Rain, Rain Go Away

Although a bit of rain is always good for the garden, this continuing deluge is really starting to get quite depressing now. It has now rained 15 days out of 20 this month which is most excellent for our crop of hay in the field but a complete disaster when you're trying to keep the lawn short and the garden tidy.

Enough moaning about the weather though. For those of you who suffered at the hands of our two evil cockerels, you'll be please to know that they have now moved on to a happier place with plenty of warmth and red wine. Attempt two at "coq au vin" was a vast improvement on attempt one which came out inedible. The breast portions were far better than the leg and thigh which was a little chewy.

A nice bi-product of "coq au vin" was the chance for a bit of biology for the kids who thoroughly enjoyed identifying the various internal organs before cutting them open to have a good look inside.

In place of the cockerels we have now purchased 4 baby turkeys, 2 bronze and 2 black, all we have to do now is get them nice and fat for Christmas. When they're small they're quite susceptible to disease so we'll take the first few weeks a day at a time and keep our fingers crossed.

Out in the garden, just like last year, the tops of all my potatoes have been burnt off by a late frost. Other casualties were the brussel sprouts and some of the beans. Not wanting any more disasters I have opted to keep the rest of the veg in the greenhouse for as long as I possibly can. The strawberries in the green house have been slowly producing their first crop and amazingly the fish are still alive and the elephant garlic is thriving in the hydroponics tank.