I won’t give the chickens a slice but I do appreciate their contributions (3 eggs).

Time to get baking!

I am waiting to bake a cake and need one more egg

So, if you could hurry up I would appreciate your assistance.

Jeremy dug up a dishful of Jerusalem Artichokes

Then it was a mix of peeled and sliced artichokes layered with peeled and sliced Desiree potatoes, cloves of garlic, sautéed onions

and all baked in the oven (with some stock) for over an hour until deliciously soft and tasty

I had to stop the car twice on the way home from tai chi

Along the walk I notice a new sign at the end of Honeydon Road

Apparently a rare orchid grows on the verge and the grass must only be cut at certain times of the year. This sign is to remind the contractors before they sully the site. At the end of our walk the other Gill comes to meet the goats (her favourite animals).

And is charmed by the quails.

Mrs Silkie has gone broody again and has laid a clutch of eggs in the wooden ark.

She is now sitting on them and we might have Christmas chicks – shouldn’t it be Easter chicks?

As the sun was setting I was cutting down Jerusalem artichoke canes.

Perhaps we should dig some up tomorrow and cook them.

And it shows

Mum’s new home is beautifully furnished, the staff always have a smile on their faces and offer cups of tea and coffee to residents and visitors alike (thank you). The other residents are mostly delightful (except, says mum, for the bossy one and the nutty one) but luckily mum has found several lovely companions. While I was with her this morning one of the staff picked up a microphone and began to sing like a professional. Apparently back in Romania she had, indeed, been an opera singer. There are entertainments and activities every day. If only every older citizen could live in such well designed and well staffed surroundings. Perhaps, even more critically, we should think of the 135000 children in this, rich country of ours who are homeless or in temporary accommodation. It is a tragedy and one that none of the political parties is addressing.