I've been having a bit of difficulty uploading the photos I took of the rapidly-cobbed roundhouse so I'm here to have another try! On Tuesday St. George's Primary from Wrotham in Kent left only one small panel to cob and we had a lot of fun covering the roundhouse (and ourselves) with mud! The weather has continued to surpass expectations and the children have worked hard covering the silage and cleaning out the rest of Colly's Barn as well as the rest of the routine farm jobs. Partly because of the heat, I think they're all quite tired and will be ready for a lie-in at home on Saturday.

Still trying to upload the pictures.

As promised, here are photos of the work we all did yesterday putting cob onto the woven hazel walls of the roundhouse. The weather was perfect and everyone was really enthusiastic, with the result that several more panels were completed and we are confident that it will all be finished within this term. If so, our cooks Leanne and Angela, are planning to run cooking sessions with the children so that they can all have a part in cooking their own tea. These will happen on Tuesdays during the winter months,especially when the weather is too poor to want to be outside for the whole day. But the first one will happen in July because they can't wait to try it out! Any ideas for dishes children can prepare?

A huge 'thank you!' to all those who came to our Open Day on Sunday 30th May. The weather was really great and, apart from the fact that the bouncy castle wasn't delivered, the It's a Knockout competition more than made up for it! Graham's commentary was witty and pithy and it was lovely to see everyone eating, drinking and soaking up the sunshine on the lawn as they watched. We raised just over £1000 and couldn't have done any of it without the loyal support of our staff and friends. Titchfield Primary School from Hampshire were represented by their steel band during the afternoon and many people commented on the quality of their playing. They were really good!
For the last 5 weeks of the academic year we are concentrating on finishing the cob walls of the roundhouse so that it can be thatched during the summer holidays. Let's hope that the schools which are due to visit us in the near future are ready for a challenge. Tomorrow I will be taking photos of cob-making and they will be posted asap.