Playing with flowers

Today was hot. When I went outside with laundry around 10 am, I was dazzled by the intensity of the sun as well as its heat. It felt like Italy or Spain. I had already planned indoor jobs, but I quickly abandoned any idea of bee and butterfly hunts and decided my bouquet of flowers provided a perfect opportunity to stick to indoor photography. I waited till this afternoon, when I could open the blinds without direct sun heating the already stuffy room further, and played with my macro lens in the dappled light shining through the shrubs outside the window. The gladioli detail is my main Tiny Tuesday shot - thank you OSusannah for hosting - but there were lots to choose from so I couldn't resist some extras.

It's been another day of eating garden produce: P made gazpacho with our cucumbers, tomatoes and basil (and other ingredients from Tesco), the perfect lunch for today, and this evening we have fine French beans and a tasty courgette mixture with couscous. 

This afternoon P's thermometer in deep shade beside the shed registered over 37 degrees Celcius, the hottest day we have ever experienced in the UK (though we have holidayed in hotter places). This evening the wind blew up and interesting clouds massed; since darkness fell, thunder has been rumbling and echoing up and down the valley with many dramatic flashes of both sheet and fork lightning. I rushed to close the Velux windows when the rain came, but it was over in a couple of minutes - sadly, as the plants and trees are in dire need of water. Tomorrow, we are promised comfortably warm weather with temperatures in the twenties, and I hope to get back to the many jobs waiting outside.

I posted yesterday's high summer view of the valley just a little while ago, if you have time.