Nice weather for some

Woke up this morning to drizzle so I let the ducks out who quacked with excitement at the rain. The hens were less impressed but not as unimpressed as me. I would have been quite happy to sacrifice the day to the God of Boxed Set DVDs but the God of Springer Spaniels was not on my side - twice today I have had to schlep up the sodden wheat field while Scruff has bounded joyfully through the same.

Still, the Sun did show its face for a while this afternoon so the hens showed their reptilian roots by basking in the rays:

Ida flops down

Daisy and Emily enjoy some warmth

Peggy joins the sunbathers while Henry adjusts his trousers

Rosie has spent the day in her pyjamas, Amber brought her duvet down after lunch and has been ensconced on the sofa ever since, and Tristan arrived back from his sleepover tired and hungry, maintaining that as I know he is always tired and hungry when he comes back from sleepovers, I should make allowance. I maintain that as he knows he comes back from sleepovers tired and hungry, he should make allowance. I can see that one running on indefinitely...

Meanwhile, I have finished at least three quarters of my 2500 word project (including the mind-bending graphs and stats) that needs to be sent off almost the day I get back from Summer School. I also made some floral soap this morning using all sorts of dried petals and Isle of Wight Lavender essential oil that my parents kindly brought back from their recent trip. So, despite the temptation to retreat back to bed with my new Cath Kidston [sale] pjs that arrived in the post this morning I have been quite productive. I have finished Mr Buff-Orp's tail feathers and looked up how to do treble crochet stitches so I can get on with his wattle.

I did pop out and check the duckles (of course) and discovered why people say they ruin your garden! They have made a little muddy pool to dabble in, how sweet is that?

More potholes in the lawn; Richard's going to be thrilled.

But I have calculated that 1 call duck is equivalent to about a third of a regular duck so far less damage than if I had got big ducks. It's all relative, and besides they look so happy :-)