Tuesday

I know that regular readers will want to know the state of play with the bunnies and the chicks so John and I went up again this morning to do a sort of chick headcount and spotted a cockerel and some hens and a fair few chick-chicks and picked up a handful of eggs so felt fairly comfortable that hengate was resolved.  Bunnies however were partying in amongst the scaffold poles but obviously they are ruled by their stomachs so we found something for them to eat and enticed them back into their home - RESULT - all animals present and correct PHEW - not to mention mangoes watered as requested.

Today the weather is pretty horrid - very grey skies first thing and then very windy, sand in the air and becoming clammy and hot as the day wore on.  A coptic storm is due any day now so am guessing that it may have come early.  Not good news for the gazebo out the front which has seen better days and which is only hanging on by a thread literally.

I was having a day at home - we have no pickleball and John is at a badminton competition all afternoon and evening if he plays well and I really wanted to start to get the house ready for Debra's arrival.

We haven't had anyone to stay here for ages so the 15 tog quilt is still on the bed and I am hazarding a guess that whatever the weather is like whilst she is here, as they have snow currently in the UK, she will find it warmer here and too warm for a 15 togger!!!

I also have an ironing pile the size of K2 and, if I can persuade whichever cat is currently sleeping on the basket to vacate, I plan to reduce or clear completely.

I have a number of signs I have been asked to make and I wanted to get them out of the way before Debra arrives.  The one for Lou is going to have to wait as this is going to be a big one but the others were relatively easy to get sorted and the one above is for Kate at Beauty by Kate as she saw the wording and it made her smile.

I concentrated on getting the guest bedroom sorted - I will do the final clean of the floor next week because with tiled floors the dust has nowhere to hide and you get little piles of 'tumbleweed' everywhere so having done it today by next week it will sure as hell need to be done again.  The 15 togger has been confined to the pump house shelves and I have given her a number of throws depending on whether or not the evenings get chilly.  The cats are now banned from this room which will be a challenge because given half a chance they are in there like a shot.

Next I tackled that horrendous pile of ironing - the things at the bottom haven't seen the light of day in weeks and that is because they are all horrible cargo shorts things which take forever to iron and look the same afterwards - still you can't moan at the view even though it was sweltering in the conservatory.

Something obviously caught Boris's eye out in the garden - I think it must have been the lizard I extricated from Chivers' gob a bit earlier and which ran off whilst I occupied Chivers with a treat.   I will probably find it again later, tail-less and eviscerated under the dining table.  On a more pleasant note does anyone know the name of the plant on the right which grows on tall slender stems and the flowers close up at night.  I grew them from a bulb which I picked up when the Euro shop was closing down but have no idea what it is called.

I was a good girl and went through the pain barrier and completed the ironing - Minnie Mou is pleased as she was first to the empty basket and settled down for a snooze with a self satisfied smug look on her face as she had got into it before Charlie!

John was home a bit earlier than I expected and came with another bloody trophy to gather dust in the lounge.  I know it is a nice idea to mark people's sporting prowess but it must cost the club a fortune and I am guessing most people don't know what to do with them afterwards!

So I will finish with a couple of nature photographs.  The one on the left is a bit of a surprise.  We have a 'spy' hole in the garden gate - I rarely use it but the last couple of times I have tried it has been gunked up with dirt which was a bit of a surprise but then it had been winter and we had some bad weather.

Today I went to look through it and it was gunked up again but this time I could see why - a tiny masonry bee was making it into its home - the spy hole is hardly bigger than the bee and I am guessing the dirt inside had been put in there on purpose.  I have left it alone to do its own thing - whatever that might be or bee!


Finally, with the sun beginning to set I managed to get a half decent photograph of one of the Bee Eaters sitting on the electric wire in the field next door.  I hope my little masonry bee will be safe from this glorious technicolour summer visitor.

We have another day at home tomorrow with a long list of DIY things requiring our attention.  I shall forego Greek in exchange for staining the front decking, clearing gardens (neighbours and our own) and anything else that is on one of John's many to-do lists.