What? Is my bin better than yours?

Irony upon irony. At the risk of starting to sound like Victor Meldrew -can people please use their common sense and finish the job they started.

I picked these two massive carrier bags up just left in the hedge on farm yesterday. They contain the remains of two or possible three disposable barbecues and all the detritus attached to a wee picnicin the  countryside on a lovely summer day.

What I cannot understand is the logic of people who buy Eco- carrier bags from Asda- fill it full of their rucbbish and then dump it in the hedges and lanes of the wonderful clean countryside they came to enjoy in the first place. 

Who do you think is going to dispose of this lot for you? Firstly it will be the foxes, badgers, ratsand  squirrels, not to mentioned seagulls, who will tear this lot apart in a night or two and scatter your debris all over the place. At which point your carefully packed rucbbish  becomes not just an eyesore and an imposition but a tsunami of litter polluting the very space you came to enjoy.

Get real people! My bin is not better than yours. You brought it out here please take it back!

Or I warn you some young millennial is going to make themselves a fortune by creating an app that makes these Asda bags and the like traceable. Then we shall gladly send your detritus to be dealt with at your gaff, possible by drone!!!

Enough! be logical and finish the job!

Fabulous weekend of celebration at TOFT Fest 2016

What a weekend we had last. Sorry not to have put this up sooner but it's been a busy old week- 'twas ever thus!

 We have all just recovered from tidying up and getting everything back in place after a tremendous two days of craft and alpaca celebration here at TOFT. This weekend marked the tenth anniversary of the brand that is now TOFT. A brand that is internationally recognised across the world as representing the very best in creative design, service and luxury. 

More than time this celebration marks the the arrival back from University some ten years ago of Kerry Lord or Bettinson as she was then, carrying her newly printed, first class honours degree in English and with a little time to kill before taking up a masters or embarking on an academic career. We casually asked her, as you do when a spare pair of intelligent hands arrives on the manor, if she would look over our emerging alpaca retailing efforts and see what she could do. 

Well the rest is history, she took to it like a shark in a meat factory, committed her talents to the n'th degree to make this side of our business a huge success. Ten years later TOFT employs over 14 people, retails and wholesales across the world and has become a brand with a huge national and International reputation. Kerry has just published her fourth book on crochet. We have the TOFT coffee shop and Shop open five days a week on site in the TOFT Studio. We have an online retail facility to rival the best in its field and a wholesale division that is smoking! The goal posts are moving so fast around here you don't get a chance to kick the ball at them.

All this is very much down to the commitment, energy, creativity and talent of our daughter Kerry, and of course in no small part also down to the amount of support she gets from her husband, her friends, all our family, friends relations, passers by and any other slave, that can be exploited to give her a hand. 

I could go on forever detailing the incident, adventure challenges and successes of the past ten years and I am convinced that one day someone will do just that, but suffice to say Shirley an I are so very proud of our daughter and what has been acheived here. We feel very privileged to have played a part in seeing Kerry Lord become a brand in her own right and mature into the formidable creative force she has become today. 

10 years is a long time and a lot has been acheived but I confidently put you all on notice to watch this space. For I am acutely aware that for TOFT the story is just at the end of the beginning. This first ten years has been a magnificent achievement but it may it well be a mere drop in the ocean as to where Kerry will lead her merry team of Yarnies to next.

Congratulations to you all, congratulations Kerry and our sincere thanks to everyone past and present who has contributed to making TOFT the success it is today. Hold onto your hats y'all for the best is yet to come!

Eeee.... This grass is taking a bit of eating..!

You can't hear the grass growing at TOFT these past few weeks. We are busy shuffling the weaners around en masses to try and chomp it down. If we were growing cows or sheep we would be overjoyed but the alpacas are such efficient grazers that they get fat on concrete. As we prefer to keep our alpacas at their 'ideal' weight we are currently employing an intensive grazing and cutting regime to keep the grass under control. However this warm wet weather is doing its best to scupper those well laid plans. 'Twas ever thus!

Who's a smart boy then...?

Archie the TOFT Llama got his annual haircut yesterday as the final alpaca to be sheared at this sitting. Archie is sheared standing up and that cut is called a Barrell cut which apparently is all the rage in the Lllama soirees at the moment... Honest!

Archie has one main function at TOFT and that is to demonstrate the difference between a Llama and an Alpaca which he does magnificently. As you can see he is... A foot and half taller, has big curved ears like the handles of the European Cup, his tail is permanently cocked at a jaunty angle and his head is much larger and more accentuated giving him a haughty arrogant look which is not as submissive as the alpaca. Job done.. Well done Archie.

TOFT Easter Open day

The TOFT Easter Open day took place yesterday. The Manor was running with Yarnies and fans of TOFT Studio TOFT Alpaca Stud and the TOFT Coffee Shop. The people started arriving at 9.30am even though we didn't officially start until 10am. By 3.30pm 6-700 people had been through the gates around the farm and back again. A huge TOFT thanks to all our helpers and staff who created a wonderful atmosphere in the shop, on the farm and with the alpaca walking. Happy Easter one and all and a huge thanks to our 'rellies' the TILLEY clan for giving up the time to steward and help the proceeding run smoothly.

Here is my incredible Mother in Law Myra joint in in the Alpaca walking. She's a real TOFT treasure and the best a man can get. Thanks again one  and all and we look forward to seeing you all again in August.

Daffs are out at TOFT

Winters grip remains on the fields and runways but Spring is sprung in the copse with the Daffodils breaking out all over at TOFT. TOFT Coffee SHop Customers have only another 6 weeks or so to wait before the Cria will start arriving for 2016.

The TOFT T TEAM...

Caught the TOFT T Team in the sun this weekend and couldn't resist sharing this picture of these stunning sons of Lavender Park Tulley. 

T Team? TOFT Toranaga, TOFT Tamburlaine  and TOFT Tambo.  All sons of Lavender Park Tulley- get it? All these boys should start working this year and are now looking for discerning alpaca owners who want to add some superior coloured genetics to their alpaca breeding program. 

The TOFT T Team are all for sale so if you want to take a closer look at these beautiful Lavender Park Tulley boys, then please remember we shear in the second week of May so there's only a couple of months to see fleece and alpaca together. The TOFT Studio and TOFT Coffee Shop is open Wednesday through Sundays. So if you'd like to combine your visit with some coffee and cake then please get in touch. See you soon Rob & Shirl.

Jobs done- new entrance to the TOFT Studio....

Well that's done. 4 days start to finish and the entrance to the TOFT studio is now up to Highway Specification - looks great but makes the rest of the road look a bit rough. Let's hope the lorries stick to the road and quit cutting the corners. A big thanks to all our customers this week who adapted well to find their way to the parking. All back to normal tomorrow.

Young Lordy supervising the new TOFT Studio Access

Work started today at the crack of sparrows on a new drive access for the TOFT Studio... It will be finished tomorrow, we hope because we are open again on Wednesday. For a young boy who's all of three this is better than Bob the Builder turning up.