Out Of Africa

Yesterday morning we were promised we would drown in a day of unbroken sun. Indeed, before the sun even appeared the sky was aflame. (extra photo taken exactly at sunrise time). However, then watched the 7:00 am TV news and weather only to learn we wouldn't get much sun at all. Sahara Dust had suddenly made its way up from Morroco, around the west side of the French Alps and working its way via Switzerland to us. The dust apparently causes clouds to form, dry ones with no rain, and these are what really blocks the sun.

And so the day was not to be all it had been cracked up to be but was still warm and the farmers have now really got to work on the fields with the slurry, ploughs and even seeding and this despite a temperature crash forecast for Friday, potentially with some snow.

I got on with my veg plot project and somehow got the wall finished. Not overly happy with the result but it will do. Normally with such a job, I would dig the trench, make sure it is level, compact some stone in the base and then build the wall. However, if you have free-ranging chickens you will know this is impossible. Ever spade put into the ground is accompanied by ten beaks trying to get to the worms first and then your trench is back-filled within minutes as the girls scratch around. Have to take it stone by stone and that makes levelling near impossible.

Out on the evening walk, saw our first stork of the year. We have an increasingly large population in the area. At last birds in general are back on the fields, but I had little chance to photograph them as got into a very long conversation with an acquaintance out walking her two dogs. Did vaguely make out some geese on the fields and right at the end when it was almost totally dark, heard & then saw a pair of Ruddy Shelducks take off just 10 m from me. Hadn't seen them since March 2017.