The grass is growing fast and everyone is getting involved in the gardening.

As you can see the grass is pretty long in the field so finding balls is getting more of a challenge for the girls. Archie joins in from time to time when they least expect it, when he takes a break from watching the boundaries and warning off foxes.

The paddling pool from Freecycle  has come into its own with everyone using it from time to time, the ducks and geese make a real mess of it and then its a great gunky mess to add to the plants in the evening. Tomatoes in particular are getting this as a treat.

But as with all families sometimes its hard to share

 The hens have been laying "off piste", which in the past was more amusing than anything while we hunted for them and then persuaded them to lay back in the hen house again. 

But this year we have discovered that Daisy has taken to hunting them out and scoffing the lot. She ate up a clutch of 8 that I had just moved to the ark to try & persuade one of the hens to go broody. But today she retrieved two, undamaged and gently laid them at my feet so I think perhaps we might be able to train her up as our own egg hunter, with a reasonable reward in exchange, of course.

The dogs have been giving the garden a bit of a battering recently with this clump of ornamental grasses becoming the favourite wrestling place, probably as it is fun to roll off the top of the clump. It's also where all the lost balls keep emerging after a few days.

And of course if I take an interest in a plant for any reason everyone has to come and find out why and bring a toy just in case there's a game afoot.
Archie in particular keeps an eye out for mice hiding in corners behind pots and containers.

Mid week I had a trip to the Applestore in Manchester to set up a 1to1 session, although its good to get into town it feels even better to get back home  "in  the sticks"

So, back to the chase....to help save some plants from being barged by the dogs playing chase around the place I planted up some old tyres which are  proving a good solution. I don't spend time weeding, the hens can't reach inside to eat them before I get to them and the dogs don't knock them over. So here are some potatoes and mixed salad happily coexisting with our strange collection of animals.

t.

Fly the gander has been rather solitary while Mo was sitting on her eggs. After she had been sitting for over 35 days and protecting them from all and sundry, in particular from Daisy, I came to the conclusion that they weren't fertile.I took my life in my hands, while she left the nest for a drink, to steal the eggs and checked them one by one. There was no doubt as each one exploded as soon as I cracked them. Afterwards @auntywainright told me on twitter that I should have put them in a warm bowl of water and if they were fertile and near to hatching they would have bobbed around. I think she told me last year and that's what we did with the ducks eggs but it escaped my memory this year. But no harm done as they were definitely infertile. Poor Mo what a waste of energy and commitment.
Anyway the pair are out and about together again, Mo just has to get back into condition having not eaten as well as normal while she was sitting. Fly is looking very handsome, its disappointing the eggs weren't fertile but he had an eye infection just before she laid that clutch so perhaps he just hadn't been interested! Its a shame we'll now have to wait until next year as its unlikely she'll lay anymore this year. I may buy some Embden goslings to grow on for Christmas instead, we'll have to see....In which case I had better get cutting some grass so there is enough new grass for everyone.