The Nordic Cookbook by Magnus Nilsson

'The idea is that there has been nothing comprehensive published in English on Nordic cooking, basically ever. There have been books about Scandinavian cooking or on national cooking back in the 1970s but nothing since then. And everyone confuses the countries and the regions and no one really understands how diverse it all is. So I'm aiming to show all that with this new book.'

- Magnus Nilsson

Magnus Nilsson is one of the world's top chefs and owner of Fäviken restaurant in Sweden. A remote restaurant in the middle of nowhere on the edge of the arctic circle, where James and Sian stayed and ate and met Magnus in the autumn of 2013. 

His second recipe book, 'The Nordic Cookbook', a huge book, beautiful and inspiring, an encyclopaedia of Scandinavian and Nordic cooking, bringing the best of Scandinavian food, traditions and stories straight to your kitchen. Whittled down from 11,000 recipes and articles, the book contains around 700 different recipes. It took Magnus three years to research and compile this list whilst still running Fäviken.

So many inspirational and interesting things are found in this book, which is brilliantly documented with atmospheric photos of landscapes, people and plates of food. One page in particular caught the attention of fforest chief, a picture of two men in a wooden shed...

'It was common, before modern kitchens were invented, to have a simple but dedicated house just for cooking next to the one you lived in. This way when you made big batches of food, the whole house in which you lived was not made damp by the steam.' 

...chief now wants a wooden cooking shed to house his wood smoker and crab boiling pots.



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Cwrw fforest

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We wanted something cold, fizzy and not too strong that we could call a lager. A session beer that prosecco drinkers would drink...

Cwrw fforest is our very own fforest lager made for us by our good friends at Mantle Brewery just up the road on the Pentood estate in Cardigan. We've been selling it in our 2 pubs the Smwglin and Bwthyn since May 2016.

Since we didn't like the lager we could buy from wholesalers we thought we would see if we could make our own. With no knowledge, experience or equipment to brew we popped that idea balloon and called our local brewery. Mantle brewery was set up by Domi and Ian Kimber looking for a change of lifestyle for the family and somewhere to set up a brewery. Lucky for us they chose Cardigan and began brewing some stand out traditional Heavys and Milds like Cwrw Teifi and Rock Steady, but the game changer for us was when they brewed what is untechnically a lager called 'Hoodwinked'.

We arranged a meeting with Ian on a Friday afternoon and mistakenly took him some trendy hop driven citrus pales. He told us to come back in 2 months for a tasting and to take our beers with us. 

Two months later we took up some of the team for a tour of the brewery and a tasting. We had 3 slight variations to choose from, it was a tricky job. Trying to pick 1 beer whilst having to keep trying all the similar other beers just got us pissed* and we're pretty sure we just guessed in the end but we couldn't go wrong. We finished them all and started to get really excited, so we put in a massive order. After the first week of sales we quickly realised our order wasn't massive enough, the kegs were flying out so we doubled it.
*Edit - Apparently I was the only one pissed and it was a very democratic and scientific process.

The beer is golden, hazed, fizzy and drinks like nectar. We can get away with calling it a 'craft lager' (whatever that means) and we've persuaded a few Prosecco drinkers to try a half but not turned any yet.

Last season we went through 226 Kegs of beer, thats 6,780L of beer, 12200 pints and an average of 81 pints per day... This year we hope to get through 300 kegs. If you would like to come help, 'Cwrw fforest' will be on sale in both our pubs at the Pizzatipi on the Quayside in Cardigan and in 'Y Bwthyn' at fforest farm.

A big thanks to Mantle brewery.



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Ecotherapy

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fforest has always celebrated the pleasures of living, working and playing in the outdoors.
For some people this is truly life changing. 

What is ecotherapy? This short film explains how using nature and the outdoors can improve mental wellbeing, particularly for people at risk of developing a mental health problem - or those who need support to manage an existing problem. Filmed at four Ecominds-funded projects in summer 2013.

Credit: Ecominds
 



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The Bwthyn - our spiritual heart


These small steadings had long been known in wales by the term tyddyn, and the tyddynwyr – the crofters as they may be called- formed in a very real sense the nucleus of the welsh nation.

