There has been plenty of birthing activity recently. I reckon we have now seen 9 calves. All mothers and babies appear to be Ok, although they are fairly rapidly removed from the field and placed in the barn.

The most recent mother was No 84 at 4:15 this afternoon, and last Saturday the original limping cow also gave birth.

Last evening there was unusual bellowing coming from the hospital field. We went out into the garden in the dark and saw a midwife cow galloping past the fence and towards the source of the noise. At first light this morning the first calf of the season is visible under the trees by the river. It is amazing to see the calf walking unsteadily less than 12 hours after being born. Mother and baby appear to be doing fine. Later on, the mother cow rejoined the remaining herd leaving her calf snoozing in the grass. We are looking forward to more calves over the coming weeks.

The 'dirty dozen' have also been placed in the hospital field together with the existing heifers and the limping seniors. The first arrival must surely be imminent!

Another cow from the main herd has joined the occupants of the hospital field. Not sure exactly what her problem is. The other senior cow is still limping around with the bandaged hoof.

The still August evenings are perfect for bat watching and also for star gazing. Mars is spectacularly bright.

We have had another overseas visitor with us for the past couple of days. He flew into Heathrow on Sunday lunchtime, right around the time that the UK's hottest ever temperature was recorded there. We told him that this was normal weather for August!

Not much activity in the field at present, but elsewhere the harvest continues with a constant stream of grain lorries leaving for the mill and an ever-growing stack of round bales piling up behind the barn.

One of the heifers has a damaged hoof so is wearing a bandage and limping a little.

The herd has been divided and there are currently 20 heifers in the hospital field. They are on a special diet (mostly hay) as you don't want first-time mothers to get too large before they calve, as that makes the birth more difficult. The heifers are spending a lot of time in the shade down by the stream but they don't appear to be distressed by the heat. The dairyman is keeping a close eye on them and has taken them in to be checked over twice in the past 10 days.

Inside the house the cat is not coping with the hot weather. He is not moving around much in an effort to keep cool, although even when it is freezing he doesn't move around much anyway. He has taken to lying stretched out on the floor under the desk with his head between his front paws as he must be finding the bed too hot. I have offered him the couch downstairs but even though it is cooler down there, the poor kitty insists on hauling his furry frame back up the stairs and under the desk again.