Skywatch Friday

Good morning skywatchers, today dawns bright and dry.  Here's an example for you of English understatement - we've had a bit of rain. Drenching stuff, in fact. The weeds have loved it! But, as you can see from the photo, today promises well.

When the garden furniture dries we may even get to sit out!

There is a regular visitor to the orchard,

nibbling at the roses on the fence, taking a look to see if its worth jumping over. Don't even think it, you beautiful creature, I know you'll create havoc if you get into my veg patch.

One of our neighbours is pursuing a burnt earth approach to his property, cutting and digging away at his hedges and shearing his land hard back. "What about the habitat for wild life?" I keep asking him. He waves his hand dismissively at the adjoining fields and woodland and tells me that there's plenty of that out there. So we are attempting to counteract his actions by doing less mowing on our own patch, just making a few pathways to and fro beneath the fruit trees.

June is usually a glorious time in the garden but this year the weather has given it a bit of a battering. Some of the roses cope far better than others with wet and wind.

Nothing upsets Charles de Mills - he's quite a thug.

     Paul's Himalayan Musk is romping away on the border 

and we are eating new potatoes and plentiful artichokes.

But the climbing French beans are doing NOTHING

and the peas are reaching skywards but with little flower on display. Sunshine is badly needed.

My white flowers, foxgloves, lupins and campanulas are all thriving. 

It's a good year for two of my favourite colours in the garden, white and blue, although, can you see, one or two spears of pink have grown from my seed of 'gallery white' lupins!

Hope the weekend brings you just the weather you want.

Joining Friday Skywatch for skies all around the world.