Showers.

We had lovely weather in the morning and although it stayed warm the showers got heavier and more frequent as the day progressed.

I had one of those days where I woke at 4.00 and gave up on trying to get back to sleep by 5.00. It just reaches a point where the pain outweighs the pleasure of lying in bed. Instead I prepared breakfast and got the early morning jobs done before settling down in front of the tv. I'm currently watching Portrait Artist of the Year, there is something very soothing watching skilled artists capture different facets of the same sitter.

After breakfast I got Peter to hold one end of the 3m gutter so that I could mark up for the brackets. But ..... after fitting the long section I've decided I really do not like the brown gutter against the white wall (the brown mark on the wall underneath is from water splashing off the terrace onto the soil below and will be washed off). The brown gutter is too intrusive especially as the raised bed below will be a focal feature of the garden so I shall have to buy white guttering instead. Unless I can move the brackets higher up so that visually the gutter merges with the edge of the terrace slabs, that's an idea to explore.

And then it rained, and when the rain stopped we were treated to a double rainbow, much brighter than it looks in the photos.

I spent the rest of the afternoon making truffles as there's a family birthday coming up. (I don't think the boys read my blog so it doesn't matter if I post a photo.) The round ones are the usual truffles, this time made with Bailey's and the star shaped ones have marzipan inside. I tried out the sweet moulds I bought in the charity shop and they've worked quite well though next time I'll roll the marzipan into slightly smaller balls. I had some melted chocolate and ganache balls left over so I used the heart shaped moulds to make the heart shaped chocolates which Peter and I can share as chef's perks.