I saw the sheep at 7 am. Their markings are so pronounced now that they have been shorn. You can see why this ewe is called Domino

Then at 8.30 am I was en route to London but hadn’t got far along Mill Road (just to The Cut) when a yellow flash of a bird had me pulling in. It was a yellow wagtail (and the cars behind me were not too pleased with me!).

Then a stop at Tesco, Biggleswade and 40 minutes later I arrived at mum’s care home where I had to take a lateral flow test. We were able to have an hour alone in her room this week.

One of the staff said, “ Do you remember before all this when you used to come in for the whole morning and we did word quizzes ?” I really hope we can do that again before too long. I used to enjoy the weekly Tuesday mornings with all the residents.

After one more food shopping stop I went to see my dear friend Joy who I haven’t seen since last summer. Her garden is always an oasis of beauty, full of flowering plants tucked into every nook and cranny. She has an eye for colour and style

Then it was off to another garden a couple of miles from Joy where I made a condolence visit to my school friend (and her sister) of 54 years standing – whose elegant and charming mother passed away just before the weekend. We go back a long way. Then back to the car, a stop near the A1 to leave Gables eggs at daughter’s house and collect some trays of food she had made for us (they smell delicious) and back home to unpack the car, cuddle the cats and open a present sent by son who was here on Sunday when his father and I went off on a “bee hunt”.

Now I think I’ll put the kettle on, make the rounds to check on all the critters and wait for Jeremy to return from his Tuesday afternoon bee mentoring session with a local farmer and beekeeper – a man who has been a beekeeper for over 70 years.

What an amazing young woman. Brilliant shearer who worked so quickly and skilfully and gently.

Jeremy has given them sugar water for “supper”

So off we went in our bee suits, with box and broom to find the swarm …. click below

After Jeremy had swept the swarm into a box our friend met us with a wheelbarrow and Jeremy wheeled them back to The Gables.

The children came out to see the bees

The three week old goslings are confounding their “hen” mother. Geese are grass grazers, chickens peck. Mother hens watches her huge offspring pull at snd eat blades of grass. She looks confused.

We gave a piece of our frozen halloumi to visitors last week. I opened an email tonight and saw what they cooked

My job is to puff smoke over the bees to keep them calm (apparently).

Inside the house