Tuesday 19 August 2014

A General Farming Day in the Countryside.

I have just walked with Tess and all around me were the sounds of farm machinery.   Autumn is on us whether we are ready for it or not.   Last night there was such a low temperature that some areas had a frost and some areas of Scotland are even forecast to have a covering of snow at the week-end.   The Times says we may get an 'Indian Summer' but there is certainly no sign of it at present.    So things have to be speeded up.

The forecast is for sunshine and showers - the showers being very picky where they choose to fall.   Yesterday, returning from the hospital, we came through areas where the roads were swimming in water and then, a hundred yards further on, an area where the road was completely dry.   And so it is today too.

With this in mind the farmer has chosen to cut half of his second-crop silage grass this morning.   There is a good crop on the fields and I have just walked down between the rows with Tess, looking in the hedgerow for blackberries.   I like to leave some of them for the birds, but just a few to add to a couple of cooking apples makes such a nice sweet.   Now we hope for a couple of days when the showers miss here and the grass dries up nicely so that it can be baled.

In the hedgerow the hawthorn berries are red and already the birds are eating them.    I wish they wouldn't because this is really their Winter food and at the rate they are eating those berries they will all be gone when the harsh weather comes.

Saturday is our Wensleydale Show - in the fields at the top of the Lane - and today they have begun to erect the large marquees.   There are a lot to put up - one for the cattle on show,  others for handicrafts,baking, produce, exhibitors, poultry - such a lot of things.   And then there will be all the Trade Stands.   As this is the one hundredth Show it will ne a very special one.   I wish I was mobile enough to walk round it with the farmer, but sadly I just cramp his style and he has been enjoying the Show for the last sixty years or so, so I now insist that he goes on his own.  I will see if I can persuade him to take the camera so that my readers can get a taste of things.

New electric blankets have been ordered for all beds this morning - that is a sign that things are cooling down.   Until they come it is a case of snuggling up and keeping warm.   Enjoy your day wherever you are.

17 comments:

donna baker said...

Your weather sounds wonderful. It will be 100 degrees where I live today and the rest of the week with no rain in sight. Have the sprinklers running this morning.

Heather said...

It's even a bit nippy down here today and I am glad to be wearing a cardigan. It would be nice to have an Indian summer - I hope The Times is right.
What a shame you can't manage the Wensleydale Show. I don't think I could either and I avoid events at the NEC in Birmingham and the big textile events in London on account of my legs and feet. Luckily others blog about them so I get tasters of everything.
I too am hoping to get some more blackberries, there are still plenty to come.

Willow said...

The girls in your header are looking happy and healthy :)
So sorry to hear you won't be attending the Fair.
A little crispness in the air mornings here now too, and I have to admit I enjoy it, by afternoons now it is a nice dry high seventies much more enjoyable than the humid high 80's we were experiencing.

Joanne Noragon said...

A strange year. We are well into September weather, and it's still August.

thelma said...

Yes the weather has turned somewhat abruptly and cardigans are required. I expect walking round the show will be exhausting, best you don't go, my brain gets addled when there is too much to see;)

Maureen @ Josephina Ballerina said...

Guess one of those three wheeled scooters is not something you would care to use for getting around things like the show?
Glad you mentioned about the apples and berries. I have two apples that I want to pan fry in a little "buttery spread" tonight. Have some berries. Will add them. Sounds good.
Gee, summers are sure brief by you. I always forget how much more north you are than my mid-Atlantic east coast home.
:) m & jb

angryparsnip said...

Frost, snow ?
Well I guess it is getting fall like here in Tucson. The weather is also cooling down, only in the high 90's
all this week !

cheers, parsnip

Gwil W said...

There is an autumnal feel to the mornings but I've not given up yet, I'm hoping for a comeback of summer!

Terry and Linda said...

I saw that snow was forecast for Scotland and thought NO!!!! It is AUGUST! Not October!!!

I'm glad your husband's problem is easy to fix. Hard to live with, but fixable!

I'm so not ready for winter. NOT!

Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com

Cloudia said...

Thank you for nourishing the soul with your fine report of seasons changing guard.



ALOHA from Honolulu
ComfortSpiral
=^..^= . <3 . >< } } (°>

susie @ persimmon moon cottage said...

Reading about the oncoming Fall weather in your area made me start looking forward to the cooler weather here. We will have to wait for a while, here in Missouri. The forecast is for 99 degrees this weekend.

My David Austin Christopher Marlowe rose is full of rosebuds. I hope they will go ahead and bloom for at least a day before they cook in the heat.

Arija said...

Looks like it is the same weather story in our part of the world also. Spring has arrived earlyalthough we may still get frosts until the end of October, the soil in the garden is already drying out.Your Indian summer may come in Sept.-Oct. after some cold weather now.Glad the farmer is getting the second cut in just to make sure.
The colour of those blackberries is certainly speaking of very cold nights.
I give thanks to God every night for my lekkie blankie as I climb into my nice warm and securely dry bed.
Enjoy yours when they come.

Pondside said...

It will be fun to look at photos of the Wensleydale show. I hope your Farmer takes the camera!
The blackberries are ripening here, but it is still possible to be fooled and to pop a sour one into one's mouth!

Cro Magnon said...

My figs are just beginning to ripen, and the birds have noticed! Did you know that the word 'aftermath' refers to the second cutting of hay?

Hildred said...

I quite understand skipping the Wensleydale Show, - it is something I really regret these days, - not being able to be mobile for any decent length of time. I do have Charles' cart but am a wiss about taking it out in traffic!!

The weather stays warm here, but I think the extreme heat is gone for the summer and we are in the lower 30's C. most days.

JoAnn ( Scene Through My Eyes) said...

We are beginning to see our autumn pattern rains here on the coast of Washington. A few days of rain - a few of clouds and then a few of sunshine. I still have 12 kitchen cabinet doors to give one more coat on the front - so I'm hoping for those few days of sunshine before long. It is cloudy and cool today so I bake two loaves of bread and a batch of thin and crispy oatmeal cookies - must be autumn creeping up.

Our blackberries are ripening and there are so many and the bushes so tall that the birds will have more than they could possibly want, even if we pick all we can reach - I want to make some peach/blackberry jelly this year - later when the weather is consistently cooler.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Weatehr is still holding but it is cool in the morning and at night and rain is forecast for tomorrow.

Thanks for calling. Some nice sounding food in your replies.