There’s only one show in town this past nine or ten days: wind. Tuesday, Saturday, Wednesday and now again Friday morning, storms have caused havoc throughout the locality. Sheds, slates and trees have come down in a scenario not unlike that seen in a film.

Wednesday was a throw back to a different age, no power, no landline and no mobile reception for almost 24 hours. If anything it gave an appreciation of what the conditions generations before us had to farm in, without these technologies which we take for granted.

The farmyard is 400 metres from the cliff top so it’s exposed to the southeast and is at the top of a valley open to the southwest, so there was no hiding place as gales tore through the area. The building to take the biggest hit was the worst possible one, the calving area.

Storm Darwin took one bay of round roof over the group pen and water is dripping into most of the calving boxes soaking floors. This has necessitated a slight change of plan with calves moving back to the main shed a little faster than I would like.

Given the circumstances I’m grateful that calving is still on a go slow. There are twelve calved at the moment with a split of three heifers to every bull calf. Knowing my luck if I was dairy farming, the ratio would be the other way around. Calves weigh in a range from 33 - 51 kg.

An ESB cable along the ground at the entrance to the yard where the young stock are means access by tractor to feed them is cross country. Thursday was spent patching and repairing as best we could with the help of some neighbours.

I can even feel some solidarity with the cattle as plenty slates came off my roof. The sittingroom floor from the window to the door is damp and rain that is battering the gable of the house at the moment is finding its way in the windows there. All we can do in situations like this is try to remain positive as unfortunately we have no control over it.

Here's the moment when the roof went off the calving area: