It's a rather dank and dismal start to the Glorious 12th although the grouse shooting season really kicks off tomorrow to avoid a Sunday start.  It rained a fair bit in the night, enough to put the kibosh on grass cutting and varnishing the window frames which was planned for today, but not enough to raise the river level to good fishing levels.  It's stopped now and is just grey and gloomy with a lot of low cloud.  The forecast is for more persistent heavy rain here by Tuesday so we might get good water later in the week.

I was working at the Crown Hotel on Wednesday providing access to our wireless broadband network for the hotel staff.  This involved routing a cable across the yard past a hutch full of young ferrets.  This proved irresistible entertainment for these delightful little creatures who proceeded to form pyramids to get a better view of just what I was up to.  Every move I made was followed with rapt attention and I got the distinct impression that they all thought that they could have done the job faster and better than I did.  I half expected a round of applause as I finished the job or at least a token speech of thanks. I can well understand why ferrets are so popular here.  Their insatiable curiosity coupled with a sharp intelligence and sheer delight in life make them hugely endearing.  I must be careful, I'm getting hooked!

Great news.  The sun has just broken through the murk.

Ian