So tonight I got the tape measure out

As I have mentioned many times before, we have visitors that come most nights, but tonight I was amazing. Not only one but three deer ventured through the back garden gate and ended up only 8 foot from me .It was a shame as I get a clearer photo, when I have the stable door open. It was well after 8pm and as the sun had gone down it was getting quite cool and the dew had fallen. I happned to look out of the window and saw a deer near the gate so I went to the stable door as I thought I would get a btter photo. Low and behold there were 3 of them only 8 foot from me . They are casting their winter coats so they do now look their best. The wire fences are up to stop them coming during the night and getting into the main front garden. They can soon do a lot of damage. One night they cleared the whole 6ft magnolia tree off of its flowers . We turn a blind eye to them nibbling the blossom from the trees. We are hoping to set up a hide so when you come to stay you can see them as near hand as we do

Forest Bathing - "Shinrin-Yoku"

Behind the house we have acres of woodland for you to enjoy so when I read this article I thought you may be interested to read it ... Stay at our bed and breakfast, it like no other as we have waterfalls too. Forest Bathing - "Shinrin-Yoku" Intuitively, we know that walking in forests makes us feel better. Research teams in Japan have been studying the health and wellbeing benefits of "shinrin-yoku" which literally translates as "forest-bathing" for some time. Scientists are also studying the effects of phytoncides which are volatile organic compounds produced by plants and trees. According to Dr Qing Li and Professor Yoshifumi Miyazaki, this practice, of immersing oneself in nature and taking in the forest through the senses doesn't just have psychological benefits but has a physiological effect too. Research teams in Japan have shown that the benefits of forest-bathing include: improved sleep quality lower stress levels lower levels of hormones such as cortisol (when you are feeling stressed your cortisol levels rise) reduced blood pressure increase heart-rate variability (high heart rate variability indicates low stress levels) improve mood enhanced immune system function Or You may just prefer to sit under one single tree and admire the view. This is an oak tree and in Autumn the deer come along and eat the acorns. The day I took this photo I counted 14 deers munching away. Then the young ones play fighting and chasing each other .They were oblivious to my being there. I think you can see 8 deer on this photo.

Tom Cruise has arrived

It is not every day that Hollywood stars arrive on your doorstep, let alone in rural Ryedale. Tom Cruise was spotted in Pickering and at North Yorkshire Moors Railway yesterday. The 58-year-old actor is thought to be filming his latest movie, Mission Impossible 7 in which he stars as Ethan Hunt. Filming took place at Levisham Station today, and residents watched on as Tom took a break from filming and walked off for lunch. One resident from Levisham said: “It’s really exciting having an A-list actor in Levisham. “We saw Tom Cruise early this morning, who waved and said ‘happy to be here’ in North Yorkshire. “He seems like a down-to-earth guy and a true action hero.” Local lady was lucky enough to spot the actor while walking her dogs yesterday. She said: "We were walking the dogs and bumped into Tom Cruise. "Not only do we love Pickering and our stunning countryside, but it was chosen for filming Tom's new film." The Paramount Pictures blockbuster series Mission: Impossible is based on and a follow-on from the television series of the same name by Bruce Geller. The film is directed and written by Christopher McQuarrie. The cast also features Vanessa Kirby, Ving Rhames, Henry Czerny, Simon Pegg and Rebecca Ferguson. The cast and crew started filming across Europe in early 2020 but production stopped as the pandemic spread across the continent. Filming resumed several months later including at Warner Bros Studios in Leavesden, Hertfordshire. Mission: Impossible 7 was originally planned to be released in July this year but has been pushed back to May 27, 2022. A Mission: Impossible 8 is also in the pipeline.

How about a drive over the moors and enjoy a view like this

We are so lucky as when you stay with us you can travel in any direction and find things of interst .If you travel East ,a ride over the North York Moors which is our National Park. And then come out at the coast ,what could be nicer.You will see views like this . And it is really nice to take a walk on the beach as it is flat, so no up hill walks. Inlike to go to Sandsend as you can reward yourself with a lovely lunch at the Hart. I took a friend for her birthday last year May, I think that was the last time we ate out. They do delcious platters and come on yoru own plate so you dont need to share if you dont want. We then drove down and through Whitby,Robins Hood Bay and down to Scarborough and on Marine Drive.

Byland Abbey, Egg Sandwiches and Mushrooms .

