Sun sets on the weekend

Eyes gradually open; roll over to grab watch from bedside table pondering the time since the cat, a regular 7am alarm clock, hasn't appeared, so thinking it must be about 6ish; see that it's after 8.30; realise Ecodad and Instography will have already met up and be on their way to East Linton and I have no way of contacting them; roll back over.

I never sleep in. Well hardly ever. Basically I don't need much sleep. I'm like a cuddlier, friendlier, slightly less megalomaniacal version of Margaret Thatcher. But this morning was the exception that proved the rule.

Probably just as well, Skye had a bit of a strop in the morning about the new girls, so I was able to let all four out to free range, though the new girls took it tentatively. They have names now, delving into movie reference-world, the Speckledy is Holly (Golightly) and the Light Sussex was Mia (Wallace), but we soon realised she suited Roxy (Hart) better. Not that it helped with introductions now having names, Skye making sure there was a bit of pecking to assert her authority. Holly has learned to keep out of her way; Roxy could be a tougher nut to crack, and lost a few feather for her boldness. Such is the way of the establishment of the pecking order.

Always fun seeing the new chooks explore. The current pair were bought from a farm where they were already free-ranging. This new pair were kept in a barn, even their reaction to grass has been funny. And over time their combs will grow and fill with colour, and their personalities, already evident, will come through fully.

And while I've been complaining about the stress of introducing new chooks to the established mini-flock, Mel keeps casting me back to two years ago. Now getting Skye and Ruby integrated, that was an issue and a half...

Matters settled, and the shopping procured despite the best efforts of trolley-wielding morons determined to leave their goods sprawled across aisles at the most inconvenient of moments, we popped out briefly along the coast to Aberlady. Instead of making for the RSPB reserve we plodded westwards, round a golf course, where we found ourselves what looked like an established seal colony (not as big as I've blipped once or twice before back at the northern home, but nice to know there's somewhere I might be able to see them regularly here) and some Shelducklings.

Evening ends with more peace and quiet from the chooks; a cheesy old movie (Fame, better than I expected); a fantastic chilli; and the football on the side playing on the iPad (who says blokes can't multi-task?). Slightly tiring weekend. But that's nothing on a few coming up this month (including my first ever cyclocross race, which I am officially terrified about...).