It's Called Rain

Oh joy! We had rain today, the first measurable amount since the beginning of July, and I'd forgotten what it sounded like, running in the gutters above our conservatory as it does. The parched fields around us will hopefully be rejuvenated and less crispy, less volatile.

This has been a scary drought for rainy Wales - we all forgot what it's like to have to bring a rain jacket wherever we go

Raindrops on roses look good

There were puddles for kids to jump into at parking lots

And then we had a magnificent show at the end of the day as lightning sporadically lit up the clouds.

English Pastoral

In his powerful book, English Pastoral, chronicling the life of a farmer amid changing farming methods and economic necessities ('An efficient landscape was required to make food cheap'), James Rebanks notes:

"We are choking to death on our own freedoms. The merest mention that we might buy less or give anything up and we squeal like pigs pushed away from the trough."

Close Encounters

Is there a face here?

Spagnum moss suffering in the drought, up close

Umbrella's underbelly

I'll leave this up to your imagination ...

The Magic of Grey

Speckled wood butterfly beautifully enhanced by the grey background

Silverweed shadow

Wall lettuce over grey water