My parents were away at the Great Yorkshire Show last week, which meant I was solo looking after the farm.
Usually, our stock conspire and wait until it is just me here before deciding to die, calve or escape.
Thankfully, they were relatively kind to me this time.
One of our Simmental cows produced one of the easiest calvings I have ever seen, giving birth to a healthy heifer calf, even if it was at 4am on Wednesday.
There were no complications; the calf was quickly up and sucking, and within a day they were both back out in the field.
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Penrith Show
This weekend was also Penrith Show, our local agricultural show and one my family always looks forward to.
Mum was exhibiting one of our Beef Shorthorn cow and calf outfits, and took first place in the native breeds class.
Her success, however, left me showing the family's Suffolk sheep, where promises that they would be quiet and easy to handle once again proved completely unfounded.
Within the first class with our ram lamb, I was dripping with sweat, aching and regretting my short-sighted decision to go to the gym the day before.
Thankfully, with the help of the very capable Jodie Bowman, we managed to have a really good day and took home the breed champion rosette with our ewe despite some strong competition.
In the interbreed championship, however, we were beaten by a tremendous Beltex exhibit from the Aiken family.
Watching experienced stockmen and women on Saturday, including Katie Aiken turn out livestock, reminded me that there really are levels to this game.
No matter how long you have been involved in farming, there is always something new to learn and someone worth learning from.
It was reassuring, though, to hear Katie telling her gimmer to 'pack it in' when it was misbehaving during the judging.
Some things never change.
Want to get into farming?
If somebody asked me where they should go to learn about farming, my answer would still be their local agricultural show.
They are some of the best adverts our industry has.
And I genuinely believe, alongside auction marts, offer the quickest ways to finding out how welcoming the farming community is.
If you would like to hear more from Katie Aiken and her father Jeff, you can listen to a recent episode of For Flock's Sake, Farmers Guardian's dedicated young farmer podcast
