August 2025 continued the very pleasant weather theme for most of the year, with plenty of sunshine, but with a little rain occasionally to avoid crisis water issues, (for now). The stream is still flowing well enough to keep the trout and other aquatic insects happy – just, and the fields and landscape around us remains mainly verdant.

After the delight of seeing a kingfisher flash past me in late July on the stream, I’ve enjoyed watching patrolling and duelling Golden-ringed dragonflies, Cordulegaster boltonii, in early August.

With no NGS garden visitors to worry about, we can be a bit more relaxed about the state of the garden, which is just as well, since another big effort with cutting and shifting of green hay into other fields has been a huge task which continued into the middle of the month, in dribs and drabs.

Still, as we reach the middle of the month, it seems that more fine, sunny and warm weather should allow us to remove and cut all of the remaining sections of our two hay fields. Once again, we’ve also had a few people getting in touch to come and collect green hay to enrich their own fields with a greater diversity of species’ seeds.

In addition, we’ve been able to cut the sharp-flowered rush and begin the process of removing the debris of both this and moved green hay into piles in the long lower meadows. A task completed again, by the middle of the month, when all the small piles were gradually amalgamated.

By August 8th, I’ve already had reasonable germination success with this year’s Daphne bholua seeds (50 seedlings and counting), and it looks like it’s going to be our best ever year for apples. The very enjoyable ‘George Cave’, which always kicks off the dessert apple season, has not only fruited well, but by covering this, and the adjacent ‘Arthur Turner – an early cooker, with bird netting, we’ve kept the jackdaw family off the fruit for long enough to be able to harvest them. In the past, we’ve had to pick early to get any of these 2 varieties. Before the blackberries seem to act as a satisfactory alternative food for them.

The terrace garden has continued to be a visual delight early in the month, with so many flowers and insects, and also having the weather to be able to eat outside on most days for meals to appreciate the scenes.

It looks like being a bumper year for blackberries, which are gradually establishing very well in many of our now re-laid hedges. After the wonderful early pollination, and just enough groundwater to help the fruit swell, I’ve picked Kgs of perfect fruit with wonderful sugar levels and no mould.

As the month progressed with no change in the weather pattern, there were more signs of plant stress in the garden, even though the mix of native plants in the terrace garden coped really well despite the lack of soil in this area.

The hay cutting and removal was all completed by the middle of the month in a perfect summer for west Wales hay making, and the lighter crop meant we fitted much of it into the hay sheds. It was interesting to see that one of our ewes who struggled with facial and pinnal dermatitis and had to be intermittently kept inside for many weeks with her two lambs, preferred eating hay from our (now very) florally diverse upper hay meadow, to eating fresh grass from the field below it. All 3 diving onto the hay as soon as it appeared. An indication, if ever there was one, of the merits of a varied sward (as far as the grazers are concerned).

We were able to enjoy small numbers or edible field mushrooms from four of our six meadows this year, which conveniently seemed to produce 3 or 4 mushrooms per colony, over a couple of days in early August.

The tyre garden has looked gloriously floriferous if a little unkempt and shaggy as the month has progressed.

Hydrangeas always add interest through the month, even if the drought has meant many have suffered.

The most memorable feature of the whole summer though will be the amount of time we’ve been able to enjoy outside, without having to worry about rain or wet conditions for outside tasks. Mists and dew often being the only sources of moisture.

The month ended with quite a few days with rain, which was a huge relief, as by then many neighbour’s spring water supplies dried up, once again, ours kept flowing as it always has done. The figures for total monthly rainfall, (191.5mm) and PV output (441.7 KWH) place it as the second best August we’ve ever enjoyed – after 2022. And concludes what is now officially the warmest recorded summer ever in the UK, ( if not Wales) as discussed in this Met Office summary.

The list of my weather records from previous years puts this August into a longer term context of being an incredibly variable month, but rarely one with extended sunny periods:

2013: 131.6 mm, 11 dry days, PV – N/A

2014: 169.9 mm,  9 dry days, PV – 405.88 KWH

2015: 195.3 mm, 6 dry days,  PV – 364.3 KWH

2016: 111.6 mm, 14 dry days, PV – 373.87 KWH

2017: 151.65 mm 5 dry days PV 337.71 KWH

2018: 150.4 mm, 4 dry days, PV – 340.16 KWH

2019: 165.5 mm, 9 dry days, PV – 414.2 KWH

2020: 260.4 mm, 12 dry days, PV – 334.28 KWH

2021: 110.0 mm, 12 dry days, PV – 354.4 KWH

2022: 43.4 mm, 18 dry days, PV – 475.4 KWH

2023: 187.9 mm, 5 dry days,  PV – 327.1 KWH

2024: 148.54 mm, 7 dry days, PV – 367.7 KWH

2025: 101.5 mm, 15 dry days, PV – 441.7 KWH