26 May

On the negative side, the central heating is malfunctioning, our Sky TV box has gone flop-bot and now the internet connection is not working. On the positive side, the weather has started to cool down, so we may want to take advantage of the fact that we can’t shut off the heating other than by turning off the radiators; I hate TV anyway, and if, gentle reader, you can read this, the broadband service may have hobbled back to its usual mediocrity. The nice young man in Mumbai says to expect it back later this evening, once the Disgustedville oilies have finished fiddling at the local telephone exchange. At this point I would probably elect to vegetate in front of the TV, but….

Martyn planted out the beans yesterday, taking advantage of what looks like some decent compost from the black plastic job at the top of the garden. We’ve planted out zinnias and more rudbeckias, and I pricked out the last of the antirrhinum seedlings yesterday; a glance out of the study window just now suggests that they’re OK. I’m gradually moving perennials in amongst the annual colour, so that we ought to need less of the latter in coming years. Oriental poppies, echinaceas and penstemons went in yesterday. And I’ve potted up some gerbera seedlings which may come to something some day. Newts, frogs and tadpoles are less in evidence today than of late, perhaps because the temperature has plummeted. I’m hoping to see some rain soon: having hooked up the water butts, it’s really frustrating to have to resort to costly chlorinated tap water for the plants.