Unseasonably mild for our weekend at the farm. We arrived on Saturday to a cooked breakfast and shortly afterwards I pulled on my overalls and wellies and ventured outside in light rain. I accompanied Graham on his feeding rounds and it was immediately enjoyable to be just swinging gates open and hopping in and out of the Land Rover, chatting about this and that and taking a look at the livestock. I enjoy finding out about what the seasonal goings on are – what’s being prepared, what’s being got rid of and all that. At the moment, the last of the harvest (of silage) is being brought in and stacked and the rams are serving the ewes. All the animals are out in the fields, so the feeding is relatively light and its good to see them all outside where they belong.

Graham proudly pointed out their twin calves – a rare occurrence, the last one was some twenty years ago. We chatted about Brexit, lots of uncertainty there, and about some technical challenges with the Land Rover and the Tractor. The Land Rover had a new fuel pump earlier this year and it is not only the noisiest pump I have ever heard (a constant loud whine), but there is an intermittent fault which results in a complete cut out which is obviously a huge inconvenience. The ‘fix’ when it cuts out is to give the drivers seat a good shove forward and backwards as this seems to nudge the wiring and electronic control units which are situated under the drivers seat. How frustrating.

Sunday was a particularly mild and sunny day and it was very relaxing to again be amongst the animals and goings on at the farm. As well as helping to feed the livestock, I let the ducks out which is always comical, with their frantic waddling, and spent some time watching the cockerel strut around the yard.

We had a delicious roast dinner of farm Texel lamb, better than any pub could muster up on a Sunday, followed by home made apple tart. In the afternoon, I lay on the sofa and watched the Japanese Grand Prix, occasionally nodding off. Later we had sandwiches for tea and we headed for home later on in relaxed mood.

The old workhorse, 112,000 miles and still going strong