WHAT a week! It began with an early morning frost when I recorded a temperature of 1.8C, quickly developing into the wettest, windiest few days we have had for a long time.

The line drawn on our barograph dived to the lowest air pressure reading we have seen, leading to rainfall here on Manor Farm amounting to a staggering 71.75 mm, which is equivalent to almost three inches falling over three days.

Most of the ditches on the farm were dry, but following the rain they not only filled but overflowed into some of the fields.

In our garden the Bramley apples, stubbornly clinging to the branches of an old tree, were nearly all brought down by the gales, but we continue to use them from the ground. They are showing very little bruising and this year have not been attacked by insects, although the starlings have recently been enjoying the ripe flesh.

Apart from making things a little muddy, the wet weather has not affected work. All the cattle are under cover, the slurry store is empty, and all field work has been completed, so most activity is centred around milking, feeding, mucking out and bedding up all the cows and young stock. We have started artificially inseminating our 15- month-old maiden heifers using sexed semen from Friesian/Holstein bulls. This will mean that apart from an occasional bull calf all the calves born to the heifers will be female, which will ensure we have enough replacements for the milking herd.

We have recently had another routine vet visit to do some more post-natal checks on some of our cows. The results of the checks showed that some of the cows had cystic ovarian disease, which is when cysts develop on the ovaries which one of the most common symptoms is anoestrous (failure to cycle). Various factors can cause ovarian cysts, the most common being an energy deficiency.

In their spare time Richard and Ian have been making a usable trailer, from an old one of ours and one of Kevin's. Transferring some good parts from one to the other, they have put together a trailer that will be used to transport manure to muck heaps in some of our fields, from where it will be spread in the spring. Another job has been clearing drains blocked with leaves and other debris to enable huge puddles of water to drain away along roads through the farm.

During the week I attended several meetings. One was at The Royal Bath and West Showground, where we discussed ways to encourage new volunteers to help as stewards at some of the shows held on the showground. I really enjoy stewarding activities and inputting into the development of the main four-day show in the years to come. Next year's main show will run from May 24-27.

Another event both Richard and I attended was to present a cheque for £2,000, raised at the Wiltshire Farmer's Ball in February this year, to the Wiltshire Air Ambulance (WAA).

The ball has supported two charities for many years, the other being The Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution. In attendance at the present home of the air ambulance in Devizes was Barbara Sealy, one of the Wiltshire volunteers, three of the promotion team and Nicky Smith, one of the pilots.

The WAA began operating on March 15, 1990, flying more than 15,000 missions. For 24 years the helicopter was shared with Wiltshire Police.

WAA began operating its own Bell 429 helicopter on January 9 last year. The new helicopter is the one of the most advanced light twin helicopters ever developed, now averaging two to three potentially life-saving missions a day.

Nicky Smith, the pilot on duty at the presentation, enjoyed spending time showing and telling us all about the helicopter, including details of its flight performance, the equipment it carries and how it operates.

It takes £8,904 a day to keep the WAA operational, so a big thank you to everyone who supported our raffle and ball, which has enabled us to make contributions to WAA amounting to £14,500 over the last 10 years.