Broome Park Farm, Farmhouse Bed & Breakfast Accommodation Cleobury Mortimer, Shropshire

This is a photo of the clutter on my kitchen windowsill - I thought it was full of the promise of spring - new growth, primroses and an Easter chick!

Yesterday afternoon I trimmed and tied in all the summer fruiting raspberry canes, hopefully ready for a bumper crop again this year. Once the ground dries out a bit more I am ready to plant onions and shallots; maybe some garlic but it is really too late. I am also starting a new strawberry bed - the plants get tired after about 4 years (and my old patch was over-run with couch grass).

The pigs are growing well and will probably be ready by Easter, lots of lovely sausages!

At the weekend I racked off some of the cider into demijohns. This involved siphoning off the clear liquid to clean demijohns, leaving the sediment behind. The resulting brew is quite dry so I added more sugar, dissolved in a little water. The jars are then fitted with an airlock to keep out contamination and allow the cider to ferment further.

Homemade cider is an acquired taste, not at all like commercially bought cider, which is sweeter and fizzier than the real item! I intend to mull some soon to see how that tastes!

Today we have had another snow day - yippee! I have spent the morning baking - sponge cake, coffee buns and my current favourite - lemon and raisin bars. I then tried out a new recipe for sweet potato soup - something I have never cooked with before - very tasty, served with beer and cheese scones - yummy!

After a rest we have been enjoying the snow - the photo shows the results of our efforts - he is quite intimidating at over 7 feet tall - I am (weather permitting) expecting guests tomorrow and hope he doesn’t scare them off!

What a difference a day makes! Like everywhere else we have had snow, although not as much as some years. However we have all benefitted from a couple of snow days! I have been able to catch up on lots of paperwork whilst the children have enjoyed sledging, snowball fights and making a very sorry looking snowman.

John has been the only one working - the animals still all need feeding and it is harder to get around as the lanes are icy and snowy. He has spent the morning making a shelter in the field for the lambs to protect them from the cold.

Some of the early lambs, born at Curdale - the hub of the farm - during January, have been put out to grass in the fields opposite our drive. I always think it is one of the first signs of Spring - like the snowdrops that are popping up around the garden - when there are lambs in the fields.

Unfortunately with the cold weather forecast over the next few days it is certainly not spring weather and the lambs will welcome the comforting warmth of their mothers as they shelter from the wind and snow.