- from The Welsh House by Iorwerth Peate, first published 1940


When we were first planning fforest, building the lodge as the centre of our idea, the Bwthyn was close by, but hiding. Obscured by trees and ivy outside and in, the building was close to being fully reclaimed by the land that had yielded the slate blocks from which its walls had been built. No roof, less than 3 walls, 18 inches of earth covering the slate slabs we would eventually uncover and re-lay.

We could have let it go. Easier to knock down what remained, use the slate as hardcore for a new building. But this building had a voice that I started hearing. The voice was reminding me of what this building meant and of the lives lived there. This was 2006. Four years before, Sian’s parents had given me the book from which I took the quote above.  Beautiful little cloth-bound first edition from 1940. An anthology of Welsh house types from the iron age to roughly the eighteenth century, and a chapter there confirmed what this building was and meant. A fold -out illustration describing exactly the floor-plan, position and size of windows, doors, hearth and tiny dairy (kitchen).  This little building was an important thing- it had meaning. Its type was called a Bwthyn Croglofft. It was remnant of a society and agrarian culture in Wales that was ancient.  A smallholding of 4 acres (the tyddyn) would provide for some basics for the family of 8 or 10 to supplement the income father would bring from his trade or labour.

The acts of union between England and Wales gradually subsumed the old Keltic system of landholding and the enclosure movement of the 19th century, where land was consolidated into larger holdings, led to thousands of the small steadings being eliminated. ‘...a large part of the social system traditional to the Welsh countryside was deliberately destroyed.’  An ancient way of life ended.
The Bwthyn is a monument to a way of life in general, and the family lives lived there in particular.

When we were re-building it I knew why I was doing it, but didn’t know what it would be for. Cottage, store, showers? No, not right. The builders decided for me. On a morning tea break they told me they’d decided it should be a pub. I laughed then realised they were right. 

A place for gathering and celebration in honour of generations past. 
The Bwthyn is the spiritual heart of fforest.

CONSTRUCTION

USE



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Bread of Heaven

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Up the hill from our Pizzatipi restaurant and a favourite lunch stop for the fforest elves, the Bara Menyn bakehouse was opened by Jack Smylie Wild in 2016 as a sourdough bakery but soon realised it could be more. Their simple menu is based around their freshly baked sourdough and is constantly changing. In fact, you rarely get the same thing twice. The bread has the crumb, chew and flavour of dreams and we would be lost without it.

Owner and baker Jack Smylie Wild gives a short history of Bara Menyn...

