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2020Review

Well, what a year 2020 was. Here is what was happening down on the farm...

So, the start of 2020 was like most other years and that was with a walk around Tamar Lakes on New Years Day!

The animals are all inside. The yard work seems to take most mornings. It gets dark early and there's not always a lot of time for much else!

We had some Care Farmers with us which was a big help on clean out days. They were working towards their BTEC's in Animal Care, writing diaries after lunch as part of their requirements.

Andrew was trying to find a few hours each week of dry weather to do some hedging work.

Inca was settling in well and Saxon was loving having a new (but somewhat crazy) little puppy sister. All was good....

Then March came around and with it came a huge change to our life and business.

We had to say goodbye to our Care Farmers on 23rd March due to the Coronavirus, which was starting to be a problem. As the schools closed their doors to children, then we also had to close our doors (or gates) to our care farmers. It just wasn't safe to continue and we didn't know when we would see them again. This was a really sad time for everyone. It was a bit of a shock to the system, going from having someone here every day to no one at all. It was very quiet. But, like every other family, we had our own children at home to look after and life on the farm had to continue. The animals still needed feeding/cleaning out/bedding up etc.

We have enjoyed some amazing spring weather and really tried hard to find a balance of farm/school and family time. Even though we couldn't go far, we have been truly blessed to have our farm as this has meant we still have access to outside space/dog walks etc. We have really come together as a family and the girls have been fantastic at helping out moving cattle/pour on/tb testing, you name it, when we have needed extra help, they have come out and its been great.

We have been focusing on building up on our cattle numbers, which we have achieved. We have made plans for the next couple of years for a few alterations that we can do to make work simpler/easier.

Our daughter had her GCSE results this summer and we are very proud to say she got the grades she needed to go onto the course of her dreams - Marine Biology at Falmouth Marine School. She started here in September, which meant her having to move out and live in Falmouth for half the week. This all started fine, until the November lock down, in which she stayed in Falmouth for the whole month. Thank goodness we have phones ! She is loving the course and although she is studying from home now, she cannot wait to get back to college.

Our other daughter has now started her GCES work, in Yr10. She was very pleased to get all the options she wanted to study and is working hard. She's turning into an amazing little artist!

I started a new job at the end of March, at a local care home, as a cook. I'm really enjoying it. Even though it was supposed to be temporary,  I've decided to stay on. They are a lovely bunch to work with.

The autumn/winter so far has been a bit wet at times, but we try to make the most of the nice dry hours and go for dog walks. All the cattle came in at the end of November. The dung has all been spread on the fields, the hedges have been trimmed, all the pour on and fluke drench has been done. We have some cattle off to market next week (end of Jan). The pigs are off to the abattoir in a few days time.

We were able to welcome back one small group of Primary care farmers in October/November, adhering to all the guidance of course ! Unfortunately this has had to stop again as once again we are in lock down. Fingers crossed we can resume before Easter but we will have to wait and see.

Stay safe everyone and we hope 2021 will be a better year !

 

 

 

 

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