What a beautiful morning it is. After I got up, while the kettle was boiling, I went out around the “old homestead” to say good morning to the dogs and pet lambs, accompanied by Chutney and Rainbow, our farm cats.

The jackdaws in the chimney were having a “domestic”, someone was getting a right old telling off, but other than that, apart from more cultured birdsong, all was peaceful and quiet. It really is the best time of the day.

With coffee in hand, I made my way up to the office to find Tiddles curled up in a snug ball at the top of the steps.

She was too sleepy to say hello, just opened one eye and went back to her dreams. By the back door was what remained of the night’s kill – at this time of year she always brings her trophies home and usually lies down alongside them, patting them as if to say: “Well? Look what I’ve been doing. Aren’t I clever?” It must have been a heavy night because she still hasn’t made any effort to move and it’s after 11.30am.

The recent rain has made such a difference. Everywhere looks so beautiful at the minute, meadows full of yellow buttercups and frothy white cow parsley.

On Saturday we were driving home and a couple of cars were parked at the bottom of Bishopdale where eight or 10 people were posing for a photo in a gateway with a yellow sea of flowers behind them.

The birdseye primrose is also flowering at Raisgill, as is the dainty blue butterwort. These are special plants surviving and thriving in the wet limestone flushes that we don’t get on the Yockenthwaite side of the river.

Last Saturday afternoon, Stuart and I went to Harrogate with a delivery and came back home via Wensleydale with product for another store in Leyburn.

The roads were quiet and we sailed through Harrogate with virtually no queuing which, given it was mid-afternoon, was astonishing as it is always nose-to-tail traffic. We decided it might be something to do with football.

Our first drop was in “Fodder” – the farm shop on the Yorkshire Showground – where we had a bite to eat and picked up something for supper before heading off up the dale.

In lower Wensleydale, silage was being gathered in and many fields were cleared. It is quite a different world to life in the hills where the season is so much later. We are still several weeks away from haytime.

This morning, Stuart and Eddy are sorting and dosing sheep and looking to see if they can find anything to take to Buckden Gala on Saturday. David is in his room revising for his GCSEs, the ovens are rumbling away downstairs as Granola toasts and Julie is next door updating customer details for our accounts.

I have a tray full of inquiries, letters to write and I must get to the post office to send off samples, so I had better get on. It seems a long time since that first cup of coffee!