Après moi le déluge

No sooner had I ironed all my shorts than the rain came, and stayed for a week. However, the garden badly needed a soak and I rather enjoyed having an excuse to stay in for a while.

Thanks to Apple having an audio book sale, the long suffering cardi was finally completed to the backdrop of Pride and Prejudice and sewn up to the accompaniment of Middlemarch. I have been so “in the zone” that the temptation to flounce and say “why Mr Fountain, I do declare” has been almost overwhelming at times. For the record, Keith has at no point plunged into the pond in a linen shirt. He is channelling Last of the Summer Wine.

Everything in the garden has enjoyed the rain. The roses and honeysuckle on the pergola have all come out. For some reason it reminds me of Lima. I think it is the softness in the air. The leftover banking is a mass of blue and white with daisies and geraniums and the lavender and thyme in the bottom borders is in flower and smelling wonderful – though as much as anything I like the peppery tang of the lupins.

Today the rain held off and I set off to plant the remaining cosmos plants I had grown from seed (and another six kindly donated by Judy). This entailed the removal of three barrowloads of weeds which seemed to have sprung up overnight. All around the bees were humming like billy-o. We seem to have a lot of the little orange fellas.