Wednesday 27 March 2013

Cheer up!





This sort of weather tends to bring on a fit of misery at this time of the year.   Good Friday on Friday - the time of Easter eggs and daffodils - and what have we here in the Yorkshire Dales?   We have snow - still deep in places and the odd thing is that in some directions the snow disappears after a couple of miles, so we must be on the extreme edge of things.

It is definitely the time for staying indoors and sitting by the stove - or maybe it is just that my blood is getting a bit thin.   Baking a fruit cake this afternoon warmed the house up and left a delicious smell everywhere.   Another one to bake in the morning, so it will be the same tomorrow.

This afternoon we went down to our Feed Merchant to stock up on Hen Food, Dog and Cat Food and Wild Bird Food.  Within a couple of miles of the farm the snow petered out, but down our lane, as you will see in the photographs, there is still a lot.   And it has been snowing lightly all day, but the roads are dry and clear.

One of the photographs shows East Witton village Green - a very large one which dates back to the days when the Lord of the Manor assembled his fighting men (and counted them) and another shows the approach to the horse racing town of Middleham.   On Good Friday every year Middleham racing stables (I think there are something like 17 in the town) are open to the public and usually thousands turn out to look round - all in aid of charity.  I don't expect the snow will put them off - some years it has poured with rain and there has been no difference.

I took a quick snap as we passed of a field where the snow has really shown up the old rig and furrow method of farming in the Middle Ages; we have many fields like this round us but the snow does make it easier to see what;s what.

Finally our yard   and the cow shed door - there the snow still lies heavy and blows in each night although the farmer clears it in the morning with his tractor.

There will be an end to this awful weather I know, but for me it can't come soon enough.I have just watched the news on TV which
showed farmers in the Isle of Man digging sheep out of snow drifts.
The poor sheep looked absolutely exhausted but were being taken to a warm hay barn - so let's hope many of them survived.   As one farmer's wife pointed out, it is their livelihood which has gone.

11 comments:

MorningAJ said...

We're off up to Scotland in a couple of weeks on holiday but the forecast is that it might still be snowing, even then! This year deserves to be better, given the way the weather's been for the last two summers. Oh well. I bought a new jumper in Tesco this morning, and I plan to have a look online for a new fleece jacket. That'll make the sun shine!

John Going Gently said...

I saw Ralph the gentleman farmer yesterday and he said a chap who farms with him has lost a lot of ewes and lambs..
Dreadful ..I can appreciate just how it happens. My two just sat down as the drifts formed around them

Mary said...

I'm really saddened to hear of the ewes and new lambs struggling to survive all that snow. Easter will be gloomy from looks of it...........hope the sun shines soon and your neighboring villages take on a more cheery look.

The fruit cake sounds good - I love that baking aroma in the house!
Hang in there Pat, and stay warm - Mary

Acornmoon said...

Good fro you for being so cheerful, it must be heartbreaking for farmers, especially at lambing time.

Em Parkinson said...

That one of the snow filled furrows is beautiful. Glad you're just about keeping warm!

George said...

It looks very cold, Pat. Let us hope that spring is just around the corner for both of us!

Heather said...

The pictures of conditions in Northern Ireland really shocked me - I didn't know we could get that much snow in the British Isles, and farmers on the Isle of Aran had to enlist the help of the RAF to ferry supplies in and feed their stock. There seems to be no end to the hardships some farmers face. It's been trying to snow here but only very powdery stuff and not settling thank goodness. Home made cake and a pot of tea by the stove is the best antidote for too much winter!

jill said...

Hope all the little lambs are safe, poor little things coming into the world in this weather.We still haven't had the snow you have just sprinklings each day.Take care and have a good easter Pat,love Jill xx

Golden West said...

Happy Easter, Weaver - I'm hoping Spring is on its way to you!

The Weaver of Grass said...

Thanks for dropping by. There has been slightly more sunshine today although the temperature is only 1.5C
and it keeps clouding over. But some of the snow has disappeared.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Thanks for dropping by. There has been slightly more sunshine today although the temperature is only 1.5C
and it keeps clouding over. But some of the snow has disappeared.