Way back in March I bought six goose eggs from a farmer in Pickering. At the time there were some slight misconceptions as to whether they were for cooking or hatching. Matter resolved I came away with the eggs nestling in a basket of straw, ready for a month in the warmth of my incubator.

At hatching stage my impatience to help two of the goslings out of their shells nearly cost them their lives. They survived. Just. Banned from interfering with the other eggs, I let nature take its course. Successfully. The miraculous transformation from limp, helpless gosling, barely able to raise its head and covered in damp, matted down, to a fluffy, cheeping little bird, is heart warming.

Now living in the paddock in a coop that John has built for them, they are as big as our five Aylesbury's, and challenge these ducks on a daily basis for possession of an old green paddling pool. The paddock does have a large pond But Mr Turtle, the paddling pool, holds an indefinable allure for all of them. Probably because I regularly top it up from the hosepipe, and they are drawn to the stream of fresh water.

I appreciate how lucky we have been during lockdown having the space to relax in at home, access to fields for walks with the dogs. An unexpected bonus is that John has suddenly taken an interest in a few home improvements too. Something I have never expected of him before. Now all my pine kitchen cupboards are gleaming again after a revarnish, bookcases have been fitted into alcoves, raised beds built for my vegetables, the greenhouse reroofed and troughs put together for flowers around the yard.

And any day now our broody hens should be hatching out yet more ducklings. The Aylesburys, three ducks and two drakes, have never failed over the last couple of months to provide us with eggs on a daily basis. None of these ducks have turned broody. They just lay the eggs in an old pet carrier I have left out in the field, and do not seem to take umbrage that I promptly remove their offerings. I shall have to keep a watch out though when the ducks eggs hatch, as one broody hen, promptly killed some ducklings a few weeks ago as they emerged. The sole survivor now lives a lonely existence under a heat lamp. She was lucky. The hen was not.