Inspiration and 'eggsaperation'

We've had a great Easter holiday trip to Cornwall and return home with lots of inspiration from the Eden Project and the Lost Gardens of Heligan as well as having well-earned time out and larks as a family. As the weather warms up we can get on with some garden creation of our own....always remembering how long it actually takes to create these things. Our growing season is quite a few weeks behind the SW of England so the only thing I've put in the ground so far are fruit bushes. The main thing for us this year is to create the framework of our gardens, particularly the fruit and veg areas but also the entrance which still looks like a derelict farm and the little jungle which currently sits between the house and the office. In that area of overgrown shrubbery lurks a vast ground elder mess. The area is surrounded by buildings or hard landscaping so I'm hoping we can contain it and maybe even eradicate it (over a few years!). With lighter evenings and better weather we're in that optimistic phase of Spring gardening. And we've had our first flurry of rhubarb crumble making from the patch. wonderful Victorian rhubarb forcing pots at Heligan

pigs made from cork at Eden

Eden Project The hens are infuriating at the moment. Their egg production has plummetted; this has happened before and we've usually found an alternative nest somewhere (hay barn or under a large shrub) where they've layed their eggs. However, after a couple of days at home and observing their activities it would seem that the birds are eating their own eggs. For the last 3 days we've had one egg per day from 9 hens and today I've found remnants of 3 other eggs in the hen house. Advice on various websites ranges from a cull (paradox given that these are rescued ex battery chooks) to blowing out a good egg and filling it with mustard/pepper or similar. What I've done today is put 2 plastic golf balls in the hen house in the mild and probably vain attempt to dissuade them from pecking their eggs. Web advice basically indicates that when one discovers how to get into the egg the others soon learn. Despite checking the eggs really frequently today we're not getting to them before they've been destoyed. This evening we used our last 3 eggs in a carbonara sauce. Giant's Head on the woodland walk at Heligan

and finally for today here's a photo of a juvenile sparrowhawk which found its way into my garden shed, perhaps it could have a word with the hens.