Friday 27th July - It looks like it might rain

I may have scared the rain away;

even though the sky has turned grey and cloudy, and there are occasional rumbles of thunder, and I am told that there is a torrential rain storm in Chichester at the moment.

 We haven't seen clouds like this for a month. The faint breeze has become more persistent, and there is that smell of rain and thunderstorms in the air.

So why do I think that the storm will dodge around our garden? Because I have set out all the tubs ready to collect the rainfall.

I can't think of a way of hiding them from the weather without spoiling their chances of still collecting rainwater.

Earlier, taking advantage of the sudden drop in temperature outside, I picked up over 150 fallen apples, ranging in size from a cherry to - an apple. There are still a couple of hundred to collect from the ground under the tree (it hasn't been truthful to call it  'grass' or 'lawn' for some time now) and loads left on the tree. The birds have been pecking away at the ones hanging on the tree, so I reckon our apple harvest isn't going to be great in the end.

There now. What did I tell you? The sun is out again. I'll pretend I didn't notice.

We took the cats to the vet for their annual vaccinations and checkups and worm tablets yesterday morning. They were fairly resigned to the whole process and the vet said how well behaved they were and pronounced them fit enough for 15 years old. Today Leo is out of sorts - perhaps it is the worming tablet, or the injections, or the heat. I groomed both cats with a wet brush, and wiped their faces with a wet cloth, to see if it would give them some relief from the heat. Neither objected, so perhaps they liked it. Or perhaps they were too bot to bother to complain.

4pm here - time to ring The Patriarch; he has A Scheme for tomorrow, and wants to discuss...!