Bugger - meant to post this before we went! Now back from India but this is from just before we left.

Not quite sure if spring has sprung but there is no snow, no frost and the heating isn't on continually.
The weekend was a major tidy-up in the garden. There is no doubt that the chickens are really destructive in the garden. Not so bad in the summer as the herbaceous plants are all established and everything else is big enough to stand up to hen power. At this time of year all the all the bulbs are coming up and the first shoots of spring are showing, all delightful green snacks for girls looking for end of winter treats.
Not only that but Cybil and Margot are championship scratchers - like a pair of tiny semi-domesticated velociraptors they rip the garden to shreds searching for any vegetation worthy of plundering - the better point is they also have now got over their fowl phobia of snails and slugs and devour them with relish. Saying that, Rubester is now without doubt our top mollusc muncher taking huge delight in ridding the garden of these slimy little pests.
Anyway - Harriet is STILL broody and we are off to India for a week so good luck Paul and Alex who are looking after the girls