Oat tails

Ok - so that should be oat tales - but the pun amused me. Did you know that wild oats - the seeds, walk across soil? It's a dispersal mechanism powered by fluctuations in moisture levels. But I digress.

How is it - you phone at 8 in the morning and ask if you can make the 50 mile or so trip to pick up straw and oats and arrange to meet in the farm yard around 11, you get there, load up with straw and ask about the oats to be told there's none left, they were sold for milling a couple of weeks ago? How difficult would it have been to mention this at 8 in the morning?

It seems to be a Highland trait - an unwillingness to disappoint, or to delay disappointing until the last possible moment. Sometimes it feels very close to deceit, lying indeed, but I don't think it is a malevolence, it is more a wish to appear to be being helpful.

But on this occasion it brought forth something close to panic. Jussi had left it til the last minute to get the oats, knowing that we had an arrangement with this farmer to take all the oats he had (now that is getting closer to deceit, or betrayal perhaps). It's summer, late in the oat year as it were, and very few farms have stocks of oats available for sale. Said farmer, in a fit of genuine helpfulness, or remorse, suggested a few places we could try, and even tried to phone a couple.

With the spectre of having to face a host of hungry goats that evening we set off in earnest. As we neared our first lead the van started to massively overheat. It was turning out to be a grim day indeed. But we limped on and arrived at a rather splendid farm, scattered with rare breed animals. Timidly we enquired as to their oat situation. Yes they have oats - about 125 tonne - and yes we can have some - and we're very lucky - they should have been sold already but 'they' had not turned up to collect it - and yes they can put some aside for us to keep us going through the summer - and yes here is a watering can of water for the van - and no there's no need to pay for the oats now, we'll settle next time.

phew