Maggie took a quick look behind her. ‘Stop grinning. You’ll get flies in your teeth or worse still a wasp.’ I hadn’t realised I was grinning until she said but how could I not? This was completely brilliant – the wind hitting me in the face, the smell of grass filling my nostrils and all the time I was bouncing about on the back of a quad bike.

She stopped and pointed up to the left. ‘That woodland marks the boundary. It supplies all my wood for my wood burner and I plant new trees every year. The bloody muntjacs nibble them but more survive than don’t.’

‘You’ve got deer?’

‘Not mine. They just pop in to eat stuff. It’s like a deer buffet up there. Lots of rabbits too. Do you like rabbit?’

‘Yeah, they’re cute. I guess.’

Maggie laughed. ‘Not to cuddle. To eat.’

‘Dunno, never had it.’ I wasn’t squeamish but I wasn’t sure about eating rabbits. They were a bit too close to pets but I didn’t want Maggie to think I was a wimp.

‘Right. Hold on.’

Thankfully I hadn’t let go because she set off again. This time taking a sharp right and skittering us down the field at a serious angle. It was terrifying and awesome in equal measure. ‘Woo hoo!’ I yelled as we hit a bump and the wheels left the grass. I couldn’t help it. At the bottom was a rickety-looking fence and Maggie shouted that it marked the edge of her land. There were more fields on the other side. We bounced further along and I could see the sheep – some white and others sort of greyish in colour. They paused with mouths full of grass to watch us dismount.

‘I’ll move them down to the bottom field soon and they can give that one a trim.’ She marched off and I had to lengthen my stride to catch her. ‘Here’s the ewes I’m hoping are going to lamb soon,’ she said, pointing. She took the bucket from the handlebar of the quad bike and slipped into the field. The fat sheep ran over to her and hoovered up the contents as she was tipping it into a trough.

Nearby was what Maggie introduced as her vegetable patch but as it was about the size of a football pitch it was more like a whole allotment. She rattled off what was planted there but I kind of zoned out after carrots and potatoes.

Next were the chickens. I wasn’t sure about these. Maggie invited me to join her in their enclosure and I did but they all flocked around my ankles and a couple had a good peck at the wellies. I could feel it through the rubber and was glad I wasn’t wearing my pumps.

‘Do you eat eggs?’

‘Yeah.’ We bought them when we were having a fry-up.