One of the jobs that’s fallen to me in Nick’s absence in that of feeding the animals. Anyone who knows me will know that animals are just not my thing; Hugo I can cope with and the hens just need a few scraps throwing into the pen each day but the goose is another matter entirely. Every time he (yes, it’s definitely not a goose of the egg-laying variety) sees me, his head goes down, he hisses and then launches himself at me, pecking wildly at any part of me he can reach – it’s really scary. So when I have to go into the park to feed him, I arm myself with a solid piece of bamboo to fend him off. The first three mornings he went on the attack, but today when he saw me, he ignored me! I just hope he remembers to do the same tomorrow.

Last weekend was wet again, the rain only letting up for a couple of hours on Sunday afternoon, so while it was dry I went out for a walk, meeting several like-minded neighbours en route and finding masses of wild strawberries, tiny bursts of intense flavour, along the roadside. I took the camera, so I hope you like the photos.