The Last Day of Summer

At sunrise there was a slit of clear sky between the land and the heavily overcast sky. For a minute or two the sun shone through, a brilliant red, picking out isolated features in the dark landscape. This old gate was transformed.

It hasn’t been a great summer. Too much low cloud and frequent drizzle. Plants that grew quickly in the mild, damp conditions were burnt when the occasional sunshine was too fierce for soft leaves. Temperature variations have been erratic. More pests than usual attacked my crops. I lost my cucumbers to spider mites and my peppers to a strange breed of greenfly. It feels as though it’s been autumn for weeks already.