I offered to cook Christmas dinner during our family visit to Chuggaton Farm in north Devon.

No hardship, as I enjoy cooking, and we sat down together at 1.30pm to eat the turkey, followed by traditional Christmas pudding, mince pies and, of course, a calorie-filled chocolate des-sert as well.

We were just about to finish with coffee and mints when I thought I heard a commotion outside.

It was then I noticed one of the milking cows was NOT IN THE YARD!

I ran in to tell Adele and Steve, then we all rushed out to see what was going on.

We found most of the dairy herd had escaped and were busy wreaking havoc in the maize clamp, silage clamp and another barn where rolled barley and straw is stored.

By the look of the muddy mess of hoof prints and faeces, they had been out for a while, but fortunately the perimeter gates were all firmly closed.

Between us, we guided them back to their yard and cubicle barn, which is not an ideal thing to do after a large Christmas dinner.

We then remade the coffee, sitting down to enjoy time together before afternoon milking began.

There has been a peculiar feel to Christmas this year.

The weather continued to be quite mild, although with a few ups and downs on the thermometer.

The rain has kept falling, which has made the ground rather wet. The crops of winter barley, winter wheat and oilseed rape are looking well at present, seeming to be in suspended animation, waiting for the days to lengthen and warm up.

There is still time, however, for temperatures to plummet, so we shall have to wait and see what 2015 has to offer.

So 2014 has not been a bad year for animals and plants. We have been able to complete most operations without interruption from the weather, but the same cannot be said about the prices for our harvested grain and milk.

Grain prices have been at least a third per tonne less than they were in 2013, while the price for a litre of milk continues to tumble, with another fall on January 1.

For most dairy farmers, the drop in the price of a litre of milk has been several pence, with 1p a litre giving a drop of £10,000 on a million litre quota over a year. We have a quota of 1.25 million litres a year, so you can see what impact these price drops have on our business.

It is the volatility of prices which is difficult to manage, with sudden large fuctuations up or down. We are, however, grateful for the recent fall in the price of diesel.

For the few days before Christmas, all on Manor, Showell and Chuggaton Farms made sure all the jobs were done, to ensure that, on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, the families could spend as much time together as possible. This meant having all bedding and feedstock close to hand, while remembering to order things that may run out during the holiday.

All family members and employees work to ease the load. Here on Manor Farm, but also on Chuggaton Farm in North Devon, cows have to be milked twice a day, even at Christmas.

There have been calvings to attend to, as well as cattle to bed up and feed. At both dairy farms, there are calves still being fed on milk, so that means lots to do.

Richard and I spent Christmas with Adele and the family, with Jenny, Ian and nieces Charlotte and Natalie there as well.

We arrived at Chuggaton Farm just before 4pm, sitting down to a tasty Christmas Eve tea when Steve had finished milking.

Christmas Day began with breakfast, after the morning milking, leading into the opening of presents.

Our grandchildren were very excited and it was great to be there to share it with them; something we had not been able to do for years.

After breakfast, Adele and Bethany took their ponies for a long ride, while Dominic rode his bicycle, fitted with some of his presents, such as mud guards and sat-nav.

Little did we know then what exercise was to come for us all after dinner . . .