If you have seen fruit trees laden with plums, damsons, pears, and apples, you won’t be surprised to learn that it is indeed the best year for fruit for years.

One cider producer in Somerset started picking their crops in August – the earliest in their 120 year history and another producer is expecting an eventual harvest of around 3,000 tonnes of apples this year compared to 1,000 tonnes last year.

It’s being described as a vintage year as although the fruits are smaller than usual, they are also super-sweet and all because of the long, dry, hot summer weather we had – and in particular, the early, warm, wind-free spring which allowed bees to get around all the flowers and fertilise them successfully.

It has also been a successful year for many ‘competitive growers’ too. Last summer must have been a real challenge, but at Malvern Autumn Show last weekend, the CANNA UK National Giant Vegetables Championship saw 6 Guinness World Records broken. 132 dedicated growers battled it out and new records were made for the longest runner bean, longest radish, longest aubergine, longest sweet pepper, and longest luffa (loofah) and hefty celeriac took another record in the weight category.

With bumper crops of fruit will come bumper gangs of wasps and last week, whilst picking up fallen apples I noticed a couple of hornets picking on the wasps. Not a great working environment, for sure. Wasps consider hornets to be ‘King of the Wasps’ and are usually keen to keep out of their way but of course the lure of free alcohol lulls them into vulnerability, making them easy prey for the murderous hornets. My recommendation would be to keep well out of the way of both of them, and if you are clearing up windfalls, then wear gloves, as many of them will be ‘stuffed’ with drunken wasps.

Or maybe wear a black and white striped suit. A recent Japanese study revealed a novel way of reducing the amount of biting flies and other irritating insects around grazing cattle. To improve animal welfare, they experimented with painting black and white stripes onto cattle with a water-based pigment. It worked – and has earned them an Ig Nobel Prize.

The stripes apparently disrupt the flies' vision, making the cattle less appealing targets and therefore reducing aliments and stress caused by biting insects.

Black cows painted with a zebra-like pattern experiencing roughly 50% fewer fly bites than unpainted cows or cows painted with solid black stripe.

On Sunday (5th) at 2.30 the annual Blessing of Pets will take place at St. Michael’s Church in Llanvihangel Crucorney, near Abergavenny, NP7 8DH. This year’s Service will be conducted by the former Bishop of Monmouth, Bishop Dominic - a great animal lover.

Yogi took me to the Blessing of Pets for a few years and we both highly recommend it. It is a great gathering of all sorts of pets, from dogs and cats to reptiles, rabbits and other beloved pets.

Sadly there will be one much-loved regular missing this time. Earlier this year, Sebastian, the little black miniature Shetland pony passed away peacefully in his field aged 25. He certainly lived life and touched many lives, and will be very much missed at the Blessing this year.

I can’t promise you’ll see any zebra-striped cows at the Blessing but you and your pet will receive many blessings in beautiful surroundings.

Organiser, Sian Lloyd, says, ‘All animals and pets, great and small, are welcome to join us. There is easy access to the Church and ample parking. For further details you can call Sian on 07889 581181.