Crabbs Green Farm

Posted By admin on January 11, 2012

Wow, Christmas and New Year came and passed so very quickly , in a blink of my eye all was done and dusted !

We enjoyed a wonderful and busy Christmas , the kennels were decked out with lights gently glowing inside along the entire length of the kennels, along with christmas tree and stockings and christmas baskets filled with yummy snacks, this year our christmas was shared with a mix of wonderful, beautiful doggies, staying this year were, Murphy the retriever with his mate Duke the staff,  Beau the most handsome Dogue Du Bordeux, Ellie the beautiful elderly Welsh Springer, Boycey the cutest staff you could ever meet, Alan the Greyhound, Poor Alan’s holiday this time was a lot different to previous stays as a few weeks before he was due to come here he was sadly hit by a car, the result, his back leg broken in 2 places, so this time round was on very strict and limited amount of exercise,bascially nips out to go to the loo, but he made improvements every day, the vet came and took out his staples and was happy with his progress,  he came on leaps and bounds, yes we had fun and games to stop him jumping around the better he become, he was totally spolit, loved his bed puffed up several times a day but all in all was such a good boy, hopefully his pins should be removed very shortly and soon will once again be running like the speed of light everwhere!

Olive the dalmation, Bonnie & Bitsy the Newfoundland girls, Jockey the Border Collie, Meg the Kelpie x and Murphy the Spaniel/terrier x and last but not least Harvey the diabetic springer spaniel all enjoyed their Christmas walkies, and all enjoyed (except poor Harvey) scoffing their Christmas dinner leaving shiny bowls and once again Santa filled their stockings with tasty things ! and those that joined us for New Year were Brad the rottie, Mollie the Gsd and Kaiser the rottie, Carly the cocker, Cassie the xbreed and Star the beautiful Ridgeback, our whole festive period was spent with your gorgeous dogs, my kind of christmas, surrounded by dogs! 

And for our own boys Ice & Welly, a whole roasted leg of lamb each, they trotted off to different parts of the garden to settle somewhere comfy to enjoy every mouthful!!

As for myself, i was over the moon Christmas morning, for under the tree was a big present with my name on it, i unwrapped and inside was a Latte Machine!!!!!!! i love Latte’s, vanilla ones, gingerbread ones, plain ones , i love to froth the milk right up, thinking i need to switch to decaf, my caffine intake has been huge, suprised i can sleep at night lol!

I must say a huge thankyou to everyone that sent us amazing christmas cards we loved them all , opening envelopes and seeing your doggies pictures on the cards was lovely, thankyou so much for taking the time to do this!!!

Bit disappointed with the weather, as usual i was hoping for a white one, not mild and damp, but i suppose its what you make it, i hope we do see some snow , i just love the stuff, but looking out today its more like spring, saying that my hanging baskets have started to flower??  But on the up side to this weather, i have not found the need to stable my horses at night, i have just opened up the yard so they can get out of the wind, very sheltered in the yard and a real suntrap even now.

The 2nd of Jan came and the phone did not stop ringing, (you are all so super organised lol!)  the bookings spanning the whole year, even this coming Christmas/ new year ! places are going quickly, so if you wish for your doggies to holiday with us, booking sooner than later would be a good idea, i only have 2 places left for Feb half term, lots that phoned asked ‘are we taking bookings for the summer yet?’   Answer… We take bookings as far in advance as your plans!

Also if i may be cheeky and ask, as we have now been open for 2 years, to all that have used us, are you happy with our service?? Is there something else you wish we could do for your doggies?? Have we kept our standards high ?? How was your doggies when you took them home?? Do you think your doggies like coming here?? Have you felt we have let you down in anyway?? Good or bad we would like to know, we may think we are doing a good job but its you the owners that can answer that, so please if you can spare a few minutes drop me an email or letter with your thoughts, be truthful, we want to give your doggies the best enjoyable stay we possibly can, and im so sorry its been so long since my last post, we have had a nightmare with our internet connection, its been a real hit and miss if we managed to get online, but fingers crossed its all fixed and is running the best it ever has!

