I do try, honest I do really try.

Since moving to RocK HQ I have learned of the importance of being organised, and I do try, really I do try.

The smallholder rules we have picked up along the way are a help but probably the most important lesson any smallholder can learn is to be organised. Simple tasks are kept that way by having the right tools for the job, which are always put back in the same place.

Time and time again I found myself walking from one end of the smallholding to the other to fetch a vital watchercallit necessary to complete the task in hand. Had I put the tools away I would have only had half the walk or set out with the right one in the first place. So far I have managed to train myself to always put them in the same shed, a massive step forward, next is to always put them in the same place in the same shed to cut out the fun half hour search that precedes most tasks to date.

Being organised would mean that jobs would get done in the right order, for example a barn emptied before the hay is gathered in, or a stable would be built before a horse is bought, or the trees felled that might damage the house before a stable is built exactly where they would be felled, or a felling licence obtained before the trees are felled and so on. The list is endless and each lesson learned means that we are better equipped to deal with whatever smallholding throws our way.

So today a friend from way back kept his threat to visit and popped over to Rock HQ to see what cards life has dealt us. It was good to catch up, we worked together years ago and were identified as potential high flyers, me carving out my niche in the job market with a particular type of high flying that involves crashing and burning from time to time, he moving on to pastures new without too much trauma. Both of us happy to have left the old firm way behind but still carrying the scars of the experience.

Even better, he was thinking of starting off as a smallholder, if all worked out he would be buying a nice place with a bit of ground. So he had the grand tour, saw the pigs, the garden, the buildings we put up, the ground we cleared, the progress made, he was impressed, particularly as when he knew me I was a gym rat into cars and model soldiers, where did this gardening and farming gig come from, did I fall into it or was it planned he asked.

I gave him the advice, hard earned, be organised, if you want to smallhold its hard work but ultimately worth it. Today I sat down to dinner and all but the salt, pepper, flour and butter were all our own produce, not bad for a three course dinner! He listened avidly, get things done when needed, I pointed to the two trees currently causing problems, much easier if they had been dealt with before the build project, now instead of felling them we have to take them down branch by branch. Planning, organisation is the key. He nodded and thanked me for my words of wisdom, he would bear what I said in mind when he sets up his own place and maybe I could go over and help him out from time to time. Love to. I waved goodbye as he set off down our bumpy track in his shiny 4x4.

I went into the cottage happy that I had perhaps help someone move one step closer to achieving the dream of self sufficiency.

The phone rang.

It was him.

"You're not going to believe this" he said excitedly "I've run out of diesel on your lane!"

Some how I don't think he's got off to the best start.