I have deliberately stayed away from blogging in recent weeks having reviewed my previous postings only to find that in most of them I was bitching about the drought. I decided not to post again until I had something more positive to say.
Well, I'm not too sure that time has arrived but we did, at last, have some rain last evening. This morning I tipped 8mm out of my rain pot and I suppose that's better than nothing. But I have since had an email from a friend in Dorset telling me that he had over 40mm yesterday.
In both cases, I suspect, the precipitation came too late to achieve optimum yields. It certainly did with us. Last week we went round every field trying to assess how much below budget it might produce. And yes, every field looks like it might fail to achieve expectations.
Some - the best - will be at least 20% down; others will do well to produce half the budgeted yield. But hopefully last nights rain has saved those poorest crops from total failure.
Sorry, I said I would try to be more positive and I have failed. But there again there has not been a spring and summer like this within living memory so perhaps I am allowed to mope.