The robin parents were frequent visitors to the garden, or more specifically the bird feeders, earlier in the week, filling their beaks with seeds and mealworms before returning to their home somewhere in the tangle of ivy and shrubs alongside the garage.
This one was snapped taking a breather on the towel I'd left outside the kitchen door after a plant pot painting session.
There was a noisy kerfuffle one evening from the depths of the shrubs. The birds haven't been seen since. We fear the worst.
On a happier note, actual tomatoes have appeared in the plant pots in the garden. Admittedly, I've probably sported larger pimples and we're not going to be harvesting any time soon but still, I grew these from seeds. Go me.
Staying in the garden, the roses have flourished this summer, in spite of all the neglect, with some blooms the size of saucers and more than enough for cutting and plonking in a vase with sprays of alchemilla mollis (efficacious in the treatment of hernias, perforated eardrums and overly large bosoms, apparently).
Tucked away in a corner at the bottom of the odd shaped plot here, the little summerhouse has received its annual spruce up. The perfect spot for a sneaky hour on a sunny afternoon with the current read.
For someone else, summer in the garden is all about playing with a string of smiley sausages. Which almost always means trampled plants.
In the kitchen, several baking sessions resulted in a rhubarb crumble, a very gooey chocolate cake, easier on the fingers cheese and chive scones and cherry and almond rock buns.
And Friday night here is usually pizza night, even for the vegan.
The current book at bedtime (and sometimes earlier), Margaret Atwood's Alias Grace, is an absolute cracker.
Based on the true story of young servant Grace Marks, who in 1840s Canada, was found guilty with stablehand James McDermott of murdering their employer and his housekeeper. McDermott was hanged whilst Grace, just sixteen years old at the time, had her sentence commuted to life imprisonment.
The story focuses on the imprisoned Grace and her somewhat guarded account of her life thus far as told during interviews with Dr. Simon Jordan, hired by a group of do-gooders intent on securing a pardon from the Canadian government. Grace is an admirer of the quilts she comes across in the various households she finds herself employed (each section of the book is named after a quilt pattern - Puss in the Corner, Young Man's Fancy, Broken Dishes and the like), is proficient with a needle and thread (such small stitches), takes pride in the execution of her domestic duties (such detailed description which left me eager to get the washing pegged out on the line and drying in the sun) and knows her place. But maybe all is not as it seems. Highly recommended.