Myself, Nicky and Chris, the first Halloween team

Happy Halloween. I hope whatever you are doing today, whether you are out getting treats, at home apple bobbing or simply ignoring the doorbell, you have a great one. It's not normally an occasion I'd get all too involved in myself, let's face it, you don't really see many Halloween decorations or trick or treaters on a farm. I can't resist the opportunity to dress up though, so you might see me in some of the farm Halloween fun along with some of our other regular volunteers, we'll have to see if I made the cut. Thankfully my effort was filmed at least early though since I've had not one, but two poorly boys to deal with this week.

Yes, unfortunately I missed out on a second dose of farm Halloween yesterday due to my poorly boys, but to be honest, I don't think the farm team missed me. All of the work the team at the farm did was an incredible effort and when they'd finished they still found time to do makeup, dress up and dance. We didn't call it a second farm Halloween for nothing. Nicky did yet another superb job on makeup, she's an incredibly talented lady, and I can't wait to see the footage they all put together. Casey was disappointed to not be there to finally get his Halloween outfit on too, but I'm hoping we'll find another excuse to share the costume with you soon.

Like I said, it wasn't just a Saturday all about Halloween fun, Chris used the extra hands available on the farm to start getting a little more ready for winter which is unfortunately on the way. Thanks to our friend and volunteer of many years, Sarah for popping in to help while in the area too. We had our cows to get in from the field back into the warmth of the barn where I'm sure they'll get extra bananas. There were some sheep to get in with a couple just needing a checkup and Bumblebee who looks to be expecting and due in a few weeks time. Then there was our newest pig Horace to move, which I'm pleased to say went really well. It's always a bit unpredictable how our newest animals will react to different situations around the farm and we'd fully expected Horace to be a little more upset on the move. Thankfully the move was relatively stress free for Horace though and he's now happily living in a bigger and dryer home ahead of the colder days.

We're not just getting the animals ready for the winter, we're getting our indoor spaces ready for the humans too. A barn that's not only warm for our animals, but easy to work in for our students on the wetter days and efficient to move around for food rounds. Some brighter and more visually appealing areas for us to bring you a cheerful view of the farm whatever the weather. Plus a toasty warm breakout area now our emus have given up trying to use the computer and James has delivered some logs.

Don't worry, we haven't forgotten you in our winter preparations too. As I said, we're getting our barn setup to bring you our animals a little more easily, including a new and improved area for our rabbits to stretch their legs. All alongside helping you prepare for Christmas too. Hopefully you've already seen our merchandise featuring a Christmas jumper, my favourite mug ever with Daisy and a brand new cat calendar. Plus now, I'm really excited to share that our Christmas shoutout form is open for your requests. I'll give you more details next week, but if you can't wait until then check out our form here.

Dexter enjoying his first taste of Halloween with me and Chris.

While this has all been going on, well, we've had a few mornings which have been perfect weather for ducks. It's meant Chris hasn't been able to do as many live rush hours as normal, but hopefully now our clocks have changed and a bit of dryer weather on the way, we'll get a few more morning lives in. At least if it doesn't dry up though, we have a few more ducks to enjoy the puddles.

We've welcomed four new Indian runner ducks to the farm who were in need of a new home. They're all in quarantine in the barn for now to ensure they are healthy and get them used to their new surroundings, but they'll be joining the main barn in a couple of weeks. Let's hope they get along with the rest of our runner ducks. As well as having our little Mo who hatched last weekend. Casey and I named Mo after our successful British long distance runner, Mo Farrah (sorry if you were hoping for a football link) and we've been enjoying watching the little one grow. Casey is desperate to get back to see Mo at the farm but until then we hope you've enjoyed the Mo updates as much as we have.

Between all of this it's a wonder how the team, especially Chris, finds time for anything else but alongside the farm, family is always important. So, Chris and Helie have taken some time out this week to visit their oldest grandsons Freddie and Jack while on half-term. They really did get away from the farm for a while for the visit, but Chris still found some videos to make of course. While both Chris and I took some time to remember my Grampy (Chris' dad) on what would have been his Birthday on Monday.

My Grampy used to farm the land where the Caenhill Countryside Centre is today, so we're lucky enough to have some reminders of him around the project still today. We still like to take time to remember him as well though in our own ways. Chris used Monday to get out in the fields to remember his dad with a spot of fencing work with Claire around the old oak tree which was the backdrop for so many potato harvests and family fireworks nights. While at home myself, I made a hot chocolate to drink with a Toffee Crisp just like my Nan used to do for me whenever I dropped in for a drink with her and my Grampy. It might sound silly, but I find it a great way to sit down with my boys, have some family time and tell stories about my amazing grandparents.

That's all for this week, so I'll leave you with a thank you. Thank you to everyone watching, supporting, booking shoutouts, buying our merchandise and most of all thank you to our Patreons of another month, You make our animal feed deliveries possible, keep our animals looked after and our project running.

Until next time, take care.

Kara, Casey, Dexter and Teddy