Postcard from the outside

Just a quick note to let everyone know why things have gone a bit quiet. It's the weather! The sunny days and long warm evenings make me want to be outside all the time.

The first tomatoes are ripe, peppers and beans are swelling and my onions are starting to look more like vegetables and less like long grass. Sadly the little wrens seem to have given up, don't know why but I doubt they could have raised a brood in less than a month and I haven't seen or heard them for about a week. The bumblebees however are thriving and we have found two more hives in the garden so I'm happy about that.

There's a blackbird's nest nearby, their song is wonderful to hear, and after sunset bats occasionally flit past. I'm not sure what species they are but I guess Pipistrelles as they are the most common. In the east Mars and Saturn dominate the night sky, the orange-redness of Mars is unmistakable and breathtaking.

A couple of nights ago I came home late from band practice and went to sit outside with a beer and unwind. All of a sudden a young hedgehog strolled past just a couple of feet away. It must have come from the front of the house and through the car port, heading straight for the compost heap where I lost it in the shadows. I only saw it briefly but I could hear it rummaging for ages afterwards. I'm hoping to see it again if this becomes part of its nightly foraging run.

It's a great summer so far, long may it continue.