we actually made it to 18 today!! Amazing stuff. I was all inspired and set out to dig a hole. This hole is one I have been putting off for around 3 years and is intended to provide a base for the clothesline - it would be nice to be able to take advantage of this glorious weather to dry the washing, don't you think? The reason it has been deferred for so long is complex. Where to put it? How deep to dig it? little things like that, with the added burden that where-ever it goes it will be digging through the rubble that is the upper portion of my yard. I found the location by driving a star picket into the ground to tie the dog up (remember my abortive attempt to provide him with a running leash?) which had to be driven further and further into the ground due to it falling over under pressure. Eventually it got so deep I concluded that there was no bedrock immediately below the surface and thought - ah yes, that would be a good place for a clothesline. But digging a hole in this ground requires wet soil, and it was the state of dampness that finally triggered activity. There are still another six or more inches to go before it will be deep enough to hold the piece of pipe that will go into it, and things are getting a bit awkward - not to mention muscles getting a bit sore - so digging has ceased for the day and the dog kennel has been moved to cover the hole to avoid people falling into it (not to mention me or the dog). Once it is sufficiently deep I will have to buy a bag of post hole mix to install the pipe Since the hole is now huge due to the need to gain access to its depths, I will be using a discarded chimney topper (cylinder on square base for holding the flue at the top). The idea is that if I have concrete dumped on the square base to provide a flange, and concrete in the middle of it, the pipe should have sufficient concrete to hold it in position, then ram stones and soil onto the base cement once it is dry. Any critical feedback on this proposal is welcome -you have a week to give it as I won't be buying the cement any time soon.

Dinner tonight is a lamb flap slow cooked in onions with a bay leaf - a fancy schmancy recipe that took my eye - Simon Hopkinson from the BBC published it. After three hours you take the lamb out and pop it in a baking dish to dry it out, meanwhile draining off the juices, skimming the fat, returning the and the onions to the casserole dish, minus the bay leaf, then add anchovies and red wine vinegar, simmering until the juices are reduce by half. Sounds nice.

Bit of wood cut too today as there is a bit of a dip in the weather coming tomorrow and the next day,  but trending ever upward otherwise.