Is it really mid September?

.
I know that that last week I wrote about Autumn starting after Kendal Show, but after a few days of wind and rain, we're back into a dry sunny spell. It's a bit cooler than it looks, but it's perfect for getting our third cut of silage. I thought there were just a couple of fields to big bale, but it turns out there's about 90 acres! As much as possible is going for clamp silage in the pits and the rest will be baled. We seem to have grass for ever more and are the only ones round here silaging at the moment. So we're well off of helpers. We've even had someone ring up to volunteer (though we reckon he just wants to look at our grass and wonder how it's so good with no chemical inputs). Lots of helpers mean lots of packed lunches (and suppers) so I had to dash to Booths this morning to stock up on buns, pies, meat, yogurts, crisps etc and I've had a production line going on the kitchen table.
.
It's not just the meadows that are doing well - the cows are still out day and night and producing more milk than ever before. We must be doing something right! I know that some farms are giving up their Organic status, but it works for us, for our stock and for the way we farm.
.
About this time of year we have a bit of a count up of the stock and check if it will all fit inside come winter. So last week we advertised a batch of milking and in-calf cows. Within a couple of days someone had been to see them and today 15 have gone off to a new home in Yorkshire. So tonight there will be less milk in the tank, though with more cows due soon, it will creep back up. It was getting very near the top and I was thinking I would have to make rice pudding every day to use up some milk.

And finally, having mentioned the weather - this is the result of strong winds and a rotten tree at Over Bleaze.