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Art Vandelay's avatar

The elder trees suddenly laden with clusters of little jade green berries, stems as purple as the berries will be in a few weeks.

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NICOLA PURCICOE's avatar

sounds like a good harvest for elderberry syrup

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Susan Warfield's avatar

Berries, berries, berries...mulberries, black raspberries, currants. The birds are reveling in their abundance. I have a mulberry tree practically reaching distance from my patio and I pick and eat them as I water my thirsty pots. Also heat and humidity a wicked summer in the US but we finally have a cold front and blessed rain and temps in the 70s.

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NICOLA PURCICOE's avatar

i bought some mulberry bushes 3 years ago and this is the first year they have got fruit on them. tiny little ones are just starting to appear. i am looking forward to tasting them (hopefully) at some point later this year

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Maria Totman's avatar

i walk in the ancient oak woods, coming across a clearing , there a circle , a circle of beautifully crafted benches from fallen oak and on them carved leaves and in the centre a seat, a throne. There i sit for a while and marvel at what nature and we can create together in harmony

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NICOLA PURCICOE's avatar

it sounds like a really magical discovery

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Maria Totman's avatar

Yes Nicola it was indeed ! this ancient woodland is not far from me however this new 'discovery' was very recent , though i think its been there for some years

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Wendy Turner's avatar

I am very envious of your bohemian adventure Lia. And great pic! Here, the earth (and this human,) breathed a sigh of relief after the rain. Harvested rainwater has filled the pond. And the swifts are gathering in ever larger groups, which can only mean they are preparing to leave. Sigh...

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Emma Bennie's avatar

Picking the first dwarf beans and runner beans and continuing to pick an abundance of peas and broad beans. The branches of the blackcurrant bush weighed down with fruit. Clearing the gutters for the forecasted downpour tomorrow.

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Anne's avatar

So relieved to see and feel the rain and have more on the way tomorrow. The heat has had me in a rage, sapping my energy during the day and disturbing my sleep at night. I’ve been waking far too early and not able to get back to sleep. The heat and the glare exhausts me.

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Aster's avatar

Hope the rain helps!

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Anne's avatar

Thanks Aster, yes it really has.

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NICOLA PURCICOE's avatar

i hate the heat and especially the humidity. the rain is so welcome

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Rosamund Saunders's avatar

It seems to be peak cardoon season in London. The beautiful gardens at St John’s churchyard, in Waterloo were where they first caught my eye, and then I saw them at every turn as walked through the city.

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Hilary May's avatar

I got drenched cycling home from work. Much needed rain but forget how quickly you can get soaked. Also joy of seeing a Peregrine Falcon & Swifts flying over the garden at almost the same time. A rare treat.

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Paula P's avatar

Love the…er…hollyhocks! 😆 It has rained a deluge here every day for almost two weeks. We have water weeds where I’ve never seen them. Very jungly.

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The Rebel Stargazer's avatar

Mulberries! Picking these dark purple jewel like berries from the gorgeous trees, their branches low for us to pick. Seeing children climb the trees to pick baskets full of berries, a timeless scene.

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Cathryn Thompson's avatar

Downpours of rain one minute, sticky heat the next, I’m constantly wafting wasps out of the kitchen if I leave the door open for a second. Last day of term as my youngest finishes for summer, already making plans with friends for the long days ahead. The joy of a teenager at the beginning of the six weeks holiday.

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Sue Armstrong's avatar

We have re- located to our other home in Chichester this week and - gosh! What a difference! The heat here is so oppressive compared to airy, wafty, expansive Northumberland. We had trouble adjusting at first - but there are the joys of being with our family of course! And a garden full of hollyhocks and sunflowers - the wisteria now covering the front of the house. But everywhere looking so parched and brown.

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Aster's avatar

Little traces of green left in the meadow grasses, dandelions dried to poofs, while a few pale yellow and white flowers still bloom.

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Jade's avatar

An abundance of blackberries in my garden! Earlier this week the stems were laden and bakng in the afternoon sun, their jammy sweetness carrying on the light breeze and attracting lazy buzzing bumblebees, a beautiful thrush and insects galore, which in turn attract tiny wrens and tits - truly an abundance this week. Currently though, the stems are drooping earthwards with the weight of the rain, berries fat and dripping - this week is also a study in contrasts!

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Sarah B's avatar

Foraging for wildflower seeds, pinching dry seedheads between our fingers and shaking them into pots to take home. It's gardening at nature's pace I think!

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Janet Nicole's avatar

Thunderstorms this week every day, every afternoon at half past three lasting less than fifteen minutes when the sun comes out again.

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