The seed that would eventually become Bara Menyn was sown years ago, when I had plenty of time on my hands, few job prospects in rural West Wales and poor local bread. There wasn’t much to do all day apart from drinking tea and eating toast, but even that was becoming increasingly difficult: “I can’t eat this stuff anymore,” I said to Seren, “shall we start buying something nicer?” I was referring to the thinly-sliced, yeasty white loaves we had both got into the habit of picking up from the village shop. To be fair, it was the best stuff available: at least it was independent, Welsh bread, which was fresher and less carbon-guilty than well-known, branded supermarket loaves. Still, it contained additives, dissolved instantly in the mouth, and was made as quickly and cheaply as possible, without love, by machines.
“There isn’t anything better around. Why don’t you learn to make your own?” came her reply. I thought about it for a second. “Actually,” I said, “you’re right – why don’t I know how to make bread? Surely everyone should know how to make bread?” It was a moment of realisation: this most basic of foodstuffs, the staff of life, made in myriad ways every moment across the globe –  yet I had no real idea of how it was made; or rather, how I myself might go about making it at home. So the challenge was on.
I got a bread book, read up on the theory of yeast and gluten, and made some disastrous loaves. But after a while they became edible, and actually improved until the point came when Seren spoke her wise words again: “You’re getting good at this, you could start selling your bread, and start a small business.”
I was sceptical at first – making money from bread is notoriously difficult, and I lacked the kit to make it on any sort of larger scale. The idea, however, of being my own boss; of working with this mysterious, living substance that gave the fingertips such pleasure as it became steadily silkier and smoother on the workbench; the idea of the satisfaction to be found in nourishing people with honest, healthy, delicious bread; the idea, as well, after years of abstract academia (I studied philosophy at Cardiff), of shifting focus from the head to the hands, turning from the matters of the mind to the matter of the soil and the seasons, its fruits and its seeds – all these ideas germinated and began to take hold.
So I started a small micro-bakery from home, which was ultimately unprofitable, but nonetheless satisfying and educational. During that time I got my hands on a copy of Tartine Bread and began experimenting with sourdough, which soon became an obsession. These experiences of slow-fermentation breads and artisan processes soon got me a job in a brand-new bakery further up the Teifi valley in Lampeter, where the owners of The Organic Fresh Food Company – Ben and Lucy – had bitten the bullet and built a small bakehouse, in a spare room attached to their farm shop. They had developed a couple of good sourdough recipes – all they needed now to get the business off the ground was someone passionate about sourdough. After six months of searching for such a baker, a moment of serendipity brought me to their doorstep, and for half a year I toiled away in a flurry of flour, wild yeasts and scorching ovens, earning a few mandatory burns and blisters along the way. Under the guidance of Ben and Lucy, I cut my teeth, and my passion grew; but the 2am awakenings were never going to become natural or easy, and besides, seeing a young couple running a successful business inspired me and gave me more dangerous ideas.
So in the late summer of 2014 I was again jobless and wondering what might become of me. I was writing lots, and getting some things published here and there, but my wallet was (literally) empty, and as most of us know, that gets pretty boring. It seemed natural then – with this newly acquired dough addiction – to try and go it alone and start a bakery of my own – maybe not on the scale of Ben and Lucy’s – but certainly comprising a more professional outfit than my previous micro-bakery, which really was more of a nano-bakery (or even more accurately: someone making bread in their kitchen and selling it).
A few things came together at once – I heard of some funding available, not much, but enough to entice me again into dreaming dangerous things (which meant dreaming of deck ovens, and big mixers, and burnished loaves fashioned by my own hands); and then one day I was talking to someone about my vague, nebulous plans to set something up when they said “I know a woman in Cardigan who’s got an amazing crafty art gallery, spread over two adjacent buildings, who’s been keen for a while for someone to set up a food business in one of them.”
I drove into Cardigan that same day. The shop and gallery she was talking about was Custom House, and the woman was Karina. I introduced myself, mentioned my discussion with our mutual friend, and she led me through to the building next door – number 45 – where she housed her larger items of art and furniture. I stared up at the amazingly high ceiling, at the old stone walls and wooden floor; at the huge glass windows. I instantly began to dream – although this time it was more of a vision – I could see the potential, I could picture the bakery, I could almost smell the bread and see the customers coming in through the big wooden doors to collect it. Driving home I knew that it had been a dangerous imagining – and a dangerous encounter – because a seed had not only been planted – more than that, it was already growing and branching out into the field of actuality – the ball was rolling; and I was terrified. The space was too large for just a bakery; too large for me alone; it would have to house something beyond my humble bread, beyond my own capabilities and imagination.
So I was walking into the unknown from day one. I had to trust…..And the people who leant me money had to trust me….And Karina had to trust me…..And Seren had to trust me….And I had to trust in myself. But also from day one came support, in abundance; everyone was willing to help in whatever way they could. My dad came down to decorate; my mum made signage and fliers and artwork for the walls; my best friends came to wash up; other friends lent bits of cash in the face of my naïve budgeting plan; Anna, a friend and waitress, persuaded her brother Tom to come and be our chef; Seren ‘washed my pants’ – a term we’ve come to consider as a metaphor for keeping everything flowing smoothly behind the scenes; Karina was endlessly supportive in endless ways; my mother-in-law took on managing front of house; friendly, lovely people arrived asking for work…..And out of the chaos a business slowly began to emerge and find its feet. Seren said I’d laid an egg – well, the chick has hatched, and now we’ve got a whole family of wonderful people – staff, customers, suppliers – who keep it alive and kicking and flourishing…..and people really do come through those big wooden doors to collect our bread, drink our coffee and eat our food….

Bara Menyn is in the Centre of Cardigan and just around the corner from our Granary Lofts - Visit their website here

Photos credits: Leia Morrison & Bara Menyn's Instagram page



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'The Hidden Life of Trees' by Peter Wohlleben

Trees are the tallest, oldest and in many ways the most efficient of all living things. Powered by the sun, they are the planet's biochemical engines, drawing water and minerals from the soil and converting harmful carbon dioxide into life-giving oxygen. They live simultaneously in the earth and the sky. And each mature tree is an ecological city, home for thousands of interacting plants, animals and fungi.

