Shadows & Light

"Poodle Skirt" Dahlia I'm sitting in our back garden as I write this, and it's a blissful 66º F (or 19º C)! The heat has b...

Well, yesterday turned out to be the hardest day of this entire heat wave. The temperature got to 96º F (or 36º C), and there was very littl...

There's something really grating about persistent heat. I feel more on edge and more tense, if not from current discomfort then from dr...

I took a walk early yesterday morning, before it got hot, up through Cricklewood and back again. I was surprised to find this huge plastic (...

Our bear's breeches ( Acanthus ) is blooming once again, but we only have one flower spike this year -- unlike last year, when we had fo...

When Dave and I were down in Piccadilly on Sunday, we passed the closed gates of the Royal Academy of Arts. I could see this big rainbow art...

I've just been out watering dahlias. The anticipated and much-discussed "heat dome," whatever that is, hasn't hit us yet -...