Across the countryside there are fields of wheat and spring barley which need combining. Farmers are desperate to get on with the harvest, but the damp weather has made it almost impossible. Grain should be 15 per cent moisture or less, to safely store in our barns or sell directly off the farm.
Each week we were promised a ‘few’ dry days, but August has not given many dry days to enable us to start up the combines. We are hoping this week will allow us to get the job done.
The one crop which keeps giving this summer, is grass. The cattle can barely keep up with it, and we are mowing the lawns almost daily to keep the gardens looking neat and tidy for weddings and events.
It is easy to ignore the fact that grass is the most plentiful and important crop which livestock farmers grow. Out of the UK’s actively managed land, not including rough grazing, 41 per cent is grass. Vital for both grazing and winter feed.
The past eighteen months have shown as we shielded from Covid 19, that it matters little, apart from essential services which covers everything ‘hands on’, from where we communicate.
We all know those who have decided to run their businesses through modern technology. Zoom and Teams meetings have been held from home offices, kitchens, gardens, holiday villas, and even cars when on the move, as a passenger of course!
I am certain this is the same for politicians as well as the rest of us, which is why I fail to understand the condemnation of government ministers for not sprinting back to Westminster to communicate with foreign counterparts or colleagues. It is not from where you communicate, it is about being available and being well briefed.
The media and malcontents are eager to find fault. I suggest they check their facts before undermining the genuine efforts of the Prime Minister and his ministers to save people’s lives and tidy up the mess created originally by Tony Blair, and currently by Joe Biden’s cack-handed troop withdrawal.
The passion shown by ex-servicemen MPs during the Afghanistan debate last week was palpable. They all spoke movingly of their experiences during their tours, and the bond they formed with their Afghan colleagues and counterparts, whom they worked alongside, and of course their fellow officers and men. Some sadly never made it home, others badly broken or traumatised.
The link between Afghanistan and GB is indeed a very ‘special relationship’, as Sandy Gall has made clear for decades.
I have heard Johnny Mercer, and Hurstpierpoint resident Major Colin Richardson MBE, speak with genuine affection for the Afghan people. It is clear the British forces returned again and again, not reluctantly but because they wanted to both protect and train these brave people.
Colin has set up a Justgiving Crowdfunding page to raise money for Afghan service Families. https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/afghanservicefamiliesuk?utm_id=2&utm_term=DDGWGP4RG
He said, “I felt compelled to act. The decision to leave Afghanistan is both appalling and misjudged but the decision has been made and there is little that can be done now other than to help, where possible. Most families arriving in our country have nothing more than the clothes they left in”.
“I and others have gathered clothes, toiletries, toys and essentials, making our first drop to a Manchester hotel where over 170 Afghan people are in quarantine”.
“These people stood by us at great personal risk and cost, and now we must stand by them and help them in any way we can.”
Dave from the Park Inn, Manchester sent the following message to Colin: “Your donations are gratefully received and being put to good use. Things like colouring books and crayons, socks and underwear would also be useful. Your support is helping to cloth so many – thank you.”
Each week we were promised a ‘few’ dry days, but August has not given many dry days to enable us to start up the combines. We are hoping this week will allow us to get the job done.
The one crop which keeps giving this summer, is grass. The cattle can barely keep up with it, and we are mowing the lawns almost daily to keep the gardens looking neat and tidy for weddings and events.
It is easy to ignore the fact that grass is the most plentiful and important crop which livestock farmers grow. Out of the UK’s actively managed land, not including rough grazing, 41 per cent is grass. Vital for both grazing and winter feed.
The past eighteen months have shown as we shielded from Covid 19, that it matters little, apart from essential services which covers everything ‘hands on’, from where we communicate.
We all know those who have decided to run their businesses through modern technology. Zoom and Teams meetings have been held from home offices, kitchens, gardens, holiday villas, and even cars when on the move, as a passenger of course!
I am certain this is the same for politicians as well as the rest of us, which is why I fail to understand the condemnation of government ministers for not sprinting back to Westminster to communicate with foreign counterparts or colleagues. It is not from where you communicate, it is about being available and being well briefed.
The media and malcontents are eager to find fault. I suggest they check their facts before undermining the genuine efforts of the Prime Minister and his ministers to save people’s lives and tidy up the mess created originally by Tony Blair, and currently by Joe Biden’s cack-handed troop withdrawal.
The passion shown by ex-servicemen MPs during the Afghanistan debate last week was palpable. They all spoke movingly of their experiences during their tours, and the bond they formed with their Afghan colleagues and counterparts, whom they worked alongside, and of course their fellow officers and men. Some sadly never made it home, others badly broken or traumatised.
The link between Afghanistan and GB is indeed a very ‘special relationship’, as Sandy Gall has made clear for decades.
I have heard Johnny Mercer, and Hurstpierpoint resident Major Colin Richardson MBE, speak with genuine affection for the Afghan people. It is clear the British forces returned again and again, not reluctantly but because they wanted to both protect and train these brave people.
Colin has set up a Justgiving Crowdfunding page to raise money for Afghan service Families. https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/afghanservicefamiliesuk?utm_id=2&utm_term=DDGWGP4RG
He said, “I felt compelled to act. The decision to leave Afghanistan is both appalling and misjudged but the decision has been made and there is little that can be done now other than to help, where possible. Most families arriving in our country have nothing more than the clothes they left in”.
“I and others have gathered clothes, toiletries, toys and essentials, making our first drop to a Manchester hotel where over 170 Afghan people are in quarantine”.
“These people stood by us at great personal risk and cost, and now we must stand by them and help them in any way we can.”
Dave from the Park Inn, Manchester sent the following message to Colin: “Your donations are gratefully received and being put to good use. Things like colouring books and crayons, socks and underwear would also be useful. Your support is helping to cloth so many – thank you.”
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