Nature notes

Rain last Thursday night was heavy enough to put the pilot light out in the back boiler!

Harvest time is upon us -- a little early even, as windfall Bramleys from next door join the plums and tomatoes; and the cut and come again salad is losing the fight against other predators.

Dead-heading the California poppies in the front yesterday late afternoon, I disturbed a frog who was hiding in the mass of vegetation. If it'd just stayed still, I'd've been none the wiser.

And I was in the garden because the front gear cable on my bike had snapped when changing up gears after getting to the top of the one noticeable hill in the area; when leaves me in bottom on the front set, and only the lowest few gears on the back block accessible without the chain catching on the front dérailleur. So, workshop fun at the weekend!