As last we have our planning permission to convert the farm from agricultural to a livery yard. Having applied for the permission back in August, our application was referred to the district planning committee for approval in October. Since then we have been to the committee hearing, and subsequently further meetings and finally today received the signed consent granting us our permissions. Wow what a long and tortuous road!
So now the really hard work starts, not that we have been sitting around for the intervening months. My recuperation program has been to bite off small lumps from the endless list of jobs the the farm throws up, and not over-do it, sometimes a bit hard. With a lot of help from many friends we have upgraded all the fencing, hacked back eons of hedge growth, constructed the temporary stables and generally cleared everything that could be cleared.
As the winter set in, the wonderful cabin, although well insulated, proved no match for the miserable British climate. The solution was to install a funky antique Norweagen log burning stove. We may have slightly overdone this one as we now seem to have the windows and door open to keep cool, at least we a plentiful supply of recycled horse muck logs to keep us going. It's just so nice to look out from the kitchen window and see the horses ploughing their way through the acres of grass.
Construction of the new stables will forge ahead this week and the new Manège is due to be installed straight after the new year. Anyone who fancies a bit of giant Meccano is welcome to turn their hand to stable erection over the Christmas break!
So although we haven't wanted to tempt fate by posting blog entries about the farm, we have got there end. There will be updates a-plenty on the way, oh and I've been given the 6 month all clear!! Wow what a year. Thanks you to everyone who has helped Boo and I along the way