The average tree grows its branches out until it encounters the branch tips of a neighboring tree of the same height. It doesn’t grow any wider because the air and better light in this space are already taken. However, it heavily reinforces the branches it has extended, so you get the impression that there’s quite a shoving match going on up there. But a pair of true friends is careful right from the outset not to grow overly thick branches in each other’s direction. The trees don’t want to take anything away from each other, and so they develop sturdy branches only at the outer edges of their crowns, that is to say, only in the direction of “non-friends.” Such partners are often so tightly connected at the roots that sometimes they even die together.  

from 'The Hidden Life of Trees' by Peter Wohlleben

Find out more here

You can buy the book by clicking here



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The Art of Egg Rolling

One of our favourite Easter traditions is painting hard boiled eggs to race down the fforest lodge hill, and we have seen some great egg art at fforest over the years...but we are always looking for new inspiration for Easter guests' blank egg canvases. This short documentary has definitely caught our attention...  

'The Easter tradition of dyeing eggs is practised by people all over the world, but in Ciocanesti, a small village in Romania's northern region of Bukovina, this tradition has evolved into an art form. Exquisitely hand painted with intricate traditional designs, each of these eggs takes hours to create and is among the things the people here are most proud of.' 

...and have a look at a few other fun ideas we've found. They may be a bit less fiddly than traditional Romanian techniques but look equally as impressive!



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fforest Granola: The Secret Recipe Revealed

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This recipe has been secret for more than 10 years. However, after finding a disgruntled ex-fforest elf has passed the recipe to Wikileaks (Julian looks like he needs some roughage), we felt we had little choice but to publish it.


Before fforest began and we were talking about how it could be and what we would do, breakfast was always going to be included as part of staying here. I love breakfast and can't go without it, not a massive fry up, but boiled egg and dippy soldiers, toast and honey, granola, banana and yogurt kind of thing. A simple yet satisfying start to the day. 
We have been making granola to this recipe for ten years now at fforest and it has been on the menu since day one. We also have a really good muesli but it's the granola that is the firm favourite. Sometimes we can't keep up with demand and have to make it on a daily basis.  
It's the perfect mix of oats and nuts/seeds and the way it’s cooked guarantees a super-crunchy outcome. Crunchy is what we love about it and crunchy it is.  
We have often been asked for the recipe, so now here it is, ten years of tried and tested, delicious and easy to make fforest Granola.    
                                                                                                            
The recipe is adapted from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian. It's a simple, not-too-sweet granola that's good with milk or yogurt and added fresh fruit.  
Because this recipe uses water, the granola takes an extremely long time to dry out. If the granola isn't completely dry by the end of the baking time, I suggest turning off the oven and leaving it to cool. To get the crunch it has to be properly dry.
 
Ingredients
1 kilo Jumbo oats
60g sliced, blanched almonds                                            
100g omega seed mix including unsalted sunflower seeds, sesame, linseed, pumpkin seeds
50g desiccated coconut
50g raisins, sultanas, currants or dried cranberries, dried apricots(optional)
 
300 ml water
180 ml wild flower honey
130 ml sunflower oil
3 tbls brown sugar
1 pinch sea salt
 
Preheat the oven to 180° C
Mix oats, almonds, sunflower and sesame seeds together in a high sided baking tray
In a small sauce pan heat the water, honey, oil, brown sugar and salt until simmering until dissolved
Remove from heat and pour the liquid over the grains and mix until all the oats are moistened. Roughly spread out on the tray and bake in the oven for20 minutes at 180C. Take out and stir and lower heat to 140.C and cook for another 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Turn down the heat to 120.C and bake for 30 mins turning every10 minutes. If you think it needs to cook more to be dried out, leave it in at 110C until it appears dry and golden. Remove from the oven and toss it a few times until it cools completely and then add the dried fruits.            
Store in an airtight container.

From our kitchen to yours,

You are welcome.
 



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'Camps' by Charlie Hailey

A book that inspired fforest.
"Personal experience is an inextricable and important part of the story of camps; but rituals, communities, and memories of camping practice supersede nostalgia and personal narrative.  Camping is place-making."

