Back in the game... almost!

We had a much better sleep last night. Helen still woke regularly, but wasn't awake each time for much longer than a glance at the clock and a repositioning of herself around the cats, both of whom decided to sleep on the bed last night - very unusual! I, on the other hand, slept solidly and soundly, only waking a couple of times to move, again around the cats.

Through one half open eye I saw Helen leave the bedroom around 8.30am. It had been thundering and pouring with rain for some time, so I was a little surprised she was going outside, but it wouldn't have been the first time she'd gone out in the rain to jump around, so I closed my eyes again, only to wake up at 9.15am with Lucca shouting at me from beside me- he didn't want me to sleep, he wanted me to stroke him so that he could sleep. I couldn't placate him with a few strokes he just shouted again, so I was soon wide awake.

I decided not to get up and head for the shower yet as I thought that Helen would be coming in soon and needing one straight away, so instead I switched on my e-reader and got stuck into the last few chapters of Limitless.

When I next looked at the clock (having finished the book) it was nearly 10am!! I couldn't understand why Helen hadn't come back in. I went downstairs in my dressing gown to find her in 'civvies', working at her computer - she hadn't even gone outside! I can't say that I could blame her in the slightest - the rain really had been pounding down and the thunder clapping overhead when she got up - so I'd been wasting time in bed for nothing. I have to admit that I thoroughly enjoyed the luxurious hour of reading though.

After breakfast (which was nearly lunch time), with the weather still decidedly soggy outside, I decided it was time to tackle the old freezer that we had inherited when we bought the house. Although it had been emptied, it was filthy and mouldy inside, and even Helen had been finding excuses to postpone the inevitable job of cleaning it out. However, we are now reaching a point where we hope to be more organised with our meals and the seasonal produce we'll have available to us will lend itself to cooking and freezing in batches - stews, ragu, etc. - hopefully meaning we can have some evenings without having to cook!

After removing and dismantling the drawers, giving everything two thorough washes followed by a wipe down with an antibacterial disinfectant, we now have a working freezer! A small job, and one we have wanted to do and kept talking about doing, but also the one that's been easiest to push to the back burner every time.

Although the rain had stopped by lunch time, it was still damp out, so we ate lunch was indoors, after which we both went out to work on the goose fencing for the afternoon. I think Helen was starting to feel a bit penned in after having missed her morning's exercise and having sat at her computer for 3 hours. Thankfully, now her work is a little less full-on (post conference), she has a bit more flexibility to do other things. So, as the sky started to clear and the sun attempted to break through, we both headed for Goose Island.

Today we started the anti-dig, fox-proofing part of the job. This involves fitting another chicken wire fence - with smaller holes - around the bottom of the existing stuff, but also bending it 8-10 inches outwards along the ground and pinning it into the ground. This means that when a crafty fox tries to dig at what he thinks is the bottom of the fence, he's actually trying to dig through the chicken wire that he's standing on and is thus thwarted. Well, that's the theory anyway!

After a solid three hours, we'd completed about 85% of the job - more than I'd imagined we would get done, which was great. It was one of those jobs where the second person counts as almost two, making the job much easier. So, as I went around fitting the fence, Helen followed behind me, nailing the wire to the posts, tying the new chicken wire to the existing stuff, and pegging in the sections along the ground with home-made tent pegs (made by re-purposing some wire coat hangers). When the grass and vegetation has grown through this part of the chicken wire, it will be tied in very securely so the pegs don't need to last too long.

As the light started to fade at around 6.30pm, I downed my tools to sit on the patio and start writing the blog while Helen finished off the section of fence she was working on. When Helen had downed her tools, we both took a walk to go and check for post. It seems that we're now having to do this surreptitiously, without the cats seeing us leave, as yesterday they decided they were going to be brave and followed us along the drive with no intention of stopping! Since we don't want to introduce them to the road (albeit some distance away), or lose them in the depths of the woods, we figure it best if they don't explore all the way along the drive - it's not as if they're short of land to play on after all!

So, after a slow start to the day (slower for some than for others), we ended up getting plenty achieved, so all round success. Let's hope that's the jet lag dealt with. Tomorrow, if all goes well, should see Goose Island finished and ready for inhabitants... as soon as we can find some!

As the rain clouds disappear, tomorrow promises to be a beautiful day.