So how about taking a walk through our fields and coming out at Byland Abbey. As guests you have the use of your own fridge, so you could make and take your own picnic. Eating it in the grounds of Byland Abbey pictured here. Or if you are like me I would have to start nibbing on the way and I doubt if I made egg sandwiches they would get there. There is something about egg sandwiches which I always relate to going on journeys. As a child I suppose we had only egg sandwiches when we went away, so it has stuck with me. Having hens on the farm always meant we had plenty of eggs. As Jack used to say we grew up 5 fields apart as he was brought up at Abbey Farm at Byland Abbey. So not a long walk, will take you half an hour as a brisk walk or dally along the way. Well, you are on holiday . As far as we know Byland Abbey is still offering free access to people . But don't worry if they are now charging as we have a special treaty that was signed many centuries ago for our farm so when I tell you more you can get in for free in any case. Jack says it is the best cricket pitch as a lad he will have played many a game in the grounds. If it is that you come when it is the times mushroom are growing ,we will tell you exactly where to look for them as they grown on the way to Byland. If you dont like to eat them raw, you can bring them back with you. Having them as a snack later with some toast .Yes there are toasters too in your room to use or if you would rather I will cook them for your breakfast. We quite like to pick them when the dew is on them before the sun gets to dry them out a bit. These are the freshiest and some times a few strands of grass get into the frying pan too. As you can find them just coming through from the warm earth and pushing through the grass. Due to land managementnow a day, we do not see as many puff ball mushrooms as we did when I was a child. We use tractors rather than horses working in the fields and mushrooms were very plentiful where the horses were turned out after their days work. So maybe mushrooms like horse muck as well as rose bushes . But here is a beauty that I took for Antonio Carluccio a few years ago. Soon it will be the time for St Georges mushrooms as they magically seem to apppear around 23rd April - St Georges Day. I fear with the very cold nights,early morning frosts and it being so dry they may not come this year. So unless the weather changes, their spore will stay well underground. The weather at the moment is a nightmare for our gardens as during the day I can be out at the front of the house in my shirt sleeves,but come first thing on a morning there is ice on the car wind screen. Recently I bought a peach tree and it is in and out of the houe like a yo yo. I take it out during the day for the bees to come and pollinate the blossom and bring it in a night to protect it from the frost. I have bought 5 peony plants this week and it will be intersting to see how they grow but for now as they have very tender shoots. I have planted them all in one big pot and placed them in the porch . As I have with 2 climbing sweet pea plants and a climbing jasmine . I have always admired these sweet pea climbers and managed to find some locally last week. The only house I ever saw them on was the porch at Eb Sunleys in Ampleforth. They had a farm at the bottom end of the village. They didnt have a flower garden as such, but every year without fail the sweet peas appeared.

The Place Full of Surprises | Discover Yorkshire Coast only an hour to here. enjoy the day and back in time for bed

April and our very own Poets Corner

Oh, to be in England Now that April's there, And whoever wakes in England Sees, some morning, unaware, That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf, While the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough In England-now! From 'Home Thoughts, From Abroad' by Robert Browning. And in May onwards when you can come and stay with us you too can enjoy the sounds and sights that inspired Robert Browning to pen such words. We are opening up a Poets'Corner for you to pen your own words. If you would like to leave your words and thoughts behind when you depart we will happily frame them and hang them in Our "Poets Corner"for others to enjoy. And you can enjoy reading what other people have written too .

6th April - Flitting Day

I was talking to my Dad and he was reminding that the 6th April was knowing as Flitting Day. For those who havent heard of it here is the explanation. As a year-end and quarter day that conveniently did not fall within or between the seasons for ploughing and harvesting, Lady Day was a traditional day on which year-long contracts between landowners and tenant farmers would begin and end in England and nearby lands (although there were regional variations). Farmers' time of "entry" into new farms and onto new fields was often this day. As a result, farming families who were changing farms would travel from the old farm to the new one on Lady Day. My Grandparents moved from the Creiff. A farm 2 miles away or a miles through the fields and woods from here, which is now where Stanbrook Abbey stands. They would have moved with horses and cart similar

