When I started writing this column back in 2012 I made a comment that the weather was topsy turvy. It may be hard to believe but the very wet conditions were punctuated with occasional frosts. Back then we had only managed to plant one field of winter wheat, with plenty of acres lying wet and empty. That is all except for weeds which manage to grow in places one would least expect! Well, this season has mirrored that of 2012. Still half our arable acres lying empty !

Over the past week, although there have been periods of bright sunshine, the wet theme has continued with another 38.5 mm rainfall. There was however a day when temperatures fell to freezing morning and evening. I was very aware of this after visiting a cousin and her husband. At 7 o'clock that evening a thick layer of ice had frozen across the windscreen of my car. However as I neared home I was lucky enough to see two owls, a large barn owl flew across the road in front of me and only a half a mile further on a tawny owl was sat in the road, flying away on my approach.

On the Saturday I prepared a pre-Christmas roast beef and Yorkshire pudding dinner for a gathering of my family, including daughters, a sister, a niece and their families. It was a day my late husband Richard would have very much enjoyed.

I have kept myself very busy making lots of Christmas fare. I have made lots of chutneys, jams, jellies , puddings and cakes ( not forgetting the addition of copious quantities of brandy), which I give to many of my relations. I really do love spending lots time in the kitchen. My grandson and three granddaughters are also accomplished cooks. Grandson Dominic is stopping for a week near Sheffield to do a cookery course on his way home from Newcastle University, where he is studying agriculture. This will enable him to complete his Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award .

This time last year the last of our milking herd was leaving Manor farm, so this Christmas, spending time with family and friends should be easier for Ian.

However when one has livestock there are always jobs to do. Our beef cattle will have to be fed and their health checked every day. If a cold spell of weather is forecast all the water pipes supplying drinking troughs have to be kept running. Then there is mucking out and bedding up. We also have to make sure that we have enough of any bought-in feed we use.

Kevin , with help from his father Francis, and Ian have been doing more work in the barns to prepare them for lambing, which starts with the first group in early January. Early in the week Bob Branden came to pregnancy scan the elite flock of 100 ewes. A race and handling equipment was positioned between two buildings to make the job easier. But it is a cold spot with a very chilly wind finding it's way through. I remember well standing in the same place noting down skin test readings for our cattle at TB test times. Bob is an expert when it comes to scanning ewes as he has been doing the job for 35 years. Before that he was a shearer and has a long association with a number of sheep organisations.

He told me it is very difficult to find young people who want to do his job. It did not take long to scan the 100 ewes, marking those carrying one lamb with a red dot, those carrying triplets with a blue and those without orange and no mark on the ewes carrying twins.

It just remains for me to wish you all a very Happy Christmas.