Just a few days ago I remember thinking that it had been a while since we last had a thunderstorm but that gap was magnificently closed yesterday afternoon with not just thunder and lightning (really not too frightening) but thick lashings of hail. Several of the plants in the garden, such as the tulips went from just beginning to fade to looking very much at the tail end of their glory after the pummelling they received.

On the bright side though, everything got a good watering and our water butts are replenished after a week or two of quite dry weather. Hopefully the generally wet weather forecast over the next few days will be balanced with a measure of warmth and light and abundant growth will continue to fill in the gaps.