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Posted By admin on October 14, 2011

Hadham Lodge are taken orders for their totally Superb Bronze Turkeys, lovingly raised by old fashioned methods, these turkeys grow slowly on a totally natural diet.

Christmas dinner being ,  i would say , the most important meal of the year deserves the best tasting Turkey, and im not the best cook on the planet, but i brought a Turkey from Hadham Lodge (nr Tescos in Bishops Stortford ) for last years Christmas Dinner and it was AMAZING!  juicy , moist with so much flavor, i was so pleased with myself, it was the best Turkey i have ever cooked or eaten!   no i hadn’t swallowed ‘Nigella’s ‘ how to cook the perfect Christmas Turkey, its was down to Hadham Lodge’s Turkey!  i have just submitted my order for this year !

Take a look at their website  www.farmturkeys.com   So  in short,  for the best tasting Christmas Turkey , happy faces around the table, not having to smother your meat in gravy, give Hadham Lodge a go,  the proof is in the pudding, ( well Christmas dinner ) !

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Posted By admin on October 13, 2011

We are now fully booked for Christmas & New Year,

We do have other dates available up until the 17th Dec and remember we do offer doggie daycare (subject to space) so your doggies can have fun while you battle your way through the Christmas shopping crowds lol Oh what fun, tis the season to be jolly !!

DAYCARE PRICES ARE £15 FOR ONE DOG, £25 FOR 2 DOGS (SHARING)   they are welcome to have their tea here too at no extra cost!

Daycare times   9am – 6pm monday – friday          saturdays 9am – 5pm         sundays    10am – 4pm

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Posted By admin on June 22, 2011

This is the part of my job i loath , the phone ringing or picking up an email and a distraught mum or dad informing me that their beautiful dog has gone into forever sleep, i really do feel for you, and i too find the news very upsetting, but i would just like to thankyou so much for letting share a little of your doggies life, so typing with tears in my eyes i would just like to say goodbyes and sleep tight to:

Pepper…… The black lab, who just treated here as home and me as her mum, she like to come with me to feed the chickens and pigs, and was the first dog i ever started to care for before kennels were even built x

Bramble……….The elderly black lab, she loved to potter round the garden and lay in the sunshine, she was a real lady! x

Charlie……….the cocker spainel, Charlie was a happy old boy, hated going for walks so he never went, but loved to potter round the garden and kennels, he mapped out a route and this is what he stuck to, then when he had enough would take himself back to bed x

The death of our dogs rips our hearts out, the pain we feel is overwhelming, and sometimes its made harder when its us thats has to make decisions, we all want our dogs to live long happy healthy lives, and hope that when the time comes, they will just curl up happy in their beds and fall into forever sleep, but sadly sometimes we do have to end pain and misery that our dogs are going through, if there is no light at the end of the tunnel it seems the only thing we can do is to let them go, for keeping them alive with no quaility of life whatsoever is purely for ourselves because we just can’t bear to let them go, we will miss them too much, if fact if you really think about it, to keep them in a living hell when there is no other road to take is quite selfish of us humans, cause i know, if i was in that much of a state with no light at the end of the tunnel and no quality of life i too would want to sleep forever.

There is nothing anyone can say or do to make us feel better about losing our dogs and we have all said ‘right, thats it , im not getting another dog, i cant cope with this’!  but it does get better, day by day, week by week, time is a healer, and one day we can once again look at the photos we shoved to the back of the cupboard with smiles, of all the things our doggies got up to, memories of ripped up clothes and shoes, digging huge holes in the garden the list goes on!  and then you realise that your home is just not the same without muddy paw prints and the contents of the bin covering the kitchen floor, so before long a new pup or rescue dog once again puts a new lease of life back into your home, your life, but that doesn’t mean we have gotten over our grief, we shall never forgot the doggies we have shared our life with, they make such a huge impact on us it would be impossible to forget,  the new pup or dog is never a replacement, they are themselves, but the empty feeling does in most cases need replacing, and so a new chapter begins, and before long we will be moaning about the mess, soggy dog smells and hair, but we just can’t help ourselves!

