Hollyhocks

Hollyhocks like growing here - it's one of the things I noticed as soon as we arrived, at just this time of year. Sadly, we don't have any - one of many things I should remedy in the garden. I went for a slow meander round the village with J, looking at flowers, bees, butterflies and birds, and particularly liked the exuberance of D's hollyhocks, which soar above his garden and hang over the road. I've blipped once before about Ann's Cottage and its owner. The extra shows a detail of a self-seeded hollyhock outside the wall of another garden; I love the starry swirl in the centres, and the softly veined petals.

I didn't get many jobs done: her PA was away today, and we were tired, so it was a pleasantly slow day. I was pleased about the successful first session with J's newly acquired specialist exercise cycle, which arrived yesterday: she can use it in her wheelchair (which is the only way it could possibly work for her), and can use it totally passively (which is as much as we can expect, now that she has no sensation in her legs). We hope more sustained regular movement will help some of the issues which have developed, particularly in her legs and feet. I didn't realise how useful her involuntary movement was until she lost it. The machine is initially hired for three months, which gives us time to assess its usefulness - so far, so good. She has decided she would like to find some cycle ride videos on YouTube, so that she can imagine she is cycling round Central Park or through the streets of Paris. I'm sure the latter is best done virtually!