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quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
Sally Urwin and her husband Steve own High House Farm in Northumberland, which they share with two kids, Mavis the sheepdog, one very fat pony and many, many sheep.
From lambing to harvest, in driving snow and on hot summer days, Sally reveals the highs, lows and hard, hard work involved in making a living from the land. Filled with grit and humour, eccentric animals and local characters, this is the perfect book for anyone who has ever wondered what it’s like on the other side of the fence.
Sally Urwin is a 4’ 10” former corporate marketer who became a farmer’s wife when she married Steve a sheep farmer based in Northumberland) and started writing a blog recounting her experiences. This entertaining book that reinforces how difficult farming is both physically and emotionally (made worse by the perilous economics within the industry) is based on some of Urwin’s blog entries and tracks a year of living on the farm.
I borrowed this book from a friend who recommended it and I can see why. Urwin writes with a warm, self-deprecating style that makes her easy to like. I suspect many readers can relate to her battles to lose weight and I enjoyed how her parents support her and her family (her dad’s enthusiasm for a local weight loss group that he sigs up to with her made me chuckle). The entries are taken from previous blog entries (which have since been deleted) but to be honest, it’s not entirely clear which year they’re taken from or whether they’re constructed from different years. That’s not an attempt to throw shade or cast doubt on the book, I just think that it could have been clearer, in part because I’d be interested to know if this is all pre-pandemic if only because I’d be interested in reading a sequel that shows how things have changed - if at all - since the pandemic.
What you do get from the book is a sense of how much hard work - physically, mentally and emotionally - goes into farming and how financially draining it can be. Urwin’s honesty really shines through here, especially in terms of showing the effects on her relationship with Steve and her concerns for her family. Again, reading the book I was a bit frustrated by how much is not said in respect of the economics of their farm. For example, you know that Steve has to have a part-time job to supplement what the farm makes and Urwin describes the shock of when he loses that job and the issues of him trying to find a replacement position, but it seems that he keeps applying for full-time roles and trying to negotiate offers into part-time roles, which seemed a bit strange. Similarly, Urwin describes how the farm had a tea room and wedding venue, which they gave over to someone else to manage and it’s not clear whether they still take a cut of that or have signed everything over. The reason I mention all this is because at one point the farm’s finances are so perilous that they have to apply for a grant, which is fair enough but throughout the book Urwin talks about buying different things like tea urns and kit that doesn’t seem like it’s needed. For the record, I’m not demanding a breakdown of the finances but there are inconsistencies in there that made me ask questions.
Leaving this aside, it is a genuinely entertaining book - I particularly enjoyed reading about the escapades of Urwin’s fat pony who has a talent for escapology (and there’s a bonus picture so you can see for yourself that it really is a bit of a chonk). I also became very emotionally invested in the health of their sheep (the names of their two male sheep are absolutely hilarious) and felt incredibly tired just reading about the difficulties of lambing season as it sounds incredibly gruelling even if it can be emotionally satisfying.
Ultimately if you enjoy TV shows like THE YORKSHIRE VET and ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL then I think that you’l really enjoy this book and it certainly gives you a comprehensive overview of the highs and lows of farming.
The Verdict:
Sally Urwin is a 4’ 10” former corporate marketer who became a farmer’s wife when she married Steve a sheep farmer based in Northumberland) and started writing a blog recounting her experiences. This entertaining book that reinforces how difficult farming is both physically and emotionally (made worse by the perilous economics within the industry) is based on some of Urwin’s blog entries and tracks a year of living on the farm.
Sally Urwin and her husband Steve own High House Farm in Northumberland, which they share with two kids, Mavis the sheepdog, one very fat pony and many, many sheep.
From lambing to harvest, in driving snow and on hot summer days, Sally reveals the highs, lows and hard, hard work involved in making a living from the land. Filled with grit and humour, eccentric animals and local characters, this is the perfect book for anyone who has ever wondered what it’s like on the other side of the fence.
Sally Urwin is a 4’ 10” former corporate marketer who became a farmer’s wife when she married Steve a sheep farmer based in Northumberland) and started writing a blog recounting her experiences. This entertaining book that reinforces how difficult farming is both physically and emotionally (made worse by the perilous economics within the industry) is based on some of Urwin’s blog entries and tracks a year of living on the farm.
I borrowed this book from a friend who recommended it and I can see why. Urwin writes with a warm, self-deprecating style that makes her easy to like. I suspect many readers can relate to her battles to lose weight and I enjoyed how her parents support her and her family (her dad’s enthusiasm for a local weight loss group that he sigs up to with her made me chuckle). The entries are taken from previous blog entries (which have since been deleted) but to be honest, it’s not entirely clear which year they’re taken from or whether they’re constructed from different years. That’s not an attempt to throw shade or cast doubt on the book, I just think that it could have been clearer, in part because I’d be interested to know if this is all pre-pandemic if only because I’d be interested in reading a sequel that shows how things have changed - if at all - since the pandemic.
What you do get from the book is a sense of how much hard work - physically, mentally and emotionally - goes into farming and how financially draining it can be. Urwin’s honesty really shines through here, especially in terms of showing the effects on her relationship with Steve and her concerns for her family. Again, reading the book I was a bit frustrated by how much is not said in respect of the economics of their farm. For example, you know that Steve has to have a part-time job to supplement what the farm makes and Urwin describes the shock of when he loses that job and the issues of him trying to find a replacement position, but it seems that he keeps applying for full-time roles and trying to negotiate offers into part-time roles, which seemed a bit strange. Similarly, Urwin describes how the farm had a tea room and wedding venue, which they gave over to someone else to manage and it’s not clear whether they still take a cut of that or have signed everything over. The reason I mention all this is because at one point the farm’s finances are so perilous that they have to apply for a grant, which is fair enough but throughout the book Urwin talks about buying different things like tea urns and kit that doesn’t seem like it’s needed. For the record, I’m not demanding a breakdown of the finances but there are inconsistencies in there that made me ask questions.
Leaving this aside, it is a genuinely entertaining book - I particularly enjoyed reading about the escapades of Urwin’s fat pony who has a talent for escapology (and there’s a bonus picture so you can see for yourself that it really is a bit of a chonk). I also became very emotionally invested in the health of their sheep (the names of their two male sheep are absolutely hilarious) and felt incredibly tired just reading about the difficulties of lambing season as it sounds incredibly gruelling even if it can be emotionally satisfying.
Ultimately if you enjoy TV shows like THE YORKSHIRE VET and ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL then I think that you’l really enjoy this book and it certainly gives you a comprehensive overview of the highs and lows of farming.
The Verdict:
Sally Urwin is a 4’ 10” former corporate marketer who became a farmer’s wife when she married Steve a sheep farmer based in Northumberland) and started writing a blog recounting her experiences. This entertaining book that reinforces how difficult farming is both physically and emotionally (made worse by the perilous economics within the industry) is based on some of Urwin’s blog entries and tracks a year of living on the farm.
