The team worked hard and long hours to bring in the hay and straw and are now hoping for another window in the current rainy weather, to enable them to finish that harvest.

After what has been a busy time all round, various summer activities have been planned for those in our care. The floating support team have arranged several days out and also a weekend away for a small group. Residents of our two supported homes, along with one or two of those who attend the farm projects regularly, are planning a pretty incredible trip to California later in the year and are saving very hard and enthusiastically!

Various special activities are also on the cards. The next few weeks include a day out in Whitby, an “Art Outdoors” day, a cinema trip and the “Crag House Farm Highland Games”, preceded by a very Scottish lunch menu, planned with the assistance of one of our trustees, Pat, and with everyone in Scottish dress. That promises to be interesting! Then at the end of the month we are having a late night “bat watch” in our conservation valley, possibly camping overnight in order to see the fallow and red deer in the morning.

Days out can be real fun all round. A recent trip to Bolton Abbey caused great hilarity when one of our young ladies got stuck trying to cross the stepping stones across the river. Bev was totally unable to move one way or the other and had to be rescued by two people, (who presumably got quite wet in the process!). Determined to show that he could do it, Antony set off in pursuit, only to get stuck himself, also having to be rescued.

As a result, a queue of day trippers built up behind our little group, bemused members of the public waiting to cross the river, whilst Joanna, who works at Tindall House and who leads the drama workshops, held them back with a cheerful, “We won’t be long! Just hold on a minute!” Apparently it was “a real hoot!”

Summertime can be very busy for us all, especially with members of staff taking holiday and remaining staff needing to cover in different areas of work, but the opportunity to spend fun, relaxed times with members of the CFL family is something we all cherish and this makes summertime at CFL very special.