The baby tortoises have not yet been named: they are Russell’s., so it’s up to him.  In the meantime, I have looked at them carefully enough to be able to tell them apart and have called them both Roberta (he tells me that they are both, allegedly, female) and so dubbed them Bobbie and Bertie.  I’ve not mentioned this to Russell as I named Edweena, so it’s only fair that he chooses the babies’ names, it’s just so that I remember which characteristics belong to which tot.

They are still indoors, though they really should be outside during the day, but we haven’t got their run sorted out.  I’m not sure whether all three can be in together or whether it’s better to have a separate run for Edweena.  When I went to feed them this morning, I found a large splodge of dried-on poo on Edweena’s back, thus proving that when she falls over, she can get up again.  I picked it off with a tissue and sponged her, but later gave her a bath.  I bathed the babies too, washing their shells carefully and it seemed to give them a good appetite.

A few things I’ve discovered – I sit watching them for a while, to get to know their habits.

Bertie loves deadnettle flowers.  She was picking off the white ones and munching them.  Bobbie was eating a purple deadnettle, leaves and flowers.  They both love primrose flowers but aren’t interested in cucumber.

Edweena enjoys echinops leaves above everything except dandelion flowers and cucumber.  She also munches globe artichoke leaves with enthusiasm, including the fibrous stem.

I’ve also given them herbaceous geranium flowers and leaves, clover, vetch, plantain, dandelion leaves and lamb’s lettuce.  I must look up the list of recommended foods, as well as the forbidden ones.

Another thing I’ve found is that the babies, in particular, like their food spread out in their run rather than piled in one place.  Tortoises seem to have a good sense of smell – or a reasonable one, anyway.  I see them sniffing food before choosing what to eat.

Right, that’ll do for now.  In other news…

I’ve sown some more seeds – with an overcast day forecast, I reckoned it was a good opportunity – French beans don’t germinate in the greenhouse if it’s hot, they rot as badly as if it’s cold.  Also sown cucumbers, courgettes – can’t remember what else.  The seedlings that have already sprouted are coming on well.

I weighed myself and am quite relieved to find that mild overindulgence has had no ill effect.  I do walk quickly, though, maybe that’s enough exercise because I’m not doing much else.  My hip hurts if I sit for too long – my own hip, that is, not the replacement one.  I’m starting to steel myself for its deterioration in the next year or two.  But there’s no point in fussing, and I’m not going to.

Apologies to those who live in areas that have flooded, but I was quite relieved to see it rain.  It’s been quite dry here and we do need quite a bit of springtime rain.  My friend Jo was also relieved yesterday; she suffers severely from hay fever and the recent sunny weather left her miserably bunged-up.

Lovely family day yesterday, they stayed late – that is, they left around 7.30, whereupon I went and unpacked the dishwasher for the third time that day and cooked scrambled eggs for supper.

Pugsley played the piano for quite some time and I was rather impressed, though I didn’t say anything to him.  It’s quite likely that making a fuss would put him off, he’s like his father in that respect.  But he got a repeating tune with his right hand and various rather wayward chords with his left and he has a good sense of rhythm.  Later, Squiffany was playing, with similarly confident inventiveness.

This morning, I played it too, to practise today’s hymns for church.  Having been in the church rooms all winter, we’re back in the church itself, so I was playing the organ rather than the clarinet.  I do like playing the piano so much more than the organ, which is an unsubtle beast.  Services are now at 9.30 rather than 11.00, which I helped to instigate before Christmas (though I’d wanted to make it 10 o’clock) so the whole morning isn’t lost, but I didn’t have time for breakfast.  By the time I’d fetched the newspaper from town, the piano restorer/tuner arrived to fetch my old piano (which has been in the annexe) so I helped him.  Then I went and picked the tortoises’ food and was just going to go in for some breakfast when R accidentally let Ben out.  He ran joyously onto the field – now, I’d love to let him run where he wants, but he has no road sense and will go down the drive if he sees someone on the road, and we’ve partridges and pheasants ready to lay eggs and I can’t risk it.  So I went indoors for his lead and some biscuits and then went to look for him.  One of the heifers on the field looked quite displeased and started to follow him.  He was pretty good, it didn’t take too long for me to catch him (and shout at the heifer, one has to be quite assertive with cows sometimes)  – but then I went to feed the tortoises and it was midday by the time I finally cooked breakfast (bacon, new-laid egg, tomato and fried bread, darlings, it was delicious) and sat down with the paper.  And it wasn’t at all easy to read and it finally dawned on me that I was getting a migraine.  I usually just ignore it, but this time I took a couple of Migraleve and then ignored it (it’s still there, a weary prickle behind my left eye and in the temple, but I’ll give it no encouragement).  So an earlier breakfast would probably have been a good idea, especially since I stumbled coming down the back stairs, bashed my back hard and was lucky not to plummet.

