Illustrious arrival

Four degrees at 9am. Overcast with a little breeze. This morning, the young cockerel did a curious side shuffle in the opposite direction when he saw me, and his longsuffering friend, a smaller-than-breed, lopsided hen (there's always one in every brood) jumped up on the feed bucket and let me stroke her.

Today, Grazia Deledda arrived. Not physically, of course. I can be fairly certain that she wouldn't make it up the hill. I mean a copy of her most well-loved novel, Reeds in the Wind. Now I really have no excuse but to start on my New Year's resolution, and from a quick browse through I think I'm going to enjoy it...