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Thursday 26th January 2012

The children leave the farm at 8.30 a.m. and should be back at school by 3.45 p.m. If they are delayed we will let the school know and they will text you. Please do not park in front of the school after 3.15 p.m. so that the coach can park up easily. When you collect your child please let Eithne or Liz know that you have taken them.

Wednesday 25th January 2012

“The best part of the whole week was when Joseph was nearly sick from the smell of the duck shed this morning. I laughed! My favourite thing to do is probably the milking of the goats because you grab the teat, trap it and squeeze hard or the goats will think that you are tickling them. I am good at this now. The horses are lovely and very very calm, especially Tudor, the oldest horse, who has Cushings disease. I would definitely come again because I came last year and had the most amazing time ever and this year has been no different. Treginnis is a wonderful place to be!” Kerry

“The last day has probably been the best day because there’s more experiences than the others. One of the best things is feeding the young calves, which play and jump about as we tried to feed them. Overall all the experiences have been amazing and we are really grateful to our two volunteers Phil and Hayley for all their hard work this week as well as the staff from Canonbury and at Treginnis. This week I have probably learnt how to wash my hands properly, how to do a job of work and how to eat two slices of cake. I have also learnt how to get on with people in a small living space and I did really enjoy everything.” Joseph

“Oh No! It’s my last day today. Shame as I’ve had an amazing time and I’d recommend it to everyone. We did sheep again today and I fed them in the field. Next we saw for the last time, the baby lambs and also the calves. I now love cows…I hated them before. They’re so soft and nice.

Breakfast… yummy pancakes, with sugar…yum! After that it was back to work. We walked the sheep dogs and I walked Bess and she had a tiny smile. We walked right up to the top of a big hill and we saw the waves crashing down, it was wonderful.” Nicole

“It is our last day today and Polly and I had to muck out one of the horses’ stables and there was loads of pooh..yuk! Then we did a farm task which was emptying smelly pig pens…more yuk! Guess what..? It’s Mae’s birthday today and she had a massive cupcake and loads of small cupcakes, we sang her happy birthday!  I’m doing my diary and we have the last night presentations. Bye!” Jessica 

Tuesday 24th January 2012

“Today was really fun, plus we got to go to St Davids. We fed the sheep and the baby sheep did not know what was happening when all the other sheep ran to the food trays because it was his first day out with other sheep and lambs in the field.

Next we went to St Davids. It was a tiring walk but worth it. We saw the cathedral with its tall and brilliant ceilings, covered in elegant patterns. we also learnt loads of facts, like the symbol for Catherine of Aragon was a pomegranite.

We visited the sweet shop which was filled with yummy treats. It was an amazing trip.” Charlotte

“Today group C (My group) helped Rob K with the sheep and we had to feed the pregnant ewes. It was me, Harley, Luke and Ronaldo who had to pour the food into long troughs. After that we went to feed the calves and had a talk about when and how they get sold to end up as meat in the butchers.

Later on we had some lovely breakfast. I didn’t have a big appetitie today so I just had a croissant and some fresh orange juice. It was very tasty. I was so excited because we were going to St Davids and the sweet shop (Yay!) When we go to the cathedral Mike talked to us about how stunning the cathedral is and we talked about the saints. We had sandwiches and fruit for lunch before heading off to the most amazing sweet shop where I got some millions, sweet lips and a chocolate bar. For my last shift of the night I worked with the horses and cleaned up their stables. I cleaned out Bella’s stable, although it was very smelly. That was my fun day! Frankie

“Dear diary, today has been the best day of my time here. We woke to find ourselves quickly in the boot room and working before breakfast and being on our way on as three mile walk to St Davids. When we got there we found out that Mike was a vicar at the cathedral and we got a special tour.

We went all around the cathedral, learning loads of new and interesting facts, such as “The cathedral has no foundations” The ceilings were amazing with fascinating patterns and colours. Finally we had lunch and bought some sweets. Now here I am writing up my diary!” Raphael 

“Sheep today. First we fed the cows and there were two of them, both babies so they were very cute. The tags on their ears are like passports and tell a farmer the country and farm that they come from. They need this because there is a disease called foot and mouth which causes deat. Rob explained all of this to us, although it was hard to take in as it was such a long speech! We climbed into the pen with the babies while they ate their food. Next we fed lambs who were with their mums in the field. It didn’t take too long and we were working so didn’t stop to say “Aah!” to the tiny baby lambs.

The pregnant sheep had to come into the shed. To help with this we stood where the sheep mustn’t go to make sure the only place they could go was in the shed. Rob chased after them slowly with his tractor, trying not to scare them, as they are pregnant.” Isabella

“The day started with me feeding the sheep. We carried the food and poured it into the metal feeding tray. Then we went back to the sheep shed and collected the feed for the calves.

