How peculiar! During the past week we have had the coldest day in 2014, as well as the warmest New Year’s Day for 99 years.

From the middle of the week the line being drawn on the barograph has been rising and falling like a roller coaster, with not far off an inch of rain following the frosts earlier.

On New Year’s Eve Kevin and Melissa brought the girls here before setting out to put some sheep fencing around another field of grass that needed grazing, returning here for lunch.

In the afternoon we were all needed to help move the ewe lambs to the newly prepared field. First the flock was gathered with help from two of the sheep dogs. Then any lame ones were examined and treated, after which the rams were taken out.

It was then time to move the flock to fresh pasture, which went well until the time came to cross a minor road. It was here the sheep decided they were not going any further but eventually, with the dogs’ help, the lead animal started to make the crossing with the rest following close behind.

They did hesitate for a while on reaching the other side, but were soon coaxed into the fresh field. Our three granddaughters spent the night here, showing us some dance moves to the accompaniment of rather loud music, after which we watched the last of BBC Christmas science lectures (an orchestra was created, with the instruments played by robots!), before we tucked into mugs of hot chocolate “with all the extras”.

We have purchased a two-year-old Aberdeen Angus bull called Faithful. You may remember me saying that we had to have our old bull put down following an injury making him lame, which despite rest would not seem to heal.

Richard collected Faithful from a farm near Salisbury and we are pleased to say that he has settled well in his new surroundings. He is now residing in a barn with the heifers due to calve next autumn, where he will hopefully cover any of these heifers not to have become pregnant by artificial insemination. Adele and Steve have also bought another young Aberdeen Angus bull from the same farm, as their previous bull had become too old to work.

When on one of my rambles around the farm, I had a look at some of the last few cows waiting to give birth. I noticed there were three cows in the yard – two predominately black animals and one with much more white hair.

Richard told me one of the very black cows was Amelia, born on September 18, 2003, and the other a Dutch cow called Roelie, born on June 6, 2006, who has just given birth to an Angus x bull calf. Amelia is one of our older cows, has had seven lactations, during which time she has given 90,650 litres of milk.

She was due to calve for the eighth time on January 2 but has not yet given birth.

She has one daughter in the milking herd and one due to calve in the autumn. Amelia’s last two calvings have produced twins, the first set still-born and the last set a live heifer and bull, so unfortunately the heifer will probably be a free-martin.

A free-martin is an infertile female born in a set of mixed twins. The animal will look female but during the pregnancy will have obtained some cellular material from the male twin via vascular connections between the placentas.

If ovaries are present they will usually not function and there may be other internal reproductive abnormalities. We always keep our free-martins, rearing them with the dairy heifers before they are sold on as beef animals.

Whilst on the phone one day in the week, I was fortunate to see a great spotted woodpecker in our Bramley apple tree. Over recent years I have heard more of the characteristic “drumming”, which is the sound made by rapid blows of the bill on resonant surfaces, such as dead boughs. This is done to proclaim ownership of territory.

The week ended entertaining a group of friends to dinner, a noisy evening we all enjoyed!