We eat them cooked until tender and dressed in vinaigrette

Bees also share the butterfly bush

They were showing off on the climbing frame.

And she went home with a jar of apricot jam and two cucumbers

When I stand beside them I reach only one and a half stacks high.

In other news the drought and heat continues with no end in sight and further afield please note that this week marks the first anniversary of Black July 2025 for the Druze community in Syria and around the world.

If you want to know more please message me and I will send you a short but chilling article which, as a friend this morning wrote to me,

“Why do things like this not reach the news. I wasn’t aware of this and I’m sure not many people are.
I despair of humanity when people can treat others in this way.”

Here all is peaceful and yet, and yet…

I went down to the goose pond with a bucket of fresh water for the geese. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a creature move from the bank into the water. Yes – it was mother duck and her duckling. They swam over to an ash tree at the water’s edge and nestled into the hollow at its base.

I moved slowly towards the tree and mother, alert to my footsteps, left her hiding place with duck in tow.

A sight to gladden my heart.

Is this mallard duck mother and her duckling looking for water? I’ll put out some shallow bowls in the garden and around the courtyard. Click below

I’ve never seen so many blackbirds and pheasants in the garden and near the house