Charlie Hailey writes about the space and idea of camp as a defining dimension of 21st Century life in his book, 'Camps'. 

Find out more here



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Make it in Wales

A local enterprise started by Suzi Park, and founded upon the principle that high-end craft courses should and can be available to a people of any and every ability. He or she must simply be eager to learn.

Suzi will be co-hosting our Syjunta weekend in February with Sian: A weekend of chatting, embroidering and great simple food in beautiful Ty Fforest. Come alone or with a friend. Accommodation is in comfortable shared rooms or a private double with ensuite.  Expert guidance on design and embroidery is included. All skill levels welcome.
Find out more here

Head to the website to find out what courses are on when and where www.makeitinwales.co.uk



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Wills Upholstery

Will is our Pizzatipi Chef, good friend and a top bloke. In between smoking meats, baking infamous brownies and getting his head inside engines he makes all sorts on his sewing machine. 

Find him on Instagram here



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Nature notes February

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The crisp quiet month of February, the shortest month, when hibernation is coming to an end and spring slowly starts to herald in the promise of the new.
Little pearl white bells, lightly flecked with green are the first to ring out that change is in the air.
Breathe in deep, revive body and nourish mind while walking around the fields and ancient woodlands that surround fforest. We can see the shape of the trees without their cloak of leaves, showing off fluffy lichen and moss, like down covering their branches. New growth is beginning to bud and bulge. 

As winter begins to show signs of coming to an end, here are 10 early spring risers we can expect to find:

Snow drop   
Crocus
Hazel catkin
Willow catkin
Gorse flower
Celandine
Fern
Young nettle just beginning to push through
Pussy willow
Penny wort on the slate walls, the young leaves perfect for eating now too

To read more about signs of Spring buy 'Spring: An anthology for the changing seasons by Melissa Harrison for the National trust' here. 

 



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The Beast of beer

 

"After realising the simplicity of draft dispensing and frustration of the family & I having to walk to the local pub whilst staying at fforest over the festive period I had an epiphany..."

Conceived under the influence of beer (7.7% Blueberry Sour Wild beer aged in oak barrels by Mikkeller/Three Floyds breweries) and my calling, the beast was born on Christmas eve, in the dark of a drizzly night under the light of a head torch, with the wrong sized screws and a hammer. Using the components of the Pizzatipi bar and some old floorboards I cobbled together 4 taps hanging off the back of one of our 10ft 4x4 service mules in roughly 8 hours, a job that would have taken any normal person 1...

This wasn't any old beer bellied beast...

The Taps went like this:

Tap 1 (Dinner) - Buxton Brewery's 'Rednik stout'- a deep fruity Stout full of solid flavour but only 4.1%. You could session on it with the sensation of gorging a kilo of Cadburys fruit and nut without the guilt or hangover.
Tap 2 (Lunch) - Beavertown Brewery's 'Gamma Ray', a big hoppy session pale ale. A contemporary classic, one of the best.
Tap 3 (Breakfast) -  Buxton x Lervig Brewery's 'Trolltunga', a Gooseberry IPA! Forget the coffee this is a zinger but not just a slap in the face, the IPA is a soothing kiss on the forehead.
Tap 4 (all day) - Mantle Brewery's 'Cwrw fforest', beer made from trees especially for us. This potion is most like a lager but not technically a lager. Its crisp and refreshing and only 4%... all though it always feels like 6. We're really proud of this one.

It goes without saying we drank all the beer on Christmas day in the top field of the farm...

'PART 2: BEER STALKING' Coming soon.
 



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Polished for 100 years

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The small chapels and churches of rural west Wales are places of unique community and cultural significance; built to serve small communities and to nourish their spiritual life. They are a defining component of the rural and cultural landscape of Wales. 

Fifteen years or so ago we started buying these chairs. We were buying with half an idea, not yet a project. Much like the small chapels, they had a simple spare beauty, constructed with a hard wearing beech seat & a light weight elm wood frame. There is usually a storage slot on the back called the 'Bible Box'. 

