Another farm sit!

I left Cornwall two weeks ago on a morning of overcast grey, there had been some showers overnight and parts of the A30 were quite wet, as was the M5. Just north of Exeter, travelling at 70mph I suddenly felt as if the steering had gone very 'light', so I pulled over onto the hard shoulder, scrambled out of the passenger door and checked my tyres all round. Everything appeared fine, but I was severely rattled and felt quite sick (I had a wheel bearing suddenly 'go', without warning and at speed ,on the M5 a few years ago so I didn't want a repeat performance) so I crept along at 50mph to the Cullompton junction and came up to Bristol via the A38. A journey that should have taken just over 2 hours ended up taking 4 as I had to negotiate Taunton and Bridgwater on a Saturday! At one point, just north of Taunton, there was a cloudburst, so I just pulled over into a convenient lay-by and waited it out – I was distracted enough without having the additional problem of not being able to see!

Luckily, the people for whom I was farm sitting own the local garage, so a couple of days later I took it down there to be checked out. A very nice mechanic came out to give it a test drive and suddenly said to me 'Do you own a house at Draycott?'. I was stunned as I was the other side of the Mendips, and I had certainly never met the guy before, but then he explained himself – he was the husband of my letting agent and had recognised the name! He took the car round Chew Valley Lake and said he could find nothing wrong except that the front tyres were a bit low on tread and, in damp conditions, that could have made the handling feel light. I drove over to Wells a few days later to buy two new tyres and to renew my tax – here's a warning to all you car drivers out there – if you don't have your reminder form or your registration document, you can no longer tax your vehicle at any Post Office – the V10 form is no longer used! Aagh! I was always told that you shouldn't carry your registration document in your car in case it is stolen, and my reminder had not caught up with me on my journeys, so I was very nearly scuppered. Luckily, the DVLA had re-issued all registration documents a while ago and Mum had redirected mine to me, in case I needed it, so after a frantic search through all my belongings, I came across it and eventually got the car taxed on the last day of August at Chew Magna. Phew!

The farm sitting itself went well although I did have the additions of a couple of Shetland ponies, a budgie and a moribund hamster who, luckily, managed to remain alive until they returned and then promptly expired. I was going to try and count the chickens to see how many I was actually looking after, but I kept losing count! It was 'quite a lot' and took me about 2 hours every morning to let them out, check their food and water and refill as necessary, and another hour or so in the evening to shut them all in again. I also had six cats to feed twice a day, two dogs who got fed at lunchtime, a small flock of sheep to check and three tortoises and a rabbit, so you can see that I was quite fully occupied! This is by way of an excuse to apologise to all my friends in the Mendip area that I failed to meet up with.......again! I'm back again in May 2013 for definite, so I'll try to organise my time so that I can see a few people.

One of the Labradors, Merlin, followed me around like a shadow, not because he adored me but because he always wanted me to throw his ball for him! He would trail round the chicken arks with me and drop the ball just inside so that I would have to retrieve it before I could let the hens out – very cunning! The other Labrador was a great ratter – he would sit by an ark and refuse to budge if he thought there was a rat underneath, so I would be obliged to lift the ark so that he could dive underneath and catch it – he was always right. Amazing!

I did manage to get to see Dave and Jeni a couple of times when I was there – once they visited me and then I visited them and was taken out for a belated birthday meal at The Oakhill Inn at Oakhill. This is about the third time that I have eaten there and it is well worth a visit as the food is always delicious and beautifully cooked. I had home-smoked salmon followed by slow-roasted pork belly and seasonal vegetables and finished off with a fresh berry pavlova (which was quite different, but just as delicious as the one I had on my birthday in Cornwall!). The menu changes regularly throughout the year, taking advantage of seasonal foods, but there are some 'regulars' too for the less adventurous.

Yesterday, I left Dundry and drove back via Bath, Tetbury and Cirencester to Cheltenham where I am breaking my journey before travelling on to my next WWOOF host tomorrow. It was a beautiful, sunny but autumnal day and the Cotswolds looked at their heart-stoppingly, golden best with fields of wheat waiting to be harvested, some fields already cut and some fields already ploughed – a real patchwork of colour lying tranquil under an immense pale blue sky. In a way it made me feel quite melancholy, not because winter is only just around the corner (The changing of the seasons never affects me any more, after years of suffering from a mild form of SAD) but because I had no-one to share this gorgeous day with. It made me realise just how lonely this nomadic lifestyle of mine can be at times. However, the seasons are definitely out of rhythm as near Bath racecourse I spotted several elder bushes in flower! I wonder if elderflower cordial made at this time of year would taste different?