After days of getting greasy up to the elbows and rolling around on the damp ground underneath the seed drill, Tim finished his repairing and restoring job and the seed drill was ready to be pulled into the field. Meanwhile, I had been working with the horses as a team, getting them used to the pole between them, trying them out on the much smaller and lighter potato digger - so we were all more or less prepared for the big moment!
For the special occasion, the sky cleared and the sun shone - for the first time in weeks - which made verything so much more pleasant.
But oh dear, the seed drill is pretty wide, and our gateways are only just big enough for it to fit through, with half a foot spare room on each side. However, after some manouvering we ended up all in one piece in the field. The horses pulled the drill no problem, even with the coulters in the ground, they managed the tight turns at the end of the field with no difficulty, and if the sun hadn't set by then we would have been ready to put the seed in....we should have, because it is raining again now, and the field transformed back from temporary just about manageable dampness to slippery lumpy mud.
We really hope for a drier spell in the next week or so, otherwise it'll get too late to plant the seed altogether, which would be a shame after all these preparations! Anyhow, we'll see...