Rain and Rust

I mentioned rust yesterday. Look how marvellously the rain brings out the colours in this corrugated iron. The cotoneaster creeping across it is spectacular. This was part of an old, unused shed at the back of the local shop, photographed when I went to get some milk this morning. There are two sheds next to each other, both empty but for shards of broken glass. What a waste! I'm almost tempted to ask if I can buy them and re-erect them here. They'd make a super garden office.




Not twenty yards away is an equally glorious piece of fencing. The Elder growing up it is in full flower. I used to make Elderflower wine at this time of year, but last year we had a disaster -- out of the 50 gallons of wine I made (average cost £5 a gallon) we lost 40 to vinegar flies, stopped fermentation and cold. There are so many people coming here that there was nowhere to keep the wine at a stable temperature. I've stopped making it until that changes -- either with a new house of a heated shed.

I'm happy to keep the Elder trees in the hedgerows -- they are prone to infestations of blackfly.

This turned out to be an interesting shot. Jack was looking out of the study window when I returned with the milk. He saw the camera, so has dropped down, trying to escape the lens. Behind him you can see his basket and a 6' bookshelf stuffed full of mostly reference material for my writing. I sit to the immediate right of this bookcase.

Reflected in the glass is me. A better angle would have shown off my cleavage.