I can't stand...

...the rain.

Or can I? The pluses:

- No watering the plants
- Makes the locals happy
- Washes the terrace (which was on today's list of tedious jobs)

Of course against that you have to set the minuses:

- We're all in bad moods
- No opportunity to use the hammock (shown on the right here)
- Tomato plant blew over in the wind

Actually, I think I'm going a bit wrong with my tomato plants. I've been reading about how there are two kinds, and some you have to pinch out side shoots and some you don't. But all I can find about mine (marmande) is that they can be either. So how do I know whether to lop the side branches off or not?

The chilli plants (on the right behind the hammock) seem to be surviving the drenching, though the kids' sunflowers (mid-shot) had to be moved later out of the fierce wind which had me out there sticking an extra few supports in each tomato plant, rescuing the horizontal tomato plant and pondering whether chopping off the side shoots would make the tomatoes less prone to wind damage.

In other news, I did manage to get some work done, and Mr B made mussels and chips for dinner. One of Conor's friends at school called him a potato (unlucky for the boy in question as it's one of the few words Conor knows). I had to laugh. Apparently that was not the correct response from a loving parent. Chips for dinner and two episodes of the Clone Wars seems to have him back on form.

The funny bright bits on the right hand side are from me shooting this through the window. Well, you didn't think I'd go out in that, did you?