Its that time of year when we are starting our glamping season again. Our yurts are coming back out of the barn where they have been stored for the winter and being erected on their bases ready for the first guests of the season. This year we really pleased to let all our guests know that 4G is now available in our field dependent of course on your network, but I have personally found that sitting on our unicorn at our lake provides a fab signal and really good download speeds- something which we don't actually get in our farmhouse which has a very slow connection. Lots of bookings being taken and I am keeping our availability calendar updated daily. Book early to avoid any disappointment :) Sunny weather arrives from this weekend and we are looking forward to the start of the new season.
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Valentines day has dawned and there is an air of spring at Hemsford. The sun is out and the birds are all singing and its much warmer than of late and feels like spring is just around the corner. I have recently spotted 2 rather unusual birds at our garden feeders, firstly a tiny goldcrest - not actually on the feeder but in the ivy on the garden wall. The second bird was a siskin, not really a rarity but not a frequent visitor to our part of Devon. We love to feed the wild birds and regularly treat them to a varied diet of peanuts, mixed seeds and sunflower hearts. The sunflower hearts are very popular with our flock of gold finches which have over wintered really well and are one of the most numrous and frequent visitors to our feeders. We also have a massive population of collared doves - this morning I counted 29 sitting in the large pine tree in our garden. A pair of Canada geese have arrived back at our lake again and I am hoping they will nest on the island again this year. It is always a treat for our guests to see the goslings when they hatch.
Have you ever seen a unicorn? Our lake has a very special guardian - a full size unicorn. She is able to be sat upon and she sits overlooking our lake. Our guests are able to sit and watch all the wildlife surrounding the lake and enoy the peace and tranquility of the quiet countryside adjacent to our yurt camp. Every year children and adults alike who have been staying at the yurt camp have enjoyed seeing her and she is a landmark and permanent fixture on our land. Unicorns like her apparently come to life over night and sprinkle fairy dust across the yurt camp - or so they say!!!! Christmas time is a wonderful time of year, and this year we have been having very mild and dry weather, with not much rainfall and warm temperatures. The yurt camp is located next to a 100 acre field of Christmas trees and harvesting has been taking place regularly over the past few weeks. The yurt camp is very quiet and the guests who have stayed in the shepherds hut have been treated to some lovely clear an calm star strew evenings. Many people start thinking about their 2017 holidays at this time of year and lots of bookings are coming in for the new year. Merry Christmas to all our guests, old and new. We will look forward to meeting you all in 2017.
November is such a beautiful month in Devon. The trees are stunning with the rich tapestry of colours as they shed their leaves in copious quantities. So far this month we have had several misty mornings and a little frost. Our yurts are safely stored away in the barn for the winter, but we still have a few guests staying in our shepherds hut and enjoying the tranquility of our fields and the stunning views over the lake through the mist. Other places in the Uk have been experiencing snow today however we have warm and relatively mild temperatures. The horses now have their rugs on and the hens are all mouting, losing their feathers and replacing them just in time for winter. The fields have been full of interesting mushrooms and toadstools, although no sign this year of the huge puff balls.
Autumn is upon us, with beautiful misty mornings with dew on all the cobwebs and occasional frost. The yurts are safely packed away for the winter, but we are still welcoming guests to stay in our Shepherd's hut which is available throughout the winter months. The hut is very cosy with its own dedicated solar power and a lovely little wood burning stove for those chillier evenings. The fields are still looking green and lush as its been a very dry October so far and this weekend we will have another round of meteor showers. Next week is half term week and the hut is very popular with our guests who will have the whole place to themselves, apart from the resident horses, foxes, badgers and ducks and swans on the lake.
When I was approached by a local couple, Joe and Lizzie, enquiring about hosting their wedding at the yurt camp I was a little unsure whether it would work out, as we are very much a quiet and peaceful rural retreat and do not allow loud music out of respect to our near neighbours, however the wedding model that the happy couple wanted fitted perfectly into their requirements and ours. They stayed the night before with their friends and family in a combination of our yurts, hut and their own camper vans and tents. On the actual day they had the ceremony around lunchtime conducted by a local celebrant in our special mown circle in the lake field with their own custom vows, exchanging of rings and with a beautiful candle lighting moment for absent family and ultimately leaping the broom. Eventually following some celebratory drinks the whole group went on later in the afternoon to their reception in a village hall elsewhere courtesy of Bob the Bus!. They returned later that evening for the wedding night in the yurt camp again with all their friends and family for a starry night by the camp fire. A perfect ending to the happy day - with the couple eventually going onwards to their honeymoon in the Isles of Scilly. What a special custom wedding day- something I will certainly remember for years to come. I have to confess to having shed a few tears at the romantic moments during the ceremony! Lovely!!!
Its been a very busy summer here at the yurt camp and this year we have been very lucky as the weather has been really lovely - I can count on one hand the wet days and the fields are looking very dry and arid as I type this. Last week the camp was completely full as expected for middle of August, however I was surprised when one of my guests asked me how I knew the "celebrities" that were staying. I was a little taken aback and rather embarrassed to say that I had not realised that one of the group of guests staying were actually very famous award winning actors and I am positive they were reassured that I had treated them the same as everyone that stayed here!! I am however rather pleased that some famous people enjoy glamping with us - and I will admit to being just a tiny bit starstruck once I had asked my friend google about the famous guests! Needless to say my lips are sealed as to their identity!!!! So the weather has taken a change for the better with stunning glorious sunshine and beautiful clear evenings. Apparently its not technically a heatwave until its been sunny for over 5 days, well this morning is day 4 of the sunshine and heat, its been around 25 degrees in the shade at the yurt camp. The guests are all enjoying being able to laze around and sit either in the sunshine or the shade of the trees surrounding our yurts and cooking meals on the camp fire or just having a barbecue. You could not ask for a better location when the weather is so lush - its no wonder that many people are choosing a "staycation" in the UK this summer. The fields are looking verdant and green and our horses are spending most of the day inside the cool of a large barn. The graze in the evenings and over night and then sleep for the rest of the day in the shade. Catcing a daytime glimpse of wildlife in the local area is always a thrill but this afternoon we noticed a lot of noise at the bottom of the lake field, and saw there was a full grown adult fox running across the field, (next to my hen paddock) and there was a group of around 6 magpies and 2 crows mobbing the fox as it ran. This is something I have never seen before but as its the time of year when the young fox cubs are growing fast I think that the fox is getting daring and desperate for an easy meal. Foxes are nocturnal and it is unusual to see them in broad daylight. We know that they are a frequent visitor to our garden, and the picture above was taken at night a few days ago with the fox clearing up left over bird seed and peanuts spilled by the rampant squirrels! I often tell our guests it you want to see wildlife then all you have to do is sit quietly and something will appear, especially as the yurt field with is lake is where the local wildlife such as the badgers, foxes and deer come to drink. |
AuthorLiz Jeffery - owner of Hemsford Yurt camp Categories |