The heart of the country..

The much awaited rain mentioned in my last blog might have thrilled the piggies but it did nothing but dampen the hearts of other groups of country folk.

"Fair suicidal!" commented our local gamekeeper when - having bumped into him whilst walking the dogs - I enquired how he was.

Seems the rain coincided with him putting out the young pheasants and had so far prevented him putting out the young partridges ... "...and only 5 weeks to go till the Season starts..." he added grimly before continuing on his way.

The farmers were equally grim. No sooner had they started the harvest than the heavens opened leaving machinery stranded whilst crops grew dank and grey. In some cases, the grain became so damp that it started to sprout green shoots..... On our visit to Gavin and Stacey we saw wheat standing in water - "Like rice in a paddy field" commented The Big Boss.

And then there was the Local MFH who, when I enquired about Hounds last week said he'd had them fit and ready to go three weeks earlier but the rain had scuppered his plans to start Autumn Hunting. "We've got to wait for the crops to be in" he said, adding that he'd be out as soon as he had the smallest bit of Country for them to hunt.

Well, it all came good again 10 days ago. High pressure came to stay; the winds blew and suddenly machinery was all over the fields like flies on dung....... from late morning till well into the night their drivers hardly drew breath. Wherever one went, the heart of the country was beating with the rhythm of an Elite Performer: pounding relentlessly until not a single shoot remained standing.

And today the rain has returned.: but most of the farmers are laughing.

Harvest is done: yields have proved exceptionally high: disasters across the globe mean prices are nicely up (for the farmers, that is) and there's just the remainder of the ploughing, drilling and hedging to be done before the tractors and trailers, harvesters and other paraphenalia can be put away till next year. Even the MFH got his way. The weekend after our chat I happened to drive past the Kennels in the early morning mist and saw the yard full of trailers and lorries - a sure sign that Autumn Hunting had begun..... and with it the slow slide into Autumn.............................. Season of mists...................... and long-awaited winter activities......