Queen of The Castle!

The owner of the field had placed some damp hay bales in the field for the dogs to play on. Apparently Ivy wouldn't sit on them during her play in the field with the owner and her dog. With a liberal scattering of treats she was up in a flash once it her hour with Oscar! We tried getting Oscar up but Ivy was too quick in her pursuit of the treats and once there she refused to come down!We didn't even attempt to get Frankie up there - he's far too stout and short of breath! I've tried to upload extras but gremlins in my system or blips! Will try later!But heres a link to a full view ofIvy on the bales!
On the way home I stopped to buy a bale of straw for the hens- they have to go into lockdown as Bird Flu seems to be in the Wetlands. Sadly 4 of the 5 cygnets I photographed only days ago died over the weekend and today the parents and final cygnet are showing signs of illness. DEFRA has been contacted. Everyone in the village is so saddened by their loss. Have to wonder if the wetlands have caused this with the variety of migrating birds they have attracted. The swans have been here for years and always nest on the landing deck of the same house every year. I wonder how many of the other birds seen in the wetlands have also died but gone unnoticed.
I also seem to have caught a bit of an odd  cold - I have a dry, ticklish cough, no other symptoms so far! Interestingly I've just been booked up for a lung health check! I passed the first telephone assessment and am considered as someone with a higher rate of developing lung cancer - I'm an ex - smoker. I'm now booked in for a CT scan at a mobile scanning vehicle. My leaflet tells me 2 in every 100 people scanned will be diagnosed with lung cancer. Apparently this programme is to catch lung cancer at the early stages so treatment is simpler and more successful. Lets hope my cold has gone by then as otherwise they won't do it !