Mystery is at the heart of creativity. That, and surprise. Julia Cameron This photo was actually another failed attempt to capture a photo of a bee pollinating one of my favorite lavender plants. The heat has taken a toll on most of us here in England, as we are just not used to it. Lethargy is abundant. In case you haven't already figured it out, that is really just another way of saying this is the only photo I took that day. I didn't manage to take even one photo on Sunday, as my 4th of July was spent clearing out a clogged external drain. A day filled with unbelievably smelly gunk!! However, what a surprise to discover that a photo taken very quickly in an attempt to catch a very quickly moving bee turned out to be a lovely photo of a pot of lavender. Even more suprising is the miracle of survival that pot of lavender represents. Last year was difficult in so many ways. I didn't manage to put any of my lavender plants up until after the snow arrived and some never even made it out of the garden at all. I did not expect any of them to survive the winter. I did, in fact, lose a couple. One (which is a dutch variety I purchased at the grocery store, I believe), I thought for sure would be gone, is struggling to return to it's former beauty. The one in the photo is a hardy English lavender purchased from the Norfolk Lavender Farm. I love it. The bees love it. We are both truly blessed. ...and slightly intoxicated by the perfume of English lavender.

Back to work on a Monday after a dawn trip to the train station to send my mate back to Hobbitown after his whirlwind trip to Brisbane...the alcohol from the noght before has done nothing to assassinate the invading bugs that run rampant through my system still. In amongst the rain showers, I head to the Botanical Gardens in the hope of finding some solace, making a b-line for the tropical dome in the vain hope that the steam encased within may act as an industrial vapouriser & clear my sinuses. It has been years since I last visited here as a child, & I recall vague memories of the dome filled with all manner of colourful butterflies in amongst the foliage. No such luck on this trip...not a butterfly to be seen, a sickly cocoa tree with 2 or 3 pods that makes me consider the possibility of manufacturing my own chocolate, & a head still clogged is all I take away from the visit as I return to work.