We thought summer was nearly here last week but then we all got a little bit soggy again.  My sister had an even earlier start than usual to check our girls were ok in the thunder (she is normally up at 3.30am every day to milk the cows).  Whilst they like to be out normally they were huddled under the trees and keen to keep dry but they were all fine, which is more than can be said for Piglet the terrier who definitely does not like Mr Bang coming.

We had more delights of urban fringe farming and a second big bang of the week with a car crashing through the gates into the horse field and being abandoned, with a very quick police response removing it as it appears to have been a robbery getaway vehicle.  Horses merely ignored all this and walked back to the stable paddock.

Once the fencing was repaired the rain has meant a bit of time for indoor work and things have moved on in milk room.  The two tanks for full fat and skimmed milk have been installed, the plumbing is in, the piping to transfer fresh milk from the parlour tank is all in place and the mini shop space conversion has begun and the door hung.

In the meantime we had our cheese consultant visit to see how we are getting on.  He liked the cheeses we have been trialling and gave us some advice on fine tuning the recipes over the next couple of months.  Starting yesterday we have the first new batch of Chalvedon made, we are tweaking the temperature and brine levels.  We will be trying it in 10 days and then maturing it for 1, 2 and 3 months to see any differences.  The rest of the milk equipment is (fingers crossed) still on schedule to be installed in July.