Just poppied into the garden

Arrived back from Devon this evening after a truly memorable but quite tiring weekend.

We unloaded the car, made a cup of tea, and then went into the garden to find that everything has burst into bloom in the three days or so that we have been away.

Wisteria that showed no signs of being there when we left are dangling like great ornate candles. Poppies that were in bud on Thursday morning, have exploded and the petals are lying there like the skirts of a flamenco dancer that have been flung to the floor (not that I've ever seen a flamenco dancer's skirt flung to the floor; come to think of it, I think I've only ever seen one or two flamenco dancers, and one of those very oddly was in Beijing).

I digress again. So this poppy will be over in about three days, but meanwhile it was looking quite resplendently whiskery in the late afternoon sun.