Celestial quilting

Today's morning sky produced this canopy of fluffy white tufts, a vortex of cotton wool against clear blue. It presaged a glorious day of hot and unbroken sunshine: the perfect summer day such as we all remember but never seem able to experience afresh.

The beautiful day was spent by me in a fairly leisurely fashion, mowing the grass, picking raspberries, keeping an eye on an errant drake and waiting for the wedding guests to return. (They didn't roll up until gone 6, having climbed a mountain in the heat.)

This sort of cloud is called Altocumulus floccus - the word means tuft of wool. In trying to identify it I discovered that it was one Luke Howard (1772-1864), a Quaker pharmacist, who was the first to name and classify clouds, in 1802.

I also found a remarkable poem written by Percy Bysshe Shelley in 1820, The Cloud, which shows his accurate knowledge of atmospheric processes.

The reddening berries of the rowan tree seen here is a reminder that no sooner does summer arrive than autumn is around the corner.