Merry Christmas from Iford

The crib scene at Iford this year was 'housed' in a gnarled piece of a yew tree's roots which had to be dug up this year.

Happy Christmas from everyone at Iford!

Cutting the oil seed rape

It is an exciting, but somewhat jittery, time for farmers as the harvest continues in the midst of some very "catchy" weather.  After all, harvest is the culmination of a whole year's work towards income which arrives only after the seed or grain is off the land.

We were very pleased that we managed to find a break in the showers for long enough to get the oil seed rape in from the fields.  Just the wheat crop to go now, but that harvests a bit later in the year, so farmers (and everyone else I should think!) will be hoping for some dry weeks through to mid-September.

Iford Land Agent Stephen Thompstone looks on, wistfully, in the evening light...

Congratulations to Ed McKeever

Finally managed to find time to make my pilgrimage to the Golden Postbox in Bradford-on-Avon in honour of Ed McKeever's brilliant gold medal in the Kayaking.  Well done Ed!!

(Unfortunately, we still don't have a central post office in Bradford, because it hasn't reopened yet after what feels like months and months.  Come on Royal Mail...)

MG Rally

Well, thank heavens for the nice weather arriving just in time for the arrival of the MG Owners Club at the weekend.  Some wonderful vehicles, and a great afternoon for a drive.

 

The Moth that came to tea

A Lime Hawk Moth came to tea this afternoon, arriving on the window sill of the tearoom serving counter and settling in for the afternoon. Warm and dry, and with cream teas and cakes available until 5pm, we can see why Mrs Moth decided to choose this window sill rather than one of the many lime trees in the valley.

100 MWh reached, rain still falling but opera continues undaunted

It is odd to think how much store we put in milestone numbers, which of themselves mean very little - after all, does the 1,000,000th customer bring anything that the previous 999,999 did not?  Of course not, they are just another customer.  But with smiles all round, we're still going to be pleased that the hydro plant has made it to 100 Mega Watt Hours, thanks to the rather determined rain we've been having lately.

Cleaning the screen through the wet season has been relatively easy, which is a relief.  On the other hand, since the hydro party, which was reported fairly widely in the press (which was nice), we had some problems with the bottom bearing.  When I say that we had some problems, I mean that the entire bearing unit had to be replaced.  It is thought by the experts on our installation team to have been of faulty construction, however we shall see... if it happens again we shall know if there is a more fundamental problem.  Fingers are very firmly crossed.

Whilst we have been making power thanks to the rain, the Iford Arts season has been suffering from this bout of British drizzle.  It would, however, take quite a tempest to dampen the spirits of a stoical English audience watching Mozart's comic opera Die Entfürung aus dem Serail.  Thankfully all the performances are in the cloister, under cover, and Bill Bankes-Jones production brings a delightful warmth to the story.  On the 22nd June the sun graced us with its presence, reminding us of the golden light which bathes the valley on a beautiful evening (before clouds promptly returned for the rest of the week!).

The Seraglio princesses and their security guards take the scenic route to the cloister (June 22nd):

postbox

Just loved the contrast of the red of the postbox and the blue and purple of the flowers with the garden wall and house as a backdrop. Happy days.