Sunday 31.07.2022

 Last day of July and we`ve had three or four days of  perfect weather. A couple of days ago it seemed to be all about the greens and the trees.......

....today the large skies, blues and whites, and a fresh breeze deterring the flies. Scottish summer at its best. 

Wednesday 20.07.2022

 Back in northern climes last week, ahead of the heatwave down south. Quite warm enough up here in the last couple of days but cooler today. Walking in the woods once more a pleasure for me and especially the dogs who weren`t at all fond of it getting too warm. 

The countryside seemed to be taking a deep, refreshing breath - we even had a drop of rain last night, dampening down the dust. Yup, won`t be moving any further south anytime soon. 

Sunday 10.7.2022

Sitting in a beautiful garden on a quintessential summer`s day in the south of England. The Wimbledon men`s final is on this afternoon, the political class is up to high doh and Glastonbury is over. Still to write about it and that walk the detailed memories of which are slowly receding, leaving only sudden flashbacks of particular moments....and lots of photographs.

Been housesitting, which is why I`m in this beautiful garden in the first place. It is very seductive, especially in this weather, watching the local honeybees make full use of the lavender, but it is also the result of a lot of time and hard work to keep it so lovely. 

For some reason, feels like a bit of a moment. Have been busy here and over the last few weeks but am simply sitting still today, reading, staring at the lavender, contemplating a busy week ahead as I head back north on Tuesday where the cooler air will re-energise. This southern heatwave is all well and good but somewhat debilitating. That`s my excuse for a day of complete self-indulgence and I`m sticking to it.