Markets mean a busy time.... (From Craven Herald)

Markets mean a busy time....

11:53am Thursday 1st December 2011 in From The Farm By Liz Hird

The days are getting shorter and shorter, in fact thinking about it, the shortest day is not so far away. Christmas is also just around the corner and never mind the daylight, at the moment there just don’t seem to be enough hours in the day to get everything done.

This week is putting us a bit under pressure as we have a special Christmas market at RAF Leeming and we are launching a few new Christmas products and foodie gifts, and as I write it is 4pm and we are still another couple of hours off setting off for home. So I hope Stuart will have the supper on!

If we have a good day, we will be starting again to cook and pack for the weekend as we are round to Stokesley and Skipton Farmers’ markets again, and as the latter coincides with the town’s Yuletide Festival, I expect it will be quite busy.

On the home front, everything seems to be going along smoothly. Lamb trade is good, but I just wish we had several hundred more to sell. The tups have been out with the ewes for several weeks and up to now it looks as though there are no problems.

Stuart caught his 50th mole yesterday, although there are still plenty out there that are outwitting him.

Billy Brock, the badger, was also out trundling across the green when we got home last night. The relatively mild weather will mean that he will still be able to get out to forage for food, and it seems cat food is a favourite because every night when I feed them they are warily eyeing the rest of the garden as if expecting an intruder.

The recent wind has been quite savage. Last weekend one or two markets were cancelled because it can be very dangerous if a gust of wind gets under the stall sheet.

We were at Kirkstall Abbey deli market last Saturday and Otley and Yarm on Sunday, and it was a bit disappointing because Christmas decorations, leaflets and samples were a no-no; it was just a case of lashing everything down as best we could.

At Kirkstall, a local choir sang carols while the not-so “frosty wind made moan”, it just blew rain everywhere. Santa Claus came round and gave all the stallholders a Christmas card... followed by one of his little elf helpers who we were not quite so pleased to see because he carried the rent book!

When David and I are at Leeming, Eddy will be at home ‘markin’t tup’ and Stuart is heading off to the store lamb sale at Skipton with a trailer load of lambs.

We will have plenty to talk about when we sit down to supper tomorrow night, but right now that seems a long way away!