I can't believe that since I last wrote our puppies have all left home and are enjoying their new families, and perhaps more surprisingly that our harvest is safely gathered in.  It really is unprecedented for us in particular to have got our crops safely stored in the corn store quite so early in the Summer.  We can now relax and not worry about the weather, again something that has never happened at this time of year since we have been married.  It has been a real family effort too, Sam took some time off work to drive the combine, John was on corn cart, and Ben also took a day off too to help with carting. Joe was planning to take some holiday, but unfortunately he had made other arrangements for the weekend which meant he was unable to help.  When he comes home next there will not be anything for him to do.

It has been a pretty roller coaster couple of months, on the marina front we are still waiting to see whether it will be a goer or not. We think we have ticked all the boxes, completed all the surveys etc etc, so it is now a question of keeping our fingers crossed until we find out after the Summer recess. The most recent survey we had carried out was a couple of weeks ago and was an archaeological survey which meant a series of trenches were dug out at intervals across the field.  From what we understand nothing very interesting was found, all the details relating to each trench including soil samples were logged and photographed.

The sheep are doing well, the two ram lambs are going down to Devon to my cousin Kate's home/small holding which is lovely, being Greyface Dartmoor sheep they are getting closer to their roots, and what is particularly lovely is that they are not going to be eaten. We are not sure what to do with the ewe lambs at the moment, whether to keep them or sell them. On the Princess Alice motherhood stakes it is not looking that promising, if she is going to have piglets then they are due this weekend. If she is in pig - then she is concealing them very well indeed.  The vet came down the other day and said when a pig is umm .....how can we put it ..... plump it is difficult to tell whether she has a litter inside her, and being a Kune Kune pig (which in maori means fat and round) the secret is definitely all hers.  Whilst the vet was here we asked her to take a look at Alice's trotters as they are rather long, and we were quite keen for her to trim them.  Well Alice was enjoying a nice tummy scratch at the time and was all very relaxed when all of a sudden she spied the vet all dressed in her green garb clacking the trimmers and she wasn't going to have any of it.  Off she trotted at great speed with no intention whatsoever of having a porky pedicure! We will now have to think of another plan.

A marvellous surprise last night, tucked outside the bathroom window in the rose bush is a beautiful little nest full to the brim with chicks!  Pictures to follow if possible.