Twin babies - and Luggs lamb

Our little gosling now has a sibling! Both are gorgeous, thriving and cheeping constantly! They seem to be enjoying their nursery with Mum but despite their tiny feet it's amazing the mess they're making of the little patch of grass, we keep having to move their house. The third egg was thrown out of the house by Mum this morning - never a good sign to see she'd given up on it - and when we cracked it open (with some apprehension as to what we'd find) we discovered that it hadn't been fertile, it was just a normal egg. Clearly she knew to concentrate on the two babies and it's lovely that they have each other for company.

We had the very first roast this evening of Luggs lamb and it exceeded our admittedly high expectations! Made some mint sauce with fresh mint from the garden and it was the best meal of the month. Absolutely beautiful lamb, clearly the pasture and lifestyle here are as good for livestock as they are for people!

We do plan to send a couple more lambs away in the next few weeks and it will be available from Kittow Cattle in their award winning meat boxes, so if you're a fan of lamb make sure you get in touch well in advance!

We're off to the Salvo Fair at Knebworth this weekend to browse the numerous architectural salvage stands - so visitors this summer should look out for a few more quirky additions to the grounds. Check back soon to see what we find, and for more news on life here at Luggs.

Life cycle

The first of (hopefully) 3 goslings has just hatched! Went out to collect the eggs for a cake earlier this evening and there was a little bundle of yellow fluff being fiercely guarded by its Mum.

One of the other hens tried to help by sitting on the remaining two eggs as this one was getting upset at having to choose - really sweet! Mum and baby will have a nice new and ultra safe little home in the morning - this one's a few days early so the nursery wasn't quite ready!



Other news: our first two lambs have come back from the butcher with excellent grades - we knew the Luggs pasture produced the finest meat! Great news and already almost all the cuts are spoken for - we'll keep some back for a big family get together this summer though, hopefully to celebrate finishing the new kitchen extension on the main farmhouse.

Check back for further updates on our first baby's progress - and any suggestions for names will be considered! Not sure yet whether this one is a boy or girl - if the former, Christmas Dinner springs to mind...

Cuckoo!

Despite having had beautiful warm weather for quite a while, it's now officially Spring - the first cuckoo of the year has been heard! Also this week, the early roses began to bloom and they're now looking and smelling beautiful. Roll on summer!

Twitter

Having already mastered Facebook - join us at Luggs Barn, Devon - we're branching out to Twitter! Very new to this site but if you're a regular tweeter please follow us @LuggsBarn

Don't forget the special offers on all bookings in June - call now to save £200 and enjoy a relaxing early summer break in Devon!

Exterior photos

Here are a few of the latest exterior photos of Luggs Barn and its garden and surroundings. Let us know what you think!

Most exciting recent news is that we have 3 magazines interested in using Luggs Barn in their editorial pages which will be great publicity for us. We'll keep you posted as to when they're available in the shops!

Professional photos - and a celebratory offer!

Here's what a wide angle lens, lots of clever technology and many years' professional experience does for Luggs Barn's image! We think the professional photographs from last week's shoot look fantastic - let us know your thoughts!

We're in such a good mood this month that we're offering a huge £200 discount on all 7 night bookings in June. The discounted rate of £950 will apply to all June bookings while dates are available. There's never been a better time to enjoy an early summer holiday in glorious Devon countryside! Call us now on 01823 681605 or email to reserve your preferred dates.

Camera ready...

...Luggs Barn is now ready for its closeup! We have interior photographer Chris Wright coming tomorrow to ensure that all our marketing efforts reflect the true impact of this beautiful building.

Trouble is, the cake I've just made and the wine he suggested as a prop look extremely attractive...check back to see if they get left alone long enough to get some good shots! His professional images will be added to the website and all our online directory listings in due course - see if you can spot the difference to my snaps!

Lots of short break enquiries coming in - and a few summer weeks left, so anyone thinking of escaping to the countryside this year, now's the time to get in touch! Christmas and New Year have been booked since the beginning of January, I'm afraid, but anyone interested please consider booking Christmas 2012 well in advance - the amount of people wanting this year has been incredible.

The lambs in front of Luggs Barn have grown a tremendous amount in just a few weeks but are still adding to the scenery beautifully. Our sheep are delighted with their new field next door so have stopped their escape attempts for now, and the chickens spend most of their time following us around hoping we'll drop some food. They have to be shooed out of the farmhouse several times a day! Clearly their corn and pellets are less impressive than the crumbs which the children seem to dispense everywhere they go...