Well, every year has its ups and downs, but it feels as if 2024 has really outdone itself! Its strangewith farming too; every year is theoretically the same, and they do start to blend into one – yet thisyear we saw some truly different things happen. Both great, and less great.One of the most positive things to come of 2024 for our family was Lydia, our middle child, decidedto work in Australia for 4 months, and she had an amazing time exploring Brisbane and the rest ofthe continent – she even had time to visit people we know who live over there, I’m sure some of youwill be reading this blog, so ‘hello’! Of course, since Lydia will also be reading this: we’re all veryproud of you, and so pleased you made so many friends at work and out of work!We had some terrible weather back here in old Britain....

I know it sounds corny, but as a child I always wanted a donkey and it has taken until now to achieve my ambition. I bought a painting of 2 donkeys when I was in my twenties and it is my favourite painting and my prized possession, my children would argue otherwise but I’m not so sure. It happened by chance that Tom and Gerry (already named) came into our lives but we couldn’t be happier to give them a lovely, stable (sorry) and happy forever home.  These lovely young men were rescued by two amazing ladies and then they offered to let me have them after they have looked after them for about 6 months. They come as a pair and won’t be separated; I think they even both try to eat the same blades of grass they are so close together all the time. They didn’t have the best...

This is all becoming second nature to us all now, distancing, and stepping back when someone moves near to us. What a strange situation we are all in, but it seems to work whilst it’s sunny, however I’m not so sure about people being happy to queue for a long time when it is raining or much colder than the lovely temperatures we are experiencing now. Our shop is still open, and our customers have been great waiting outside until they can either come in or pay in the office one person at a time. We have found that the contactless payment has been a godsend to lots of people as handling cash is obviously a concern. Our staff have been wearing gloves, so we are happy to accept either form of payment. The dry weather has enabled Chris and George, plus our contractor who sows the corn, to finish the...