We walked to St Davids and went to the cathedral. We went inside and Mike explained about the events that had happened at the church. Then we went to the sweet shop and bought everything we needed! Later we fed the horses and spread the straw around the stables. Fact of the day: Mike is related to Lady Jane Grey!” Luke

“I have to begin with telling you all about the talent show last night. Lots of people were involved. Joseph, I and Michael did a comedy act and everybody laughed. It was called “mirror, mirror on the wall”. Dave dressed up as a girl called “Davina” wearing a skirt, make-up and carrying a hand bag. He kept saying “Shut-Up” and  being rude to Matt as they performed a magic trick. I know how its done but I didn’t spoil the secret!

Today has been good because we started with pigs and poultry and fed the chickens, geese and pigs with Nick. Later on we went on a very long walk to St Davids. It was three miles each way and we were all tired. When we got there, Mike took us around the cathedral. He knew a lot about the history of the cathedral. We had lunch there and then went to the shops. On the way out we saw a picture of Mike dressed as a Vicar. He works at the cathedral too.” Louis 

Monday 23rd January 2012

“Today I am really looking forward to the talent show. We are seeing everyone perform, including Dave (Davina), in the quiet room at 7.15. Lots of the children are dancing and singing as well as taking part in some comedy routines. I am excited!  Today was a very quiet day for me, but tomorrow I’m going to walk to St Davids…so it will be fun.” Harley

“Today I fed and milked goats first thing, before breakfast. Then I saw the piglets which had been born this morning. Sadly three piglets died today and a further one was crushed by his mother. Les told us that this is quite common, but it still made us sad. We had to clean out the smelly pig sty and as this was straight after breakfast, it made me feel sick. I am looking forward to the talent show, although I’m not performing.” Ellie

“Today we woke up and I felt really tired because I was woken up early by a noise and then couldn’t go back to sleep. I did sheep, which includes mixing their feed and bringing them in from the field. I also did a long walk checking all the sheep stock and I got to walk Seren, the border collie sheep dog. Lunch was curry which was lovely but then I had to complete a farm task, digging a trench into the raised garden bed, and then filling it with manure. Matt got to drive a tractor and it was funny because he seemed quite clumsy! I walked Tinker, the craziest pony ever (He is under 14 hands high so he is not a horse) as the last task today and I loved it. Matt and Eithne told me I was being really well behaved and I am looking forward to the talent show where me and Freddie are performing a zombie act!” Lewis

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Sunday 22nd January 2012

“I was poorly on Saturday, so today was the first day I really enjoyed as I began to feel myself. I went to feed the pigs and poultry (chickens, geese and turkeys) first thing and I thought the pigs were greedy and seemed to be just stuffing themselves. The food they ate looked disgusting (Oats and fodder beat) and it was gooey, but they seemed to like it.

I moved onto the poultry which involved feeding them and I tried to feed them as was pecked on the hand! I wouldn’t like to be a poultry farmer! I saw horses later and was able to walk them around the field twice. My horse was called Tudor and I was able to lead Tudor quite easily although everyone elses horses seemed to stand and eat grass rather than walk!” Polly

” Today we got up really early but we had a good sleep. First of all we got dressed in the boot room and we had to milk and feed the goats. One goat was fine but having four eating from my one bowl of food was tough because they all crowded in trying to eat from the bowl! (It was a really hard task!)

Then we had breakfast and it was yum! We had a short break and back into work. We had to hold and feed the new born (So cute) lambs. Later we cleaned out the pig pooh in their shelters. We had a nice lunch and then a lovely walk on the beach. I got so wet I couldn’t move! I was tired and we all went in for a tea break. Finally a nice warm rest and I wrote my diary!” Patchela

“We went to clean out the pig sty today. The pregnant pig needed her sty cleaning as she is about to have her babies. While she ate some fodder beat we scooped and wheel barrowed out the pooh and straw and I openend the gate to bring everyone into the yard. We dumped all the pooh in a big compost heap and t will be added to the grass to make it grow. ” Famke

“We woke up really early and went straight to the quiet room. After twenty minutes of relaxing we headed to the boot room and it took us only 5 minutes to get our waterproofs on. We went with our group leader to clean out the pig’s pens and they were so smelly!!! As soon as we had finished we went for breakfast (Yum Yum) Later on we had a coast walk which was scary but fun. We walked right along the coast line and saw Ramsey Island.

On the beach we found lots of interesting stones but we had to leave and couldn’t carry them back. When we got home we went with Rob and held a baby lamb, it was so tiny and cute. Oh I nearly forgot that we had a delicious roast lunch. I love being a farmer!! Tallula

“Today we went to the sheep house and we got to hold a baby lamb that was only one day old. We surprisingly went to feed the cows because we didn’t even know there were cows on the farm.

