Bulldozers in the garden!

It has been a noisy week in the gardens - very difficult to take 'forty winks' but it was interesting watching the activities going on.  There have been two mini diggers and a dumper truck working on the paths and the top pond.  The old paths had got into a bit of a bad state and were proving very painful on our webbed feet as we crossed over so we are glad that they are being taken up and relaid with better materials, it is a bit too soft at the moment but we overhear that the roller is due next week to bed the new surface in.  There is a new path being laid around the whole of the bottom pond too so walking around the garden will be much better for ducks and humans, especially those who are in wheelchairs or on sticks (the humans that is!).

The work on the top pond is pretty interesting too -- we are being partially blamed for the serious erosion that has gone on in the pond (I seriously doubt that my dabbling can be blamed?).  There are now a line of boards around the edge of the pond and these have been back filled with clay which will be planted up with new pond plants very soon.  The only problem is that it is now very hard for us to get out of the pond - we hear that a new ramp is in progress..

New Paths and Pond repairs - work in progress 

It has been an odd time for all of us over the last few weeks - 9 of our Drakes frineds have been found new homes with caring families, so the garden does feel a bit empty.  This has at least taken the pressure off the girls a bit though, and they are much happier! The Drakes look pretty content in their new home too (they are on a large pond in a lovely area near Ullenhall), they took to it all "like ducks to water!"

There are 14 "teenagers" in the rearing area who will be out and about very soon and yesterday another 6 very small ducklings appeared too - they will stay under a lamp for a couple of weeks as they have only just hatched.  These ducklings were hatched by the children from Hanbury First School, they were well looked after (as always).  We are not quite sure what they will become when they grow up - it is possible they will be Call ducks, which will certainly add to the noise in the garden!

A big 'Quacks' 'to Habury School children - great job!

There are more eggs in the incubator so we are expecting it to be a busy pond very soon!

In the Centre we have been seeing lots of visitors for all sorts of parties, courses and activities and plans are hotting up a a big events summer.  We hear that the Animals R Magic event will be bigger than ever this year - lots more animals - we are not that keen on all the attention that the other critters get at this event, but it is for charity to we 'quack and bear' it! 

Next on the agenda is a couple of children's plays in the gardens - 21/22 June - the Meanist Genie and Little Green Fingers - sounds like fun and as it is in a tent in the garden we will get to listen in!

The Big Dog is back

The Big dog was back today for this year's fundraising walk event "Go-walkies" in aid of the Guide Dogs for the blind.  What a lovely day they had for the 50 dogs who took their owners and friends for one of the 3 marked walks 

Here are two Guide dogs 'workers' behaving really well.  One is a brood bitch and the other is potentially going to be a guide dog.

Also today there was a very special occasion celebrated, a ruby wedding party.  They celebrated with bucks fizz followed by high tea in the meeting room which was all decked out in red!.

There has been quite a lot going on generally since a really busy mothers day - we have seen such a lot of old friends in the gardens.  the weather has helped considerably and the lawn was mowed this week which shows how much it has all dried out.  Some of our friends have been going off to new homes too - there are just too many drakes in our crowd and they have been found new homes - just in time as there are also some ducklings in the pen that have just been incubated, it is all change on the ponds!

Love is in the wind!

After an incredibly stormy week in the garden we were very surprised to see such a good turn out to the restaurant on Friday evening - but then we realised why...it was Valentines night.   The restaurant had been dressed up with hearts and red roses and most (but not all!) of the tables were set for two.

There was also a lovely singer - Sam Holmes sang and played her guitar to the diners for about three quarters of an hour and some people enjoyed it so much that they bought her cd too.  We especially enjoyed her song "Charlie" which is on her CD.  We are hopeful she will come back soon and play in the gardens so we can hear her a bit better, it was a bit tricky last night with the huge gusts of wind.

Sam has been 'Tweet' ing a lot about the Jinney Ring - we are now very happy to "quack" a lot about her!!

Valentines was not confined to last night though - this morning we had some lovely couples come in for a romantic breakfast in the conservatory - the selling feature --- they could watch us while they ate!

As well as Valentines in the conservatory we have very recently celebrated a life that has passed - Doreen Terry was a fairly regular customer and really liked the Jinney Ring and so her family chose to come and see her off with an afternoon tea here.  Not only that they have bought a mountain of really colourful primulas but also a lovely cherry tree which has been planted in the gardens here. Apparently Doreen disliked cut flowers, she felt much happier when things were growing - well we will be keeping a beady eye on the tree and will be 'helping' to make sure it flourishes in her memory.

Next thing on the menu is Pancakes and half term activities for the children - we are looking forward to seeing them outside again - surely the weather must start to change soon? - we seem to be the only ones enjoying it!

Mud glorious Mud

We we have done it - we have been working so hard during the last month, and now I feel quite confident to report that we have achieved our goal of taking over the garden properly and turning it into a mud bath (really good treatment for the feathers and the worms love it too!).  The constant bouts of heavy rain have assisted our mission but we have dabbled and dabbled too for the creation.  What do you think?

The shame of it is that all this will have disappeared by summer and the grass will grow back but it is nice while it lasts!

It has been a while since I have written in my diary, and there has been quite a lot going on, especially over Christmas and New Year.  Santa popped in for Weekends into the lovely grotto (with its round 'port hole' window),  we saw lots of children visiting (they came to see us too and all seemed pretty happy!).

