Hop, the lame chicken, has started to walk again. Badly, as one leg still has very little use, so she tends to go in circles, but she is much better and is enjoying the twice-daily attention when I pick her up and feed her. Amusingly, the barn cats are jealous and come to look at us, begging for food. I’ve started taking a pouch of cat food along, to put in dishes for them – this is after they’ve been fed themselves. I’m careful to go in the hen house first before touching Hop, just in case there’s anything contagious, though I would think that Polly would have caught it in that case.

I asked friends round for lunch today, which is a rare event. I did the simplest possible meal, with cold salmon and salads, but I took care over it and served a very good bottle of local wine too, following up with strawberries and local cheese. It was a cheerfully sociable event, followed by a visit to the local friend’s house, to show the other two people some antiques that they were interested to see. She doesn’t want to sell them, it’s just a matter of fellow enthusiasts. It turned out that they had friends in common, in a way that couldn’t have been predicted and it also transpired that one guest’s cousin had lived in Wink’s village in Wiltshire and they had been friends – another complete coincidence. All in all, I felt that I’d brought together some new friends, which is a good feeling.

I’ve got work to do, to prepare for a meeting here tomorrow afternoon, but I think it’s too late in the day and I’m going to have a bath and go to bed to read for an hour or so. I’m appreciating the feeling that it’s been an unequivocally good day.