Coffee in the sun

Such a rare event this summer, coffee on the terrace in the sun but today the weather was good, and so coffee mug in hand went to sit out for a few minutes. The first thing to greet me was the flower bed next to the house had been dug out and a fir planted a couple of months ago was lying on the terrace. This is Moss, he has always dug great holes in this particular bed ever since he was young, he had already dug out all the marigolds when I was away - spite?

In disgrace

The next visitor on the terrace is my little bantam Daisy, solitary now after her mate Hetty was eaten by the fox a couple of weeks ago. She enjoys the dogs' and my company, and settles down to clean her powder puff tail of feathers in the sun. She lays an egg every other day, bright yellow yolks that make eggs bought from supermarkets insipid in colour. This accomplishment she always announces with great cackles of triumph.
Colour is also part of my day as well, dyeing silk yesterday, it has dried, one batch was alder fruits from Avebury, mordanted with copper it produces a delicate green. The other is an acid dye, a mixture of purple and navy sparingly applied to try to produce a lavender colour, the dark raspberry red is a silk shawl.

There are also butterflies around the garden, white being predominant, here is a small brown wood butterfly basking in the sun ...