The wild life we lead.......

Cor blimey! Yesterday was very unplanned. I got up at 5:30am because the day looked so beautiful. It was already 19°. I sat in the garden at a picnic bench sipping tea, reading Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (v good so far.) The woodpecker was a bit enthusiastic, I ignored him. But then the weirdest noise started. It was an industrial blowing noise, something you don't expect to hear where we live. Across Home field came a huge hot air balloon, really low to the ground. Eventually they hissed off and I was left, quiet till 8am, when my brood appeared. It was bliss.

Me: I like a bit of planning! It's satisfying, having a list and ticking off the jobs done. Yesterday I wrote all the jobs on a whiteboard and set to.

All was going as planned, until husband discovered one of the field water troughs had gone mad, and we were creating the Nile II. We have a water meter, so he was big-time cross. It's at times like these, that we realise how little we know our property: We couldn't find the mains water stop. However, with the help of our neighbours it was finally located; down the bridlepath about 300 metres, out onto a road. Five metres from the telegraph pole! The little metal man hole, no bigger than my paperback, was buried under grass in the verge!!!....... Obvious really!!! After a trip to a builders merchant,and a new ballcock purchased, we were fixed. (-1 hour of jobs)

We waved goodbye to the kind neighbours, and were just about to revisit the jobs list, when we noticed that two horses had escaped the field with the repaired water trough. They were gorging their faces in our meadow. I am not a horsey gal....but, needs must..... At first I couldn't make out how to put the head collar on the huge eventer, but the 7yo explained it to me (frightening to find she's a natural horsewoman.) Finally we sussed it and I slipped it over his head. Willy, the Shetland, was fairly demur and both were bribed with apples, back to their 'not-so-lush' paddock! (-2 hours of jobs!!)

The heat had now reached 25° with no wind. Glorious.

After the horses fiasco, Daddy kindly pumped up and filled a paddling pool for the babies. They jumped from the double stacked truck tyres into it's freezing waters. I was sorely tempted too, but carried on my planting instead.

Next Daddy mowed a golf hole and a footy pitch, and we were almost recovered on the jobs front.

The chicken's ASBO finally kicked in, and we moved the coop out of the walled garden, (far from where my hallowed vegetable patch resides! I could take the carnage no longer.) They are now located under the pink and white rhodedendroms. Lovely. The chooks we're less than pleased. It's their 3rd move in 8 months. Later that evening they wouldn't go in by themselves and kept running back to the walled garden, confused. We were due out, so we had a wonderful game of catch, which the kids loved.

We rounded off the day with a great barbeque at the neighbours. All in all a spiffing day really, if a little unscheduled!