A warm and sunny day!

At last ... temperatures have risen to 24 degrees Celsius and the air is balmy.  Even early in the morning it was a mild twelve degrees and rather good for a walk and a few pictures.  It won't come as any surprise that Eliot is the main subject ... the happy dog who found a black and white cat to chase!  It was faster and more alert ... so managed to fool him into chasing around in the bushes while she watched from afar ... at least ... I assume she was watching (and laughing)!

 In the warmer weather Eliot will take the odd break for a little rest in the shade ... and then you can snap the occasional photograph without him getting up and walking away!  So maybe I rather overdid it when the chance was there!  However, even for me, putting up ten variations on the head of a dog would be a bit too much!

 I confess to a "slight" bias when it comes to that particular head ...

 ... and I know that his fan club won't object to a few shots.
There were other things to look at too ... and while most of the dramatic colours are now just in photographic memory ... there are a few of the more delicate flowering shrubs attracting the bees.  The blossom may be small but it is very pretty.

 The colours are rather softer than the dark pinks of the rhododendron or the earlier dramatic gold of the forsythia.

 It has been blue sky all day today although the camera wasn't out again until tea time.
Tonight was "leftovers"!
Soup ... lentil and carrot from last night followed by a curry ... it's amazing what a tin of coconut milk, a good curry mix, Tabasco and Wasabi sauces and a few fresh vegetables can do to the mixtures of beans, roasted vegetables and tomato sauce (not ketchup).  It may not look a thing of beauty ... maybe you can identify some of the contents .... but the taste was great!  The leftover fruit salad was given a new lease of life with blueberries and strawberries ... now plentiful, local and cheap ... so we had a grand dinner.

 We're keeping a photographic record of these culinary delights ... who knows ... there could be a cook book in waiting.
It's interesting what you can do with fairly simple ingredients ...

Today has had all sorts of variety in it ... from a bit of laundry to a hospital visit, from meeting a blog reader for the first time to visiting parishioners ... telephone calls, e-mails, letters ... the usual range of things that fill up the days (and evenings).  Having made sure that the hall is ready for tomorrow's Antiques and Collectables Fair I can finish off the blog now and have a really early night!
If folk happen to be in Bangor (County Down) in the morning there'll be an abseil down the clock tower to raise funds for the new parish centre there.  This should be fun to watch and I'm thinking that Eliot will probably come along for the ride as well!  Then it will be back to look in on the A&C Fair before making sure that all is in order for Sunday's service when Bishop Alan will be with us.
This week has flown past and I think the next one may go even more quickly!
Temperatures are set to drop again from tomorrow and the five day forecast suggests that rain is on the way again.  At least it keeps the grass green ... and talking of that ... where is my gardener?!

We turn to Christ anew
who hear his call today,
his way to walk, his will pursue,
his word obey.
To serve him as our king
and of his kingdom learn,
from sin and every evil thing
to him we turn.

Church Hymnal number 604

Timothy Dudley-Smith.