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I have at last got the Land Rover's four wheel drive system working! I am very pleased indeed! Most times I have attempted to use the machine I have ended up getting stuck. Not what I expected from the best 4 by 4 by far.... Anyway a special effort of finding out what was the matter was definately needed. Took the floor plate out and had a look at the gearbox linkage system and attempted to see how it works and the whole thing just came out. How it was meant to work was a mystery so tightened it and put back together as we found it. Jacked it all up off the ground and started it up and fiddled with the front hubs and managed to get the system working. Quite exciting. Took it out to a wet patch in the field and drove into it and instantly got stuck. Pressed the four wheel drive button which had appeared to do absolutely nothing mechanically and... as if by magic the vehicle just drove out as if it was invincible! So dont quite know what we did to it but fingers crossed at last I h...

Managing to carry on doing spring work which is pleasing. Fixed up another trough and got the old JCB up and banging. Disappointing to see that she managed to spring a few hose leaks which cost a fortune to fix. But after the problem was addressed she did well and saved a lot of back breaking work. Did another wood run in the 'beast' which was very successful. Managed to find some brilliant dry and dead wood which burns beautifully. Land Rover is working ok of sorts - still confused with how the damn 4 wheel drive works and seems that every time I get in it I manage to get stuck somewhere... I am aware that the 4 wheel drive push button is not correctly lined up but I always thought that low box is permanent 4 wheel drive plus there is the endless fiddling with the free wheeling hubs on the wheels. I think I have managed to get three wheels spinning but by that time I have dug myself in. Anyway I am sure I will get it sorted. The roof rack is brilliant and lots of stuff can get...

Well the show at the weekend was OK but nothing really exciting as far as we were concerned. People seemed to be about but the Rugby and Grand Prix may well have made a difference. I feel that we are at the very start of when the cider season begins to take off. Enjoyed it though and thank you to the people who turned up to see us. Back on the farm we have moved on to dealing with the replacement of the waterpipe feed on a trough on the farm. This particular trough has been a bit of a bugbear as it has not been working for quite some time yet this last winter sprung a fierce leak which was a nightmare. So the main line was cut and 'new size' pipe was attached with a tap, drain, and new ball valve all set into an inspection chamber. We then filled in the large hole we had to dig to remove the wet soil and to make a sink hole to drain the water. The whole job went fairly well - always takes longer than you expect but a great job to at last complete. The list of spring jobs is alw...

First drop of rain this morning for quite a few days. More birdsong in the morning which helps to reinforce that spring is just around the corner. No yellow daffodils quite yet - still just the leaves poking up out of the ground. Fencing went quite well yesterday despite the Land Rover deciding that it had had enough at the end of the day and refused to start. I am hoping that this is because I did not use the tedious 'warming up' of the plugs for long enough AND I have started and stopped it about 8 times during the day and it never really had a good chance to charge. Apart from this I think the Land Rover is going to be quite a success as it enables me to get to the more remote parts of the farm to do jobs. Today I am loading up the van and heading off up to Telford for this evening. Stopping the night and cracking on with the farmers market at Telford for the weekend. Looking forward to a couple of nights out in Newport but not so much the early mornings.... Had an intense l...

The days are certainly getting noticibly longer which is brilliant as I am able to squeeze more useful hours into the day. The fencing at the farm entrance is now complete and we are very pleased with it. The entrance has been widened to make turning easier and we are just waiting for our new 'welcome' sign. After finishing the fencing I have moved on with trying to sort out my recent purchase of the Land Rover. After initially getting excited about the project disappointment began to filter through when there seemed to be a million of things that needed to be done, and then like sun breaking through a grey dull sky things are starting to look up again. Used it today for an 'official' job of repairing fencing on the farm and all seemed good. I can know start it on a key rather than hotwiring it with a long screwdriver each time I use it. I have now got some seats too which helps the ride across the fields somewhat. The bonnet is now the correct one, which hels as the Se...

The website is continuing to be improved and admittedly I have got carried away with uploading photographs.. The fence project at the entrance to the farm has almost been completed and it is looking fantastic - vast improvement. I have recently purchased an MOT failure old Land-Rover which I am quite excited about. Managed to get the engine working, pulled it out of someones field and mangaged to get back home. Many thanks to my buddy Rupert which seems to be more excited about the whole project than me. Yes it does need some attention such as clutch, brakes and floor pans but the main thing is that the engine works and its deisel. My intention is to use as a run about on the farm and save the unnecessary wear and tear on the transit van. IF it all goes well I am planning to purchase a winch and will help me get firewood from the remote places on the farm. Photograph of the Land- Rover is on the website. Today started with locating the horses which seemed to decide to break through the...