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Posted By admin on June 22, 2011

PLEASE HELP!! This lovely Doberman was taken from his garden in the Chelmsford area roughly 6 months ago, his owners are beside themselves with worry and sadness and pray for his safe return or news whatever the outcome, we can all understand the stress they must be feeling, there must be someone out there that knows something!!

Do you know anyone that has taken on/been sold a Doberman within the last 6 months?   he is microchipped, castrated, taller than average (long legged) about 2-3 years old , so please if you know where he is/was or have any snippet of information then please please get in touch, you can contact the owners numbers which are 07508318901 or 07757130975 , if you do not wish to contact owners directly then please get in touch with myself on either 01279777163 or 07799031860 (sam)  there is a £1000 reward, he is a very much loved boy who is greatly missed by his family, we will ask no questions about yourself and please if you do have him, you can always drop him off here, many thanks sam xx

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Posted By admin on June 21, 2011

Hello, hoping you and your doggies are all in good health!

So sorry to disapoint, but we have very limited dates left for July and Aug, we have some spaces left from the 5th- 11th july thats it im afraid, the rest of July is fully booked, as for Aug we only have 2 kennels available for 1st aug-4th aug,  1 kennel available for 7th- 11th aug, 1 kennel available 16th- 20th aug at (this moment in time)  we start to have some kennels available from the 29th aug into sept.

Can you believe its nearly July! the months are whizzing by, and have a feeling that our summer has been and gone weather wise, i was praying for rain, the ground was like a desert, big cracks and sunburnt crispy grass, bloody weeds kept growing though, may looked more like the end of August,but now the rain and coolness is back i want the sun and warmth back, i was even tempted to light my fire last weekend to feel cosy!

The doggies have been having a great time, some have once again enjoyed the black stinky gloop round the edge of the ponds, playing and smearing themselves from head to foot which in turn sends them into a mad half hour, and if you had seen the outcome of 3 loopy doggies running through the entire kennels covered in this stuff, OH MY GOD!!!  im just so glad no one turned up to view, Mac the westie, Archie the cocker and Grace the black lab had the time of their lives bundling through the kennels , there was black gloop up the walls, all over the floors, the washing machine and tumble got a good splattering, as did the white shinny kitchen, oh and the fridge didn’t escape!  but if you had seen their faces, you too would had forgiven them, they all oozed total happiness, Mac was the worst affected, he looked more like a scottie dog than a westie, it was funny and even though we cleaned up im still finding black spots here and there!  doggies were also hosed down, Archie is a kind of blue roan/tri/white cocker, but when he was covered in the gloop he did look very much like sweep, you know the dog from sooty and sweep lol!

Changing the subject, and i know its only the 21st of June but Bookings for the Christmas holidays are starting to come in, so if you wish for your doggie to spend Christmas/New years with us and to avoid disapointment booking sooner rather than later would be a good idea, i can’t even think of next week, let alone Christmas, but we are now taking bookings, we only have 6 kennels left available for Christmas itself, and once again your doggies will feast on turkey with all the trimmings and enjoy the goodies left by Santa in their very own stockings! ( can’t believe im even talking about Christmas!!)

Hoping you all enjoy your holidays !!

bye for now xx

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Posted By admin on March 18, 2011

After 21 years, Ricky and i finally wed, this must have been the longest engagement in history! so as from the 14th march 2011 i am now Mrs Samantha Howe.

The sun shone and it was a lovely day, can’t say much for today though, i know we are still in winter and im not expecting come March the 21st to be bathed everyday in spring sunshine, but these little snippets of spring we have been having is giving me hope that soon we shall be free of dark gloomy days, mud, coats and boots.

