Thank you all so much - the poems had us all so touched by your kindness and thoughtfulness we were quite speechless. You will never know how much it means to my friends that people all over the world are thinking of them. It is a sad fact of life that news becomes old very quickly and even in this country the plight of farmers and animals alike is no longer the major news of the day. This makes those isolated feel ten times more alone.

We now have an astounding 139 cases confirmed, one that is just about to be confirmed by all accounts, and around 141 farms under suspicsion. It is spreading through cattle herds as well as sheep, this is bad news as it means the path of infection has been lost - it is loose and unpredictable and out of control.
The ministry of Agriculture are warning that the level of manpower is just not enough to cope with the slaughter and burning and a backlog is building - this is also a major reason the outbreak is spreading.

Badminton Horse Trials have now been cancelled (three day eventing).