My local timber merchant’s yard is feeling like a second home. Riffling through wood piles to find the straightest pieces of wood or sitting in the sun with one of the lads as we fathom out how much of what I need to bring my scribbles on a piece of paper... Keeping chickens is one of my domestic pleasures. They are easy to keep and the rewards are immense. I still get an excited feeling picking out their eggs each day and using those eggs in cooking brings greater levels of significance and responsibility. Now the... Everyday I’ve been doing my anxious mother hen impression checking on the seeds I planted last week. Watching and waiting to see the signs of seedlings breaking cover through the light dusting of soil I pushed over them. The first shoots started coming... After another washout Sunday it was a delight to start the week with a sunny Monday. Even if I know it’s going to be short lived I was determined to enjoy the day. The bassets and I decided to visit the neighbours but they were busy with their snouts in the... The laws of nature can be baffling sometimes. Certainly there has been plenty for me to learn about living in the country. I am not sure where justice fits in the laws of nature but I know that life and death is a fine balance with its own in-built pecking order.... 