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I find myself writing my final In Your Field article. There is a lot of change on the horizon for 2021 in farming and in my own life and, although I will miss the writing, it is time for someone new to stretch their grey matter after a Christmas to remember, if possibly not for the right reasons.

The period between Christmas and New Year has always been a time of reflection for me. I am sure that I won’t be alone in feeling that much I had hoped to achieve during 2020 was somewhat derailed.

I suppose it was always on the cards that I would end up being a tree hugger, especially being rather alternative in my youth. However, now the Government is encouraging us to be tree huggers I no longer feel such a rebel.

As 2020 draws to a close it is fairly natural to reflect on what the last year has dealt us; but that could get a bit complex.

There is great joy in our household as the twins are in the depths of mock exam revision and the pressure is on as the gaps in our home-schooling caused by lambing, calving and silage become apparent.

Each morning’s tense debate of whether my little one can consume the advent calendar chocolate before or after breakfast signifies both that Christmas is on its way and, in our case, that it’s turkey time.

I have very exciting news - we have labels and Tre-rhew Cider House is now open.

By the time you read this, we should all be emerging out of lockdown 2.0. Like all sequels, it was delayed in its release, had budget concerns and was not well received by the populace. Still, let’s be honest, it wasn’t as bad as Rocky V, was it?

In the week we learned a scotch egg constituted a ‘substantial’ meal and The Path to Sustainable Farming was published by Defra, we were catching up on a list of autumnal jobs on-farm.

With another month ticked off, we now find ourselves on the countdown to Christmas and following the latest amendments to the Covid-19 rules, the orders for the Christmas roasts for family meals on Christmas day and boxing day have started to come in.