It’s cold, it’s raining and it’s grey. I’m resisting the temptation to indulge in likening this to my state of mind.

Apart from the poultry the main task of the day has been the 500 piece jigsaw puzzle of the UK. It’s filled a rainy day and hopefully added a bit to the general store of knowledge.

We’ve also been making birds out of sheets of foam and reading horoscopes, so I’m also having to resist the temptation to tell people what I really think about horoscopes. I finally got drawn in and next thing I knew I was looking up horoscopes on the web. We now know what animals we are in the Burmese horoscope system – including tuskless elephants and guinea pigs.  No, I’m not convinced by the guinea pig either.

Whether a system based on the day of your birth is actually more reliable than one based on date or year is open to debate. Well, not really, as they are clearly all inaccurate, but as a bit of fun it’s interesting to see a different system.

As I write, someone has very kindly made me a cup of tea, and in giving it to me they have laid a trail of tea across the pile of freshly printed papers on my desk. It’s been that sort of day.

The bird feeder has been crowded with goldfinches, which is a cheery sight. Unfortunately they are chasing off all other visitors and so far we’ve seen a greenfinch, a pair of great tits and a dozen chaffinches put to flight. As the others have no interest in nyger seed, and the the goldfinches show little interest in the rest of the food I’m not really sure what they are defending, but such is life.

We’ve counted a massive flock of around 100 jackdaws (with a few rooks) in the field behind the feeder. They used to visit in numbers (up to 40 at a time) when we had the pigs (and pig food) in the field but we’re not sure what’s attracting them today. It may just be a rehearsal for a horror film. As the day drew to a close they took up residence in the “buzzard tree” before setting off to roost.

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We have had two new goats born. The mother is refusing to feed them at the moment, which is about par for the course with our goats. We are great with pigs and OK with sheep but goats have been a problem.

Anyway, it’s the end of the day and I’m in possession of a smile and a carefree attitude as the day draws to a close. We’re off tomorrow and neither of us are working until Monday so we are going on what we refer to as a “holiday”. This one involves a trip to Suffolk to see family and pick up two computers donated to the group by one of my brothers in law.

Tomorrow we’re having a big push on housework and odd jobs and I’m going to fill the fridge for Number 1 son. After that I’m off for three days sight-seeing and eating fried food.