November and December 1949 bring winter to Hiltonbury Farm, as fires are lit and life moves indoors.

Days are filled with sewing, cooking and preparing for Christmas, while outside the farm continues its steady work — threshing, tending livestock, and working through cold, wet weather.

There are dances, family gatherings, and small celebrations, alongside moments of worry and winter illness. As Christmas arrives, the house fills with warmth, laughter, and tradition.

Through my mother’s diaries, these final months of the year capture the comfort of home, the strength of community, and the quiet closing of 1949 on the farm.

Winter settles in — firelight, family, and the gentle close of a year.

A little about moving into the cold winter of 1949,when the frost gathers and the house grows dark slowly moving towards the end od a decade that has moved from war to a quiet resilience to build a farm and a family

The last of the harvest is gathered, threshing begins, and autumn slowly settles over the fields. There is good news with prize-winning crops and new calves on the farm, while the children begin their new school life.

As October arrives, warm days give way to storms and darker evenings. Yet life continues with dances, village gatherings, farm work, and even a memorable trip to London for the Dairy Show.

Through my mother’s diaries, these months capture a time of change — from summer’s warmth to the steady rhythm of autumn life on the farm.