Mrs Down's Diary June 10 2009

We were going at a fairly steady pace as we had three bulls in the trailer behind and no intention of throwing them around, but I still only caught a glimpse of the surprisingly large bird flying ahead.

There has been a lot on the news about the decrease in cuckoo numbers this year, allied to decreases in the number of small birds whose nests they take over. It was the first cuckoo we had seen. Much much later than normal.

Swallows too are always eagerly anticipated. Our swallow visitors have adapted to changes in the farm buildings by taking over one or two of the nest boxes that we have put up for other birds. They still love the old barns however and also what was the milking parlour. As a result we have doors and windows left open all around the farmyard and sheds as otherwise the swallows would not be able to access their nests. There is even a blackbird in the meal shed.

She is nesting virtually at eye level and keeps absolutely immobile as you walk through, daring passersby to acknowledge her presence.

If a visitor does happen to look at her on the nest she fixes them with an unblinking stare, still retaining the myth of

invisibility and invincibility.

I always consider the first real indication that summer is on its way when John decides to clip the sheep. He started off this year with the tups. What he did not do however was to house them overnight in the trailer after clipping so that they could bond again once their outward appearance had changed so much. Despite living together for more than two years, grazing cheek to cheek and rubbing noses, once the tups were released into the paddock after being shorn, they were immediately head to head in combat.

"It's too late to separate them now" John said, "I might get hurt".

Fortunately, bruised egos as well as bloody heads soon sorted the affair out, although they kept on taking a tilt at each other into late evening. With markedly less enthusiasm as the hours wore on.

Over the next couple of days John clipped the rest of the flock. With the low price being offered for fleeces, the clipping is being done more for the welfare of the sheep rather than any return on the wool.

However, amazingly, we needed an extra wool sack as the fleeces off the sheep are much thicker than normal. The only thing John can put it down to is the fact that the spring was much colder than usual and the sheep may have grown a thicker coat because of that.

He was helped throughout by his very own little shepherdess Jessica.

She soon got the hang of rolling the fleeces for the sacks and the pair of them came in after clipping reeking of lanolin and sheep clarts, but with incredibly soft, although smelly, hands.