It has been one of the busiest Autumns that I can remember. With all the harvest squashed up to the end of August on account of the very  wet weather earlier, September has found us :- still baling silage, collecting bales, preparing for and planting grass seeds, dung spreading, subsoiling, and all dealing with the extra work that the current movement restrictions have placed upon us. It has been a time of long days, short nights and many a frustrating machinery breakdown.

The weather lately has been very kind, and there have been some beautiful sunsets, none more so than the other evening when I had the joy of watching a young heifer give birth to a lovely fluffy white calf. The more settled spell has greatly benefited the cattle and taken a little pressure off our winter feed reserves, though I have started feeding round bales in the field to give the cows a little more dry roughage. In addition we have made sure as to provide magnesium salt licks for the cows, as the colder nights and lack of magnesium in the grass can easily lead to a problem known as grass staggers which is mostly fatal, where the cow becomes acutely short of magnesium in her system and will keel over most suddenly as a result.

The children and I have been working together picking up bales, with both of them simultaneously shouting out directions from the rear of the tractor cab about which bale to collect next. They have been good company as this is a job that mind numbingly goes on and on. They rather like riding with me, as the view from the tractor cab is far superior to anything seen from a car. Helping me has also given them opportunity to go off for a play in the woods for hours at a time, "Camp building, Dad."