Rain all morning, sun all afternoon. Cooking this morning, walk this afternoon

Nearly vegan lentil burgers

Cooked lentils to which is added cumin and other seasoning to taste plus half a jar of plum and chilli chutney.
Add chopped and sautéed onions plus one beaten egg (omit if vegan or use a very happy, free range hen’s egg). Also add bread crumbs or matzo meal to make the mixture firm enough to form burger shapes and roll in bread crumbs or matzo meal. Bake until crispy on outside and soft on the inside

The afternoon walk was warm and sunny.

I met up, by chance, with a friend and her two rescue dogs. One, Jack, is deaf.

He’s a lovely fella who understands hand signals.

Nature outside, nature inside

I was admiring the white roses (blooming for the third time this year) that wind around the ash tree

Then I went to say “good morning” to the growing Silkie chicks in the pergola. It’s anyone’s guess, at this stage, as to which are boys and which are girls.

I came back into the kitchen and spied a tiny creature moving very slowly along the floor.

It looked like a mini snake but is, in fact, a Leopard slug. Pretty markings but out you go.

We have a laugh, a gossip and talk about the “old days”.

We reminisced and talked about the years that mum worked for the family planning services in Ladbroke Grove. She loved every moment she was there and she was loved by her colleagues and the patients. This led on to talking about the Mangrove trial at the Old Bailey in 1970 which exposed police harassment of, and lying against, the West Indian community of Notting Hill. Mum said, “The police used to just go into their houses – it was terrible”. She remembers it all. We talked about mum’s very “full bank of happy memories” and a life “well lived” . She mentioned a charity boxing match she and dad attended at a Park Lane hotel in the sixties. “Tom Jones was the singing act and we didn’t think he would be much good. Well he was fantastic and all of our friends thought the same.” I asked how many times they saw Sinatra – they saw him perform twice. They saw Sammy Davis Junior at The Talk of the Town, Danny Kaye at the London Palladium and they also saw Judy Garland twice. “I’m really jealous that you saw Garland,” I told mum – and we laughed. “There wasn’t much we didn’t see or do,” she said, enjoying the memories of theatre, cinema premieres, concerts, parties, golf and bridge playing and much, much more. “Oh mum I wish you could have written it all down”. For now we will have to make do with our Tuesday chats through the closed window and blowing each other virtual kisses.

Sloes aplenty down by the goose pond

But I have sloe gin on the go already – if anyone needs some come pick ‘em
The pond looks peaceful until the geese arrive and anyone picking sloes will have to brave the birds
Meanwhile, in the poly tunnel run the two young cockerels survived the night with six older hens. This lovely Orpington chook will eat from my hand if the mood takes her. Some days yes and some days she walks away from me. When she comes close she makes me very happy.

They went into the trailer calmly and together. They set off calmly and together and I will miss them.

It’s impossible to keep three full grown rams with one, small flock. There was already a certain amount of argy bargy between father Tufty and his sons which would, in time, lead to serious fighting and injury. A flock of sheep or a herd of cows only needs one male. The rest must move on to other homes or (vegetarians avert your eyes) to the abbatoir. That is the reality of raising livestock.