"It seems ages since I’ve written my blog – and that’s because it is! We’ve been on holiday and have tried to take advantage of the few good days we’ve had to get on with various jobs.

The pigs have now gone – that’s always a bit of a watershed. The final trip was without incident; the carcases are now with the butcher and we’ll get our pork, bacon and sausages back next week. We’re really looking forward to it! I’m also looking forward to finding out how big and how fatty the pigs were.

We had a lot of rain before they went and one pen is like the Somme. I’ve cleaned out the ark – you wouldn’t believe how much dried mud there was inside. I’ve also dressed the pens with calcified seaweed. Although the pigs add manure, it doesn’t contain a balance of nutrients for plant growth, so we’re trying calcified seaweed this year. It looked like sand. With the prospect of a few mild days, I’ve sown grazing rye, hoping that it will get away before the weather breaks.

The Light Sussex have moved somewhat reluctantly into the big henhouse. Turns out one is a cockerel, which is a bit of a shame. They’re very tame – I can pick them up no problem. They are very tall and leggy compared to our other Light Sussex, who are chunkier, reminiscent of Lady Cluck, in Disney’s “Robin Hood”.

Ruby, the “pet” hen, has been poorly but seems to be recovering after a few days TLC in the broody coop. Once again, I’ve cleaned it out and put it away for winter.

Li’l Bud is now running with his ewes, with Dickie baa-ing encouragement from the sidelines. My chum’s tup is called Rambo and he’s been a bit quicker off the mark than Bud. I received a text saying “Rambo one, Bud nil”. I hope he works it out real soon!

While we were on holiday, someone took our two black kittens away and left us two black cats – or so it seemed. They have grown but, after a visit to the vet on Thursday, they are both a little bit lighter. Neither seems affected by their experience. I was encouraged to find a dead rabbit on the doorstep – I’m so glad they couldn’t get it through the cat flap! It was quite a big rabbit, so I hope the kittens will be very busy come spring time."