A damp start to the day but an unexpected burst of optimism from yours truly who is, by nature, a worrier and a pessimist.  Maybe the past year and its elections and wars have turned me into a different person where a little voice is whispering “things can only get better”.  The alternative is simply unthinkable.  Here at The Gables there are good signs.  The air is warm, it has begun to rain and the new pond is filling as the water table rises.  The hens are giving us at least three beautiful, brown eggs each morning and the scrappy little cockerel that we bought at the end of the summer has turned into a magnificent, mature male.  That must be a good start to 2017 and let’s hope and whisper that “things can only get better”.