Even though we managed to sneak off for 7 days in the sun to celebrate the end of our daughters exams the British summer (or not) seems to be whizzing by.

We were feeling slightly smug when we heard about the heavy rain when lying on our sunbeds, catching the rays but have attached a couple of photos to show the extent of the damage caused by the rain. Unfortunately I have just heard of some lives lost in Beaminster today and the bodies have only just been found entombed in mud under a landslide/bridge in Beaminster so our thoughts are with their family and friends.

Farmer Chris along with the rest of farmers across the country are waiting in vain to cut hay, barley etc  for this years winter feed but we need the ground to dry out which will take at least 4 days even before you can consider driving over with heavy machinery for cutting.

Three of our steers left for Waitrose last week and we were very pleased when one of the local chefs in Lyme Regis ordered ½ an animal from us. James Whetlor is chef at The Volunteer Inn in Lyme Regis and has been raving about the beef ever since. Again I will add some photos at the end of this blog from his restaurant.

Two little piggies are off to the abattoir tomorrow but rest assured those who know him, Heston is not one of them this week!

The chickens do not seem to be affected by the weather and are laying eggs like it is going out of fashion. They are loving our regular stream of visitors and are taking advantage of their good nature by begging for food and even entering the cottage and sitting on one guests lap!

The bed and breakfast is thankfully still busy despite the weather  and I am going to mention Matt and SJ who were here as part of their honeymoon and shared a bottle of champagne with us to celebrate. Matt is a geologist and showed us his collection of ammonoids which he found at the base of the cliffs at Charmouth. Again photos below. Barbara our bull terrier also took a liking to Matt and decided to be the gooseberry or maybe the pig in the middle is a better description!

Another photo I am going to add is of the Olympic torch and my daughter and her bosses at The Holmbush Cafe in Lyme Regis.  After the run up Cobb Road the team were in the cafe enjoying tea, cakes and pasties and so appreciated the hospitality that they brought the torch in for a photo opportunity.

I think that is all for now and fingers crossed for the jet stream to start moving North to bring us some sunshine (tan needs topping up!) and more importantly to give us some dry weather so we can make hay whilst the sun shines.

Susan the farmers wife.