Soft, refreshing rain

The rain has come at last to the Fens and we are relishing the coolness that it offers. We just got finished in the garden late this afternoon before the first spots fell. There has been a steady rain ever since, and the garden is smelling fresh and looking very green.

We planted 48 tomato plants in various planters around the garden, moved lots more soil and raked it into the garden beds and weeded the other garden bed which also received the soil and compost as a top dressing so that the bed will be ready to receive some plants sometime soon.

The cooler weather meant that working in the garden was a much more pleasant experience for us all this afternoon.

This morning saw a triple baptism at church - a set of non-identical triplets who are about 8, I think. They wore beautiful cream dresses, gold sandals and lovely necklaces. Afterwards there was a larger than usual buffet and christening cake. We stayed much later than usual at church, and really enjoyed the celebrations.

I think that one of the Light Sussex hens has gone broody, so I'll watch her for a couple of days and then, if she seems tight, I am going to give her some eggs to sit on. Last night was reloading day for the incubators - the older ones are now holding Brown Sussex (13) and a mixture of Sebright/Silver Laced Wyandotte/GPO eggs (15) and the new automatic one has got the 11 Barred Plymouth Rock and the 6 bought-in Brown Sussex. Fingers crossed for a successful time.
There is a hatch due on Wednesday, though given recent experiences, they could start to hatch Tuesday - that should be a mixture of the Silver Laced Wyandotte and the GPO eggs.

The hatch from last week are all doing well and starting to get their wing feathers - they grow so quickly!