Tyger tyger

Burning bright. These lilies, sold at a discount and labelled "Asian lilies" have been one of the many pleasant surprises in the garden this summer. On a day when I needed to offset the unpleasant surprises, it was a pleasure to pop out before dinner and grab a quick snap.

This morning's first task was to survey and repair the damage from yesterday's storm: several tomato, pepper and chilli plants horizontal, and several of the big tomato plants (weakened by blight) snapped half way up the stem, regardless of the supports in place. So, some tying, drying, chopping and sacrificing to tidy things up. I'm learning not to be sad about these things - it's all just a learning process. Also today was the day I finally accepted that the blight has spread to the potatoes (I had hoped, since they are 25 metres away from the tomatoes and not downwind that my hygeine precautions might save them). Happily the potatoes are far enough along that I could just chop the tops off and leave the potatoes in the ground. We had some for dinner (much mushier than they should have been, but they tasted good) along with a decent handful of green beans and runner beans. We will soon be in glut territory there I think (note for next year: staggered planting....) Courgettes are still our main problem though: there is still half a marrow sized one in the fridge and two more on the plant... I see a ratatouille in my near future since I think Mr B - who is main cook this week - is running out of ways of serving them.)

That aside, it was a day of more cleaning in the electricity/wine room and more work on TallGirl's dress, which is proving a good deal more complicated than I had hoped. More strimming this afternoon, with a path hacked out of one side of our property, more to do tomorrow - subject to the rain forecast tonight. Tomorrow we are forecast storms and hail (or storms and snow as TallGirl reported it to us). And we are also forecast an exciting stage in the Tour, though today's was pretty exciting for a time trial - particularly with Froome's cunning trick of changing his bike just before the time break - so Contador, waiting at the finish in first place, couldn't see what Froome's 'real' time was. I guess sometimes it's not just about the cycling, but also about mental victories.