Wave Hill Farm; Glamping & Gatherings

07/08/2024

04/07/2024

Why supporting small farms is so important, so that everywhere precious land-based knowledge of how to farm with nature - with deep care, humility, joy & affection - is not lost. To farm this way means to remember how to be humans, fully embedded within the web of life in body & mind. The current system isn't broken, it's working very well for a very few at huge costs for the planet & the many - so please help change it for the better by voting every day with your money but also at the ballot box today 🔥✨🌱

02/07/2024

There is so much joy in sharing this land with these gentle creatures, in working with & learning from them. Sometimes I forget to pause & breathe, I become too tired, too overwhelmed or heavy hearted, or just too busy to notice all these moments of grace that are as quickly gifted as they are gone. I forget that we started all this out of love (for the land, for this small planet we call home, for life, for the children, for each other, and so much more) rather than out of fear, but that fear all too easily creeps in through the cracks of our battles as we all know, whether it's fear of failing, of not doing or being enough, fear & despair at the violence being inflicted to others & to our planet, etc. Then the sun shines & I remember that it's noticing & embracing whatever peace, hope, joy & beauty there is right here & right now, in even the smallest or simplest things, that nourish & sustain our soul, and that we especially need this in these troubled times. To keep going, to heal not just individually but collectively, and so that even what we fight for & defend, we do it out of love & not fear, because it really does make all the difference.

So as a reminder to myself & anyone else who needs to hear this today, don't forget to pause & breathe, to keep seeing the joy & impossible beauty of it all, the magic & the sacred in the mundane. Keep laughing, loving, dancing, being ridiculous & silly & listening to great tunes, for it's all important work, and keep deepening your connections with others, both human & non human. And talking of exciting connections, we are absolutely honoured & thrilled to have Michelle & Sam from run a shamanistic retreat here at the farm in September ✨🌀🌱 and we'll be co-hosting again with our lovely friends & neighbours from the magical .deer.wood.trust 💚🌳 You can also join Michelle & Sam this Saturday for a journey of healing songs on the beautiful estate of Mothecombe, see their page for details. Have a beautiful evening you all 🙏😘

06/06/2024

We have availability in the bell tent & one of the yurts over the weekend so exceptionally taking one night bookings! Go on, be spontaneous, have a break, there's even sunshine on the forecast so how could you not... 😎🌿🏖

22/05/2024

Straight from lambing season to glamping season! Two yurts & a bell tent available to hire separately or all together for exclusive use of the site. We've massively extended the camp kitchen which has made it into a fabulous place to hang out in all weather, and because we're thorough & dedicated like that, we had a couple of parties there already just to make sure it all works well. It's a 10/10 on the party front from us though keen to test it further just in case, having "inadvertently" created such a great party space... 😏 We're really looking forward to welcoming our first guests for the season so please share the post or website as it's a tough year for bookings. Still, if we don't get any we'll just move in, so it's a win either way (disclaimer to the planners & our dear irate neighbours who live in the barn conversions or have their 2nd homes there: IT'S A JOKE! well, most probably...). Anyway in the meantime you'll find me down there with a cider & the accordion, waiting for the fairy lights to come up because it looks so utterly magical & because I am yet to grow up (not actually trying very hard I must say), so please bring your own instrument & tipple of choice (flask of tea works too), and come & join the evening chorus with me ✨🌿🐦

PS Big shout out to Andrew our current volunteer from who jumped in the deep end joining us just as lambing kicked off, only to then find himself building tables, milling timber, and even helping cook & wash up for a beautiful wedding we hosted at the WE... Not sure who is craziest now, us, or him for sticking around - though we love that him & Nikki are, and we're so grateful for the help 🙏 (incl the nudges to eat - not just ice cream apparently - when I hyperfocus on a job or the kind reminders that I'd already started something when I get too excited & fire in all directions at once 🤣)

08/04/2024

Lambing started last week on the farm & already boundaries are getting a little blurred between nights & days, house & field and the human & non-human creatures who cohabit here & share this land. The cats are as always most offended by any infringement of their space & a rigid sense of hierarchy that has them firmly at the top - a cat's worldview being very much ailurocentric (which basically would means anthropocentric for cats, if it was a real word). We humans are obvs below them though we have our uses, with all other creatures to be either hunted as food or ignored with a regal indifference - and most definitely NOT allowed inside the house. So any lamb who needs to be brought in for a bottle & a bit of warmth is met with disgust & loud protests from the cats. In their defence, those of you who remember our pet hen Paulette (RIP) who used to love nothing more than hanging out on the sofa with us (Paulette being an ex battery hen with Stockholm syndrome) will know that the cats may well harbour traumatic memories of being attacked by substandard creatures who clearly didn't know their place.

Incidentally I may have had to wear a newborn lamb inside my jumper yesterday because he was our only orphan so far having sadly been lost or rejected by his mum & with no other companion it seemed the easiest & kindest way to keep him calm & warm until he could be fostered 🤞 I did NOT drive to our nearest village with the lamb still tucked inside my top, I would never do that nor do I advocate any form of driving whilst wearing a lamb or any other creature for that matter, even if that's the only way to keep them from crying. But even if I had I'm pretty sure that's not actually illegal in rural Devon & also we would have both had our seat belt on so just saying... Anyway, hoping the weather gets drier & warmer as most of our ewes lamb outdoors and death already tags along all too easily when there's so much new life around. See you on the other side when the lamb gangs are racing around the fields & it all feels worth it. In the meantime, wish us luck 😂