Zing!

Derek Jarman's Prospect Cottage garden at Dungeness.

The view from the rug

The blanket came from Melin Tregwynt -

one for each of the children's beds.

I remember bringing this tree,

Gleditsia Sunburst, back from the nursery

in the boot of my car.

The old teak bench sat in the backyard of my childhood home.
It seems to be indestructible.

The book on the bench is

Queuing for Beginners -

the story of daily life from breakfast to bedtime

by Joe Moran.

The view from the swingseat

Spot the difference.

Midday today was perhaps not the best time

to prepare Delia's Roasted Vegetables

or Nigel's Roasted Tomato soup.

Gas mark 9 (475º F) for over an hour 

to add to the 30ºC (86ºF) outside?

(That's hotter than  Mumbai.)

Utter folly.

St Swithin's Day

The 15th July is St Swithin's Day.

St Swithin's Day, if thou dost rain,

For forty days it will remain.

St Swithin's Day, if thou be fair,

For forty days t'will rain nae mair.

St Swithin was the Bishop of Winchester in the

ninth century. He was a kind and humble man. 

When he died he asked to be buried outside his church

so that his grave would be trodden on by the feet

of passers-by, and he would receive

the raindrops from the eaves.

The story is that when the monks wished to move his body 

many years later, it rained so hard

for forty days that they gave up the idea.

It was pretty fair today,

so I'd say we're in for the 

nae mair rain for forty days forecast.

The ceremony of swan-upping takes place in July.

The swan-markers (wearing special uniforms)

row up the Thames from London Bridge

to Henley, collecting all the swans

and marking the beaks of cygnets.*

* All information from

Something to Do. Never far from my side.

You turn your back for five minutes

While we were away 

having a jolly time here in North Yorkshire,

 riding on the North York Moors railway,

 climbing up to the Bridestones,

 visiting Castle Howard,

( where they were filming Death Comes to Pemberley),

the neighbours did this

to this.

We used to call it the apartment tree

because so many birds used it on different floors.

Well they've all been evicted.

I do see that it must have deprived someone of light

but it looks ridiculous now.

I hope they finish the job.

Azores High

What is the Azores High?

It is a semi-permanent anticyclonic region;

part of a belt of subtropical anticyclones

on the northern hemisphere.

Movement of the system poleward in summer

has a major impact on the climate of Europe.

When the pressure centre shifts towards 30ºN

across the Iberian peninsula, a ridge might build as far as

the south-eastern UK.
(That's where you are my dear.)

This is when the typical mid to late summer heatwaves arrive,

with very hot temperatures and persistent dry weather.

The temperatures can easily climb to 30ºC, 90ºF.*
But it is a feature that has been missing from
the past few summers.

I see. And what should I do when it arrives?

Why then you should seek cool and pleasant places.

Perhaps the White Garden at Sissinghurst

before the crowds arrive.

Or a river 

with boats for hire

and a willing oarsman.

For this is the stuff that memorable summers are made of.




*Information gleaned from weatheronline.co.uk

Silly grin

all over my face.

No pics,

and nothing else to say 

on this glorious hot

Wimbledon winning day.

The Secret Drawer

My thanks to Cornflower for pointing me in the direction

of this competition.

I'm not a 'comper' but this one caught my imagination.

The green velvet in the main compartment

of Aunty Mary's vanity box

has faded

but the secret drawer, only recently discovered,

has preserved its deep viridian.

This isn't the shade I would choose to have matched

as my bespoke Farrow & Ball paint.

It would have to be this one.

At last

Out in the summer garden

on the last day of June

at Great Dixter,

looking for shade!

One of the resident cats
had beaten us to it
but kindly budged up.

It seemed only fair to share my ice cream.