Anna's Happy Trotters

07/09/2026

05/09/2026

Youngun earning his first arable 🚜 stripes today working for his Uncle.
Traditional first 🚜 job on the farm of rolling now he’s come of age.
He’s not stopped talking about it all evening ❤️
Between the pigs and the arable he’s making a blooming good, conscientious, passionate and dedicated young farmer and stockman and I couldn’t be prouder

05/08/2026

Oh the trauma my poor boy has been exposed to due to ANOTHER exploding bed 💨

I demand a refund!!!

Before anyone comes at me with his living arrangements my other young kelpie who is still in the dinosaur 🦖stage of development (albeit extended) won’t let him sleep in the nice room where there are proper indestructible beds that once broke my ankle (but that’s another story 😂)

28/07/2026

Well these 4-legged things are going to be the death of me!
Noticed Socks hasn’t been since Friday and as a regular day and nighttime visitor, was really starting to get concerned.
Wondered if it could be to do with the new feral, Charlie Chaplin and a bit of a protest but thought it odd that he’d leave his partner in crime, Whiskas.
I even checked the hedge bottoms last night fearing the worst 😢

Got back from butchery deliveries today and thought I’d just check the redundant farm buildings to see if he could’ve got trapped anywhere.
After half hour or so of searching the old arable stores I thought I’d just check in the old bait room that nobody ever goes in…. Sure enough a familiar pair of eyes catch my attention under the desk, clearly terrified Socks darts into the toilet, an even more confined space.
Tried to lure him out to no avail, so enlisted the services of the local resident cat wizard, Louise from the fabulous Orchard Cattery who managed to work her magic and get him in a cat carrier. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t going in there without a full suit of armour or a stab vest, Socks is badass! Louise, cool as a cucumber just walks in and does her thing 🙌, cat whisperer extraordinaire!
Anyway released him in his familiar surroundings and he’s now reunited with his best pal Whiskas.
He’s eaten pretty much his body weight in food, including tuna, salmon and chicken.

Turns out one of the arable team had been in there, probably trying to find some rain given the skies have been somewhat lacking!

So along with the Amazon drivers being instructed to check the back of their vans for dogs before they leave, the arable team have been instructed to check for feral cats before they close doors behind them!

All’s well that ends well ❤️🐈‍⬛

23/07/2026

Bit dry 😮‍💨🐖🌪️

18/07/2026

Hog roast done ✅
Back just in time for the 2nd half.
Snacks sorted- pigs cheeks and crispy bits - chef’s rights 😁
Come on England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

17/07/2026

Big girl pants on 🩲
Mind over matter engaged
70kg 🐖 on she goes 🏋️‍♀️

If he can do it SO CAN SHE 💃

15/07/2026

Given the engagement on the last “life in farm diversification” post ref my dog Skip, let’s call it 🤦‍♀️🐕🚚

Maybe I should be showing more realities rather than just taking pictures of our fabulous piggies mostly bathing in their wallows at the moment.

Since posting that I’ve had a new feral cat join us on the farm.

I was never a cat person, always team dog. But bam, hit my 40s, single and these feral things just started adopting me!!

And I’m addicted to making sure they’re all ok ❤️🐈‍⬛

13/07/2026

An eventful weekend
First hog roast on Saturday at this fabulous venue and eager to make a good impression with a fellow farm diversification.
As I arrived I was shown to my pitch, owners couldn’t be more helpful and welcoming offering me a drink, asked if I needed any help. As always “thanks but I’m all good 😊”.

Got set up and just about to start serving at 8pm when I receive a message from mum saying “please call when possible”. I thought that odd when she knew I was at an event so thought something must be wrong and called her.

“We’ve lost Skip, we can’t find him anywhere, there’s a chance he might have jumped in an Amazon delivery van”.

Cue mild panic but hoped this wasn’t the case and carried on carving the hog and serving, chatting with guests. Whilst my mind was going 10 to the dozen thinking “if he’s got in an Amazon van how do you even contact Amazon about this, how do we know which depot, what if they don’t open the back door when they get back and he’s in there all night? Is my child distressed by what’s going on?” 🤯 (Child with Mum and Dad)

Half an hour later a call comes in from an 020 number (usually I’d ignore these as most of the time I’ve found they’re cold calls). But I apologised to guests and said I needed to take this and tentatively answered. It’s Amazon.
Go through security checks, trying to hurry the lady on the phone along and then just say “have you got my dog?”
“Yes we had your dog, the driver didn’t realise he’d jumped in and when he opened the back door the dog jumped out and ran”. Lovely lady on the phone from Amazon asks me to go to the depot, I explain I can’t, I’ll send dad, what’s the address, etc and hand over Mum’s phone number to speak to.
Trying to pull a hog apart one-handed whilst on the phone, trying to take down an address, adrenaline and panic already hindering my thought process. Desperately trying to carry on serving the hog roast to hungry guests!

I’d already mentioned to a couple of guests who had dogs with them the initial phone call from mum but I’m sure he can’t have, he’ll have just gone after a squirrel, etc.

The guests and hosts picked up on my distress (I’d tried v hard to hide and be professional) and basically took over pulling the hog apart - a chap who I’d already chatted to saying he used to have pigs but got out as he couldn’t cover costs nevermind turn a profit, I said why do you think I’m here doing a hog roast?! Only way to turn a profit!

The guests and hosts insisted I just dump and run, host unhitched my trailer for me pretty much before I had time to answer and then helped me get out between the tightly parked cars.

I drive like 🏎️ to the Amazon depot where I’ve already sent Dad, on the phone to him when he gets there, he tells me Skip’s there but they can’t get near him, he’s “gone feral”.
Clearly a ride in the back of an Amazon van and then being dropped in the middle of an industrial estate has him rather disoriented when he’s used to being on the farm. So all the way there I’m on loudspeaker on the phone calling and Whistling “Here Skip”, “let’s go” “want some cheese”, “whistle😗”, “come on”, “good boy”, “in we go”
Trying to coax him into dad’s car for 40 minutes! (He’s very much my dog, v loyal to me as Aussie kelpies are)
Just as I arrive they’ve managed to get him in the car, gloriously sitting on the back seat of Dad’s (previously) pristine tidy car. Dog still a little traumatised but probably galant in the knowledge he was about to get PROPER treats at home… they all came out!

It’s a story you couldn’t write!

BUT my takeaway is the unbelievable kindness and perception from the guests and the hosts at Field House.

Wonderful WONDERFUL people ❤️

P.s. first time I’ve ever felt as a farm diversification biz I’ve let someone down, but everyone was still fed, farmers ensure that 🚜