The scarecrows have arrived

On Saturday the church fete will take place in our village. The Queen's 90th birthday looms large, with union flags and pictures of the Queen on display.

This year there is a scarecrow competition and the first few have appeared over the last couple of days. This charlady has obviously not heard of the minimum wage!

I don't think I'll have time to make one but I'll enjoy the work of others. Since our shop volunteers have been awarded the MBE for volunteers this week, the enthusiasm for celebrating the Queen's birthday is  very high.

I drove to Hexham with trepidation this morning. The main road is closed while the railway bridge is repaired and we all expected total chaos. The town was very quiet with lots of free parking spaces.

My car - rather belatedly - had the snow tyres changed for ordinary ones. I had an hour to sit and wait and do a crossword in the paper. Then I did a very big food shop so that we don't have to go to town for another few days.

There was thunder nearby this afternoon, but the rain did not reach here. It would be welcome.