We have had lots of new experiences during the last few weeks. The two of us went on holiday to France on our own, for the first time in sixteen years, without children, as Timmy had a better offer and went on holiday elsewhere, with a friend. We had a lovely time, although it felt a little odd - we missed the chatter, if not the snoring and Timmy’s habit of talking in his sleep! He has vowed to come ski-ing though, and is bringing the friend too.
Last Monday we had a day at the races at Plumpton - another first for both of us! It was organised by a friend and a big group of us went, starting with breakfast at a local pub and then taking a bus and train to the race course. It was lots of fun and we managed to come home with slightly more money than that with which we started - mostly down to a lucky win on the last race! We wouldn’t like to make a habit of it, but it was certainly an entertaining day out.
Unfortunately, just before we went on holiday, our farm shop was burgled and a fair amount of meat was stolen - all of it ready cut up and obviously for home consumption somewhere around. We are insured with NFU Mutual, but of course we have now had to beef up security and get bigger locks, alarms etc. It does mean that it takes a long time to re-open the shop door every time we forget something! While we were away on holiday, the burglars returned and stole the door from our delivery van!
As we were going away, we brought the cattle in at the end of October, as they are prone to getting out if they get short of fodder or the weather changes. Our friend Tom agreed to look after them and of course, a calf managed to develop pneumonia. Sometimes it feels as though there is a conspiracy to make us feel guilty whenever we go away on holiday! However, apart from that incident, the cattle all look very well and the bullocks for the shop appear very promising.
We have had some rain and the crops have all germinated and look very healthy. Unfortunately, the weeds have also germinated and look even more healthy. As the clocks have gone back and the weather has become wetter, we are desperately waiting for a suitable spraying day! Meanwhile, we are now trying to catch up on all those winter jobs - fencing, ditching etc. We have also ordered a couple of pig arks and are going to start the pig club by the shop soon.
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