Mrs Down's Diary October 15 2008

Mules are a cross between a Swaledale ewe and Blue Leicester tup. That produces a good mother with plenty of milk who, when running with our Texel and Suffolk tups, gives us a good crop of lambs.

John was delighted at the prices he paid, but recognised that this meant a poorer return for the breeders. Several pens of gimmers and shearlings were withdrawn when the prices did not reach the expected premiums.

At one stage, we felt quite panicky that the pens we had our eyes on would not get to go through the ring, but eventually they did. Nonetheless, several other pens that John was interested in went back home.

So much effort goes into the presentation of these sheep. Some owners dip their sheep prior to the sale in a coloured dip to brighten them for the sale.

Others wash their sheep's heads and trim the wool round their necks for a cosmetic make over. If any tups are for sale, the owners trim and 'square' them so that the backs appear flattened to give an illusion of breadth in the animal.

Once home with the flock, the new sheep tend to stick together for a few weeks. When you go round the sheep in the morning, the newcomers stand in a group as if still uncertain of the others. It will change.

On the land, two days of sunshine saw every combine in the area that had not had a chance to get their wheat harvested on the go

John started ploughing in one field and the contractor we had asked to come in went into another. Steve the contractor effortlessly chugged up and down the field, admittedly on the best land on the farm, and had it done in just over a day.

John took over two to do the same size field.

Both of those fields had been mole ploughed and so the water had got away, but two of the biggest fields on the farm are still waiting to be cleared of straw and so no work can get started on those until the straw has been baled.

In one field, baling had got started by the merchant who wanted it, but he left the bales in flat piles of eight, and subsequent rain soddened the straw so much that the bales are virtually ruined. And still in the field. Nothing at all has happened in another and until then John cannot get started there at all.

Luckily, we got hold of some seed barley so as soon as the ploughed land has dried up enough to get the combination drill on, at least one field can be sown. The other ploughed field will be going in with field beans, but they can wait until later and there is still plenty of other land to start mole ploughing..

When ploughing, Steve's job was easier because he had five furrows on his tractor. Although our big tractor normally pulls four furrows, John decided to drop one off to put less strain on the engine. That was the idea, anyway, at the start of the day.

Four hours later, sweating and cursing all the way, the back furrows reluctantly parted company with their companions. "These bolts have never been off since I bought this plough 10 years ago," John swore. "They're rusted in solid."

At least I think that's what he said. Sounded more like "*** bolts. They won't *** move. The *** things." Not for delicate ears.