Anne-Marie Hamilton talks about life on the farm at Hail Weston

Hooray! At long last, the staff at Wood Farm are back up to the full complement after a disastrous nine-month gap.

Dottie arrived just over three weeks ago, and our home has not been the same since. Our whole life has been turned upside down. Most of the dining room furniture in the hall has been packed away, and the place resembles a playroom as more and more treasures are packed in.

Nothing is safe, and I even had to go out and purchase a new biro yesterday, as yet another one was stolen off my desk. ‘Kleptomania’ seems to be the name of the game, and without doubt, Dottie is a dab hand. Oh, did I mention that she is our new farm cat?

Like Hippo before her, Dottie is a stray from Birmingham, and arrived in mid-March, courtesy of our daughter-in-law, who is a vet. Apart from the fact that she appears to be about seven or eight months old and is a tabby cat, we do not have much information about her.

As we have got to know her, we have discovered that she has a sweet nature, and is not fazed by having to share her new home with a dog. She is also incredibly quick, and there is a constant question hanging in the air of, “Where’s the cat?”, as we try hard not to shut her in somewhere accidently.

Much to our surprise, Tommy, our terrier, seems to have taken a liking to her, and did not even bother to make a fuss when she stole his bed.

Dottie seems to have some excellent hunting instincts, if the treatment of her toy mouse is anything to go by. She is also happy to lie patiently for ages at the foot of the stairs, ready to pounce on the unwary, as they go by.

Regrettably, having run wild in the big city for some time, she is also food obsessed, so leaving anything out on the side in the kitchen, has rapidly had to become a thing of the past.

It won’t be too long now before Dottie finds her way round the farmyard, so any rats and mice had better enjoy themselves whilst they can, as I have a feeling that in the next couple of weeks, they are very likely to meet their match.