Pickled cucumbers everywhere

And the first aubergine emerges from the poly tunnel

To use the oversized paddling pool. As there are no children here, the oversized kid went in and the water was so warm

I tried and failed. So sorry. I will miss you.

The goslings have spent their second night at the pond. Not yet part of the flock they, thankfully, have each other and they have ventured into the shallow water.

The little blackbird is not thriving yet still alive. Last night I used tweezers to pick up mealworms and dangle them over her beak. She opened but could not hang onto the food. Tiny pieces of egg were slightly better but not enough to sustain her. I’ve just spent another 15 minutes trying but without any success. She’s so docile and soft and I will be sad to lose her.

Hard boiled egg, chick crumbs, plums and apples and a fresh supply of mealworms that I just collected from our friends in Keysoe. Here’s hoping she will be tempted to eat and put on the weight she needs to survive

A kind and knowledgable man from Cambridge Farm Vets visited us this afternoon. We had booked three CAE tests for the goats. CAE is a debilitating disease of the joints and maybeven cause encephalitis. Before we breed with Wisp and Meghan and again with Willow we must ensure they are CAE free. The goats were also vaccinated as were the sheep with lambivac to protect them against the deadly chlostridium (a bacteria found in the soil).

Before the vet left us I asked him to take a look at the injured blackbird. The vet has a special interest in wild animals so he was the perfect man for the job – and so gentle.

We must feed Sweetie Pie more worms and more protein (hard boiled egg apparently) as she is very thin. If she survives it will take more than a month for her wing feathers to regrow. We are now feeding a blackbird at The Gables. Hey ho!