Catching up with June

As usual I meant to keep up to date, but good intentions ...

... tend to get washed away. 

This was the scene on my birthday, not quite what I had been expecting for a DAS day outing to the Black Country  Museum. I hadn't been there since 1993, so saw some changes through the rain. 

It did make for a few interesting pictures. This was taken when standing under cover at the rolling mill, looking out at the puddles. Most of the time I took snatched pictures with my phone, rather than my camera.

As you can see it wasn't freezing, but I was glad I'd taken an umbrella and jacket with me. Here are the baker's and sweetshop.

It certainly seemed to be the wettest day of the year so far, although I'm not sure if the statistics will back that up. Our garden benefited greatly from the steady rain.Later in the day we travelled on to the Mushroom Green Chain Shop in Cradley Heath. Again, I hadn't been there since '93. It was under cover and warm, and a pleasure to see individual chain links being forged. I would have had a try, but I was wearing a dress that I don't want messed up.

One of the advantages of Ravelry is that there are many groups that arrange swaps. This year I took part in the June Birthday Exchange again, thus guaranteeing at least one birthday present! This shows the contents of the lovely parcel I received from Gudrun in Germany. I have often thought about buying a Zauberball, but couldn't work out which colourway to choose. Gudrun got it spot on, saving me much searching. The white mittens in the foreground fit perfectly, and will come in handy later in the year. Due to extreme temperatures on its journey, the chocolate had partially melted and reformed, but still tasted great.

Summer rain

All week we have been having rain, ranging from hair-curling drizzle to full blown thunderstorms (although only a couple of these).

So everything is growing at a mad rate, and that includes the lawn.

At this rate we may not get it cut for a while as it is constantly too wet.

Typically the more frail roses are opening, and then being washed away before we have had the chance to enjoy them.

Of course we should be out sowing more veg and flower seeds, but the conditions are too wet to want to do it.

But the highest priority, after the sawfly caterpillar removal, is tying in the autumn fruiting raspberries.

Autumn Bliss fruits on new canes, and has put on a growth spurt.

So for the next little while I'll be down the garden with twine and scissors.

It is even less fun when they are all wet, but leaving it another day will make the job more difficult. Thank heavens the row is only about 3 m (10 ft) long.

And to give a bit of an idea of the wetness here, take a look at part of Asda's carpark on Sunday.

Yesterday when getting thoroughly drenched while cycling there were beautiful oil patterns on a bit of road. I was too wet to want to stop and get my phone out, so you will have to imagine the bright haze that spread across the tarmac.

Cloudbursts ... or steady rain?

This is how our weather seems to have been for a while now.

It is sometimes possible with cloudbursts to arrange life so that you miss cycling through them.

Steady rain is another matter though!

So the garden is neglected and lush, but that doesn't mean that lots of knitting or spinning has been done.

I have had to do washing without recourse to a washing line for the drying.

So for the past few days we have had t-shirts on hangers above nearly every door downstairs.

The wettest items have gone straight to the airing cupboard.

BUT today, I have some things out on the line.

Whether they will get wetted again is another matter.

So, no recent photography in the garden, but just for fun here are a few perfect images from earlier on.

An orange poppy without its petals.

A primula.

A sliced pear (not from our garden)

A summer/autumn flowering bulb (slightly dried out).

I had put aside some bulbs to go in pots for the front door, and they got mixed up. As a result this was left unplanted for rather too long.

When I went to plant it, I couldn't remember what it was, but loved the veining so much that I had to take a photo.

Lots of design inspiration here, for spinning/knitting, ceramics, drawing or even enamelling.