Very full up and very satisfied.

With no rain to speak of and a mere hint of damp in the air we are now starting to worry about some of our crop. The sweet corn has burrowed deep and is finding water but the dwarf beans and pumpkin are looking bedraggled and sad. We have watered as much as we can but this is a relentless drought. I smile to myself  at the fear I felt when the children emigrated to Australia where there is  no water and how worrying it was to have them so far away without a drop to drink…..well kids, it’s mummy and Daddy who are in dire straits now.

I had my bleat and now I can boast my two year old strawberry plants have got their feet well and truly in the soil and nothing is going to stop them.  This is half of the pick this morning and I am scheduled to do another on Sunday. I have to pace myself so I can get the jam process underway and so we don’t get all strawberried out before the crop really gets going and I suspect that will be towards the end of next week. I have stashed nine pots of ravishingly fabulous jam for our winter treats of scones and cream sat by the cuisiniere thanking ourselves for being so hard working and productive during the summer.

I had a little panic yesterday when I went to check the strawberry patch and saw that a hedgehog had got himself caught up in my nets and when I lifted him out I saw he was still alive but totally immobile and strangled with the net. Mike came up to cut him free then we had to take him to the table and cut away all the netting around his little body and as Mike cut to release him we could feel him relax and breath again. I know that if I had not  gone just at that moment he would have died. We put him in a  open bottomed cage so he would feel comfortable in his  environment. Mike wanted him to un-ball himself to check that all the net was untangled and cut away.  Later in the day I went up with my camera to see if I could catch a glimpse at his fabby little face and accept his thanks and gratitude for saving his life but the little blighter had escaped. Mike was pleased as it meant he made a good recovery and is now making his way back to the strawberry patch to finish off what he started

We had to go to Brico Depots in Cherbourg today to buy the final bits to get the electric connected, and ready for when the box is installed. We needed many meters of wire to link the vans to the board and  planks of wood to make the newly acquired steps safer.  We are so near to finishing this project and the closer we get the more excited we are at the prospect of earning a few bob and having a bit of an occupation.  I felt in celebratory mood and quite hungry as we passed the sign to Port Flamands and asked if we could go to see if the beach café was open for moules and we were in luck. We tucked into a fantastic lunch all washed down with a bottle of cider and an hour looking out to sea  pondering the sale of our boat and who would be the lucky person to buy her,  then back on the road and onto the next job, very full up and very satisfied.