Snap-shots

 Random moments typed whilst listening to rain hammering down on the window.

A cranky cat, one who has just recently learnt that we humans are not as awful as she once thought. It has taken over seven long years for her to come to this point.  Her once sparse and wispy purr has grown into a deep fast rumble and it seems she has found her voice too - it has been a long wait and we still all delight in her sea-change.

The bumble bees seem to be working over time as the season rolls over - they hurtle from one late summer flowering plant to another with a sense of urgency. Last week I counted over 20 bumbles on a sedum while they slowly woke up as the early morning sunlight warmed them up. 

The cutting garden at work did us proud last week - we had an 'end of harvest' garden party with crafts and teas and we sold honey, vegetables, crafts and flowers - all from the kitchen garden. It was amazingly successful with everything selling out. There is a hunger out there for good honest produce at decent prices - something the charity I work for strives to achieve. 

The mesmerising Fibonacci arrangement of sunflower seeds never ceases to delight - the spiralling patterns can contain between 800 to 2000 seeds per head - mind blown! 

Borlotti beans come out of the pod in a luscious pink with a few sparse purply stripes then over the course of a few hours darken and the stripes increase.  

We were sitting in the park a week or so ago - myself, staff and volunteers - for our lunch when we could hear a bird sound that I could not identify. We listened for a while and various suggestions ranged from ... it is a child to .... may be a whining dog .... and could it be a car alarm? Not content with those ideas I went, with head tipped back, up to a tree where I traced the source - A juvenile crow quietly peeping to itself. I've not heard that sound emanating from them before so I wondered if this was it's first foray into the big wild scary world when it noticed me and gave the biggest most raucous caw which seemed to surprise itself as much as it did me. 

It is still raining although not as hard. I am very grateful that I am not working outdoors today - after several busy weeks and weekends - a quiet day pootling around at home, mug of tea in hand,  doing things that need doing sounds rather good!

Hope your Monday is being the day you want it to be 😊