It took so long last night to load the video of the first of the pipe bands to arrive in the ring that I gave up and went to bed! This is a video of all the bands present at the fair at Chatsworth marching together - no mean feat when they come from all over the UK and haven't practised together.
If you are not Scots bagpipe and drum fans you will just have to skip this blog! The poor things were caught in the most torrential downpour and in the second video you will see how black the sky is as the last of the bands leave the ring and in the background are the Household Cavalry horses waiting to do their last performance of the day.
We really felt for them and it was quite dangerous as the ground was saturated with water splashing up as the hooves hit the ground, but they carried on. They are used to worse in the army I suppose when on training exercises. At least they weren't being shot at.
Today is sunny and the leaves are turning and autumn is upon us. Nic is sorting his lambs who were weaned last week - to the relief of their mothers. There was a bit of bleating as darkness fell on the first night from the more clingy lambs but not a sound from the mothers - sheep are better than us humans at knowing when to kick their offspring out into the world alone.
This was extra special as little Bryn Roberts is the first baby born at Cote Bank for over 100 years!! Nic and his siblings were born in hospital, as were our children, so it was very special to have this dear little boy born in the cottage. Moira and David are the proud parents and Bryn seems a perfect baby - except when he is tired and won't go to sleep and then Moira walks him up and down the lane to get him to drop off - the country air does the trick it seems.
Poor old Tommy the cat is now a scrawny, deaf old cat with a very annoying loud yowl - he obviously can't hear how loud his calling for food is and he also doesn't hear cars approaching and we fear for him, as his favourite place is lying on the warm tar at the top of the farmyard's road. He is 17 now, which is marvellous for a farm cat, and the vet says only his teeth are a bit dodgy - he even caught a rabbit the other day and he spends a lot of time on our mat in the porch sleeping inbetween feed times. 
This is Tommy before old age got to him.
This picture was taken in April but it is rather sweet of a devoted mum and her baby going out to fresh pasture.
We had such a lovely spring when the colours were glorious and all the greenery so fresh - sadly the summer has been a washout in more ways than one but at least we can remember that not all the year was poor!
Jess loves it when I'm out in the garden and is always on the lookout in case a walker on the footpath that goes through the garden strays into her vision and she can bark at them or welcome them, depending on her mood. 
Here is Jess keeping a beady eye on a sheep and her lamb beyond the garden fence - to her annoyance they were completely unconcerned and kept on eating placidly. 
I was especially pleased with my azaleas and rhododendrons this year.
Ever since my cousin took me to Leonardslee in Suffolk back in 1971 I've always longed for azaleas and rhododendrons and at last mine are growing well.
My order of events is a bit crazy, I'm afraid, as this was July in Atlanta and Alison with her baby Adison Rose on her Christening day. I'd put some photos on a previous blog while we were over there and then found these to add.
The christening robe is my King family one that generations of Kings wer baptised or christened in. My father and, I think, grandfather, as well as Alison wore it.
Our little Woodall family on the christening day.
And the proud grandparents with Nicolas and Adison Rose. Nic had been hit in the eye the day before by a golf ball hidden in the grass that he was cutting for Alison and the eye was still angry looking. Mercifully his glasses took the full force and saved him from a worse accident.
This was my last view of the glorious Crepe Myrtles that were everywhere in Atlanta while we were there. Having passed thousands of them and not taken a decent photo over the 3 weeks we were with Alison, I had to rush out of the airport building and take a last photo of them. The heat and humidity will mean we probably won't return in July for a visit and I will miss seeing these glorious plants. In South Africa we called them Pride of Indias, so I'm not sure where they originated.
Then it was back to our lovely hills - this is the Hope Valley
Our potatoes were excellent - this was the first year we'd tried them - mainly because Nicole loves gardening. She and William helped dig them up and the little thing scrubbed every single one for me. Her corn has done well but the snails and slugs and the cabbage whites have wreaked havoc on our cauliflowers and other greens. She is very brave at picking off caterpillers and slugs for me and we have high hopes for our winter greens. 
There is nothing nicer than a wedding and in August our closest neighbours celebrated the wedding of Emma to Jason. I was asked to do the Church flowers as they got married in St James', Buxworth.
Emma looked absolutely stunning, the rain held off till we were all safely in the marquee back at their family home and we all celebrated in style.It was very special for us as our Alison babysat for all three Stanton children - it has made her feel very old!
Emma with the equally beautiful bridesmaid, her sister Naomi. This part of the blog is specially for Alison who would have loved to be here.
Father and son Nicholas share a word.
We all had the happiest time with good company, wonderful food and a plentiful supply of wine!
The bride's mother looked stunning, the father of the bride was equally happy and relieved to have everything going without a hitch and the guests enjoyed the day.
The cake was delicious and each table had a smaller replica which the bride and groom came round to cut, so we all got a chance to chat to them - a lovely touch.
Then on the Sunday in drizzly weather we celebrated the Ruby wedding of one of our church friends in their beautiful garden - again with good company and with even a live band to entertain us.
What would we do in England without portable marquees to shelter us when the inevitable rain starts?
As a last trip for the summer holidays we took our grandchildren down to the wonderful Midland Railway Trust at Butterley which is an incredible day out for a family - especially when Grandpa and grandson are mad about steam trains.
It is always the highlight of the year for me to go to the 3 day Chatsworth Country Fair which is held around the first weekend in September. It coincides with my birthday so Nic can always find me a present in the fabulous craft tents.
The high standard of exhibits and country pursuits takes some beating and the events in the ring, which go on all day are wonderful.
This year the Welsh Guards provided the music and we had the usual parade of vintage cars but sadly on the Sunday the cloudbase was too low for the free fall parachutists or the balloon ascension which normally rounds off the Sunday.
But we had the Musical Ride by the Household Cavalry team which was fantastic. At 3pm we had a cloudburst but the events in the ring went on as though nothing was happening, although three of the horses very sensibly refused to lie down as they were meant to do and we all just put up our umbrellas, donned our raincoats or just got wet. The British are a stoical lot!
We always go on the Sunday as my Scots ancestry demands that I see, and thrill to, the massed pipe bands who parade into the ring to receive their prizes from the Duchess of Devonshire. Because of the rain they sadly had their kilts protected by practical capes but the sound was still amazing. I've tried to capture it on the videos but it is a poor second to the real thing.These videos of the massed pipe bands are specially for my friend Anne, who shared the Edinburgh Tattoo with me on our memorable first year in Britain in 1966