If only these pictures could convey the sweet perfumes that fill the air in my seaside garden, especially on a sunny day in the early evening down in the secret corner facing the water. The old crimson rosa and the creamy pink honeysuckle make for a potent mixed fragrance. It has been far too hot to work so lounging about in the hammock trying to read has been the order of the day. Even that is an effort.

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There has been some crazy weather of late. We have had a heatwave week and then torrential monsoon-like rain to break the high temperatures. The combination forms a growth mixture like no other. As a result, the garden is flourishing to the point of drowning the house in blooms and greenery. The gaps left by clearing out the spent spring plants have been filled with trailing geraniums and erigerons which are always greedy for more space. And of course, the ubiquitous rosemary plants have budged everything aside for their expansion.

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Meanwhile, the thirsty hydrangeas are now full of life. They are signalling where the acid and alkaline soils are with their showy pink and blue flowers.

The work on my historical novel has been a trial with much reorganising and rewriting but it is now getting there. Maybe another six weeks hard work will do it and that will be phase one over! In the meantime, there is messing about on the water to be done, and Tunnock’s to be eaten as fresh supplies have arrived this week from Yorkshire.