accommodation sheffield tasmania - Howard 'The Boss'We have been very busy with guests the past month and we have met some very interesting people at our B&B accommodation Sheffield Tasmania. One of the benefits of running a B&B is getting to know the lovely people you meet. We have had many four-legged guests as well. We are a pet-friendly guesthouse, and a lot of people travel with their dogs. Another benefit is that I get a lot of puppy cuddles and, yes, no matter how old a dog is –  they are all puppies. Howard ‘the boss’ (our resident house cat) has been working hard in his role of concierge, meeting the guests, rolling over for tummy rubs, as well as inspecting the rooms to make sure they are cleaned to his standard. He is not so happy about the puppy guests, but he gets extra cuddles and treats to make up for it.

Glencoe Farm Animals:

accommodation sheffield tasmania - red buck goatThe two little calves are growing very quickly; they play together and are very inquisitive. The sheep shearer came to relieve the Hampshire girls of their wool. We were having such hot dry weather and as soon as they were naked, it was cold and rainy. One benefit of the rain, though, was that Roger – who was looking very dirty – was nice and clean and white again. I expect our new Hampshire Ram to arrive in the next couple of weeks, too. Roger will then have a friend in his paddock, and I hope to increase my pure-bred Hampshire numbers. The goats are waiting for Mr Buck to arrive. He is a full red buck and, hopefully, we will get some full red kids. The chooks have been in jail, I mean locked in the chook run for the past couple of months to re-train them to roost in the chook house and not in my Rhododendron plant, which they were slowly killing. They have had a couple of parole days and most of them are now doing the right thing and returning to the chook house. Mrs Duck hatched 6 ducklings and is being an excellent mother. Poor Slim was just walking past and got the brunt of mother duck’s protective nature. Unfortunately, we had what we think was a feral cat come through and take 4 of the ducklings. She now has only two left, and they have a few battle scars from the encounter. We will put out some traps, as feral cats are a big problem locally.

homemade jams and preservesMy vegetable garden is in a very sorry state. We have been so busy that I haven’t had the time to put into it and it is weed city at the moment. It is my mission to get it back in some order so I can plant some veggies. I am still harvesting berries and making jams, though. Gooseberry, raspberry, redcurrant jam are all good, but it was a total failure with my white currant jam…I don’t know what happened there. I’m also planning on some rhubarb jam soon as well. I may get some blueberries if I beat the birds to them – we still have to finish the netting over them. The apples and pears are looking good and soon we will get some nectarines and quince. We didn’t get any cherries, so will have to look at what I need to do there. We did have a bad case of leaf curl, but seem to be on top of that now.

Projects:

We are building a new barn for the goats. The currently have several little houses, but they will have a huge barn with individual stalls with room for me to store all their hay and treats etc. It currently has walls, but no roof yet – hopefully it will be finished next week, then we just need to fit out the inside. We are also building a second huge farm shed that will house a bigger workshop for Russ and a huge man cave / entertainment area with a bar, pool table, TV area – designed to be used by our guests. Another big project on the go this year is full renovation of the chook and duck houses to make them secure and cat proof. We’re also renovating the little outbuilding into a bathroom – we have big plans for that including a chandelier and vintage print of Queen Victoria, and also re-doing the garden around this building and making a secret garden.

There’s lots happening at our Glencoe Country guesthouse accommodation Sheffield Tasmania, so come and visit us. Sheffield is one of the largest towns as a gateway to Cradle Mountain.