I think that keeping my Aga off for two whole months is pretty good going, but I’ve turned it back on this evening.  It feels like the heart of the house, it’s empty without it.  It’s still warming up at present, of course, I had to cook dinner on the little oven.

One of my chicks,about six weeks old, has been hurt somehow – I can only think she slipped on wet ground and hurt her leg.  She has been crouched in the coop and can hardly move, though can eat and doesn’t seem ill.  I took her out and looked at her and felt her tremble.  I suppose the best thing would be to kill her, but it’s beyond me.  I’ve made her a nest of hay in a plastic box, put a piece of Perspex on top with one corner held up by a tile, for air, and she’s in the tortoise run.  She will recover or not, I’ll give her a chance.

The mother of the oldest chicks has been laying eggs consistently for over a week, I’ve had four or five eggs from her, so I let her out this morning and have now put her in the hen run with the others.  She was a bit reluctant to leave the kitchen garden, but the others accepted her and she will be okay.  The black hen with two chicks got out and I’ve let her stay out too, the babies are quite old enough to cope, though I’m sure they’ll miss her warmth at night.  Still, I’ve put hay in all the coops for them to bed down on – they were fine with dry grass, but it’s anything but now.

Having moved all the coops, put in hay, changed the bedding in the nest boxes and so on, I was tired after a poor night’s sleep and had a nap this afternoon.  I do like the afternoon nap, though I’ve got out of the habit and rarely can manage one.  Now it’s September, I have to get back to work, including school work.  The governor who’s taking over from me as Chairman has to have a big operation at the end of this month, followed by further this and that, so he’ll be pretty well out of action – though sometimes available online – for the whole term.  I felt I had little option but to offer to put myself forward as a second vice-chair.  I still hope I’ll be able to quit at the end of the school year, but I won’t leave them in the lurch.  I’m on the lookout for a few more good governors – we’d rather keep a vacancy than have someone who hasn’t really time or understanding for the job, but I’ve got two gaps and I’m a potential third … I mean, my place is, of course.

Having had that nap, it occurred to me that it would be nice to switch on the Aga.  But then I went out to feed the animals and it didn’t really feel cold enough to justify it.  And I am strong on self-control.  Except, that I then thought, heck, I’m old and I don’t have to justify it to anyone.  Do It Now.  So I have.