Warm.

It's been a very warm day with the rain arriving in the late afternoon. No signs yet of the thunderstorms coming in from the south with intense rain and hail that the weather forecast predicted.

I did a lot of gardening today. Mainly in the back garden which has been a bit neglected this summer. I must remember to keep watering everything in tubs and raised beds because even when we have rain it isn't usually enough. While some plants have struggled others flourished including the weeds. Self sown aquilegias, knautia, foxgloves and feverfew are everywhere. Some I'll leave but others need to go. 

In the front garden the first of the Fox & Cubs (aka orange hawkbit) is flowering. Although a native wildflower my plants came from a friend who was weeding them out of her rockery. She warned me that they are 'spreaders' but that's fine as they are in a small bed under one of the hedges where they can spread to their hearts' content.. Out in the back garden one of the nerines is flowering, for the first time ever. I knew they can be temperamental so have been waiting patiently for a few years. Hopefully some of the others will flower too and continue to do so each year.

Before the rain set in I sat outside and darned two holes in my riding gloves. They are fabric gloves with 'grippy' palms and I see no point in throwing them out just because of a couple of holes.

With the rain drumming on the roof I thought I'd brighten things up with some of yesterday's butterflies.

Below is the type of location that was full of butterflies, I managed to catch a white butterfly in flight bottom left. Above- two Large Whites (everyone apart from lepidopterists calls these Cabbage Whites) feeding on the blackberries.

A Red Admiral.

A Small Copper.