Another glorious sunset

I was out shooting some hand-held video of pig feeding time and, having finished due to poor light, I was about to bring the camera in when we had a glorious sunset blaze over the croft. The sky show lasted about a minute all told, so I had no time to get the tripod and had to settle for some rough, hand-held panning to capture it. At one point I started sinking into the mud, as can be seen when the slope of the hill suddenly steepens, accompanied by slurping sounds as I try to get my boots free. Despite the roughness, though, I think the sunset speaks for itself…

Paperwork check

A surprising number of people query why I bother with all the paperwork, much of it pointless or replicated, that goes with farming in the UK today.

My answer was provided today when a knock at the door at lunchtime announced the arrival of the Animal Welfare Officer — for his third visit in four years.

As usual, our paperwork is up to date so after a check on dates and numbers, he was off again.

Field planning

A fundamental requirement to successfully running a croft or smallholding is to have a plan of your fields so you can use them at maximum efficiency while preventing problems before they occur.

I had a conceptual plan in my head for years before we bought the croft, then altered it to fit the actuality when we bought the place, and have gradually rolled it out as time and money permitted.

However, having a plan in my head is of little use to the Other Half when she’s helping or to other people when I try to explain what I’m doing and why.