Beating the Rain.

All the corn has been gathered in over a week ago but the wet weather has prevented the straw being collected. Today there was a brief respite in the weather so it was all stations go to get the straw baled.

The straw was turned to dry it and then roared up ready to bale.

Our young visitors enjoyed watching and playing on the bales.

Sky

Sky is my daughter's dog. She is a working collie and Kate has trained her (a learning curve for both of them). She was given to Kate as her payment for helping a neighbouring farmer with lambing. She is never happier than when near the animals.

Sky also helps to pen up the hens every night. She is ace at spotting hens who have not gone in to the henhouse and who would otherwise be at risk of being caught by the fox.

Butterfly

Part of the farm which is unsuitable for farming is run as a nature conservation area. The flowers and grass attract a lot of butterflies. A frequently seen one at this time of year is the Common Blue.

The Chick Story

The swallow chicks are now outside a lot of the time. It is not unusual to see them balancing on the wire outside my kitchen window. They prove to be quite a distraction as I am forever popping out to try and get a photo of them or just watch them.

They are not easy to photograph without bleaching out the blue sky behind.

I certainly don't need to worry about a photograph for Birds on a Wire for Rindas photography scavenger hunt! The days are beginning to get chillier even though it is mid August and the swallows collecting each day on the line is a reminder that Autumn won't be long.

However for now when night comes the swallow chicks still return for a cosy kip back in the nest.

Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt final photos

I have finally found all the photos for the scavenger hunt set by Rinda. It has been great fun and I am already looking forward to next year's. These are the final ones.

No.1 A Sign Welcoming you to your home town or village.

I have chosen a village near too us which like a lot of the villages locally had new stone signs from local stone made for the millennium.

Yes I know. It looks rather like a tombstone!

No. 2 A Garden Gnome

I visited a local garden centre in search of a garden gnome. I was just giving up hope when I spotted these little chaps hiding under a table!

Judging by the reduction in price nobody was too keen on Woodland Wilf!

I thought that was it until whilst drinking a coffee I peered out into my friend's garden to spy these two jolly little chaps.

Gnomes turn up in the most unexpected places! She didn't ask why I was photographing them!

No. 9 A Bakery

The subject I have chosen for this is a bakery but would have probably have been referred to as a Bakehouse. It is is part of the kitchens at a house we visited last week. Dyrham Park House like many large houses of it's time had a different room for different cooking activities. There is a dairy with the most beautiful delft tiles and a fountain to keep everything cool. The Bakehouse would have been the opposite, it must have been very hot. You can still see the original ovens which would have been heated by a fire.

The dough was mixed, kneaded and proved in the massive wooden box on the right which is rather like a coffin. What back breaking work!

Then there are some specimen loaves which I wouldn't recommend trying.

No.15 A Juggler

 As for the juggler. I have kept my eyes peeled for this one. I have walked out of my way looking for one. Where has the flame thrower gone from outside the Pump Room in Bath? I thought I had it the other day when the lad on the greengrocer store told me his mum is a juggler ( Why did he tell me that??) I asked if he could juggle some fruit for me but alas the skill had not been passed on! So I have had to cheat slightly. This is the idea of my friend's daughter (big Kate although she is smaller than my Kate). A picture in a book! Big Kate found one for me amongst the second hand books at Dyrham Park.

I have not given up all hope of a real one!

No. 13 A Sun Rise.
I am lucky that I can see the sun rising from my bedroom window so I was able to capture this without going too far at the crack of dawn!

Sheep shopping

Most girls head for Cabot Circus on a Saturday morning to do a bit of shopping. Our girls were off to Sedgemoor Market to buy some breeding ewes. Over the past 3 years the girls with their cousin have taken over the sheep flock. They now own most of them. They are responsible for all of their care. This year their other cousin has joined them as a sheep farmer too.

There were quite a lot of pens to choose from.

A little discussion on what to buy and bidding tactics was needed with advice from dad.

There was quite a range to chose from.

Then the serious bidding began.

Soon they were owners of 26 more ewes.

It was time to load up.

And head for home. The ewes were pretty eager to see their new field.

The family gathered to watch them!

The ewes were equally eager to meet the rest of the sheep.....

More Details of Bath Abbey

I took my mum to see part of the Quaker Tapestry which is currently on display at The Meeting House in Bath and Bath Abbey. I was interested to see this as both of my children have or do attend a Quaker school. A lot of their values have a place in many of our lives. The lighting on these amazingly intricate and vibrant tapestries made it very difficult to photograph them. I did manage to capture this one in the abbey.

The full set of tapestries depicting the extent of the Quaker story can be seen here

Whilst in the Abbey I snapped a few details.