A Day Of two Halves.

A pretty sunset last night indicated that we'd be having good weather again today.

First thing this morning it was bright and sunny and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to air out an old pine blanket chest that lives in our bedroom. Peter gave me a hand and we put it out on the terrace for the sun to drive out the faint mustiness I could detect with my super sensitive nose. 

Later, as we began our Zoom class with some conversation about the weather I began hearing people say that it was getting cloudy and even starting to rain where they were. I kept my fingers crossed but when we stopped for our tea break I saw the first drops of rain on the terrace. We quickly got the chest back inside and then I ran and brought in the two machine loads of washing that were out on the line. From then on the rain just got heavier and heavier. That's the end of summer for now.

Looking at the garden (in the morning sun) I realised that for all my gardening efforts and careful planning the current stars of the garden are the aquilegias. I may have moved a few around but on the whole they are all self-seeded from plants that were growing in the wilderness of the original garden. I could also have a garden full of bright yellow Welsh poppies but I'm generally confining them to the 'Ukrainian' bed with some bluebells and in the back garden where they keep popping up between paving slabs or in the raised beds.

I sowed Nigella seeds two years ago and although there weren't many last year there's a good clump of them in the front garden.

Yesterday evening, after getting home from choir, I found my left arm was quite sore. I knew I hadn't been doing any heavy work in the garden and we hadn't done anything like the plank in Pilates (it was all abs, hip flexibility and lower back work) so I was puzzled. It wasn't until today that I realised that it was probably a reaction to yesterday's vaccination. It's the first time that I've ever had any reaction even though I had all the covid jabs whenever they were offered. My right arm is slightly sore too (one jab in each arm) and as I'm not feeling 100% I actually pulled out of disco aerobics. We tend to use our arms a lot and I wouldn't want to end up feeling poorly tomorrow.