New Header Picture

You may have noticed the new header picture, sketched this afternoon by Much Malarkey Manor's artist in residence, Andy. And it is a very fair approximation of the view in our garden today, with me in a deck chair under the laurel tree reading 'Wolf Hall', the lavender walk in front of the honeysuckle, and then the willow arch 'neath which Primrose is reclining in her deckchair, wearing a rather fetching pair of sunglasses and sipping at her Pimms. Not sure where Daisy is - she might be in the pod reapplying sunblock, given she is a pale chicken who catches the sun easily.

It has been a jolly good weekend. The weeding at the allotment is about as under control as weeding can be. All the cooking has been done outside on the gas barbecue. Andy Murray won Wimbledon in a very exciting match. And we've had convivial family malarkey goings-ons. We even managed to cut the hedge, weed the flower beds and mown the grass a home. Everything looks very spick and span and I am happy because I believe that ordered surroundings = an ordered mind and that, however sad it may seem to some, is a very important living factor to me.

And I've done loads of reading. And I helped a starling baby this morning, who flew full tilt into the kitchen window, smacking its head pretty comprehensively. It sat on my lap, being stunned, for around twenty minutes, and then it stretched out its wings, fluffed itself up and flew onto the fence, where it sat for another couple of minutes before launching itself into the air to find its brothers and sisters. 

I hope you've had a good weekend, too.