Visiting Southdown Farm

New puppies need to be exposed to loads of new experiences, smells, people and animals, which is why Uncle John and I took him on a day out to Southdown Farm, Witney which is run by farmers Paul and Michele Tomlin.

I thought that he would be really excited and simply adore meeting the goats.  Not so. The poor little lad was terrified, he couldn't stop shaking when he saw the first one.  Paul is a kindly farmer however and he gently lifted the quivering little fellow into his arms and introduced the creatures, each to the other.  It was indeed a lovely moment.

Meeting the pigs was a quite different experience.  Barnaby was delighted - rushed over to greet them and spent some considerable time conversing with the piglets.
After that he really perked up, wandering about the farm with confidence, even spoke to the turkeys!


What a lovely day we had, despite the mud.  Paul and Michele gave us the royal tour, showed us the milking parlour and the little shop where you can buy fresh goats milk, soft and hard goats cheese, honey and joints of pork and lamb.  It's all very low-key, no shop assistant, just an honesty box where payment can be left.  Should visitors want to speak to someone, there are loads of helpers around all eager to do what they can to make your visit to the farm memorable.
Barnaby certainly loved it in the end, that initial fear when he saw the goats soon vanished - well they were the very first livestock that the little fellow had ever met and so much bigger than him.

Must admit he was rather muddy by the time we tipped him back into the car, but what's a bit of mud between friends.
I used the soft cheese to bake a tomato and goats cheese tart to which I added several sprigs of  Rosemary for extra flavour it was simply delicious.