I remembered that, in the list of tortoise-friendly foods, there was ground elder and it’s well above ground now.  If I ever leave this place, my next garden will not have ground elder.  I also picked some plantain from the verge by the drive.  They love dandelion, both leaves and flowers, but it’s apparently not too good for them as it’s a diuretic and they can become dehydrated – I’m not sure if this is a real risk or a theoretical one, but anyway, they also love cucumber which you’re not supposed to give them too often because it’s so watery and provides little nutrition.  I’ve had what seems to me to be a brainwave – if, whenever we give dandelion, we also give a piece of cucumber, presumably the latter will counteract the former’s dehydrating effect.

I’m thinking of subscribing to Netflix.  Television is largely dire and, even when there is anything on, I generally forget to watch it.  But I desperately need to unwind in the evenings and not to work on the computer after dinner and I seem incapable nowadays of watching something just for the sake of it, if a book or television doesn’t engage me, I lose patience and turn off.  Anyone got any views on Netflix or the alternatives, please?

It’s been a good day, you’ll be pleased to learn, especially if you follow me on Facebook where, I’m embarrassed to note, I mostly report what I’m eating and drinking and when I’m not sleeping, but have kept perfectly quiet today.

My usual Friday meeting with the school Head, but after that I was on holiday, and the holiday feeling kicked in about 12.30.  It was helped by having slept marvellously last night – I listened to the final episode of Rogue Male and started on the first of Dead Souls, but fell asleep, woke, turned off the iPlayer app and slept until 7.30.  And, with tension draining away, I suggested taking R out for lunch.  We went to the little café at the garden centre, where R had soup and I had bacon sandwich, then I went to buy birthday cards for my children.  Ooh, hang on, I was going to scan one onto the computer…. look isn’t it divine? (click to enlarge, as they say)

*sighs with delight*
Right. You might just be thinking that I’m talking through my hat. However, you should know more about us and our ‘sense of humour.’  Years ago, when Weeza and Al were in their teens, she gave him the cheesiest card she could find, with teenagers in ’70s garb on the front (circa 1990) and the heading ‘My brother, my friend’.  And that set the tone for much of their exchanges of greetings.  But this offering might just trump hers.  Not only are there four verses of doggerel, the word ‘Special’ on the front, random italics and a third verse that neither rhymes nor scans, but it also has an egregious spelling typo and poor grammar.  I think I’ve set a new standard of cheese.

Eloise’s card is merely kitsch, it doesn’t come close, but it does have annoyingly scatteringly glitter, so I think she’ll appreciate it.

Anyway, her present is not wrap-up-able, so I went and bought her two planters and various herbs to go in them, and they are duly planted and are in the greenhouse waiting until tomorrow.

This evening, we went over to Halesworth and looked at the auction coming up tomorrow.  They are really nice people and R has got to know them quite well, and it was good.  A lovely little Lowestoft miniature sparrowbeak jug, really covetable.  And I was quite drawn to a mahogany bed, but I suppose that would be silly.  I miss the lovely half-tester we used to have in our Edwardian house when we lived in Lowestoft, and couldn’t bring here because the ceiling was too low.

After that, we went round the corner to an exhibition of Harry Becker drawings, which we like very much.  And then came home for omelettes.