The availability of these chairs grew, unfortunately, once the chapels began to fall into a cycle of disuse and disrepair. 15 years ago they were cheap. £4 a chair was the alternative to the skip or bonfire. But now, thanks to the style watchers of pinterest, the decent ones now cost up to £60. However, the unique combination of practicality, materials, comfort (really) and patina of use, means they are still worth it. We are looking after our last 200 now, using them indoors or for special events only. 

If you are interested in looking at this disappearing domestic architecture, have a look here www.welshchapels.org



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Wooden & Woven

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Latest casting of a bark edged Limewood vessel after polishing. Elbow grease 💪🏼 ⚪️

A photo posted by Wood~Woven (@woodwoven) on

Alex Devol is a fairly new friend of ours. In early 2015 he asked if he could run a spoon carving workshop at our first Gather event. He showed up with his brand new rescue dog and slept in the back of his pick up. Since then he's become a good friend of ours and although we don't get to see him very often we see something new he's crafted every day on his Instagram. He started with wooden spoons and in only a year he's casting vessels out of metal. Whilst creating such beautiful object his experimentation with technique and medium are what we find so inspiring. His body of work is already impressive we can't wait to see what Alex will make next week, month, year.

Alex will be returning to this years Gather. Get tickets here.

www.woodwoven.com



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Swallowed by the sea

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New year sand circle on #Mwnt So windy and blowy Filming with help from @milo_herbert12_

A video posted by Sian from fforest (@coldatnight) on

On spring low tides Marc Treanor draws incredible designs in the sand. We're lucky enough to be close to one of his favourite beaches to use as a canvas. Each design takes roughly three hours to complete and is drawn using the most basic of tools. We spoke to Marc to learn more about his artistic process...

1. Roughly how long does it take to complete a design?


It can take anything up to three hours to complete a design. Any longer and the tide is on its way back and all will be lost before it's completed...! 


2. Whats tools do you use in order to create your sand circles?


The tools are actually very basic and comprise of sticks, rakes and string. I create a giant drawing compass with the sticks and string so can produce very accurate circles. The sticks are used to draw the lines in the sand, the string can also be used as a straight edge if stretched out between two sticks. The rakes are then used to rough up the surface of the sand giving the contrast of light and dark. If the light is right this can be quite dramatic creating a strong black and white image. 


3. In a nutshell, what drives you to produce sand art?


I suppose the drive is my own pleasure at creating something on the sand. It is a three part process: the first is the mental work of translating the design onto the sand and this can take a lot of concentration. Second is the physical side of drawing in and raking the surface. In some cases the designs can be up to 80m wide so this can be a lot of raking! Lastly is the contemplative side. When all is complete it is nice to find a high point and sit and watch as the design is swallowed by the sea. There is something strangely moving about this part of the experience. Maybe it is a nod to our own limited time before we are absorbed back to where we sprang... 
 

What a delight it is to have such extraordinary artistry right on our doorstep! 

www.sandcircles.co.uk

 



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Copenhagen

 

We've been every year for the past three...

Trips to the city are rarely planned yet are fiercely driven by our exhaustive list of the best places to eat and drink. We enjoy the city so much simply because its where all most exciting food and drink seems to be: organic wines, spontaneous beers and the best cooking with fire outside of our front garden. 

A conclusive (and legible) list of ours is currently in production, so whilst you wait for that, have a read of this New York Times article. From the perspective of five leaders in creative fields, after reading their suggestions of things to do and places to see, you may feel just as inclined as us to hop on a plane and arrive in time for supper. 

Click here to read the article
 

 



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10 perfect gifts for your valentine

Whether you're looking to share a small token of your affection or want to whisk your loved one away for a romantic weekend, we’ve got it covered at fforest. Here are our top 10 ideas for the perfect Valentine gift:

1. Relight my fire

There’s nothing more romantic than cuddling up in front of a roaring open fire. Always be ready to strike when the opportunity arises with this Swedish firesteel, which will not let you down even when other lighters and matches fail. A quality all-weather fire-steel of 12000+ strikes with a handle made from reindeer antler from Swedish Lapland.

 
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2. A warming brew

At this time of year, a bracing winter day trip can be transformed with a quick cup of tea. You’ll be amazed how easy this little beauty is to use and how quickly she boils. At 0.5l, she’s just the perfect size for two cups too.

 
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3. Tea for two

Not convinced with a brew in the great outdoors? Then how about this fforest favourite teapot for two. Add a couple of fforest enamel mugs for the perfect romantic breakfast.

