The sugar beet campaign started back in September, but the farm has only just started to lift the first lot of beet from the fields.

When Miss Whizzlong and I first moved to the farm nearly 37 years ago, these clamps would represent almost a month's work. Now it's just 2 days.

I managed at last to corner Sparks and press him into wiring up the control box and switches for the bead roller. It has forward and reverse, variable speed and is started and stopped by the foot pedal. You wouldn't want to get your tie trapped in the rollers as the torque of the motor is huge. I'll have to gear it up a bit by reducing the size of the larger sprocket as slow is too slow and fast needs to be a bit faster.

Just messing about with a piece of scrap drew my attention to the fact that the rollers themselves need dressing - the edges are leaving a score mark which might well contribute to the panel's failure when turning over wired edges.

I got around to producing the first of the stainless steel 'T' pieces to replace the rubbish castings - 6 months after fitting, holes began to appear. Chumley produced the stepped flanges and, rather worryingly, not satisfied with the usual exchange of Norfolk sausages, he's upped his game to fillet steak. Still, he treats me well, so why shouldn't I return the compliment.

The Morris Six block with the 9" crack in the water jacket is now on the bench - courtesy of my block and tackle - and I've started to prep the top of the block whilst waiting for the silicon bronze filler rods to turn up. Digging out some of the previously attempted repair revealed two more hairline cracks. Fortunately, these hadn't radiated in the direction of the bores. I've watched a couple of YouTube segments on the method and I'm confident that I can effect a repair. It may not be as pretty as the expert's work, but by the time the surface grinder has run over the top, it will look fine. The long crack along the side of the block, the next stage in the repair schedule, can be blended in by hand.

The Great Collector's stable has been extended by the addition of this very pretty Chummy. The engine sounds as sweet as a nut and, so far, no snags have been detected.

Replacing the nosecone on the 'Military' 7 was a bit of a game and the usual suspects - stripped threads in the crankcase; butchery of the distributor clamp and evidence of lash-ups in other departments, contributed to our frustrations. A brass insert for one of the threads which had been drilled out oversize, reinstated the correct size bolt.

And with it all back together again, a flat battery prevented our seeing if, for once, we didn't get the timing 180° out.

The Riley RME new front subframe is now in production following Mr Slightly-Strange's excellent efforts.

The view from my kitchen window, it beats city living.