Swimathon Success

On Sunday the 25th March I woke with butterflies, but looking forward to the challenge of my big swim. 6 weeks of training; in the pool, rowing, running and weights culminating in a 5km swim for Marie Curie. After a big bowl of porridge Oats (home-grown) I headed off to Gloucester Leisure Centre. After signing in the gun went just after 12 noon when over 20 people set off in tandem. I was in a lane with 4 other people, of different abilities and distance challenges which made it interesting at times!

After 1 hour and 50 minutes I finally reached the end of my swim, shoulders aching but very satisfied. Shoulders were really sore for the next day but the cause was worth it. The total raised should be over £1,400!

A really big thank you to all the support and generous sponsorship donations I have received.

I will soon be looking out for the next challenge so and ideas please forward them!

Oh Dear!

Whilst driving across a field, destined for salad onions, my faithful Ford Ranger, had that sinking feeling much to my annoyance and of course embarrassment! Derek had to come down and pull me out! We knew the field would be wet and this was all the confirmation we needed.

Cultivations are still on hold at the moment as there are wet areas in the fields that we need to drill (plant) with Spring Malting Barley. Spraying herbicides and putting fertiliser on the wheat crops is continuing well where autumns sown crops were planted.

The second ewe flock is due to start lambing next week and will be in full flow by the time our 'Farm Open Day' arrives on the 15th April. We managed to get a good article about it in the Evesham Journal, although the phone number left off an extra 1, and we should have some more advertising in the Vale Magazine due out on the 30th March.

Swimming is progressing very well at the moment, a hard week training this week, aiming for 2 3 replications of 4km, before an easier week next week before the big day on the 25th March.

Swimathon Update

About halfway through my training, if you can call it that. Fitting an hour in the pool here and there, managing about 100 lengths. It nearly kills me but I think I'm getting there. I have also decided to try and increase my cardivo-vascular abilities. Sounds impressive I know and not knowing how to go about it I joined the local gym. Rivers gym has two locations, one in Pershore and one in Evesham, both within striking distance. I have never been in a gym before and to the untrained eye it is more than a little humorous! Each victim, (myself now included) assumes his or her position on an electrical gadget before plugging themselves in via an ipod dock or a heart monitor, sets up how much pain they can handle and presses go! After what seems like a lifetime of pain, half a litre of sweat and the deafening tones of hardcore dance music, the machine slows up and starts it's 'cool down' phase. In my case this allows blood to re-invade my legs giving me an assumed drug induced dullness, maybe I am overdoing it? All around the room people are plugged in, looking in mirrors and 'pumping iron'. It site would be akin to a series of Big Brother filmed in a hamster cage!

A big thank you to all the people who have sponsored me, the total in approaching £500 now, so we're on the way. Don't forget the Farm Lambing Day which is on Sunday 15th April this year!!

Cream Crackers

I arrived at the yard this morning having followed a Frontier lorry along Crashmore lane, only to find a further 2 lorries waiting in the yard, to be loaded with wheat and beans. Graham will have loaded over 400 tonnes of farm produce this week alone, mainly wheat. Frontier Ag http://www.frontierag..co.uk has bought 348tonnes of grain in this contract.

The wheat is a variety called Claire, and is heading to a company called ADM (Archer Daniel Midland) based in Liverpool. The wheat will be cleaned, ground and the flour produced used to make biscuits. The flour will end up in a whole range of products from Jacobs Cream Crackers to Yorkshire pudding mixes. So next time you are tucking into the Sunday roast beef the Yorkshire's might have originated on the summit of Bredon Hill!

New Arrivals

Born yesterday at Park Farm Overbury were the first lambs of the season. Triplets from a mule (Swaledale cross Blue faced Leicester)ewe to a Texel sire. The females will be retained and will move into our breeding flock whereas the males will enter the food chain in about 3 months. These guys will stay in at the farm for couple of days so that they can build up strength and make sure mum can provide all of the colostrum and milk required to ward off the cold nights ahead. We like to turn them out into the fields as soon as possible after the lambs are born where disease levels are much less, although close watching of the weather forecasts will determine exactly when that is, at this time of the year.

First try out in the pool at the weekend after some physiotherapy on a dodgy shoulder, no side effects yet! I need to be swimming 3 times a week. Week one the target is 2.9km each time, seems a bit excessive as I have to swim 5km in total. Still I suppose this chap Duncan Goodhew should know what he's on about!

Swimathon 2007

Right here we go, the challenge I have decided to undertake is to swim for charity! The target is to raise valuable funds for Marie Curie, who nurse terminally ill cancer patients at home. The financial target is to raise £1,000 although I will reserve the right to up the target as donations flood in! The physical challenge is to swim 5km at Gloucester Leisure Centre on the 25th March in a 3 hour period. Training will begin in earnest on the 1st February when alcohol consumption will cease, perhaps the hardest challenge? You can read more about the national challenge on http://www.swimathon.org/

If you feel the need to help me raise these funds you can do so on-line, (just click on the above) or if you are passing the office then do call in where there is a sponsorship form! Thank you in advance.

On a different tack another date for your diary, the 15th APRIL, is our next lambing day! It was a great success last year so book early as places will be reserved on a first come basis!

Getting Your Oats!

The first load of naked Oats was dispatched today from the grainstore bound for 'Morning Foods' in Crewe. The lorry arrived whilst we were loading sugar beet and so a short wait was required. As it was the first load from the bulk store Graham had to open the store with the auger to take the pressure of the crop off before the doors could be opened to allow the JCB access. This load will have taken an hour to load although when we're in full swing it should only take about 25 minuets to load a 30 tonne lorry.