I’m beginning to understand the people who say that they only do DIY in the winter and spend the whole summer working on the garden. We decided it was time to cut the grass in the field behind the house this week, as it was nearly as tall as me; it’s taken most of the week, Nick strimming, me raking and taking it to the compost bins. We’re getting up early to do the gardening before it gets too hot, but usually work straight through to midday which has been pretty hot this week, about 30ºC in the shade. The back garden could hardly be described as a lawn, but it’s tidier now than it was.

We’ve also done a lot of work on the potager; we’d been rather enthusiastic in planting rocket and had to pull most of it out today as it had gone to flower. We’ll know next time! The same could be said of the spinach, which we’re eating in huge quantities; we’ll start looking like Popeye soon! Our visitors this weekend will be treated to a spinach quiche, I think.

We’re now getting two eggs a day from our adult hens, Sage and Onion; Sage’s are a normal size, but Onion’s are humungous! I weighed them today, just for interest; Sage’s eggs weigh an average 51g, whereas Onion’s are 82g!

Nick’s been watching the local bird life and has found that a family of Redstarts are nesting  nearby; it’s fascinating to watch the parents find food for the babies and deliver it.

We’ve got a very early start tomorrow and a hectic weekend, so watch this space on Sunday or Monday. That’s all folks!