Its staying warm

   The rain continues to miss my patch of France. Up the road, about five kilometres away, it rained. As I write this looking out of my front room window the sky is dark with clouds that look heavy with rain. Will it rain here I wonder. The garden is as dry as a desert!
   In the poly tunnel lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes and basil hang on in there. Hopefully the nice looking green tomatoes will have time to turn red or orange! I have planted out a good number of beetroot in the poly tunnel more in hope than anything that I may get some this year. Those in the outside garden have suffered from lack of rain and I have not pulled any this year. First of the main crop potatoes have been dug up, variety Desiree. The rest of the crop looks promising. Outside tomatoes are now well and truly finished with one or two hanging on in there with the promise of few more tomatoes to come. There is a good number of butternut squash ripening and the outside cucumbers are still producing one or two every few days. Some are starting to go over now. 
   I have been busy cutting down hedges and clearing out overgrown areas in the front of the house. Half of my barn roof is currently being replaced and my long suffering rear garden (from the fosse installation a couple of years ago!) is once again being battered from falling roof tiles.
   On the animal front Mrs Chick lost her third chick, probably to a rat. The hens are laying well, five to seven a day. Sheep are being sheep!