Blob did indeed hatch out three lovely chicks in the summer, here are thier pictures.
We have one yellow Brahma and two Partridge Greys. They are much more flighty than the others and only about 2/3rd's the size but they certainly make more noise. Adorable.

On the 13th July, Spike, our wonderful hen, hatched 4 lovely chicks.
I am totally enamoured with them, as they are so delightful to watch.
We don’t have our own cockerel so I had to buy the eggs in and swap them for her own. The little ones we now have are Rhode Island Reds.

We are currently keeping Spike and her brood in a separate, purpose built pen, once they are old enough to be sexed I will work out what to do with them.
I will keep the females if I’m lucky enough to have any.

And as if not to be outdone, another of our ladies went broody.
Blob made a halfhearted effort at it for 3 or 4 days but then decided to stay put.
We bought her some eggs too and she has now been incubating them for 10 days.
So we should hear the patter of more tiny claws again before too long.

Last weekend we had a wonderful butterfly display in the garden. All at once there were dozens flitting around the sky. I stood in my flower bed for half an hour trying to get a decent picture. I don't think the butterflies liked it much but they did put up with it.
Apparently they had flown all the way from Africa to get here.

The Bedford Lodge is the first accommodation provider on the island to receive a National Award for its commitment to green tourism. It joins Brading Villa as the only other business on the island to be recognised by the scheme.

Karena says “We have worked hard to raise awareness of green issues on the island as well as among our guests. We are being increasingly asked where our food comes from and what products we buy, so it matters more and more to people. It was the island’s natural beauty that made me determined to set up business here and it’s important to me that we do our bit to keep it that way.”

The Green Tourism Business Scheme has been running since 1997 and now has over 2000 members across the UK and is the largest and most established scheme of its type in the world. (source GTBS). The current network of members is comprised of a wide range of business types, including accommodation providers, visitor attractions, conference and event venues and activity providers. Businesses wanting to join the scheme are graded by a qualified assessor against a rigorous set of criteria, covering areas like energy and water efficiency, waste management, biodiversity and more.

Karena says “Most of the time business and individuals are put off by the thought of ‘going green’ as it seems on the surface like it’s the more expensive option. But thriftiness was the first version of being green long before it became fashionable and when you look it that way, lots of things become possible and cheaper. It’s not just about compost bins, we’ve looked at the way we do lots of things. We had an old fax machine that chewed up more paper than it printed on and just as we were about to buy a new one, we switched to an internet version instead. All our faxes now arrive by e-mail. It was so easy to set up and we make real financial savings, with the added bonus of no more spam.”

Green Tourism Scheme

We have been treated to a wonderful view of a very industrious squirrel this morning. It's spent 3 hours ripping my wall basket lining out to nest with. A privilege to watch. We'll just replace it later, but the plants aren't too happy.