I have to get you a photo of the moulting chick, I grabbed Luke's camera, swapped the lens and turned it on only to find it didn't have a camera card in. What a waste. She looks so messy right now with that one remaining tail feather and her tiny patch of skin that was bare yesterday now sprinkled with tiny new quills that makes her look like Desperate Dan's chin.
The two hens spent over three hours dusting themselves in the greenhouse; in fact they loved it so much I left them in there with water and ventilation, whilst I went to the supermarket.
I checked out the veg and picked the last lot of beans before letting them got to seed for next year. I popped some in a bag and hooked it over Jack's back door handle for his dinner whilst I had just enough left for our meal. The three rows of spinach that I planted weeks ago have, despite my best attempts with chicken wire and slug pellets,  been decimated by those slimy critters. Luckily my broccoli is doing well with it's caged protection - that's maybe why the slugs went elsewhere and noshed on my spinach. There's not one bit left.
I thinned out and gave some of the pak choi to the hens, they like their greens too. Any thinnings that I didn't use went in the compost bin so they weren't wasted. Gosh, I love gardening. Sappy but true. It made up for the ironing and housework that had to be completed later.

What a wonderful treat.

Last weekend we visited Mum and were hoping to stop by at Cothay Manor but the weather was appalling and we never got out of the drawing room where we had a lovely autumnal fire going. Today I have earned myself a day off having worked two twelve and a half hour days in the last two days. This morning, pulling back the curtains I was thrilled to see the sun  was finally out; what luck. The garden looked so good with it's neat edged veg plot and the different rows of green and purple veg leaves. I haven't been home to pick the raspberries so there are luscious fat jewels about to drop off their stalks and which I've greedily hoovered into my mouth with just a cursory wipe. Our lovely Shakira is going through a serious moult (chickens moult annually to replenish feathers) and she now has an oven ready patch on her back with only one stray tail feather holding on, looking like the solitary survivor of a manic hair dresser. She has lots of tufty grey down and looks thoroughly embarrassed of her appearance. She should be a beautiful chicken ready for the winter chills.
All I have done is mow the back and front lawn and protect the fence wood (for the back fence) whilst the rain abates. This afternoon I hope to plant up my bulbs. Oh, the joy of being able to do something just for me.