Stormy.

Strong winds have been blowing storm clouds across the sky all day long. There's been a lot of rumbling and some heavy showers but it has been very warm as the winds are coming up from the south. I did appreciate being able to sleep for as long as I wanted this morning. While it rained I got on with paperwork and cooked up another pan of apples. I've gone from having my home-made muesli in the mornings to cooking it up as porridge and some stewed apples make a good substitute for fresh fruit. I don't add any sugar to the apples as they are dessert apples but I do add lots of cinnamon. The dry spells weren't long enough to risk mixing up some cement so I did more grass cutting instead. The bank is mostly done and I've moved onto the wild flower meadow aka the patch of long grass which needs its annual trim.

I wasn't teaching at all today but I did have to got to school for a print making workshop after school. We were shown lots of techniques and good ideas to use with the children as the lady who ran the workshop is an artist and a teacher.  The school has bought water based printing inks, rollers and trays so I'm sure there will be plenty of printing going on in the next arts' week.

It's pheasant killing season again and lots of birds have been released into the countryside. A large group of birds have been hanging around in our valley and if they stay here they will remain safe. They were all at the bend in our road tonight. Judging by the number of road casualties they don't have a lot of road sense. Several times I've had to slow right down and wait for them to get off the road unlike the fat wood pigeons who like to play chicken and wait until the last moment before taking flight. But I've never seen a wood pigeon casualty on the side of the road.