I still had the cleaning bug this morning and as it was a shame to let yesterday's effort go to waste I gave the kitchen floor a good wash this morning. As I toiled away I had a few thoughts about housework ie - It's always good when somebody else does the housework. Unfortunately my family also think this way with the somebody else being me. That was fine when I was at home full time and the boys were little, but no matter how hard I've tried I haven't had much luck getting the family to help when I've been working full time and busy in the evenings and weekends with schoolwork. They do cook their own meals and wash the dishes when there aren't any more clean ones but that's because I refuse to cook for adults who spend hours playing games on their pcs while I'm out at work. I do find it quite hurtful that I'm known as 'always complaining' and they use this as an excuse not to do things. Everybody in the house ('cept me) would be so much happier if I stopped complaining about the mess and lack of help and simply got on and did the housework. Rant over - I'll work it out somehow.
After a few showers this morning there has been lots of sunshine today. I was able to clear a lot of weeds, which were easy to pull out of the wet soil, and then I spent quite a lot of time simply reading a book (The Chocolate Lovers' Club by Carole Matthews - a light hearted read with a bit too much chocolate in it). The first of the various varieties of crocosmia around the garden, has started to flower moving the garden palette from soft pinks and purples to the more vibrant autumnal oranges.
The astilbes are creating frothy pink and white clouds in the damper parts of the garden.
Up in the scree garden the purple of the lavender is exactly matched by the brodaliaea a little further along the path.
These are the bulbs that some little mouse decided were rather tasty and kept digging up earlier in the year. I think I lost about 1/4 of the bulbs. Let's hope more don't get eaten next spring. This evening I saw a humming bird hawk moth feeding on the flowers in the hanging baskets but didn't manage to get a picture. They do look like little humming birds hovering with their wings humming away and their long tongue going into the flowers. Hopefully there'll be more around as they're not that common. Oh, it's pouring with rain again. Lots.
After a few showers this morning there has been lots of sunshine today. I was able to clear a lot of weeds, which were easy to pull out of the wet soil, and then I spent quite a lot of time simply reading a book (The Chocolate Lovers' Club by Carole Matthews - a light hearted read with a bit too much chocolate in it). The first of the various varieties of crocosmia around the garden, has started to flower moving the garden palette from soft pinks and purples to the more vibrant autumnal oranges.
The astilbes are creating frothy pink and white clouds in the damper parts of the garden.
Up in the scree garden the purple of the lavender is exactly matched by the brodaliaea a little further along the path.
These are the bulbs that some little mouse decided were rather tasty and kept digging up earlier in the year. I think I lost about 1/4 of the bulbs. Let's hope more don't get eaten next spring. This evening I saw a humming bird hawk moth feeding on the flowers in the hanging baskets but didn't manage to get a picture. They do look like little humming birds hovering with their wings humming away and their long tongue going into the flowers. Hopefully there'll be more around as they're not that common. Oh, it's pouring with rain again. Lots. 
