The robin now has a nest box for roosting and for a new family in the spring. It’s sheltered in the corner behind the apple tree, which is one of its favourite haunts.

Mum dug over Bed 6 to get rid of the new weeds while I was doing this, then we covered it to prevent any more weed growth before Leo comes along.

We cleared up all the stuff that the rat had thrown out and put it back on the pile. I checked the bait station and none of the bait had been touched. No doubt down to the exciting apples I’d left on the heap the week before.

The broccoli is slowing down, but I won’t bother taking it up until necessary. I’ve picked the biggest beetroots and now the next size down will be the next ones to come up. The second sowing will be a good bit smaller still.

When I came back in the afternoon there was a huge buzzard sitting on my fencepost as I drew up. It then sat on the roof of the potting shed for a while before flying off.

I’d gone down to do the weeding, but got diverted into a job I’d been thinking about for a while. I’ve now bound together the two panels of chicken wire with my wire, so that there’s no billowing gap any more. Putting more log roll edging along the back, I had to remove my ad hoc spur but I’ve managed to push the fencepost on the other side further away with a fate cane hammered into the base. That combined with wiring the fence has made the fence stand up straighter.

I’ve mulched the end of the right boundary and along the front to just past the pear tree. The tree was a bit off kilter and the stake wasn’t doing anything. I discovered that it had rotted at ground level, so I just took it out of the equation and did what I could make firm up the tree a little.