THE week has brought with it a mixture of weather, starting with rain, accompanied by the most beautiful rainbow I have seen for a long time. This was followed by a frosty morning and a day of sunshine. However, the majority of the week was damp and dull, ending with more rain, but it has been very mild. The roar of the motorway has become audible, indicating that the wind has been coming from a more southerly direction.

We recently visited our daughter Adele and her family in Devon, as our grandchildren Dominic and Bethany were on their half-term holiday. Whilst there Bethany and I took the ponies out for a hack along the lanes around Chuggaton Farm, accompanied by Adele and Bouncer, their dog.

Whilst riding I was able to admire the stunning views across the North Devon countryside, taking in the patchwork of colours.

In the afternoon we helped get the cows in for milking, before feeding all the recently born calves. Like us their Freisian/ Holstein dairy calves are reared in individual pens until they are weaned, making it easier to spot any early signs of illness.

When the calves saw us the noise was deafening, as they eagerly awaited their ration of warm milk. The calves were also given some weaner food pellets, fresh water and bedded up with fresh straw before we went back to the house to begin our next task.

This was to prepare a very large bucket of Bramley cooking apples for the freezer, which involved team work. Dominic used a very clever machine to peel, core and slice the apples, before Bethany checked and quartered each one.

I was in charge of the cooking, with two large saucepans on the go and at the end of the line Adele was filling small plastic boxes.

Back here on Manor Farm, we have weaned about half of our young calves.

They are now in a large straw bedded area of the barn, looking very well and happy.

This year we have 24 dairy heifer calves, which is only just over half of what we would expect. The calves born on the farm now are all Aberdeen Angus crosses, sired by our own bull, which are sold to a neighbouring farmer, who will rear them for beef.

During the week Ian did a milk recording, whilst Ruth was milking. This process involves taking individual samples of milk, which are then sent to a laboratory for analysis. The results will tell us a number of things including the protein and butterfat percentages in each cow's milk. The somatic cell count reading is one we find particularly useful, as it gives an indication of the health of the udder.

We segregate cows with a high cell count and monitor them carefully, routinely milking them last, so that the chance of cross contamination is reduced and seek advice from our vet if required.

On Stowell Farm Kevin and family hosted the Chippenham Young Farmer's Club (YFC) ploughing match. Ploughing matches are always popular, with large entries for a variety of classes. Ploughing is the breaking up of soil and cutting a furrow in preparation for sowing. This is done by using a strong blade (mouldboard) at the end of a beam hitched to a team of animals or tractor. The event on Stowell Farm attracted 41 entries, with ploughs hitched to a variety of tractors, including one on tracks, but on this occasion none were horse drawn.

There were classes for conventional trailed, rigid ( with three-point linkage) and hydraulic ploughs, with differing numbers of blades. There were also classes for reversible ploughs, which consist of two mouldboard ploughs mounted back to back, making it possible to plough up and down the same furrow. The criteria for a well ploughed field is that all the weeds and remains of the previous crop must be buried and the individual furrows well defined. Each entry was given a plot, where they had to start with a strike out furrow, eventually finishing with all furrows level and straight. At the end of the day a trophy was awarded to the best overall competitor, Will Luff from Chepstow.