Today, in full disgrace with my family, I've had my head down and worked like a trojan. I've thrown my back into doing stuff in the garden - I've dug in masses of manure and I now smell absolutely lovely! I've divided herbaceous plants and planted shrubs and some perennials. One of the things I love about gardening is the way that people rally round and give you stuff - one person has too much of one thing and another has too much of something else. Our garden is full of other people's cast-off plants and each one reminds me of the person who gave it to me.

I've photographed this passion fruit plant before - on a number of occasions but I loved this photo because it describes the day beautifully - watching the hens poke around and see what they fancy to eat. It's been quite revealing watching them, they love spinach (almost all of my spinach patch has been eaten) and we've discovered they love passion fruit too. They pull open the skin and pull out the seeds - it's hilarious to watch.

Now I'm inside I'm no less miserable but at least I feel as though I've achieved something.