Today, for the first time this year, we watered the garden this evening.
Yes, we had splashed some water on the plants before, like when we had planted them out, but this was the first time the front and back gardens had been given a good soak. For weeks we’ve been told to expect rain and none came. Now that we’ve taken the bull by the horns and used the watering can on all the plants, it will probably rain tomorrow. For today, though, it’s been watered.
In the afternoon I gathered a few bags of stuff that either wasn’t working or had been gathering dust and took it all up to the skips to be disposed of. As always, there was a constant flow of folk bringing similar car loads of garden refuse, electrical equipment and what is generically known as “General Household” to these great big bins and the crushers were there working their magic to reduce what was once a carefully assembled chest of drawers to matchstick. That must be a satisfying job. I saw the delight in one woman’s face as she tipped a two layer glass TV stand into one empty General Household skip. It made a lovely crashing sound as it disappears into thousands of little chips of broken safety glass.
I drove out of the council tip and up to Fannyside. It was a lovely day until I opened the car door and it almost blew shut again. Fannyside is quite exposed and the gusty west wind was stronger than I’d anticipated. I was hoping to see some dragonflies, but not today, not in that wind. I did see some swallows, though. I stopped to watch them and a Stonechat which I’d heard of but never seen before. Then I listened to a skylark singing as it rose, and there it was, watching me from the the field. A Fox. It just sat there on its haunches, in the long grass, looking at me. Not fazed at all but the human with the big black tube pointed at it. When I turned to walk away, it did too. I had one last look at it, but it didn’t turn back, it just walked into the water weeds that surround a bog in the field. I did get half a dozen or so photos of it. This is one of the best. I’d been thinking of buying a longer lens for photographing wildlife and birds. Maybe this was the signal that it might be a good idea.
Back home Scamp was reading in the garden, so I brought a bottle of beer out with me and joined her. For some reason the weather fairies didn’t like my interruption and clouds began to roll in and the wind became gustier until I was forced to go in to make the dinner.
I think we may be going out to lunch tomorrow with Shona. Her treat this time.