What a long month it has been. School is out now and we are almost a whole week into our holidays. However my husband has developed shingles. I had heard of it before and knew it was a very nasty illness but I never realised just how painful and debilitating it is - until I had to watch my husband trying to cope with the excruciating pain. I do hope it eases soon. Apparently it lasts for about 4 weeks and he is only halfway through.

One of the new hens has gone broody. So no eggs from her. There has only been one time when we have had 7 eggs in a day from the 7 new hens in the 3 1/2 months that we have had them. We haven't had any eggs ourselves for over two weeks now as I have been trying to supply all my customers with a box of eggs before school stopped. The two that live near me had a special delivery just after school stopped so for the rest of the summer, the eggs are ours. Apart from when the family want some, that is. I am hoping to freeze a few bags of beaten egg (2 eggs in a bag - the right amount for a cake or a one person omelette) for the winter when the hens lay fewer eggs. If I use the small zipped freezer bags from the £1 shop and lay them flat to freeze, like I do for soup, then they stack very nicely and do not take up much room at all. My husband is thinking that he can have cake again as I will have more time to make him one (or rather more than one, he hopes) as well as more eggs.

I have been letting our grass grow long again before cutting it and drying it for hay for the rabbits for the winter. I just do a bit at a time and pop it in a couple of old laundry baskets in the shed if it looks like rain. Between the rabbits eating the grass and drying some for the winter, we haven't actually used the mower this summer.

Well, I am off to bed. It is very early but if my husband is having very disturbed nights because of the pain - then so do I... and I am soooo tired.

Good night!