Goats, Feast, Barn Dance, Fire - almost a spell

First proper weekend at Trelay, a weekend surely not typical of the place, yet I'm thinking typical of many elements - future plans, work right now, food, larks, and lots of good people.

Cold crisp morning - definitely autumn now. Off to another smallholding, across the border in Holsworthy.. Penborn is home to a fantastic herb garden, a friendly and knowledgeable chap called Peter & his wife, and his truly beloved herd of pygmy and Golden Guernsey goats. As budding goatees we'd come to learn and be inspired, and that's what we got. Heartily recommended. 

Nice shed.. Hope to be able to share photos of ours soon enough -
probably a wee bit smaller :)

 

Smitten..

Call me a softy, but, really, how could you not be?

These girls are even quite well behaved

I give you food, you come home with me

Maybe you can get a bit obsessed. These are just a few of Peter's first prizes..
Had no idea about the importance of blood lines, especially in goats. Still not
entirely convinced, and not sure we need pedigrees for a tiny start up for soap
and cheese! Takes all sorts though; and Good To Learn From Master.

After a day of listening, asking, scribbling, and yea, even milking, back to Trelay to help set up a feast.. We have a communal kitchen in our 17C farmhouse, which is cosy and characterful, but a bit in need of a makeover. We have Ash and James, two splendid brother chefs, who have started a series of fundraising meals to raise some cash to get new surfaces and floor! And we have Kathy, our wonderful events 'convenor'. And we have a communal games room - which multifunctions as home of table tennis and pool tables, random musical insturments, occasional meeting room, strange papier mache tiger, and all sorts of other oddities; and occasional pop-up fundraiser restaurant / barndance 'barn'... And it seems that Trelay has lots of friends and supporters who like to come and visit or stay for long weekends! All this together makes for a lovely event..

We got back too late to be of much use, the cooks and others having slaved for many hours already; but it was good to be able to at least feed them drinks. And to go for an extraordinary early halloween walk (with a focus on treats rather than tricks!) into our woods, the walk lit by about 50 candle lanterns hanging from trees as well as a fantastic full moon. Somehow forgot to grab the camera, but some things are too special for that..

And then what an evening. I was too busy being the world's least glamorous waitress (alongside the world's most glam Marie, Kathy and Catherine), and then too busy 'dancing' to Roger's genius calling, and then just too busy hanging out by the fire into the wee hours so couldn't take many photos, but here's a flavour:

Very superior pumpkin soup

Exquisite duck and multi-way celeriac and ting

Somehow managed to dance it all off pretty energetically..

Jackie and Roger showing how it should be done!

And some freestyle..

Good beast of a fire, expertly tended by John and Isey

Chef last one standing