The dogs also enjoy the fine weather, they too have a spring in their steps, and as we walk i can see nature starting to wake up from its long winter slumber, shoots from beneath the surface, buds on the trees and the birds are busy too clearing out last years nests from the boxes, in preparation of this years clutch, for me this seems to have been a long winter, and i am welcoming spring with open arms, for blossom and lushness, for warmth and long days, i know its on its way and i will have mud free kennels and lovely dry clean doggies, to be able to wear trainers again such bliss! hurry up mother nature ,please don’t keep teasing us with small moments of whats to come, hurry up and give us the real deal now!

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Posted By admin on December 29, 2010

If you have a minute check out our customer reviews, you can find them on www.boardingkennels.org just search crabbs green farm, also on boardingkennels.org  there is lots of helpful information about boarding kennels plus lots of other kennels that may be of interest to you.

Sam xx

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Posted By admin on December 1, 2010

Today, the 1st of December 2010 we have been open 1 year, and this first year has been totally amazing!

Its still hard to believe 12 months have passed so quickly , quite scary infact, still as the saying goes ‘time flies when your having fun’! and even though we are running a business it has not felt like it, surely going to work everyday of the week with no days off would become a chore but i can honestly say that everyday has been fun, yes its hard work and very long hours but being with your doggies has made everyday a real pleasure, i look forward to what each day brings as no two days are the same, well they are in some respects in the fact i know i will have a great time, that i will laugh alot and continually smile throughout the day and thats all down to caring for your loveable, funny,nutty,mad, looney,loopy,cuddly and sweet doggies!

From the bottom of my heart i thank everyone that has entrusted us with their beautiful dogs, and i really hope your doggies had a great stay with us and i also thankyou for giving us a wonderful 1st year, for all your kind words , the support you have given us and sharing your doggies with us, this was once a dream and now im living my dream, yes i do pinch myself now and then, im am the luckiest person alive, i love my job, when i think about all the people stuck in offices, on trains/tubes, stuck in traffic on the motorway etc i look around and what do i see?…….. doggies looking back at me with happy tails wagging or watching them running through meadows , strolling through the woods, even when its bitterly cold like now i still love to be outside making sure all the doggies in my care are happy and loved, then coming back and getting them all snug and comfy in their beds.

It has been a real honor and pleasure to care for your doggies, so once again Thankyou so much for choosing us, and from all of us here at Crabbs Green Farm ,we really hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Fantastic New Year, and may all your hopes and dreams come true…………..Mine did!!!!

Sam xxx

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Posted By admin on September 27, 2010

Its not that long now til the festive season, can’t believe it, where has the other months gone!  walking round Tesco the other day i noticed mince pies, stollen and selection boxes were already out, sometimes wish these supermarkets would hold out a little longer til they started displaying their festive goods, maybe its just me, but they seem to get muddled in the line up, surely Halloween stuff should come first, then the bonfire night, then once that out the way start with the Christmas stuff, children all over the land start getting excited about Christmas and starting now gives them such a huge wait, plus gives us headaches with christmas wish lists!

Thinking about Christmas, we only have 2 rooms left for the christmas holidays, owners had made the decision to book early to make sure their doggies had their holiday here, and right they were too, some even booked christmas in spring! so as i said, as of this moment in time we only have 2 rooms left, so if you wish for your doggies to share christmas with us now is the time to book, i love christmas and your doggies will be completely involved, Christmas stocking (of which Santa will leave goodies), Christmas dinner (if allowed) festive music, tree, lights and long christmas walks, and best of all and something that always feels special to me is moonlight walks on Christmas eve,( praying for a crisp night with beautiful full moon and if it snowed, that would just make it perfect!!) .

New Years eve/day we have 4 spaces at mo, please remember that double nightly fee’s are on Christmas day, Boxing Day and New Years day, and we are not open for viewings, collections or drop off’s on Christmas day, Boxing Day or New Years Day,  so please bear that in mind when booking, thankyou for your understanding.

WE NOW ONLY HAVE 1 ROOM LEFT FOR CHRISTMAS ITSELF, WE DO HAVE OTHER DATES AVAILABLE IN DECEMBER .

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