Henllys Estate Blog
Our little family bought Henllys Estate in February 2022. My mum and I knew almost as soon as we set foot on the property that this was going to be home and saw the vast potential for sustainable living, conservation and community building this beautiful land could offer. We want to keep a record of our various projects and progress over the coming years so we have started this blog.
There are a number of tags so you can filter entries based on your interest. Those tags are: Woodland, Tentsile Tree Camping, Henllys Bed and Breakfast, The Bus, The Barn, Animals and The Kitchen Garden. If you are interested in any of our projects please get in touch with us.
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Oak trees and future oak trees
It’s a mast year! There are so many acorns , beech nuts, hazels!!
I’ve been doing the Jonny Apple Seed thing but with acorns. I visited to two veteran oaks in our top field, or paddock as farmer James calls it. One is probably over 600 years old. The other is in its prime. Probably 400 years old. It has a perfect healthy canopy. Only one or two dead branches and has produced hundreds of thousands of acorns.
I found a perfect oak tree nursery in the Ladies Walk woods, up by our barn. It’s damp and shady, ferns everywhere and a lot of oak saplings already growing. So I’ve staked out the planted acorns in hopes of transferring them as saplings to the ancient woodland. There will be many gaps in the canopy there as the ash continues to die.Tags
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Happy Hens
Look at these girls! They are so happy in their free range life. And they just love eating the apples up by the barn. So do I do I’m not sure how I feel about them pecking them to pieces before I get there!
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Quiet contemplation
20 may my beautiful friend Oriane sitting by the lake.
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Mushrooms!
With autumnal coolness and the rains come field mushrooms. What an extraordinary gift. I picked only two leaving some more for a later date and to continue their life cycle.
I fried them sliced in butter and nothing else for breakfast the next morning. I’ve never tasted a better mushroom.
I’m so grateful that this place can offer us such abundance. There is something reassuring about being able to eat from the land.
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Hazelnut abundance
It is hazelnut season here at Henllys! Up above the lake is a plantation of Hazels. It is a really lovely place with rows of shrubby trees stretching out in every direction. It feels like the set of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I imagine Easter Egg hunts and high tea picnics happening here, with bright ribbons to find your way out again. This last couple of weeks has seen the hazels fall in huge numbers, here in the plantation but also throughout the woods.
I have never had fresh hazels, they are white and creamy and so delicious. Yet another gift in this place of abundance.
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A very old beech tree.
A beech, at least 200 years old, shed a third of its beautiful self. This is not the original magical beech, but yet another beauty. The question I juggle with every time the chainsaw gets to work, is how much do we leave to the woodland or how much do we take home to help heat our houses. That is James in the second photo he is the godsend who is helping us manage this beautiful place.
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Sunrise
There are going to be many sunrise photos. Many. Because they are all different and all beautiful.
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Sunrise Glory in February
One of the things Nancy wanted was sunsets, but as we are South East facing, instead we got stunning sunrises! If you are an early bird then you may just be graced with the beauty of the sunrise.
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Excavating a trench for the solar panel cable
We have solar panels on the barn to supply the B&B. We have the cable ready and waiting… And we are waiting…. And have been since July. It seems everyone and their grandmother’s wants solar panels.
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The Greenhouse
This fab little geodesic greenhouse was here when we arrived in February. But it was full of last years dead perennials and was looking rather sorry and worse for wear. But our good friends Mike and Wendy spent a day clearing it and turning over the beds ready for planting. And look at it now, lush and providing us with delicious salad greens already!
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Still Beauty
Look at this stunning lake. Water is transformative. We breathe it for the first 9 months, are born through it, are made of it and so often find ourselves drawn to it. I know I am in times of need and chaos I often find myself wanting to by the water, for it’s stillness or wildness to reflect something within me that is beyond words.
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Chickens!!!!
Oh my gosh we have chickens!!!!! We adopted 4 rescue hens from Fresh Start for Hens. Leila named them all of course, HuggleWuggle, HeroHead, FlyffyFeathers and…. Chicken Drumstick! Chicken drumstick is the most miserable looking creature. She has a club foot and hardly any feathers on her.
