Boy was it hot today - full sun, extreme radiation and a still day on top. After tending to the plants I retreated indoors but Smidgen failed to return from his morning run. Finally strolled in around 2 which was a huge relief because when he disappears like that I worry something awful might have happened. Extra worry today as the neighbour's killer dog is somewhere on the loose. It got off last night and has not been seen since. With any luck a farmer has shot it. They do not seem terribly concerned and have made only a half-hearted effort to find it so far.

Being indoors I planted up some basil seeds in the mini-hothouses and did two loads of washing. Both of them sheets. Since it was a still day they went outside to dry on the airers (which fall over if there is a breeze) and so smell lovely.

Took advantage of their absence to wash the floors and have a general tidy up as I will be baking a cake this evening for a friend's birthday.

The compost seems to be behaving itself so far though I am checking it regularly for temperature increases - perhaps being less moist timbers than the lot I had in Brisbane it will remain calm and not do anything untoward.

Checked along the hedgeline and realised I can start installing it fairly quickly as my earlier horehound removal exercise has left me with access right up to the stems of the hawthorn. I will be going out for Lunch tomorrow so will probably not start then as I will be wanting to be relaxed in the morning and will possibly be tiddly in the afternoon - not a condition conducive to work.

So it was a fairly unproductive day, but a relaxing one. Now all I need to do is bake this cake, eat my dinner and go to bed. How nice!