OMG - today was the hottest July day ever at 38.1 degrees in the UK but not quite the hottest day ever in the UK missing out by 0.4 degrees.
This always seems to happen when I am working to make up my Christmas cards with images of snow and frost which did not go any way to cooling me down. I did not leave the house until later in the afternoon, kept the blinds down and windows open. I even used the fan until it blew my cellos all over the place and I had to turn it off.
Poor Sydney Hamster, he was so hot as well despite being in one of the cooler rooms in the house. I fed him chilled cucumber and lettuce washed in cold water and gaffer-taped a freezer block on the outside of his cage where he was lying but he freaked out when he heard me rip the gaffer tape and shot back into his house!
As an aside, cancel my comment a few days ago about calendar sales to a local shop... apparently profit margins have to be 2.5 times the cost price and as I want them to be retailed at £10.99, I would have to make a loss on each one to comply! It is sad that businesses have no comprehension of the challenges of being an independent business/supplier and the costs involved in producing items when you are not able to order 10,000 plus print runs - thanks for supporting a small local business - not.
This is one of my favourite flowers - agapanthus - growing in the flower beds outside of Elmfield House in Teddington. I picked an entire bowl of blackberries as well - another tick against Colin's list in case he is reading this!!