to the one in the photo. My dad is a fountain of stories and really I know, I should bottle them up. My Grandparents came to live at the farm in 1902 even though they had farmed the land for a lot longer. My Dad sadly said "They moved in on 6th April1902 and they carried him out him [meaning his Dad] was carried out on the 6th April 1957. I was only 10 months old so that was 64 year ago...crikey I am getting old. Grandad had died on the 2nd. I have wondered many times how old a child is when they start remembering their childhood. Believe me or not I distinctly remember him as I recall him holding on to my leg when my dad was changing me on the kitchen table as I was quite a "wriggly bottom" /Maybe this is why I cant stop still for long now. He was 80 and a tall slight man who always wore a jacket. He was quite formal and had a moustache which was quite spikey. He seemed to be quite amused by me as he had had 3 sons the youngest being my father. My Granny had died when my dad was 18 and the typical farmers wife making butter and cheese. I have made a lot of butter too in my days and icecream - 4pints of cream and 16 eggs that was when I used to serve evening meals and the visitors had ice cream with their apple pies. When we had milking cows we had a good supply of milk but sadly I never got round to making cheese. Although we still have the old butter churns and pats on the shelf in the diary. It is lovely to hear that people are embracing the old traditionas and no more so when there was a programme on television lately as cheese makers in North Yorkshire. It filmed Andy and Cathy who supports these cheesemakers and sell their cheese at Courtyard Dairy near Settle . i have met these folk and they are very knowlegdeable and even sell cheese on line so maybe if you are looking to treat someone or even yourself this is the place to go.

Happy Easter

It has been a busy March. Getting ready for lockdown lifting and welcoming guests again. And moving furniture about.Glad I have had a strong man to carry things about to do most of this. But not one to be stuck and wanting it done now rather than later, I sometimes did as a carthorse would do when I was small when backing a cart... put my behind on it and pushed. .I havent mastered carrying a fridge yet but had help. So now can revel that when you come to stay with us we can offer you a room with its fridge,microwave, toaster and enough bits and bobs to make snacks and small meals. During lockdown we have realised it is not altogether about going out to eat, but to be able to get a take away, some nice deli food and enjoy local bits and bobs suffices. I know when we have had holidays abroad in the past how much I enjoy shopping and eating local produce. Live like the locals so to say. So true is the saying a change is as good as a rest. And if you want a delivery just say, you order what you want and I will stack it inthe fridge for you ready for your arrival. I have also been busy getting plants growing ready to put in the garden as it warms up . It has been over 20 degrees here for the last 3 days but as it probably wont last for too long I have commondered my Dads passage way to grown my seedlings on as I have run out of windowledges here. Also it helps he has far more green fingers than me and they stand a better chance of surviving . My first planting was rhubarb seeds,they have grown really well.They say when you become a gardener you dont say rhubarb for example you would say Champagne or Victoria. Potatoes are not potatoes, but Maris Piper, Charlottes and Kind Edwards. I have even bought a white peach tree and it is treated much as a baby in a pram, take it out on a nice day, bring it in as the day gets colder just incase there is a frost. A white peach but with lovely pink blossom I am tempted

to buy another one. Tom has been busy digging up some of our most robust bushes as I want to create a framework of greenery around a very sparse looking covered over sitting areawhich looks more like a bus shelter at the moment. I have some hops which are very delicate at the moment. Again they have gone to my Dads for that extra bit of care and it didnt help that Dorothy - the young cat, like to sleep in the same plant pot as them here. It is nice to see that there is some grass now for the deer to eat, as they had a very lean time over winter. They are regualr visitors although we can't guarentee them coming every day. They do come more late afternoons onwards and come within 20 to 30 foot of the house. Just dont eat my magnolia bush. It will be nice to see the grandchildren over the Easter holidays as they are around just before they go back to school. No doubt it will be hectic as the sugar rush of chocolate will be rocketing. There is something about Easter eggs that taste different to a bar of chocolate. It is ok this on line shopping lark, but to me nothing beats going into the shop and seeing and sme ling what is on offer. Oh and just incase you have forgotten, I prefer milk chocolate -thank you Well I must crack on ,the birds are beginning to sing and the sun is just getting up .Jack is in for his breakfast as he has been out with dogs and ready for something to eat and it isnt 7am yet. I dont know about you, but lockdown I hardly known what day of the week it is, and clocks well my body clock is all out of sync. I look back on the year and think where has it gone. Nicholas is busy on the farm with lambing and hatching as eggs are coming by post for him to put in his incubators. And he has just hatched out a pair of alligators Happy Easter, and sorry no alligators just Aprils Fools Day