Summery summary

Remember how cold and wet it was in June?

And how much one longed for a bit of warmth to bask in?

Well ha ha ha.

We got it.

That's 114º F.

In the shade.

Not so much basking weather,

as

lurking behind closed shutters

hanging wet towels at windows

freezing towels as compresses

and rediscovering the joys of Uno weather.

Because if you did venture out

it was so blindingly bright

and pulsatingly hot

that even being sensible in the shade

wasn't an option.

There was a lovely pool,

but only one sun umbrella.

Don't be deceived by that cloud.

It never even attempted to shield us from the sun.

The box moth was thriving though.

There were hideous clouds of them

being enjoyed misguidedly by the tourists

in lavender fields.

But these murals were unexpectedly lovely.

And being awake early one morning

I heard a roaring sound and to my astonishment

saw this -

Since returning to a land of wholly acceptable variants 

on normal summer temperatures

I have been grateful for the ability to think, move around freely and sleep.

The grandchildren had meanwhile surely grown 

more than a week's absence could have made possible.

One of them having clocked up his first year

in the blink of an eye.

50 things

The National Trust has compiled a list of

50 outdoor activities children should try

before they reach 11¾ years.

I asked my son to check the list honestly

and he found 42.

He probably didn't achieved this score 

in the allotted timespan but I was happy with that.

Then I wondered how much of the list I could tick off

and found 38.

Swimming under the Pont du Gard at night

into a cloud of white moths rising from the surface,

is one of my more surprising memories.

Swimming in a Welsh tarn 
was certainly the iciest.

Boo!

I looked up from my deep contemplation of

swatches in the sitting room,

and saw that I was not alone.

For more fascinating lepidopterae

see here.

This was a rather tattered Jersey Tiger moth,

first noted here.

Linings

Pictured this morning in the northern most reaches of its territory -

my garden - the Jersey Tiger moth.

This is stunning at rest,

but displays a brilliant orange red underwing in flight

which satisfies my penchant for surprising linings.