Enough already!

I finally got round to planting out the gift of welsh onions that have been heeled in for weeks. We've been doing some more sowing: the dwarf french beans went mouldy so another lot of those, some runners, more squash. The poor tomato seedlings are wilting as the greenhouse is so hot, despite the super-duper auto-opening skylights. We could really do with a bit less sun and a bit more rain.

The lapwings were continuing to mark out their territory, but I haven't seen Mr & Mrs Wheatear recently. in the morning, there was a pair of canada geese down by the lower swale. A pair nested on the island in the pond last year, but this year there are ducks instead. The pond itself is crawling with common or smooth newts. Bizarre to realise that what looks like and moves like a small brown fish also has little legs.

Being observant is getting more tiring, partly because there is so much to see. I haven't mentioned the brimstone, peacock, tortoiseshell and multifarious white butterflies; the budding oaks; the blossom on the crab apples, an apple, and the wild cherry in the hedge; the stacked willow cords starting to grow; etc etc. But also, in the Myers-Briggs typology, I very strongly favour intuition over sensing as my way of gathering and interpreting information. I tend to get an impression of a room or a landscape, and don't notice the detail. Being observant is hard work. So sitting at the base of the solitary oak this afternoon, I just relaxed into the warm, sunny day, and let it all wash over me.

The sunset was pale, even though the sky overhead was deep blue; the sun was misted out enough to be seen with the naked eye. Stuart dubbed it an 'apophatic sunset'. Discuss.