Southerly Winds.

With strong winds blowing up from the south it has been very warm today with occasional sunny spells too. When the rain died down yesterday afternoon I went up and took down my extra flood defences to make it easier for Peter to drive out this morning. But then heavy rain set in once more so there I was at 10.00 dragging the wood across the road again. I don't sleep too well these days so when I woke and saw it was 4.30 I thought I might as well go and move the wood out of the way again. I did doze off a bit before Peter's radio went on at 6.00 but by 7.00 I decided I might as well make an early start to the day. 

After the usual routine jobs I washed the kitchen floor and then went and blitzed all the bathrooms. That done I headed into town to change my library books and get in last minute supplies.  

As it was such a warm day I thought I'd wear shorts, here something only holidaymakers and the young do. It was a good choice as it was quite hot and sticky in town. With 2 weddings coming up next year I've taken to popping in to Monsoon for inspiration. Today I actually tried a dress on. It was in sale reduced from £69 to £20 but although the top was gorgeous it had a strange hem line so I didn't buy it. I did toy with the idea of cutting the jersey fabric into a tunic and maybe would have done if it had been black rather than navy blue. (The top part had bright green embroidery/cut outs on the shoulders and back.)

As I drove home I could see a dark grey weather front just to the north of us and it feels as if it is going to rain any moment. The bees and the butterflies were busy getting as much nectar as they could. I missed the chance to photograph our largest dragonfly, a Southern Hawker. It had stopped for a rest on a handy conifer branch but was gone by the time I got my camera. Earlier I had been deadheading the hanging baskets when a medium sized bronze coloured dragonfly came and sat on my arm and then my shoulder completely unconcerned when I moved around. Later I waited for a Beautiful Demoiselle (that's its proper name) to stop but it never settled and I missed my chance to get a picture of this emerald green bodied and black winged dragonfly.