To try and put a positive spin on life, at the end of every day, I religiously list three things that have either made me smile or that I should be grateful for. 

A perfect blue egg will be the top of my list today. 

Those of you who have visited us at Hard Ing recently will have met Sir Vivor. During the first lockdown, we incubated 6 eggs and only one hatched. In our ignorance we inadvertently tried to kill this sole surviving little chick. It cheeped at us for 24 hours, before we realised it was not warm enough. We lowered its heat lamp and, immediately, it went quiet and started eating. Then we realised it needed grit which we diligently supplied. Against all odds, this tiny little chick survived. Jack called it Sir Vivor. We decided Sir Vivor was lonely so we bought 3 more, five day old chicks to keep Sir Vivor company. It soon became apparent that Sir Vivor is a cockerel. He has grown into a fine specimen of a man with a big chest, shiny feathers and a strut to die for. And despite him being ridiculously noisy, we are very proud of him. 

He bustles around after his three girls, White Fluffy, Knuckle and Titch making Hard Ing their free-range home. Angela will tell you that they do a great impression of the Road Runner (Loony Tunes) as all four ran across the arena during her saddle fitting with Hettie yesterday. Gorgeous Hettie took it all in her stride. 

For six moths now we have carefully cleaned their chicken shed, given them fresh bedding, clean water, buckets-full of feed (including grit) and locked them away safely at night. With not a single egg in sight. David, Barbara’s brother, laughed at us and told us they’d be laying in a hedge somewhere. So we ‘thought like a hen’ (Jack’s idea) and went on egg hunts. We stalked the hens to see if we could work out where they were laying. Lorraine told us not to panic, that they were too young to lay. And she was right. 

This morning, for the first time, we found a perfect blue egg in their nesting box. It did not last long, it went in Jack’s Yorkshire pudding with his tea. Wonderful.