At 7.30 this morning we were woken not by Radio 4's wind-baggy and self righteous 'Today' programme but by the bleating of a few hundred sheep. John, Heather and Carl had gathered the flock in the yard on the other side of the garden wall with a view to selecting some of the better lambs To Go To Market. And we know what that means...... Lamb chops.
Vegetables. This is not going to be a Gold Medal year for beans - at least not in the garden at The Granary. In his innocence Alan sprayed the last of the raised beds with some awful toxic mix to get rid of the weeds that had persisted over the autumn and winter. We'd assumed that the spray would deal only with the weeds it touched and not rest in the soil. However, regretfully this has not been the case - beans failed to germinate and the tomatoes and lettuce suffered terribly before I ejected them. The second sowing of beans are through but look fairly pathetic. They may pull through yet as the stuff loses its potency. A lesson learned.
On the plus side we've got Basil, Coriander and Lettuce in abundance. Pesto will be on the menu.
As I write this, fairly late on, the sheep are quiet at last. The ewes have been very noisy all day - shouting for their lambs I guess - which if I thought about it too much in a certain frame of mind would make me very sad indeed. I keep reminding myself that a. They are sheep and we shouldn't assign human emotions to them and b. They have had a really good, if short, life out on the hill.
Finally, congratulations to Rhona and John on the birth of their son, Samuel, born on Saturday 8 weeks' early. How special to be born on Midsummer's Day!
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