Sun.

It was so good to wake to patches of blue sky which heralded an end to the run of rainy days. Would I have appreciated my al fresco breakfast as much if we hadn't had those weeks of rain? Maybe not but I could have coped with those weeks being sunny, perhaps I would have spent less of each day out in the sun but when you never know if this will be the last bit of sun we will see for weeks (Aug 2011 - no sun, Aug 2010 - no sun!) then a sunny day isn't to be wasted. I was up fairly early so that clothes and sheets could be washed, sun-dried and ironed in a day, a rare treat. Then apart from a little cutting of encroaching brambles, it was time to sit outside and read.
While I was up at the scree garden I was saddened to see a sparrowhawk emerging form the outbuildings where the swallows' nests are. It was too quick for me to see if it had taken a fledgling but all the adults were calling wildly up above. I positioned myself at the opening to the outbuildings to act as a deterrent and put our plastic owl (the one that was useless with the jackdaws) on a table there. The adults were back in later and I think I saw some youngsters when I had a quick check. Sparrowhawks are disliked by many people because as the name implies they feed on small birds.

Good news - the missing piece of the Taj was there all along.