The flowers and fruits of summer

Just a quick posting before I try and catch up with some of the backlog of travel and other photos from the last few weeks ... that is, in between getting the chicken etc. in the oven! I know you like foxgloves, Diana, so I thought I would remind you that it's that time of the year here again. Toffee is just over a year old but has grown a lot. He and his pardner Treacle - they've both had their wotsits cut off, so I think I can call them that - are not quite as intimidated by us as they used to be, and they're getting to be quite a handful to move from paddock to paddock when the grass runs out. It usually takes all six of us, with much shouting, running around, falling over etc. etc.

Our strawberries have started producing, in great quantities. We're picking every three or four days, and each of the last two picks have yielded over 2kg. Some of them are enormous, as you can see. Actually it's Hannah who's the strawberry fiend - we have to watch her at parties!

The early ripening of the strawberries is a result of the very warm spring that we've had, which also means that I've had to start regular mowings of the lawn a little earlier, and some careful weeding of our herb garden. It's been a little drier than usual, too, so we've occasionally caught ourselves hoping for some rain! This photo was taken from the verandah on Monday evening, after some showers had passed us, and the strawberries, by.

The Clematis is just past its best, but is still pretty spectacular in spite of having been battered a little by the wind.

And the last photo for this posting, one of Camilla, Hannah and Louise on their way up the driveway to collect the post this afternoon.