At last a nearly dry day with some sunshine. Rained when I went home for lunch but sun out again now. This morning I planted the two apricot trees from the auction in the uncovered polytunnel with their stakes. Now the idea is to put wires between the stakes and train them into cordons.

Nearly finished clearing the apple orchard. This afternoon I was raking up in the apple orchard when I found a dead fox. On Tuesday when I was here in the morning I had spotted a fox resting in the grass down at the bottom below the apple orchard. I was able to creep up quite close (10m) before it seemed to notice me and trotted off. An adult, possibly quite elderly or ill/wounded as it didn't sprint away. This afternoon there it was dead. I think the same one, lying on its side frozen stiff dead on the long grass. Didn't appear to be damaged or wounded. Anyway I dug a hole over by the Western Meadow boundary and buried him rather than just leaving him to rot in the hedgerow as farmers do. I wonder if it was the one that took Erica's chickens in broad daylight the other week.

Latest scheme thanks to Sian is to build a camping hut for people (like Sian and Alex who have just been away for a weekend in a timber roundhouse in West Wales and loved it) to stay it. Could work quite well. Put it down below the tree line along the bank.