I have written a few school emails tonight, but only friendly, non-business ones.  I’ve got a bit of work to do on Monday and Tuesday, but then am shutting down on schoolwork for a bit.  It’s been a hard term and having sleepless nights because of a voluntary job is absurd.  I’ll bounce back,  I always do.

1 Sleepless night, all but ten minutes.  Breakfast at 3 am because I was bored as well as hungry, but it didn’t put me to sleep.

2 The first local asparagus this evening!  R saw it at a roadside stall and brought it home triumphantly.

3 It cost £3 for 10 spears!  I trimmed off the ends and then ate the raw trimmings before cooking the spears.  Wicked waste makes woeful want.

4 I potted up baby tomato and pepper plants.  Nurturing seedlings is what I love to do.

5 R went out at 4 o’clock and I got home at 4.10.  About an hour later, Ben asked for his dinner, so I fed him.  How was I to know that he assured R that he was terribly hungry at 3.30 and R fell for it?  Suckers, both of us.

I had a long chat with Weeza this morning on the phone – poor Gus has chickenpox, not that he’s ill but she wanted to know if all Al’s children have had it.  I wasn’t sure about Hay – but nor was I sure what Al and Dilly would say, they might not be too bothered.  She’s sent an email round the family anyway, in case it alters matters for our weekend get-together.

I also wanted to discuss our birthday present to her, because what we would like to give her involves a couple of days off work for her and Phil, but I know that, when you have small children and are employed, holiday time is precious and carefully worked out.  When you’re self-employed, it’s often impossible to have any, of course, at least for some years.  Anyway, she really likes the idea and will talk to Phil to try to work things out.

R and I both went out this morning, he to see a client (he may not be an active auctioneer any more, but he hasn’t retired and is being resourceful in keeping his mind and interests active) and I to a Nadfas lecture.  When I got home, I went to say hello to the tortoises, taking a couple of dandelions and primroses as a present.  Edweena wasn’t interested in her primrose, but the babies loved it, so I gave them both.  They all adore dandelions, though they’re not supposed to have them too often.  As they were chomping them hungrily, I thought they might like a bit more to eat, so trotted off to pick some leaves.  They grabbed them from my hand!  I fetched more food.  I’ve said to R, he probably should feed them twice a day because they will eat more than he thinks they will.  I want to get a run sorted for them outside, so that they can go out on nice days, though I think they should come in at night for a while yet.  I can’t think we won’t have more frosts and the babies are so small.  But spring is certainly here early – it said on the news today that the first asparagus crop has been picked.  I don’t care how much it costs, I eat local asparagus at every opportunity.  I don’t bother with imported stuff.

Apparently, we have been dusted in Sahara sand – except we haven’t, not here.  It was a bit hazy first thing, but there is no dust at all on my windscreen.  The rest of the car is reasonably clean but I’d hardly use it as a test – it had its spring wash several weeks ago.

Programme not to watch earlier this evening – Clegg and Farage.  I’m not fond of argument anyway, not to listen to nor to take part in.  A debate is one thing, but even one person with an entrenched opinion that he or she is determined will hold sway is an atmosphere-killer at any occasion, and two trading wannabe-soundbites is as tedious a prospect as I can imagine.  And let’s face it, neither of them is ever going to be Prime Minister, however popular some of their views are with some people.  I’m very glad to have turned my back on politics for many, many years – I vote, but I am not political because of my school situation.  I think it would be unprofessional, as well as unwise.  I was glad to see that no one I follow on Twitter even mentioned it, apart from the BBC.

We finally have a new Rector, after some 20 months with a vacancy, or interregnum as it’s rather grandiosely called.  It was the induction service to – er – induce him.  Anyway, it all went very well.  I spent much of the day cooking … no, that’s an exaggeration.  I shopped first and cooked from 12 noon until 4 o’clock, when I stopped for lunch.

Al and the family called in and, remarkably, I had his birthday present all wrapped and ready, but he decided to keep it until the whole family is over on Saturday.  He is quite the hardest person to buy for, not least because he’s not at all interested in birthdays or any sort of anniversary, nor in possessions and it’s generally best to give him something he needs.  Or whisky.

Anyhoo – Happy Birthday, Al.