Excited expectant mother gets in a right flap

Best seat: one-horned Lily in front of the chicken enclosures

My wife is getting more than a little excited about the prospect of the arrival of her "babies" in the next day or so. The patter of tiny feet? Well, bantams' feet, to be precise.
And it doesn't end there. They will be followed by several Indian Runner ducks. We must be quackers.
The decision to increase the size of Family Fenman meant that accommodation had to be sorted out, too. So the last few days have been hectic sorting out chicken coops, making fox-proof enclosures and even fencing in new trees to stop the neighbour's sheep tearing them apart. All this between extreme heat and then heavy showers.

Fortunately, I was able to complete most of the work - with some invaluable hired help - before the really bad weather kicked in this weekend. Many areas of the UK, particularly the north of England - Hebden Bridge was badly affected - suffered floods as a month's worth of rain fell in less than 24 hours. Despite the weather, I didn't feel the need to build a chicken ark. If I did, I suppose I would have needed some two by two. Oh Noah! [I've used that before, but who cares?]
The goats were very curious as the new enclosure was going up, with pygmy goats Ralph and Lily particularly interested. The chickens, too, seemed unruffled by events and did a tour when the fencing was completed, before settling down to making dust bowls by one of the fences.
But this rain, along with sunny spells, is doing wonders for our garden. As previously mentioned, the vegetables are coming along a treat, and so are the flowers.

Feathered friends: up to mischief

Blooming lovely: our various roses

The roses are looking - and smelling - particularly good, although a couple of specimens are still suffering from a touch of blackspot despite our efforts to get rid of the disease last year.
We've tried cutting out the affected stems and leaves, and have disposed of them, but I think we might have to use to fungicide ... our last resort.
The new roses that we've planted, however, seem to be resistant to the disease so we're keeping our fingers crossed that we don't have problems with them. I'll keep you posted on this thorny issue.

• ---