That wilderness that had chest high grass and weeds is now more-or-less ours. There’s a small bit still to do but most of what we wanted to tame has been tamed (at least for now). David has worked really hard to double the cut-back area.

He got within touching distance of a field mouse but discretion is the better part of valour in such circumstances and as they’ve got sharp teeth, he decided not to prod it to send it on its way but to just wait for it to move on. The buzzards have been circling overhead as we’ve worked so I suspect that some of our field mice end up as buzzard fodder sooner or later. If the buzzards don’t get them then our big population of tawny owls probably will!

I’m still fascinated by the wild flowers that are already out there before we start work on the next step – drifts of speedwell, buttercup and these beautiful pink thistles are scattered around among the grasses. We’ll soon be trying to manage the wild flowers by introducing more indigenous plants and providing them with the conditions they need to thrive (hopefully – I’ll be consulting the RHS for help with that one I think).

For today, though, the hard work has again paid off. We’ve got more firewood and more shredded mulch because I’ve been disposing of a dead tree that came down in the gales over the winter that’s been making access to the field problematic, while David has been working in the field.

Both of us are aching but we’re both now feeling that we’re starting to ‘make improvements’ to our home, rather than just stemming the rot…..that’s a pretty good feeling.

Last year we were at the birthday party of our little friend Fin!