 
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4. A hottie for your Hottie

When you can’t be around, make sure your other half still feels the love, even when it’s freezing outside, with a cosy hot water bottle covered in our distinctive fforest Welsh blanket textile.

 
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5. Love or lust….or both?

Want to make sure you’re sending the right message, then hand deliver a delicious bar of NomNom Chocolate….or two.

Both are Super Salted Caramel - Halen Mon oak-smoked salt and Calon Wen butter, but Love is 44% cocoa milk chocolate while Lust is 72% cocoa dark chocolate.

 
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6. For busy hands

Nothing helps you to get your thoughts in order better and park the stresses of everyday life than focussing on a great crafting project. We love spoon carving and recommend the Casstrom Crook Knife to get you started.

 
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7. Something to snuggle into

Our coldatnight blanket cushions, with their soft as a feather fillings, are covered in our beautiful Welsh blanket textile made at a traditional water mill upriver from fforest. In a range of colours to complement any interior.

 
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8. A big Welsh hug

From a simple wrap, to a baban to a full size blanket, we have a range of traditional Welsh textiles in our distinctive and unique coldatnight design to suit every taste and budget. Throw it over your sofa, your bed or just wrap it around your shoulders and take it with you wherever you go. Have blanket will travel.

 
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9. A relaxing revitalising break for your loved one

Syjunta - The Swedish word for people getting together to sew, crochet, knit, embroider and socialise. A weekend of chatting, embroidering and great simple food in beautiful Ty Fforest over the weekend of 10th to 12th February with expert guidance on design and embroidery included. This weekend is about sewing, but it’s also about socialising and relaxing. All skill levels are welcome.

 
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10. A romantic weekend away

Don’t want to be left behind, then why don’t you both join us for the weekend of 17th to 19th February for a bracing walk, great food and drink, candlelight, open fires and plenty of fforest magic. We have a limited range of cosy accommodation available at fforest farmyard and at the granary lofts in Cardigan town.

 



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Cam Ceiliog - The length of a cockerel’s step

Today is December 21st Midwinter’s Day, The Winter Solstice. In Wales, in my family and I’m sure many others, this, the shortest day is known as Cam Ceiliog. Like much of the language, and the nation as a whole, especially our fly-halves, it makes sense when considered poetically. Roughly translated, Cam Ceiliog is the length of a cockerel’s step. It describes the distance by which we can see the daylight start to extend as we walk away from the winter’s depths. From this moment, every day grows a little, and the light returns, by the length of a cockerel’s footstep. Cam Ceiliog holds an intangibility to stir the heart. We are just, now, on this shortest of days, at what TS Eliot called ‘the still point of the turning world’.

Garlic, that humble elixir for the winter grey, was traditionally planted on Midwinter’s day and harvested six months later on Midsummer morning. Such horticultural equilibrium turns gardening into alchemy. Though a long way off, Midsummer in all its dancing colour, whether late into the evening or round the back of a tent somewhere in the quickening dawn, is where the mirror is now headed.

Cam Ceiliog suggests a moment of quiet reflection. There is much celebration and cutting loose to come in the next week or so, but Cam Ceiliog is an echo chamber, a wisp of a day that vanishes just as soon as it appears. A day to wander around in your mind’s interior, just a few moments of thought and the shortest day is done. I think of it as a lambent beacon in the dark, a sign to raise a glass and make a quiet toast to your inner Beltane.

In the weeks ahead, if you find yourself sloughing through the back end of winter, and its tendency to immovable gloom – pace yourself. Cam Ceiliog has marked us a path. The daylight is coming. One step at a time.

Words & Image by Richard King.
Richard is a humble best selling author an old friend of fforest and the curator of our music programming.



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Hygge at fforest

As Autumn sets in the yearning to stay outside strong but the cold drives us in. This year we have kept 4 Domes, 4 Croglofts and 1 Kata cabin available for those of you looking for the crisp air in the morning, undecided weather throughout the day and stoking fires at night. Throughout the rest of 2016 and early 2017 we're allowing 2 night stays and have lowered the price right down to as little as £75 per night.

For those of you looking for something a little more cosmopolitan please see availability for our Granary Lofts in Cardigan.



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