'Hanbury In Voice' sang carols and songs to a restaurant jam packed with visitors on Christmas Eve and then it went quiet at about 4pm for two whole days, the only ones in the year that the Centre is closed.   It was not completely quiet though as the local Hunt came right past the Centre on Boxing day - they did look smart!

New Year's Eve in the Restaurant was lovely with everyone dressing very smartly for the 'Agatha Christie Theme' celebration.  There were moustaches on the tables (Hercule Poirot style) and some knitting wool and needles (Miss Marple).  Everyone threw themselves into the spirit of the occasion and an impromptu knitting competition ensued!  Jazz duo 'Blue2' had researched the topic and played music to suit the occasion including the theme tunes to the TV Poirot series and did us proud, then there was dancing to finish the evening - what a lovely evening with a lot of familiar faces.

New Year's day was heaving with folk too - this time they were with us for breakfast which was on the menu for most of the day. The weather wasn't very good but it was good to see so many people coming out, with or without headaches following parties the night before!

Since New year the staff have been having a good sort out and cleaning everything in sight - it is fairly normal to catch up ion jobs in January and there is an especially big sort outs going on the back rooms of the gift shop with a sale of some lovely items so that they can free up space for other things.

Finally - we also hear that once again we have been featured on the TV - this time it was for the BBC's 'Escape to the Country' (Thursday 23rd Jan) . Lots of people saw it and said how good the Centre looked and also how inviting Worcestershire came across - there were some great shots of the Malvern Hills and well as Droitwich town too. (It is on i-player at the moment)  The program was shot last year when the garden was not looking half as muddy as we have made it now - shame really would be good to have our work on film!

It feels a lot like Christmas....

The Jinney Ring Food and Craft Fayre on the 23/24 the of November was held in the gardens this year as it had grown in size.  This year we had sausages cooked in the garden, honey from a neighbour, jams and chutneys and some incredible meat pies, wines and fudge all added into the craft stalls - what a great flavour!  The gardens were really busy that weekend and there were things for the kids to do to  including watching the chain saw sculptor and riding on the teacup roundabout.  The weather was lovely too so we ducks had plenty of visitors and lots of corn - thank you all!

The Centre Christmas lights went of for the fayre weekend and will be on until the new year now - from 3pm to 7pm it looks really festive, especially in the front courtyard.

But the best is still to come - Santa has a new magical grotto this year and it looks great.
Elf Holly and the reindeer like it too!

Santa is in his grotto on Saturdays and Sundays between now and Christmas from 2pm to 4pm.  Children are emerging with lolly pops and a gift but we don't know what is in or what their secret wishes are.....

Next week we have an evening party in the restaurant and late night shopping too - Friday 13th is not necessarily unlucky in December - lots of Christmas presents could be in store!  The Christmas Feast night in the restaurant will be really cosy, already the log fire going everyday and a has a Christmas tree next to it and there are decorations throughout.

 "T'is the season to be Holly -- quack quack!"

Hot and Spicy!

The Moroccan Night on Friday was very colourful - lots of sparkly lights and candles as well as bright coloured organza.  The restaurant looked quite different when it was all dressed up.

The evening started with a pomegranate welcome drink and then moved through a host of authentic moroccan dishes before Tahira the Belly Dancer came on.

Tahira has been here before and she is one of our favourite entertainers - such a nice lady and she speaks English so well!  (It turns out she is from droitwich and she Teaches Belly Dancing for a living!)

There are lots more visitors here at the moment and all of the craft units are working very hard to stock up for Christmas sales,  we can feel the excitement growing....Next week the marquees go up for our Food and Craft Fayre (23/24th November).  Santa's grotto is also underway, opposite the plant stall, so we have him to look forward to as well -- hope he comes out into the gardens too.

2 Weddings and Funeral....

The beginning of October saw two weddings and funeral party here.  The first weekend was the wedding of Lauren and Dan - we had got to know them and their lovely daughter Adelaine quite well as they came to visit us ducks a lot during the planning of their big day.

The bridal 'vans'- all dressed up!

'Bearly' a minute to themselves - Lauren and Dan with one of this years sculptures

 

A 'staggeringly' pretty Bridesmaid! 

The weather was lovely for the wedding party and held for Sunday too when we were privileged to celebrate the life of one of our Hanbury neighbours Isobel, with a buffet lunch party in the garden.  The family were determined that she should be remembered in memorial in the way that she had lived her life, with a cheerful and happiness so they brought along lots of pictures and memorabilia and lots of her friends came and shared stories.  It was a lovely day and a great send off.

The wedding party of Emma and Michael was wet, really wet so we only saw them through the window of the restaurant.  The weather did not put the party off though - the restaurant was all dressed up and looked cosy and warm an everyone danced the night away until the early hours.  We caught a brief glimpse of the Bride and Groom as they had some photos taken under the eaves of the building - they looked gorgeous.

After this last wedding of the year we had a bit of a breather - mostly becuase it rained for 2 weeks.  There was a bit of a rush in the middle of the week as they Centre staff took down the marquee sides once they heard the storm warning forecast - we were preparing for the worst ourselves but as it turned out it was not too bad at all on the pond.

There is probably no such thing as a quite time at the Jinney Ring, half term has just finished and despite the rain we have seen a lot of children and adults alike and it looks like Christmas shopping has started!

On the ponds the 6 'late' ducklings that hatched a few weeks ago have been growing steadily in the pen and this weekend decided to brave it into the bigger pond - they certainly chose a noisy and windy weekend to 'breakout', we all watched the local fireworks from the ponds yesterday, we stayed in our safe zone!