Flower - Clematis

The old scaffolding pole needs rust-eating Hammerite paint and it needs to be ready to put up by tomorrow. I've had the paint for a while but I haven't read the instructions on the tin. But now I do and discover that the only cleaner for brushes covered in Hammerite is made by Hammerite. A bit of research tells me it costs a fortune and nowhere nearby has it in stock. There is only one solution, get painting and sacrifice a brush. I choose a brush I don't like much which would cost much less to replace than the brush-cleaner costs. 

Coat 1. Wait 4 hours. While I'm wrapping the brush tightly in plastic so it doesn't go too hard before coat 2 I see that the clematis has exploded. The two flowers that were here when I moved in quickly died. Then there were none until now.

Coat 2. The pole is starting to look rather good.

This evening: the Bridge Theatre's Midsummer Night's Dream courtesy of NT at Home. I have seen some excellent productions of Midsummer Night's Dream over the years and I don't commit to watching this all through. But the playful challenges to gender and sexuality give it a twist I haven't seen before and I feel wistful I wasn't there in the pit last year.