4th, 5th, 6th June check it out…      

And just on the subject of land today is the launch of the Landshare campaign. The site has been up for some time collecting interest, possible matches, offers of help and great tips.