Glorious Hard-working Summer Days, Hay Making, Sheep-shearing & Roses

After an incredibly busy couple of weeks things have calmed down and with the change in the weather everyone is pleased to have got their silage in during the heatwave...thank goodness for air-conditioned tractor cabs! The hot weather even enabled some farmers to make hay, something we have not done for some years as the long periods of dry weather needed have become so rare. The Farmer was called upon by some neighbours to make small bales for their horses. Again, making small bales is not something that we have done for a long while but the old baler (it is probably nearly 50 years old) was brought out of mothballs and worked perfectly.

Shearing the sheep is a job that is best done in warm sumnny weather as the lanolin in the fleeces is soft and the shears glide through the wool easily. Although we have only about 50 ewes the Farmer decided to do them them in two batches partly because it is a hard job and made more tiring by the heat so spreading the exertion needed seemed sensible. The ewes and lambs went back out to the fields considerably cooler and more comfortable than they had been.

While the long hot days were glorious I must admit I retreated into my cool stone farmhouse as I am not lizard enough to enjoy being out in the sun any more than I have to, so any work in the gardens tened to be done first thing in the morning. It is proving to be very good year for the roses. From our farm office I look out onto a marvellous display of the rambler Kiftsgate alongside which is growing the very old Rosa Mundi, the lovely striped rose. In the other parts of the garden I have the erotically named Cuisse de Nymphes which opens its buds in a maidenly blush of pale pink which then becomes a rich cream colour. Tangled through the garden hedge is the very old small purple moss rose Willy Lobb which I imagine was planted here possibly back in the 19th century and is still going strong with its small, rich, royal purple flowers which fade to a soft grey before dropping its petals in a shadowy confetti.