Deck the halls, the festive season is upon us! We will have just had the spooks of Halloween and the gunpowder plot celebrations which they do in a very understated way in Ottery St Mary I always think. Well we here at Payhembury Provisions like to blow our trumpet and celebrate everything good about our shop and village. So once again you’ll be able to order a fine free range Turkey (may have been barn raised as I’m not up on the current poultry keeping laws) from us, the order form will be in the shop soon. We have a good range of Christmas …
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Payhembury Provisions – Nov 2023
Reverend David’s November Notes – Upside Down
Some things are viewed better upside down. An example: one of my favourite album covers (one of my favourite albums), pictured here. Two handstands on a beach when inverted appear as people touching the sky, even being pulled up there.
Inverting things is sometimes attempted by force. The Gunpowder Plot, for example. Picture Guy Fawkes and his friends, crouched beneath Parliament’s chamber: “Oh, yes!” we hear him proclaim, “how we’ll invert things to their rightful way! These Protestant usurpers cast down, our kingdom raised again to the power …
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Yellingham Farm – November
You are not going to believe this……. yet again a need to involve my non-country guests to help on the farm and sort out some very boisterous bullocks. The term bullocks” made the ladies blush. No girls, not what you think.
My beautiful cow, named Princess was due to calve – her 4th calf and never before had she caused me any problems. Due date was 15th of the month, and she was a couple of days overdue, so I was not nervous, but just a little tense. I was up my polytunnel at 6pm as usual watering, enjoying picking Alpine strawberries …
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Paul’s Nature Notes September-October 2023
It is certainly a time of change with daffodil shoots pushing through on 9 October and - goodness me - there really have been a lot of hornets around this autumn and from all corners of the parish! Most reports tell us that they are over an inch long and suggest that despite appearances they are rarely aggressive, unlike the common wasp. Note the word rarely, because in my experience entering the garden after dark wearing a head torch is likely to induce some really unnerving behaviour – certainly enough to make me turn tail and run and even …
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Payhembury Provisions – Sept 2023
Our Annual Members Meeting will be held on Friday 20th October at 7.30pm in the Parish Hall. Please come along – Payhembury is ‘your’ shop – a community shop managed by members of the community for everyone in the community.
During the meeting, we are always pleased to be able to give grants to local organisations. This is money raised from our weekly raffle. Recipients to date have included Tea and Bingo group, the Church - to resource the children’s area, and towards repairs to the bells; the Flower and Bulb show, committee to support the …
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Yellingham Farm – October 2023
I opened the e-mail and immediately thought this is a scam:
“Dear Mr and Mrs East, we are delighted to announce that you have been awarded the prestigious VisitEngland Rose Award in Recognition Of Service Excellence”. Just to check that my intuition was correct, I speedily e mailed the VisitEngland Assessor who carried out our annual Assessment earlier in the Year. At the back of my mind was also the thought that for most Tourism Awards, you have to enter yourself and go through a rigorous process competing with amazing hospitality …
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Reverend David’s September Notes – Deliveroo/Deliver Who?
The Deliveroo rider weaves skilfully through the Exeter traffic, their big turquoise box strapped to their back. Pedalling hard – up the hill, down again, following their phone’s directions. Ding-dong. “Delivered to you – your freshly-baked pizza.”
The big white van skids to a halt outside the house, the 129th of their day. They stride up the path, no answer, so leave the package in the porch, jog back to their van, leap in, and onward. “Order today: Delivery tomorrow – our promise to you”.
The drone speeds over the green Orkney fields. Over …
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Yellingham Farm – September 2023
“The grass is always Greener on the other side”. Whoever wrote that must have had my Black Welsh Mountain sheep in mind. The phrase dates back to the Greek poet Ovid, who lived in the first century B.C. The original saying was, “The harvest is always richer in another man's field.” Whichever phrase you choose, my Black sheep know the meaning and act on it.
So, last week a very kind gentleman pulled up outside the farm gate and alerted us to the fact that a Black sheep was on the lane heading towards Crowders Cross… given I don’t know of any …
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Paul’s Nature Notes July-August 2023
We have suffered two setbacks this year. Our house martins did not reappear this year and my earlier account triggered similar reports from several friends. This has set me wondering if there was a problem in the wintering quarters or along the migration route. I do know that this species, as with so many others, is in decline.
All, however, is not lost, as non-breeding birds were seen building nests in preparation for next year. They had a hard time of it though as there was not much wet mud around at the time, but a seepage from adjoining …
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