Counting sheep...

I thoroughly enjoyed my second Mother's Day meal prepared by Chris. He made a lamb tagine with giant couscous, salad and griddled courgettes followed by strawberries with balsamic vinegar and black pepper.I'm very lucky that my boys are all quite good cooks, though perhaps not yet quite as accomplished or adventurous as Ceridwen's sons.

I had a more restful day today, catching up with correspondence. Alex went to Luton yesterday evening to help celebrate a friend's 18th birthday. I went to pick him up from the station after lunch and as soon as I saw him I knew he was ill - he looked so grey and drawn. He said he had a sore throat and all his muscles felt as though they were on fire. When we got home I took his temperature, which was 38.6C, and looked at his tonsils which were swollen and spotty - tonsillitis was diagnosed. I dosed him up with painkillers, let him have a warm bath and then sent him to bed.

While he was sleeping Pete and I took Rosie to Old Sulehay Forest, which was very , very muddy - a great contrast to this time last year when everything was dry as a bone. The snowdrops were in full flower, remarkably late, and the bluebells, ramson and dog's mercury leaves made the woodland floor quite verdant.

As we returned through Stonepit Close we came across this lady counting the sheep who are helping to manage the species-rich grassland in this disused limestone quarry. They are a very mixed flock, but include quite a high proportion of primitive breeds, which tend to be much better at surviving on poor forage. She seemed to be having some difficulty totting up the numbers - but using a photograph I made it 53. I hope none had gone missing...

It' getting late now and an early night is on the cards, so once again I'm not sure whether I'll have the energy to browse your journals. I'm being such a bad blipper at the moment :( But as I write this, Alex's temperature seems to be more normal and he looks a little brighter, so I'm hoping we might avoid a trip to the doctor.