A rare sight at work when I arrived this morning, none of the embroidery machines working. We have 3 of these things and they’re usually clacking away throughout the day, but today Billy was in late, and Lien has been off sick. The work’s piling up.

Malcolm sitting on the log fence with the gorgeous redbud that made an amazing recovery from being a sickly tree last year.

The second canoe is now filled with earth, ready for a couple of native plants to be added, to keep the little cedar tree company. A job for Saturday.

I brought a large pocketful of nuts home from a hike, and left them at the end of the drive on a stone pillar. Today, I checked, and they were obviously enjoyed by a local squirrel. I guess I’ll have to clean up the mess. Table manners are not part of a squirrel’s upbringing.

The cemetery this morning as I left for work, a green glow from the streetlights casting an eerie light.

Elliott and I managed to get a walk in before the storm. I had a pocketful of raw nuts which a couple of squirrels were grateful for. This one’s chomping on an almond.

Rosie Lee chowing down on the cat mint in the back garden. She loves this stuff!

At the car wash this afternoon, and this appeared briefly as the water gushed on to the windscreen. It reminded me of a hummingbird.

This dear little cedar tree, about 1ft tall, has been in a pot for about a year, dug up from next to the house. It’s now got a new lease on life in the canoe. I spread its little roots out from where they’d circled around in the pot, and by next spring it should be established enough to start growing in earnest. There’s large holes in the bottom of the canoe for roots to grow into the ground beneath, and also for drainage.

I promised our pizza delivery guy some trumpet vine cuttings a couple of months ago. Today, he picked them up, saying his hummingbirds will be grateful. I hope his plants take off like mine did!

We’re still getting a few gifts from the plants out back. It’s been a really bad year with so much rain that the plants haven’t done well, but it’s nice to get a few tokens.

After a sad morning with the Queen’s funeral, it was wonderful to celebrate Elliott’s birthday when he got home from work. We had sushi, his choice, for dinner. Happy Birthday Elliott!

Elliott’s birthday lunch with his parents, with a lovely Black Forest gateau.

We worked on The Bug Out today, since it was the first weekend without humidity. We ripped out the walls, old insulation and rotten  parts of the floor. It’s now ready for new materials to be added. A grand job done!

I had to find another way out of town this morning due to this crash. Hope no-one was hurt.

Yum! Rambutan. I haven’t had these for years, then one of the production staff brought me some, and I realized I’d missed them. A lovely ‘lychee’ texture with the almond flavor.

This is how Tricksie Treat looks out of the window. She’s standing on the bed post.

Yellow foxtail grasses illuminated by the evening sun.

Looking over an ink splattered ladder into an empty production room, because everyone’s at lunch.

The morning glories have really taken off now. Looking beautiful in the light from the kitchen window.

At the Somerset Pasture Party, with the steam engines doing the ‘tractor pull’.

I saw the mulching machine for the first time today, when I dropped off some garden waste. It’s huge!

My Queen died today. She had performed her duty religiously throughout her life, and had been a figure that will go down in history as one of the most prominent monarchs that ever lived. I’m devastated at her passing, having always had her in my life. She has always been an icon, a torch of human values, a figure of morality. Rest In Peace, my Queen, you served your country well.

I followed this lady to work, and had hoped she was going to park outside our place so I could park next to her and get our 2 plates together in a photo, but she drove on past.

Getting close to home I spotted these deers running up the road, looking nervous. I blocked the road until they had all gone into someone’s garden. My good deed for the day!

A dreary day today, but the native beardtongue flower looked beautiful, dripping with their rainy jewels.

I found out that there were free insulation boards and cedar sidings in Edinburg, so we went to fill up Stanley. Great for the caravan! This lovely old piano was outside, way too heavy for us to haul it home and make a garden feature out of it, but I hope someone managed to save it.

Elliott and I went to the Culpeper rodeo today. We were so far back that we couldn’t see the action that well, but here, all the cowboys who were riding the bulls, were lined up at the start.

I saw this in the cemetery as I did the rounds. Rest In Peace, PHC. I’m sure you were a cavalier and courageous cone!

One of the many glorious hanging baskets in town, overflowing with petunias. This one is overlooked by the confederate statue in front of the courthouse, which a small group of people, in 2020, tried, and failed to have removed.