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Hello, Elle!
It sure is confusing!
Yes, I watch the chicks being fed.
Laddie is doing a sterling job catching fish.
I am having doubts if egg 3 will hatch, though.
Hope you manage your puzzle!

Hi, Rusty!
We have been sitting out in the garden......but it is much too hot.....even under a tree!
I have come indoors for a breather!
Yes, it would be such a shame if egg number three failed to hatch.
I remember how sad it was last year, when the second egg did not bring forth a chick.......
Well, I have "sort-of" finished my puzzle!
I especially liked 3d: expectorant; 7d: montage; and 8d: not really.
"Intrados" was a new word for me!
It took me a while to realise that "IMO" meant "in my opinion"!
There are two that I cannot do?
10a: Francophile presumably mentioned plant growth (7)
G?L?N?T
21D: Unqualified, one abandons English course (6)
?N?R?E
I have no ideas?
Also, one I cannot parse.......
13d: Beyond bend German river turns , skirting northern region that's unknown (8,3)
I have "pastures new" = region that's unknown (def)
past - beyond
u -bend
And I cannot go any further with the parsing?
What am I missing here, please?
I thought 12a: "Con template" was awful!
I swear I cringed!

Hello, Elle!
It is warm here, too!
Very!
10a, is "gallnut", I thought that was a good one!
13, was tough!
The river is the "Weser" reversed. And you have the rest.
"Pastures new" is right.
I liked "con template"! Nice simple clue.
I am off for a cooling walk for a few minutes!

Hi, Rusty!
Ah, I get it...a homophone!
Francophile = Gaul...sounds like gall.
Thank you!
I didn't know of the River Weser.
How out 21D: Unqualified, one abandons English course (6)
?N?R?E
I still cannot see that?
Did you enjoy your walk?
How far afield did you venture?
I have been incredibly lazy today!

Hello, Elle!
Sorry, I missed one out for you.
I shall wear sackcloth and ashes the rest of the week!
21, "Unqualified = entire".
Abandon 1 = i for "entre". Add "E" for English.
"Entree" is a kind of food course, I think?
I did not go far, just enjoyed the breeze through the trees.
Miss O has lost her 'phone.
She should have been a blonde!

Hello, Elle,
For a while I thought that the "course" was Aintree.
So, I was a wee while getting that one.
I did not know of the River Weser, too, but Anne Bradford did!

Hi, Rusty!
No problem.......thank you for explaining it to me now!
I did not think of "entire"......
I'm glad your walk was refreshing!
There is no breeze at all here.
The atmosphere is very oppressive.....I would not be surprised if there were another thunderstorm in the offing.
Oh dear, I am sorry about Miss O losing her phone......can she recall when she last had it?
Maybe worth ringing it?

hello elle
Did you never "do" the Pied Pier of Hamelin?

The River Weser deep and wide
Washes its walls on the Southern side
A pleasanter spot you never spied
But, when begins my ditty etc

It runs though Wuppertal, hence the railway suspended above it!

Hello, Elle!
There is a nice breeze from the sea, here.
I have had no contact with Miss O.
Miss La Bamba is keeping me up to date.
I have no idea where or when she lost it, but I am not surprised!
She walked away from the table in Pine Cone on Saturday without it, and I had to remind her to take it with her.
I never take my 'phone outside (I have no need to), so I will not lose mine.
I hear she has ordered a new one.
So, she may have it tomorrow, I would think.

Hi, Rusty!
We could do with a nice breeze!
Unfortunately, we are hearing faint rumbles of thunder.....I do hope it doesn't amount to another storm.
I had BGT on .......and we lost transmission .......apparently due to London's 'bad' weather!
Now re mobile phones....I rarely use mine...but I always take it out with me......just in case of emergencies!
Right, back to BGT...we have a picture again!