Wind and heat

Rachel was very sad this morning to find a nest that had blown out of a tree last night with all the crazy wind that we have been having. These tiny newly hatched chicks kept opening their mouths for food. I tried to put it back in a tree but don't think it will be secure enough. The wind has been really strong.
Then she found another nest which had 3 eggs inside (one broken).

And a third nest which was empty.

Then she found a dead duck. I don't know what happened to it or how long it had been there. But it was quite a sad morning for Rachel with all these finds.

Hannah cleaning up the kittens mess.
The girls were trying to make a tent so I decided to put this one up for them.

Rachel told Dad "it was really luxurious" because they each had a pillow and they had the picnic blanket.

We had to get to the local shop today and it was terribly hot - so we decided to pop down for a swim before lunch. Hannah loved jumping into the little pool (even though her face shows apprehension - she kept asking to do it again). She also loves kicking in the big pool. She had a great time.

And Rachel did too because someone had left this tube at the pool. She got a lot of kicking practice in and had jelly legs again when we left.

She did eventually give Ruth a turn on the tube and after swimming around with her she left Ruth to happily float or swim around. Ruth loved the independence of being in the "big pool by herself".

After lunch Ruth spent quite a while riding around the patio on her bike. Her legs have gotten so much stronger over the last few months and she did really well today (she has not tried for a while so we were really impressed). At one point something was happening outside and Rachel said "she will no doubt ....". It was just so funny. She finished reading Anne of Green Gables today (the original) and the influence was just so noticeable.

During nap time today we watched The Phantom of the Opera (another classic that Rachel read the abridged version of). We all really enjoyed it.

Rachel also got to use her Christmas present from Lynn. Beads that you arrange and then spray with water and they stick together. I will have to take a photo of all her creations. She has 500 beads in this pack and if she has her way she will have all the patterns done in 2 days.

Once the girls were up we headed out to get some gardening done. They enjoyed eating some fresh peas (although the plants did not do well at all - at least there were some to eat).

The cats have noticed the rabbits and got a meter from one this evening. There were at least 3 running past (you can see on on the top right corner). So hopefully they will develop their speed and hunting abilities and will be catching some soon. There really are just too many rabbits - they are a real pest here.

We got the back lawn cut today but will have to tackle the front another day. You can see it's heading into the heat of summer now as the grass is not growing much at all. The weeds keep growing though - so a cut is really needed (those are all white flowers).