Mrs Down's Diary

I AM in sole charge. Me and the dogs. John has gone off for a week's fishing and left me the awesome responsibility of ensuring the herd and the sheep don't get out at night, the bullocks and heifers stay in their yards, ducks, geese and hens are shut in at night and the tomato plants get watered on a daily basis.

Geoff is coming in to do all the heavy stuff of rolling the barley and making sure the bulls get fed and he is emergency midwife if a young heifer suddenly starts to calve. Just before he left John called me into the foldyard.

"See that heifer," he said. "I was fattening her for market as I didn't need her for the herd. She has had a different idea. One of the young bulls must have served her." Clever thing, I thought. Instead of market she is going to get out in the fields for the summer. Much better alternative.

The dogs and I go round the herd and the sheep twice a day in the Land Rover. I have been agitating for a quad bike for some time, but after doing the check on a rainy day, I can definitely see the advantage of being inside a vehicle, rather than out in the open on top of one.

"Just make sure everything gets up," John told me. "That way you know they are all right."

The calves can be very disconcerting. They lie with their heads stretched out almost backwards. To all the world they look dead.

For full feature see West Sussex Gazette July 23.