Warm.

It was lovely to wake up this morning and see nothing but blue skies through the windows. An hour later the clouds returned and for most of the rest of the day it has been overcast. At least we didn't have any rain so I shan't complain.  

While Peter went off for an afternoon of clay pigeon shooting I started cutting back any of the hardy geraniums that had finished flowering. I don't bother with the ones tumbling down the hillside but there were a couple overhanging the patio that could be tidied up and also it is time to sort out the plants I've propagated. Somehow there were too many of the common pink variety and those I chopped back to the ground, may even dig them up if I have the time. The rest of the ones in the bed above have been tidied up and the labels rewritten. The other lot are still full of flowers so I'll leave those a while. A fledgling robin flew down and perched on a twig only a few feet away as I worked. I tried to find a worm or something to see if it would feed from my hand but I didn't turn up anything before it flew away. Once again the flies, especially the horse flies were a real nuisance. 

This blackbird under the apple tree was much further away but he still kept a careful eye on me as I walked around the garden with my camera.  Later as I sat outside with my book I heard the mewling of a buzzard. Looking up I saw it gliding quite low over the garden but I still only managed a blurry photo. Higher up there were 4 more buzzards lazily circling around in a thermal above the valley. Then one of the herons flew over squawking away. I don't think I've heard one before, it sounded like a seagull with a sore throat.

 A Red Admiral butterfly on the buddleia.