I walked the oldest horse, called Tudor, she is 33 years old, which is the same as 103 in human years! I was brave at tea time as I tried “Barra breth” which is like a welsh malt loaf. Hayley was pleased with me as I am trying to eat lots of different foods.” Sydney

“Today we held a one day lamb, he was so cute I wanted to call him “Santa!”. I thought that I would miss my family terribly but even though I do ..I am so busy having fun that it doesn’t seem to matter. I mucked out the pregnant pig and she ate lots of fodder beats today. Les says that she will probably have the babies today or tomorrow.” Grace

“Today was the same as yesterday! Lizzie waking us all up in the early morning by screaming…”Get up…get up..!” This time we were quicker at getting dressed and brushing our teeth and hair.

For our morning farm work we mucked out the pigsties with Les. It was easy compared to cleaning out the cow shed yesterday, but it STUNK! After the pigsties we went in for breakfast. Later today we went for a walk to the beach and it was really interesting because there were lots of caves and rocks there..” Mae

“Dear Diary, today I walked a horse and it was really fun. I can’t believe that it was so good. The horse is old so she is not playful any more but she looks good for her age, as well as being well behaved. I loved holding new born lambs too and it was fluffy and loud all at the same time. Lizzie

“Today was a very long one. We had to go and feed the sheep and calves first thing. Breakfast at 9.00 was cheese on toast (Delicious)! After that we went to do a stock check. We walked with Rob to Buzzard rock and looked around us to see where the sheep might be.

After lunch we walked around the coast to the beach where we played in rock pools and finally we walked the horses and ponies and fed them. We have a quiz tonight!” Alex G

Saturday 21st January 2012

“I’ve been working with the goats by milking and feeding them. We have to squeeze their teats… yeagh! Then we collected the hay for the pigs past the splodgy muddy store. I am now in the quiet room making paper aeroplanes and writing…it is fun but I wonder what what we’re doing next?” Michael

“Today I am extremely tired. I found it hard to sleep because of the noises and talking! We went out first and looked at oats and barley. Barley is used for drinks like whisky. We needed the oats and barley to feed the sheep. After that we went to look for four cows in the huge field.” Ronaldo

“Today I fed the sheep and they ran at me. The sheep have to go into a shelter so we helped them and we we walked the sheep dogs to guide them. Then we climbed on a huge rock called Buzzard rock. Then we walked back to the farm house and we were all very tired.” Freddie

“Today was the first full one at the farm and I walked outside with a smile on my face, knowing it was going to be a great day. I fed the pigs, ducks, chickens and then walked the horses. This was a great start to the week.” Aden

“Dear Diary. Today I fed the dheep, went on a walk to Buzzard rock and took the horses for a walk. Then I played football with Matt and came in and played some more games.” Gabriel

“I woke up and got ready and then fed sheep and walked around the whole farm. My legs were so tired after it and I felt like I could faint. After that we had a nice drink and I came in and played some games.” Alex C

“Today some of the work was torture (in a good way though!). Waking up in the gloomy and dark morning was even worse! We shoved all of our clothes on and hurried down to the boot room, so that we would not be late! Our first task was the goats. We were all singing merrily..”We will, we will…MILK YOU!” Mike taught us everything about goats and that only certain groups of animals called mammals produce milk. After that…here comes the torture…. mucking out the pigs…!  It was horrible!! Poo was scattered everywhere. It never seemed to stop. After what seemed like hours of groaning and moaning  we were finally released from this to grind fodderbeat. Luckily we then got taken inside and given orange juice!” Emily

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Friday 20th January 2012

Well we all met at school on time and got away bang on 8.00 a.m. apart from a delay caused by Dave who thought he’d left something back at school!

Our driver was really friendly and everyone was well behaved. As a result of that and clear traffic we were able to make it to Newgale beach for a quick run en route by about 2.30 p.m. (We had stopped for sandwiches at Cardiff on the way too).

We all chased the sea and let the wind blow through our hair before piling back onto the coach. When we arrived at the farm we  had tea and Welsh cakes and met the staff at Treginnis and unpacked. We practised a fired drill (More of that later!) and had a delicious tea of chicken wraps, followed by strawberry mousse. Then we had some free time to play before getting ready for bed, folllowed by story time with Liz.

A short drama before bedtime, when the girls set off a fire alarm with a spray but no harm was done and at least we know the drill helped the children to get it right!

Everyone is excited about their first farm task, set for 7.20 am tomorrow morning in the boot room.

The children’s diaries will hopefully commence tomorrow.

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This is the space where the children going on the first school journey to Treginnis will include their diaries and reflections.