Windy.

Strong winds have been blowing from the west. Overall it's been warm to hot cooling slightly when the fast moving clouds block the sun.

Last night was the shortest night of the year so now the nights will be getting longer. How depressing is that? One thing about watching the sun set each night is seeing just how far north the setting sun gets  to (beyond Prixford) while now it will swing back southwards setting over the sea beyond Hartland.

Instead of sitting and not doing very much, today I went out for some garden tidying, the back garden this time. The first flush of rose blooms is almost over for the big rose bush so only the stems with flowers still on escaped a hard pruning. Then came the less pleasant job of scraping up the mush of soggy rose petals from the decking. Some were almost welded to the boards and needed scraping off with an old washing up brush. A final trim of the 'over' London Pride stems completed today's gardening. I also spent time scraping away at the last few paving slabs. I enjoy that, it's satisfying to see the paving slabs emerge from under the lumps of mortar but my back limits the time I can stay kneeling. After that I sat outside enjoying the a mug of tea and the sound of the wind rushing through the trees.

Today is Father's Day which as a purely commercial construct we've generally ignored but it was nice when Vytas phoned to talk to Peter. Naturally I had a long chat with Vytas as well. 

The nepeta is doing well, I love the combination of grey foliage and purple flowers. My latest plant  purchases included a pink flowered variety which should also be pretty.

The next clematis to flower.