April 25th. Sunset over Curry Drove. Interlaced between the levels and the rhynes are the droves. These very old roads were used to move livestock for hundreds of years, sometimes underwater in the winter, in Somerset they set hard as nails in the summer as they are made of clay. In the background on the right are the foothills of the Quantocks

April 24^th. Easter Day. It was great to have everyone for lunch. The twins Dom and Rory with their brother Merlin. Wendy, Sally & Granny and were all there with Fred, we were only missing The Ferg who will be back in 2½ weeks. Lovely Day

April 23^rd. A Barn Owl. These little birds are so light, standing there all puffed out they seem a sizable bird but in reality they weigh nothing. This chap was a Mole Valley although I had seen one in daylight only a few days before at 3pm in the afternoon. Hunting all day to keep the new brood happy keeps them out in the daytime.

April 22nd. The Orchard. Now three years old we are starting to see some real growth in the trees, the apples have come out first with the pears following next. Fred and Ferg gave Susan a cherry for Mother's day and that was planted yesterday. Looking at the blossom there is going to be a very good crop this year....we shall see.

April 21st. Sun Tube. Tom Eggar fitted this sun tube in Susan's study today, a neat velux product which picks up light on the roof and transfers it by reflection to a ceiling reflector. No electricity all natural light

April 20th Our Field. Just seemed like a nice shot to take. The sun was just right and it all seemed to tell a story

April 19th. Carl Tantum. A good Christian man with the heart of a lion. Carl quietly gets on with is life of retirement looking after people less fortunate than himself. Opening charity shops, driving the elderly and a pillar of the local Catholic Church.

April 18th. John Gardner.. From Liphook, John is a computer whiz. We purchase hardware from John and he looks after our network and server. Never seems to be beaten by the "bit" and always-available within time zone that makes him the first call when those nasty messages arrive on our screen.

April 17th. The Famous Five. Our new Oxford and Sandy Black pigs. Four are 9 weeks old and the small brown one (just hidden) is from a different litter and is 8 weeks old. They have settled in very well, though there is a fight for food, as this LINK will show. They come from a group of 32 wieners from 4 different mothers, So I expect it was winner take all!!

April 16th Jim Bale. Jim comes to us each Saturday morning and is helping with the landscaping. Building walls, pathways and laying stone slabs etc. A nice chap from Bridgewater always with a good even temperament and just gets on with it.... really good find.

April 15th. Darryl Waldron. He is the chap sitting behind Matt our builder who has been previously snapped. Heath and Safety is a serious part of the Somerset building code. Darryl is the catcher today and as he says they have two buckets instead of one just in case of emergency. Garage nearly finished

April 14th The TGH Colective Farm Sale. Today in Waltham Cross was the largest collective farm implement sale in the West Country. More Land Rovers than you could shake a stick at and what a collection of used farm machinery. Roads blocked for miles around.

April 13th. Kathy Simmons. Kathy and her husband Phil run Simmons Interiors in Grayshott providing style and flair to the great and the good. A solicitor by training Kath is now a very integral part of the team. In the lower left hand side of her PC screen is her Ipad upon which is a photo of her son Sam presently in the USA with the challenging task of looking after cheerleader....yes, honestly.

April 12th. Big Trouble. Not sure to add on this photo. Megan is a handful and as you can see a shy retiring child belonging to the Skirrow family in Hammer Lane (April 7th) As familiar with camouflage netting as she is with English Literature one can only pray for Lisa and Frazer and send advance condolences to any potential groom

April 11th Sunrise at East Woldham. What a start to the day, quite lovely. In the background is the National Trust Common at Blackdown near Haslemere. Mist lies over the low lying field in the foreground around Oakhanger and Kingsley

April 10th. Pollard Willows. These old riverbank willow trees are trimmed every 8 to 10 years. Some of them are very old and they just stand there on the edge of the moor like gnarled old bones poking out of the ground. Traditionally trees were pollarded for one of two reasons: for fodder to feed livestock, or for wood. Pollarding

April 9th. Ed Moody. Ed is our local "muscle" in North Curry he will turn his hand to anything and is totally dependable, presently in Scotland in his second year of Uni. Ed and his brother Greg have vivid sense experimentation. Watch This Link on the flooded Moor Road in North Curry

April 8th. Martin Bayfield. Bedford, England and The British Lions. A really good fundraising evening where Martin was guest speaker and auctioneer. Very accomplished and great fun, has a fast wit and refers to all of us as Lilliputians, he would though at 6'8"! Plays Rubeus Hagrid in the Harry Potter films.

April 7th, Lisa and Frazer. Long time friends of ours from Assisi in Grayshott, Frazer is into drugs in a big way - not in the way you think, he is CEO of Medinnovate Ltd and the author of Massacre on the Marne, whilst his long suffering wife (of Irish Extraction, say no more) quiety keeps the peace and manages Miranda, Will and Megan very well though sometimes the wee one is close to winning

April 6^th Erin, Mother and Grandmother have both appeared this year but Erin was only a bump on March 22nd. Well here she is, 5 weeks early in all her glory already doing an internship. Nick Clegg would not like this…it’s pure nepotism.

April 5^th. Sid and Bennie. Yes, you have seen them before, and as we all well know they have “history” or to be a bit more factual Sid chewed off Bennie front right leg. She gets around OK but does love to taunt him. He also chewed her carapace, to the point that there was not much of a hiding place left . But she made of stern stuff.

April 4th. SSS. Spring has Sprung in Somerset. Really one of the first signs that winter is really behind you is when the acres oil seed rape spread as far as the eye can see. Miles of it between Curry Rival and Wrantage. A lovely sight

April 3rd. Mum. Well it had to be the photo for today. I know some of you are aware that she fell off her perch nine years ago but somehow it seemed apt. This is the last photo I took of her. Happy Mother's Day, Mum.

April 2nd. Dolly with Bart and Lisa. Our new sheep have arrived. Dolly is a "mule" which I understand is a cross between highland and lowland sheep. Her two lambs Bart and Lisa were born on March 11th. Sheep have this way of inventing interesting ways of dying - fingers crossed.

April 1st. Paul. I do not know his other name. I met Paul at an agricultural dispersal sale in West Hatch. There he was being very interested in this old Massy Fergusson 35. Speaking to him for a while I found out that his grandfather bought 325 KYD in 1953, the last time he saw the tractor was at a auction sale in 1989. He was going to bid today - how he got on, I do not know.