From the farm at Yockenthwaite (From Craven Herald)

From the farm at Yockenthwaite

3:40pm Thursday 7th August 2008

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I didn't manage to get to the lavender to cut it before it rained. Since then I have only had one chance and on that occasion it was early evening and the midges were out in force on the look-out for supper! I was eaten into submission after about 10 minutes.

I can see from my office window that some of the flowers have now turned brown - so much of it will be spoiled because it is still raining.

The tension is growing there is still a lot of grass to cut and hay and silage to make and there is still no sign of settled weather.

Summer, if you can call it that, is already on the way out - you can feel it and smell it in the air, you see it in the land as the grass has taken on a brown tinge as the seed heads ripen and the bracken is turning yellowy- brown.

The worst bit is the waiting; not being able to get on with the job; getting behind (when we thought we were ahead) and all the time knowing that lamb sales are looming and there is no "fog" (hay silage aftermath) for the lambs to go into. They are all factors beyond our control, but that doesn't make it any better.

A summer holiday looks out of the question. If I am honest, it is not something I am used to. We never go - we have only been once in the past 20 years and the pressure to get everything done before we set off (last week in August) was almost unbearable. It was worth it, but three days before we were due to depart, standing out in the hayfield with hay at various stages, bales everywhere and several fields still to mow, I almost gave it up as a bad job. At least that year the sun did shine for us.

The housemartin chicks reared in the nest in the office window have flown - they have been a joy to watch, from the industrious nest building stage to the first sounds of young and then the tireless task of feeding a growing family; to and fro all day. Settled in at night, after dark, you can hear their burbling conversation as they no doubt discuss the day's activities in the warmth of their mud igloo.

Cats Tiddles and Chutney sat for hours on the windowsill watching and hoping, shinning up the sash window on the inside. It must have been quite frustrating being a mere whisker's length away from a tasty treat, but having a sheet of glass between. They now know better and watch from the office floor, twitching the very end of their tail in annoyance whenever a bird appears - not going to be made a fool of again it seems.

I have just prepared supper - a veritable feast of new potatoes, carrots, broad beans and leeks to accompany some of our own lamb which went in to roast several hours ago. All I now need to do is to pick some fresh mint out of the garden and make the gravy.

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