Warm.

There was heavy dew this morning when I first went outside. I was looking up to check if any pesky rooks were in the big tree at the back of the house (they have already colonised a tree on Paul's land but we are discouraging them from moving any closer to the house by shooting at them with an airgun & if that fails it will have to be the shotgun), when I saw these butterflies warming up on the roof and chimney. I don't know how long the butterflies will survive but the sedum flowers are only just opening and the buddlias are still going strong. I got some weeding done in the morning and sent off my final diatribe about the wind turbine to the planning authorities. It wasn't really a rant but full of facts and figures with appropriate references otherwise your comment gets discounted. 

I had a good afternoon at school with one of the Year 2 classes doing some patterns in their sketch books. It was such a nice afternoon that the children were able to use the field at playtime and we stayed out quite a lot longer than normal. It is strange to look at all the small children who were Reception children last year but are now in Year 1. The new Reception children don't start until next week but they have already spent 2 afternoons with us before the holidays. Some of them may be only just 4 years old as we now only have one intake in September instead of not starting the younger children until January. 

The clouds were beginning to gather as I drove home.. The farmers are rushing to get the latest silage cut in before the promised rain arrives. I got stuck behind this tractor on the way home but was able to overtake it on the long hill coming out of Shirwell. I too was rushing to strim the long grass on the bank and that done I moved to the chicken's run and cut back the weeds that have sprung up. When I had 12 hens they scratched up all the weeds but it is too much for my single hen.