Muggy.

Very warm and muggy today with frequent light showers and then heavy rain towards the end of the afternoon. 

I spent most of the day working outside snipping away at the hedge. I was able to watch the showers approaching from the left (above) sometimes popping back indoors until the rain stopped and sometimes just carrying on. I finished the section by the terrace and began at the other end taking it as low as I can. The neighbour who lives in the cream house came out for a chat and to offer his services in cutting the hedge and maintaining the cliff top. It turns out that each house owns the land above the cliff which is why we have to maintain it. (The public have the right to walk on it but not to drive or park on it.) Our neighbour had an arrangement with the previous owner to cut the grass and maintain the wooden marker posts for a nominal sum and as the last contract runs out this August I was happy to continue having him carry on. He also repeated his offer to cut the hedge at any height I want with his tractor and hedge flail. Far too drastic a solution for the moment so I haven't taken him up on that. Maybe when I get too old to be climbing the step ladder I might have him cut the hedge down to the level of the wall.

Looking over the garden I caught sight of Speedy out on the cliff hunting the creatures that live in the long grass.

Last night it didn't look as if we were going to have a decent sunset then suddenly the sky turned pink and gold.

It's so hard to capture the colours, above is too light and below is too yellow.

The last photo is nearest to the true clolours but neither of the cameras I used picked up the blazing red of the sun itself.