Look!

 It really is ...

 ... hard to believe but this is the evidence ...

... today there is blue sky!  I know there are some fluffy clouds there too ... they provide artistic interest ... but on the whole we have a sunny Saturday.  Of course, you'll find one or two folk in shops who are complaining about the heat.  "I can't do a thing because of this heat."  "I get very dehydrated when it is as warm as this."  Amusing really when you think of the heat wave that parts of the US are having to face now.

17 °C

This is what we have today!  

63 °F

Maybe not quite high enough to complain!
The bottom of the garden must be very dry, no doubt partly the result of the huge beech tree, but the acanthus was looking particularly sad with leaves all lying flopped on the ground as if we'd had a drought.  A little sprinkling with the hose soon sorted out the problem and it revived quickly.
You can see the sermon illustration there already!  If we fail to soak up "the living water" - if we don't allow the Holy Spirit to apply the words of scripture to our lives on a regular basis we too will become rather flat and useless ... still some life there but not exactly energetic life!

 There's another good cutting of rhubarb (middle left) so that will make a good breakfast tomorrow.
Meanwhile the mutt came out to play ... the fact that I had some treats in my hand may have influenced his decision to look, at least for a brief moment, in the direction of the camera!  Holding a treat above it works ... until Eliot decides that he wants to end the game and eat the props!
Bright sunshine meant that there's a bit of a glare off his white fur ... but I can cope with that!

 For this next shot I really should use the video ... catching his tail is a common game and he does it both clockwise and anticlockwise!  Our grass is still a bit patchy but well improved since the new gardener has taken over ... he did warn me that it would be a month before things begin to look good again.

 Normally Eliot's football is kept indoors but today it appeared in the garden and he demanded the usual game of "you hold this until your arm breaks and I'll just keep pulling"!

 When I gave up he spent a while just looking hopefully in my direction in case I changed my mind and realized that playing with a dog is the thing I most want to do on a busy Saturday afternoon!

 The day began very early as I had a funeral at the crematorium at nine o'clock.  On days like this you're so anxious about not oversleeping that the first hint of daylight brings wakefulness!  It gave me a chance to discover that at five o'clock the temperature was:

5 °C

 The 365Project picture was taken in that early light ... this is not the sweetest pomegranate that I've eaten ... in fact I've still only eaten half of it.  Maybe the rest will get mixed in with tomorrow's offering ... I'll select a sweeter fruit!
Finally, the little courgettes are nearly ready to leave the plant and become "lunch".  At this stage they'll taste wonderful and will cook in a flash.  Maybe that's tomorrow's vegetable sorted as well as the dessert!

Today's prayer from the same little book ... the drawing beside it is fun too ...

Dear God,
do not let the octopus of preoccupation
squeeze the life
out of today.
Amen. 

Small Prayers for a Big God

Greg Mitchell