I thought that I had done it. I believed that I had located the points of entry and had secured them. Feeling smug and self-satisfied with my fence mending skills I felt confident enough to add my own courgettes to the shop this morning. This evening I have removed them. My confidence was misplaced. A few nights had passed without damage to my summer squash, so I was entitled to think that I had gained the upper hand over my Muntjac adversary, but today I discovered the latest fruits ruined by the skulking midnight feaster. Tomorrow I will scan the perimeter to see if I can located its current point of entry, but I fear that it is a hopeless case, the aged fence has become extremely porous. Courgettes are usually a summer banker for me, it’s rare not to get a good and reliable crop from them, alas not this year. In a fit of pique I am refusing to buy any more from Spain in the middle of the summer, it just doesn’t seem right. So unless I can get the better of Skulky McSkulkface it will be a courgette-free offering this season.

“How’s the finger?” I hear you ask. The finger is very sore. I have kept it covered while I am at work, but uncover it when I am at home to allow the air to get to it. The fact that my hands are very often wet during the daytime means that the dressing is constantly damp, which doesn’t aid the healing. The other problem is this….the ruddy damaged digit is a bash magnet! I am constantly hitting it, even a gentle tap on a door knob or the handle of a tool sends a wave of intense pain through me, usually accompanied by an angry bellow, and sometimes an expletive. Yes it’s true, I can sometimes have a potty-mouth. Perhaps I am being impatient, but I was hoping that it would heal a little faster than it has so far.

I am being distracted by a new app that I have downloaded onto my phone. It is one that identifies birdsong. I am finding myself using it rather more than I probably should. I know the call of the obvious birds, but I struggle to identify anything slightly less than obvious, and very often you don’t get to see the creature making the sound so this is a great tool for adding to one’s knowledge of avian twittering. I was delighted to get multiple recordings of Goldcrests, a beautiful tiny bird that I have occasionally seen, but would not have recognised by its call. Another interesting song that came up on my phone screen was a Hawfinch, which if correct it would be quite impressive as it is a ‘red’ listed bird because of its scarcity. However, the broadleaved woodland at Moyns Park is the kind of habitat that it would frequent. I will continue to use the app and see if I can get further recordings of this seldom seen Finch.

The broad beans have about had it. They are now large and very starchy, so I have taken them out of the shop. However, if you like them like that drop me a note and I will pick some for you, otherwise I will leave what is left to collect seed from for next year’s crop. The runner beans are not setting flowers as well as I would like them to, so at this time I think that it is unlikely that I will have any for next week. There is a very limited quantity of French beans, and these will be supplied on a strictly first come first served basis. If you are one of those customers that pay as soon as you order, you might like to hold off transferring fuds until after receiving your delivery. There are Little Gem and loose leaf lettuces this week, there should be plenty of cucumbers, and hopefully enough tomatoes – this last few days of good weather has accelerated their ripening. At the time of digging the potatoes last week they were coming out pretty muddy, my aim is to reject any that are damaged, but when they are covered in soil it is difficult to identify every blemish, so apologies if any slipped through the net. Now that it has dried out a bit they should come out cleaner this week.

The Olympic Games begin on Friday, which is very exciting. Generally I have absolutely no interest in weightlifting, fencing, Taekwondo, kayaking, or BMX biking, but in the two weeks of the games I am captivated by virtually every sport that is broadcast, and become the very worst armchair critic of sports I know nothing about. I love the track cycling, rowing, swimming and of course the athletics. The sports that I don’t bother with are golf, football and tennis, because I really don’t regard them as Olympic events….unless we stand a chance of winning a medal. After finishing this I might set up some hurdles in the garden, what could possibly go wrong?

The IT collapse on Friday highlighted just how vulnerable we are, being so wedded to the digital world. I half expected my card reader not to work at Wyken yesterday, and although inconvenient I rather hoped that it wouldn’t. The market is held on a farm in the middle of nowhere, yet a high percentage of customers go there without any cash in their purses/wallets. That’s all fine and dandy while the technology is working, but if it’s not? I’m an old fashioned kind of guy at heart, and I will rue the day when we become a cashless society. It’s a dangerous path that we are being led down, and I don’t like it. But your online payments are perfectly acceptable! 🙂

Right, that’s me done, I’m off to sit in my rocking chair on the veranda and watch the sun go down. Have a good week, let’s hope that the summery weather hangs on for a bit longer, I think that we deserve it, don’t you?

Phil