The weather stayed clear for the eclipse yesterday. Here’s the traditional colander shot, awkwardly taken because it was difficult to hold a camera and a colander at the same time and there was only a tiny bit of unshadowed wall to project on:
And here’s a montage of images from the Dwarf Mini and a first stab at a video, 2 hours in 20 seconds:
Later we watched a small selection of Perseid meteors. A great day!
And today is our warmest day of the year: 34.1°C
A1 is reading The Pinnacle by Abir Mukherjee. A2’s toilet tome is Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams.
Tomorrow is the Clacton by-election and our rubbish collection day, so 
Here’s a delicate blue butterfly sipping from the tiny pink flowers of a mint plant. And here’s a 
A2 is reading Kafka on the Shore* by Haruki Murakami
Our family meal today was at Gez and Dave’s house and featured cod loins wrapped in parma ham with green beans and potato gratin with sausage rolls for the fish refusers. Present at the gathering were Dave with a broken foot in a velcro boot, Bob and Lena all the way from Sweden and Ivy visiting Faye.
A2 contributed a Dubai-style chocolate, pistachio and shredded wheat cheesecake but unfortunately dropped it and had to scrape it back together and apply another layer so it did not look as good as the before photo here but it tasted pretty acceptable. And we scored an astonishing 14 on the GSQ, bringing us back above 10 at long last.
An unlucky bird must have flown full tilt into our window today. There was no corpse on the ground below so it must have flapped away with an aching head leaving a print of itself on the rain-soaked glass and a feather where its beak should be. Here’s a brief video:
A1 is reading The Burning Tide by William Shaw. A2 is reading The Pinnacle by Abir Mukherjee.
Another old favourite for our family meal, followed by ice cream in colourful cones and by the GSQ at which we scored a slightly improved 11. And thanks go out to Gez and Ceri for bringing us coffee from London and Rutland respectively.
This plant continues to flourish in its tiny pot, bearing hundreds of fruits and overtopping the wall.
Welcome red and black flying insect, parent of black and yellow crawling caterpillars, though we haven’t seen any in these parts this year.
Welcome home Gez, to a warming curry cooked by A1 and followed by a damn fine cherry pie and damn fine coffee, after which we scored 10 on the GSQ with Faye as quizmistress.
This thing has been sitting on our windowsill unwatered since Christmas, when it didn’t bloom anyway, no leaves and a dried-up bulb that suddenly burst into bud.
Pyronia tithonus, sitting on grass that has lost the distant memory of rain.
Gez and Bob are off on an adventure so our dinner companions were Dave, Faye and a bonus Ivy. We had fruit salad for afters and scored a satisfactory 10 on the GSQ with Ivy as quizmaster.
The tiny Pyrausta aurata, a princess among moths with its gold-flecked velvet gown, flowing blonde mane and blue eyes.
A fabulous family feast featuring green stuff, eggs, potatoes, salmon, tuna, cheeses, cold meats, chicken legs, sausage rolls and a peachy pie pudding, after which we scored a calamitous 8 on the GSQ. Outside, the 
A1 is reading The Graveyard of the Hesperides by Lindsay Davis. A2 is reading Buyer Beware by Catherine Ryan Howard; a woman with a dodgy past moves into a house with a dodgy past. What could possibly go wrong?
The air fryer leaves a message on A1’s pork chop.
Another Sunday, another family meal, followed by pineapple upside down cake and a score of 10 on the GSQ.
Another common bird which we have never photographed before. Sadly we didn’t see a pair of great tits.
It has been 25 years since we tied the knot at Lusaka Civic Centre so we celebrated with a lunch of baked potatoes, cold meats and salad with the family, who brought wonderful presents and an unexpected bottle of champagne. We had cherry cake on galaxy-themed paper plates for afters and scored a disappointing 9 on the GSQ. Must try harder.
A2 is rereading Bad Actors by Mick Herron.
The cherries are a small selection from our garden tree. The books are presents for the birthday boy.
On the equal hottest day of the month A2 cooked a dinner of roast pork, roast potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, stuffing, gravy, carrots, broccoli and garden peas, followed by a leftover carrot cake trifle with garden cherries on top. Enjoy!
And happy Dad’s Day too! We had spag bol and carrot cake for tea and scored 11 on the GSQ.
For our family dinner today we had A1’s lovely roast chicken with halcyon potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, mixed vegetables, stuffing and gravy, followed by 
A busy bee covered in pollen forages in valerian.
Venus and Jupiter caught between clouds and telephone wires, with Mercury behind a tree.
First home-grown pudding of the year, following a dish of porky vegetables and rice and followed by our worst quiz score of the year: a totally miserable 6.
Woke up this morning, sun shining through the rain. Looked for the rainbow and instead saw, through the rain-blurred glass, what seemed to be a giant black and yellow bee sitting on a cornflower. Got a better look; it was a goldfinch eating the cornflower seeds. The rainbow arrived later. Here it is:
Meanwhile A1 is reading The Third Nero* by Lindsey Davis.