Such a sad life they lead in cages. But these girls will be happier here we hope. I mean they have the Simpsons to watch over them. Lets hope the foxes don’t like Maggie Homer and Marge!
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Wendy House
Oh my goodness The Wendy House. It needs so much help but is so cute!! Anyone out there fancy a free stay at the B&B in return for helping me fix it?
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The Cherries
This is the picnic table at the Cherry Tree camp- but before any work has begun! watch this space for updates on our campsites as and when we begin clearing the brambles and undergrowth to make beautiful little niches for pitching Tentsile suspended tree tents.
This is gonna be so much fun!Tags
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Sooty Nose Arrives
March 10 Farmer Kevin called yesterday to ask if we wanted another lamb. That will be lamb number 4!!! That was not the plan. But he said that her mother had no milk and that her sister had already died and that this one would die too if she didn’t get a home soon. so of course we took her in. Another midnight mouth to feed!!
So she arrived, cold and stinky. We bathed her, dried her and wrapped her in a towel. She is sleeping in my bed tonight because she so so cold and I am not convinced she will make it through the night. But she is eating a little and Leila is hopeful…. I guess we will see.
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Breakfast
This is the first iteration of breakfast at Henllys Estate B&B. Fresh baked croissants, fresh berries, yogurt and juice. Toast and tea and coffee in abundance of course.
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Rooms as they were
I wanted to keep a record of the changes that are bound to happen at the B&B. So here are some ‘before’ shots of the rooms downstairs. They are lovely and cozy rooms and a delight to stay in, but not quite my style. I don’t know how they will change but I am pretty sure they will. Watch this space….
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Party in the Barn
Mum turned 70 the month we got here and what better way to celebrate than a party round a fire in the barn! It was cold out but we were warm with friendship and woodfire!
Here is to many more barn parties!Tags
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Snowdrops
Snowdrops!!!! So pristine and lovely. I have a feeling every season here will have yet another sight to behold.
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Callum liked to chew
So Callum loves to chew on things. And today the pink wellies really tickled my funny button! He comes for walks with us in the woods even though he only he is only 6 days old today. He follows wherever I go, am I becoming a shepherdess?
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Beech Tree Roots
These are the roots of my favorite tree in our woodland. Don’t they look like lions paws? This glorious beech tree is hundreds of years old. I do not know how many hundreds. When we first walked through the woods and came across its graceful splendor it took my breath away. It has one dead branch from which were growing hundreds of tiny white capped mushrooms. It was magical. That encounter was one of the many moments at Henllys that confirmed for me that this was home, it was where we belonged.
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The Arrival of Callum
Today saw the arrival of our first lamb! He was small and very white and fluffy. He lived inside with us to begin with until the poos and wees got to be too much.
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This is Gonna be the Best Day of My Life.
We left our London home for the final time on Feb 4th. And arrived at Henllys to begin our new life, the next chapter of this adventure. We arrived in the evening and pulled into the long drive at the south end of the property. It is beautiful and lined with Oaks. Leila had chosen a song to play upon our arrival- American Author’s ‘Best day of my life’. With that on full blast and all three of us singing along we slowly pulled up the drive, all of us elated! And as we drove an owl swooped out of the trees and down the drive ahead of us.
Do I believe in good omens? I am not sure. But if I do then this was certainly one!
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The Day we Knew
It is October, the trees are divesting themselves of leaves and it is grey and chilly. We came to view Henllys today and within about 20 minutes we knew. Mum looked at me and i looked at her as we walked around the lake and the mutual excitement was clear. We knew that this would be our home. The place I finally put down roots after years of wandering. This photo was taken of our little family by the lake.
My daughter was 7 at the time and even she felt it, she was so excited to be there, as were mum and I. We put in an offer that day, there and then and it was accepted!!And 4 months later we are still excited, exited to be here and to share this place with our loved ones, new friends, and guests.
This is the single best decision I have made in my life.
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