East to West

The evening sun filters in from the west through the branches of our ancient oak tree, just to the left out of shot in this picture, lighting up the masses of self-seeded ox-eye daisies in the wildflower garden. A stepping stone path starts just to the left of the bird bath and winds across the back of the garden, in front of the oak and ash trees, and behind the rhododendron bed. (This sloping bed currently has gained lots of self-seeded pink and white foxgloves, and there are hollyhocks about to come into flower too.) The path is not navigable at the moment because hundreds of ox-eye daisies are growing rampantly across it, but there’s no way I’m going to cut them back, they look glorious! 

At the other end of the stepping stone path a set of steps made from old railway sleepers leads back down to the rose garden in front of the kitchen window. 

And early tomorrow morning, if the sun is shining, Smithers will enjoy seeing from his chair the sunbeams shining from the east across the side of the house and falling on the bird bath from the opposite direction as he sits to have his morning cup of tea. It’s a sight we never tire of.