Zoo Day.

Lots of sun again today.

It was perfect weather to cycle down to the zoo. And I'm very satisfied to report that I made it all the way home again without stopping (apart from at the roundabout where I would have been squished by a car going round if I hadn't). Possibly the wind direction made cycling easier but maybe my legs are getting stronger too. I know for certain that all the lifting of concrete blocks and mixing of mortar is giving me arm muscles like Popeye.

At the zoo I concentrated on clearing the gravel by the wolf-dogs and four hours later it was spotless. The tree dropped many bunches of small cones back along and every time I walked past I kept thinking I should clear them. But there was always something else more urgent to do and at least they wouldn't grow any larger unlike the weeds. I may also have been hoping that the wind would blow them away or something else would magically make them disappear. That was not to be and instead the bunches broke up and I had to pick up each teeny cone instead of scooping up the bunches. But I got it done and removed all the weeds before they had a chance to seed. It was very peaceful picking up every unwanted object, I felt like a Buddhist monk cleaning a Zen garden, not that I would know but you get the gist.

There was a little bit of excitement when Mr Pea, the peacock escaped from his enclosure. For his whole life he has been free to wander round the zoo but Avian flu restrictions have kept all birds confined for the last six months. I think they were hoping to catch him at feeding time in the evening.

One of the pygmy goats found a new way to reach the hay through a hole in the shed wall. I suppose that this way she didn't have to jostle with the other goats for a place at the manger.

It was quite late in the afternoon by the time I got home but after a brief rest I was back to cleaning blocks and emptying the compost from the middle of the wall.

No Pilates tonight as it was Blood Donors in the Hall. (They don't want my blood because of the medicines I take.) That gave me the chance to carry on working outside before having a quiet al fresco supper with Peter. This weather is far too nice to waste by sitting indoors.