But things have continued apace in the garden as plants have begun to burst into bloom and the pond has erupted into life.
The borders are ablaze with summer colour now; big clumps of ox-eye daisy, clary sage, foxgloves, viper's bugloss all mingling together and attracting bees and other insects in profusion. The cornfield annual patch has been mainly a sulphur-yellow show of wild mustard so far, whilst at the very end of the garden the red campion is still a mass of pink. It's been flowering for weeks!