Sorry that I’ve been out of the blogging loop for a while. I have my reasons. Too much work, or travel, or baseball to watch, or baseball to play, or currently a new novel to work on. There’s also been this three-ring shit storm of a national election that never seems to end and fill my time—time that would be better spent folding my T-shirts if I wasn’t seriously trying to help prevent a lying, racist, misogynist madman from being elected President.

My friend Lou advises me to just turn off the noise and do something else: read a novel, take a hike, get a massage, take a bike ride, read another novel, sing at a karaoke bar, write software code, spend a day with old family photographs, play with your pet—basically do anything except follow the soul-sucking election news.

So I’m pleased to announce I’ve discovered the perfect escape: the Yorkshire Shepherdess.  Amanda Owen runs a 2,000-acre farm in Swaledale, one of the most remote regions of the North Yorkshire Moors. She has a husband Clive and seven children, and regularly posts pictures of them, their locale, and their 900 sheep on her glorious Twitter account (@AmandaOwen8) that puts me in a good mood every time I see a new post and photo. Describing herself as a “shepherdess/hill farmer/mother/teamaker, general all round dogsbody,” her Twitter feed has over 20,000 followers.

Ravenseat, Owen’s working farm, also has a “Shepherd’s Hut” available for nightly rent, and to virtually transport you there, I’ll just reprint her delightful welcome message from the farm’s Web site (ravenseat.com)…

A working farm, specialising in Swaledale sheep, it offers a welcome break from trudging through peatbogs, whether you just want a cuppa, a cream tea with freshly home-baked scones, or you’d like to rest a little longer with an overnight stay in our Shepherd’s Hut, restored by our very own Shepherdess!

You could wake to the sound of sheep, cows, hens, dogs, tractors and free-range children and enjoy a traditional cooked breakfast in the comfort of the hut or, weather permitting, outside on the riverbank with a view of the waterfall.

Cream Teas are available from May to September, although opening hours are variable due to the nature of farming and the location. If travelling a distance it would be advisable to telephone beforehand to avoid disappointment.

Owen also had a book published a few years back called, unsurprisingly, The Yorkshire Shepherdess, about her journey leaving city life to achieve the dream of raising a “family and a flock”. In the book, according to its Amazon UK blurb, “Amanda…evokes the peace of winter, when they can be cut off by snow without electricity or running water, the happiness of spring and the lambing season, and the backbreaking tasks of summertime – haymaking and sheepshearing – inspiring us all to look at the countryside and those who work there with new appreciation.”

Indeed, in these days of all-encompassing anxiety and click bait, it’s just comforting to know that a peaceful, civilized corner of the world is reachable at any time via the Internet, or in person, via jet, rental car and possibly lorry.

Thanks, Amanda!