Warm.

The day has been warm and windy, nice enough to spend the later part of the afternoon sitting out in the garden.

This morning we had a phone call booking another viewing for the afternoon. This was a chap who had been twice before the lockdown and had now put his house on the market. After the usual tidy up I went out to do the shopping but by the time I got home things had changed. The family that came last week had upped their offer for the second time and finally reached the price that Peter and I had decided would be suitable. They're cash buyers and are in rented accomodation so would like to move asap. So we've accepted their offer and are hoping that it all goes smoothly. The afternoon's viewing was cancelled as we don't believe in gazumping (looking for a higher price from a new buyer.) Surprisingly I'm not jumping up and down with excitement. Maybe because things could go awry at any point in the legal process. Also I think because over the last weeks and months I've gone into a distanced mode to cope with the uncertainty and waiting. Better just to let things happen.

While I was out shopping I found myself a few treats. My first stop was BJ's and I couldn't resist buying this agapanthus. It has been in my plans for the back garden and although expensive this looked like a decent specimen. (Photo below is from the web.) Agapanthus are on my list of salt tolerant plants.

The other plant I bought was this aeonium which is also salt tolerant. I saw many enormous specimens growing in gardens on the Isles of Scilly and also on St Michael's Mount.

That wasn't the end of my extravagance. Last time I was in Tesco's I'd been drawn to a fluffy, dusky pink longer dressing gown with a hood. Everything I like in a dressing gown but I hadn't bought it as I already have a selection of dressing gowns. However I began to justify buying a new dressing gown with the fact that my everyday dressing gowns were bought at least 10 years ago. Regular washing and brushing have kept them in reasonable condition but they're not as fluffy as they once were. Also, so my mind went, you don't find the right dressing gown that often. With all that in my thoughts I wandered over to the clothing section. There were the dressing gowns and in the right size. So I caved in and bought myself one. With the new rule in place everybody out shopping wore a mask. At last I didn't feel that I was making a personal statement by wearing my mask which I've done since the beginning of the lockdown.

As mentioned earlier it was warm enough to get the sunloungers out for a relaxing break in the sun. While we were out there we were visited by a dunnock bravely hopping around in the rose bush collecting insects to take back to its nest. We also got a surprise when a large golden-ringed dragonfly swooped around the garden. I wonder if somebody nearby has a pond in their garden?