Friday 19th July - It's Here, Noises in the Night and Get Ready to Rock

It’s here – I’m referring to summer.  Such a change over the last few days, it may not last for long, so we have been making the most of it.  Needless to say, we’ve been out in the garden.  Not sitting, although I put the cushions on our garden bench this morning ready for us to sit with morning coffee, and afternoon tea and cake.  Peter has been busy on the veg plot, with the last of the broad beans picked he has consigned the plants to the compost heap, plus he has been tending the other vegetables.  The raspberries have finished too, with enough fruit in the freezer to make some jars of jam – perfect timing as we are on our last jar.  The old canes have been cut down and this year’s growth tied in to the wire supports. 

I have been quite ruthless with one of our olive trees – yes you can grow them and get olives too here on the coast, even though we take quite a hammering from the easterly winds.  Peter has got used to my ‘pruning’ techniques which I confess, can be quite brutal.  With low growing branches it has become impossible to get the mower underneath the olive trees, which means it’s a case of getting down on hands and knees with hand shears to cut the grass – a right pain!  So, I have removed the lower branches on one tree and will let it grow a bit higher but in order for the tree to be able to do this, I will need to take off some overhanging branches of the Portugal Laurel.  This and attending to the other olive tree, will have to wait until our brown bin, now with little headspace, is emptied next week.

Regular readers will know, I am out in the garden at dusk on my evening slug hunt.  With my head down shining the torch in the borders etc, I have been aware of various noises of the night.  There’s been muntjacs barking, a raucous gull on its final flight of the day, frogs foraging, rooks chattering amongst themselves, maybugs emitting a buzzing sound as they fly around, and a snuffling hedgehog.  I understand there is an owl in the area but I haven’t heard it hooting, maybe I am a bit early for it to have woken from its daytime slumbers.  Mentioning buzzing, yesterday afternoon, I heard loud buzzing. I looked up to see a swarm of bees heading off down the lane.  Not a solid black cloud but definitely a spectacle.  I would love to know where the swarm finally rested around their queen.

Taken this morning, today’s photo is of the stage, erected on the sports field, ready for tomorrow when local bands play at Rockstock.  Peter has just made us both an expresso, so I’m off now to sit on the garden bench, shaded by the walnut tree, with my mug of coffee, a piece of fruit and a puzzle book.  I don’t image I will be sat for long before I see something in the garden which would benefit from my attention!