Black Sheep Blog

The Farmers Weekly xmas party was the scene of typical seasonal frivolity.

The usual banality of the Secret Santa gift giving procedure was lightened by the appearance of an edible thong and something else edible that even the Black Sheep is too shocked to mention by name.

Simply rest assured that Miss Deputy Livestock was very red-faced at unwrapping her present, despite reassurances that her other half would be most appreciative.

After the prezzies and the mediocre hot and cold buffet (who serves roast beef and spuds WITH curry and rice?), we settled down to some dominoes.

Unsurprisingly interest in that waned rapidly and general drunken chit-chat replaced the intense quiet click-clack of the ebony and ivory dots.

Our venue – Tiger Tiger in Croydon – was deemed a slightly odd choice for the Farmers Weekly Christmas lunch we thought, but by the evening it looked to be paying dividends.

As the place filled out with non-farming party-goers, The Black Sheep sweet-talked, cajoled and just plain begged various partons to help us prove FW has got glitz and glamour as well as top quality farming news, features and advice.

And with only a few bruises we managed to bag a ton of snaps of “the alternative FW readership”.

One paddle steamer, a gaggle of pubs, embarrassing podium dancing, a cab ride from hell and a trip to A&E later, here are the photos from our Farmers Weekly Boat Party last week:


All aboard!

The office Christmas party is a fairly reliable source of office gossip - whether it's Mr Farmlife's "busy" hands or the effects of Mr Arable Reporter's "come to bed" eyes.

Sadly this year's celebrations yielded little in the way of shame, probably due to the lack of any dancefloor facilities.

We did randomly stumble upon a shepherdess in Wimbledon Village though who was very complimentary about Farmers Weekly which was nice.

Mr Arable Reporter powers up the "come to bed" eyes

A frisson of excitement in the office this afternoon.

The invites have arrived for the RBI Achievement Awards on Friday March 23. This is a big shindig run by Farmers Weekly’s parent company, Reed Business Information.

It’s a chance for us all to get dressed up (it’s the once-a-year outing for a lot of our suits!), head up to the swanky Grosvenor House Hotel in London and let our hair down.

FWi is in the running for an award or two again this year so the Black Sheep flock will be out in force. Survivors will bring you news of the event on the following Monday.

A flurry of excitement is building within the office as it's that time of year again to dust off that suit, get out the garish tie, and get ready to celebrate!!!!

Not of course to celebrate a 50% pay rise (although that would be nice), but the company's (RBI's) internal award ceremony.

FWi has pitted its wits against the rest in the company in two awards, one for our Haunted Farmhouse coverage and the other for just being an awesome website (or something like that!!!).

Unfortunately the Black Sheep is not up for any awards, which made us bang our heads like this poor chap in frustration