This summer's weather - the good points

Bee witched

Morning all,

I know there have been some challenges with the unusual weather this summer, but I thought we should have a bit of balance, and cheer ourselves up thinking about some of the good points. 
Here's a few from me.

We've never had such a good year here for soft fruit ... have been eating large bowls of strawberries every day for weeks now, good job we like them 
And there's a whole freezer full of frozen berries and currants for jams and desserts.

It's been such a luxury to be able to cut the grass whenever it's needed. Usually it's too wet and squelchy, and then gets too long with all the rain so it never dries out ...  and the wildflower areas are actually looking quite good for once.

It's been a great year so far for summer honey ... our bees are busy on the lime trees just now.

And finally, we both feel as though we've had a decent dose of vitamin D this summer .... not always easy up here.

So I'm hoping it lasts a wee bit longer.

Bee x

Lyn

I agree with everything you’ve said Bee,  except we don’t keep the bees and our grass is still too wet to sit on without getting a wet bum.🙂
Loads of fruit. 

Bee witched

That made me laugh @Lyn,
We never actually sit on ours either or we'd get a wet bum too ..... but at least it's still green, but then it's mostly clover and self heal ... we get lots of marsh orchids too, which rather gives the game away.

Bee x

Fire

I can't really say definitively that it's to do wth the sun, but I've never had a good apple crop before and my espalier is covered and nearly ready to harvest with good sized apples. My roses seem to be loving the sun.

In the SE at least, it should have been a good year for insects like bees and butterflies. The warm, dry weather should have suited them. In turn the birds might have benefitted from the steady food supply. We had a very mild, dry spring here. It will be interesting to see the stats, although, of course, there are a lot of other factors at play for bumper insect years.

It's been great to have outside groups, events and meet ups without worrying they were going to get washed out - outside is still much the better option re covid. I love the feeling of spending more time outside than inside and that those lines begin to blur in a warm summer - doors and windows always open here; half of the garden in the kitchen, half the kitchen in the garden. 🙄

Bee witched

Same here with the apples @Fire
Last year nobody around here had any ... a late frost got the blossom on everyone's trees.
We all blamed our neighbour who had bought a scratter and a fruit press for us all to use to make apple juice 
This year is looking good .... fingers crossed.

Bee x