Purple menace 2

Our last day on railway land until September, and the purple menace was definitely in evidence, with extensive areas of quite species-rich grassland covered with a forest of flowering bushes. The smell was quite overpowering, verging on the sickly, particularly as the air was heavy and humid, feeling somewhat like warm soup.

Much of the site had been supposedly cleared of bushes about eighteen months ago, but they hadn't sprayed the regrowth with herbicide or gone back to treat seedlings, so now the problem is even worse, with the bushes all being young, vigorous and flowering profusely. But the butterflies were enjoying the nectar source, including this peacock, a species that I find particularly beautiful.

After a trip to Sainsbury's I felt quite shattered this afternoon, but just about summoned the energy to cut all the boys' hair. We finally had some proper thunderstorms, with a couple of very close lightning strikes and torrential rain. There were rumours that this had caused flooding locally. I've just been outside and the garden smells wonderful, a potent mix of damp earth and honeysuckle...