Summertime

The joys of an English summer -- flowers, sunshine, rain, thunder, umbrellas and mud. Norfolk has it all, as well as an overwhelming number of bugs, spiders and creepy crawlies of all descriptions. At least the birds are looking well fed.

The picture at the top of this post is of our outdoor concert, on one of the wettest and stormiest days of the summer. Simple Minds and The Stranglers entertained 3000 people holding about 1000 umbrellas. It was a really good night, even if raffle ticket sales were a bit disappointing. No one really wants to look for money when their jeans are soaked through.

Earlier that day, we had a lightning strike at the cottage. It didn't actually strike the cottage, but discharged close enough to blow the phone socket off the wall and fry one of our lamps. Paul and Hannah were indoors at the time and the bang made them both jump out of their skins. We lost our land line for 3 days, and broadband for a week. Luckily, our computer is connected to broadband by wireless, or we might have lost that too. Amazing how quiet it was without a phone line, especially as mobile phones seldom work around here.

Last weekend we went up to the coast and experienced the plague of ladybirds that has been in the news. There were millions of the insects covering every surface, including people, cars, pavements, windows. They crawled under clothes, were caught inside vehicles and crunched underfoot as you walked along. An incredible sight that makes me itch to think about it. Presumably they will eat all the aphids in the area, but whatever eats them must be in short supply.

Finally, pictures of a friendly and curious cow (they aren't all aggressive) we met while on a walk last weekend. She was disappointed she couldn't eat the camera.