In the garden

After a busy week with Richard's sister and then with the grandchildren, today was an opportunity for a breather.  At one point there was a knock on the front door and I was horrified.... in fact, I stood stock still in the kitchen until I heard footsteps receding. I just wasn't in the frame of mind for any more human interactions for a little while.  As it turns out, it was just a delivery of this week's batch of Labour Party local election leaflets, which I'll get out and push through letterboxes later in the week.

I did have a long Facetime chat with Barbara this afternoon, my old friend in Indianapolis. That was fine; by then I'd done a few hours' work in the garden and felt ready to chat.  We're in a good routine of fortnightly Facetime catch-ups, something we started in the early Covid weeks and have now settled into as a good arrangement.

My two other social encounters today? This bee, posing tastefully against a blurred dandelion backdrop. And a hen blackbird, spotted motionless between some large planters. At first I thought she must be injured, as she just stayed still as I moved closer (perhaps she had her own version of wanting some uninterrupted time).  Later I looked out again to check, and saw her energetically pecking at the piles of dead leaves around the pots: she clearly knew there were tasty morsels to be snapped up there.