One of the wettest months I can ever remember. The poor cows have been struggling out to grass each day through deep mud, but each morning they stand by the gate waiting to go out however wet it is.

We succeeded in drilling Spring Barley in late March. Then early in the month combed with our new weeder-a marvelous machine .We then got about 60 acres undersown, (that is drilled into the barley) with grass seeds-most of it rolled-then down it came - no more field work in April!! We spent the rest of the month carting out dirty water, making muck heaps and installing electric's and water to the caravan site.

First cuckoo heard April 16 First swallow April 22.Swallows Sand and House Martins all arrived together this year.

We got some work done on coppicing (that is cutting the tree off at its base and allowing the shoots to grow into a group of trees or coppice stool) some Alders and Willows on the river banks but most of the time it was too high to work safely. This year we have fed about a Ton of waste grain through the spring to maintain the wild birds in better condition .1 think it has given us some fat squirrels as well!!