Tomato Soup.

This was the stream this afternoon. (None of my pictures are photoshopped.) Normally the water is absolutely clear. If the cows upstream have been paddling in the water it can turn muddy but unlike South Devon which has red soil, the soil here is normal brown colour. It really did look like tomato soup. I rang one of the farmers upstream because if there is any pollution the environmental agency has the power to impose fines of thousands of pounds and they're pretty quick to come out and investigate. My neighbour checked all his bit of the stream and the colour was coming from a very waterlogged bit of land (not his), known as 'the moor'. There is quite a lot of iron in the soil and rocks which collects in the old clay land drains and if you disturb them the iron oxide is this distinctive orange colour. Normal clarity resumed after a few hours. Today, like yesterday has been a beautiful sunny day. After a lovely lazy start to the day, (not getting up at 6.00), I spent the afternoon gardening, mostly cutting back summer growth and a bit of weeding.

Smudge enjoying the sun on the front doorstep.

Squeaky posing on the end of a wall.

It is usually possible to find a sunny spot in the garden to work (or relax) in.

I had been expecting a houseful of youngsters this weekend and the fridge and freezer are bursting but the plans all fell apart and instead of Romas' friends coming over he stayed down in Bude instead. Linas and Gemma came yesterday and at least Linas is happily munching his way through lots of food. He's quite happy to do the cooking but washing up isn't his thing. He seems to be settling in well to university life though he is still waiting for his student loan to come through.

Let's hope the good weather continues as I'm not teaching until Tuesday afternoon.