The calm before the storm

A busy weekend - more birthday celebrations, trips to London, School Fetes, and yes, a few hours of sunshine!
On Saturday it was my oldest daughter's school Fair and a chance for us to see her perform in a production of Romeo and Juliet in the woods. It was lovely, I don't know how but I managed to cry both times I saw it. Not just from pride but because all of the kids were so good and the whole production was moving and polished. My youngest, who's just eight, was really moved (not bored) and couldn't wait to go back for more (hoping that maybe Juliet didn't have to die the second time around!).
The sun shone and thankfully they were able to perform amongst the trees in dappled sunlight and Juliet's balcony was perched above a ladder on a tree rather than on a stool in the school hall.


Some time to do a bit of gardening in the afternoon and survey the snail damage. How can they eat so much? An entire lavatera has been stripped, we're talking a big bushy shrub not a sweet little seedling. Am I feeding the entire snail and slug population of Sussex or are mine just particularly greedy? All my seedlings have been eaten too. At least this rain has kept the snails and grass happy. On the other side of the garden which is a bit more open two mallows are blooming, albeit a little windswept from all this rainfall. Some salvia has survived behind the mallow and I've noticed that there's a second flush of buds on the roses, hopefully the wind will leave them alone long enough for us to enjoy this time.


Looking upwards things are better, the apples are really growing and those at the top of the tree are nice and rosy. The figs are enormous but because of the rain are now being swamped by enormous leaves so I think it's time for me to perch precariously on top of the rickety garden chair and lop off some of those leaves to let the sun get to the fruit.
We were woken up during the night on Sunday by thunderstorms. We were going up to London to visit my father for his birthday. I'd taken my camera to take photos from the train window but it was such a grey day and everything looked dreary, even the view crossing the Thames which is usually quite stunning - down to the Tower of London, the millenium bridge, the revamped South Bank and the Globe Theatre. This has to be one of my favourite walks on a summer's evening. Hopefully when we go up again during the school holidays, the sun will be shining and the skies won't be the colours of the old battleships moored along the Thames.

It seemed as if the bad weather was following us and just before the thunderstorms began I managed to photograph this beautiful hydrangea in my father's garden. A beautiful intense pink that really glowed in that strange light you get just before a storm. I love hydrangeas and pick lots from a bush we have in our front garden, I like watching the colours fade in the vase, and they're great dried flowers too.

This morning there was enough sun for me to sit outside and cut some more fabric for a big order of tea cosies that should be finished asap. Why do these things happen just before the school holidays start? Panic is starting to set in, can I really make a cosy a day over the next week? Will the sun shine long enough to dry the fabric I've just dyed? Will my parcel of new fabrics and canvas ever arrive? And, most importantly, will the girls come home just one day this week and not ask me to go into town the following day to buy someone a birthday/leaving/ thank you,or even "well you know how well I did in my school report, do you think I could have that t-shirt" present!?
Hope you all had a good weekend and that the weather didn't spoil any of your plans.