The australorp hen died last night. There has been no helpful feedback from BYP so it remains one of life's mysteries I am afraid. She has been planted under the walnut tree which has finally gone into the ground near the new chicken shed to provide shade in summer when it gets a bit bigger (the tree, not the shed).

Sunny weather today inspired a quick round of the main yard with the lawnmower to discourage all that new growth brought on by the various sprinkles of rain and I also did a quick round of roundup on those areas where re-growth is occuring in unwanted places (eg against the house foundations, the edges of the raised beds, the future terrace out the back etc).

Then a bit more fiddling with the woodbox to work out how to reattach the top rail onto the panelling beside the chimney breast that I had removed, straightened up and re-attached with some masonry nails.

So I was just getting into relaxing mode when the painter turned up again with his ladder and a book about the district that contained the same image I have already seen of my house in the 1920s (at the far end of the street, the photo having been taken from up the hill near the methodist church). We stood and looked at photos for some time, and talked about former occupants, then he up the ladder to have a look at the house with no real conclusive results. Then he wandered off into the distance and I returned indoors where I lit the fire as it is coolish tonight. It was 0.9 at seven this morning, which seems a bit chilly for this time of year ... Still, the tomatoes are still alive and producing lots of green, small fruit, and even the rouge de marmande that I grew from seed is producing fruit now. Clearly too late for any of it to have a chance to mature, but I will sort that out next year given half a chance.