Sunny Start.

The day started bright and sunny with a warm breeze coming from the west. It looked like a good day for drying washing. 

When I went around the back of the house, having already got the washing machine started, the cows seemed to have a different idea of the day's weather. 

There was a lot of buzzing and coming and going by the bees taking advantage of the warm weather to carry on stocking up for the winter.

As I crouched down enjoying the sun and listening to the hum of the bees and the babbling of water in the stream I heard yet another noise. A frog or possibly a toad was uttering a single croak every now and then. Although I never saw the frog I was able to pin point its position to this patch of grass just inches from my feet. What a lot to see and hear in one corner of the garden.

By the time the washing was ready to hang out not only had the sun and the breeze disappeared but the air was redolent with the smell of cow poo. Somebody was doing some serious muck spreading nearby. Not wanting the sheets to smell like a cow shed instead I draped then over the rayburn and a couple of chairs. With the oven door open and the hotplate lids up I was able to get the sheets dry enough to iron. As part of getting things ready to go on Friday I emptied the drawers of an antique mahogany desk and moved it from our bedroom into the corridor. It's amazing how much bigger the bedroom looks without that one piece of furniture. I also took down an oriental rug that was hanging on the corridor wall. I'm so grateful that soon I will no longer have to hoover our rustic walls stone by stone. There was a bit of moth damage to the rug so before I rolled it up I gave it a spray with flea spray. It was quite an old can and was probably something that isn't used anymore (I seem to remember fly spray that had a similar smell) but I guess it will kill off any moths or caterpillars.