In the skies overhead

Sometimes, it seems that we've had a quiet few days, not doing anything special, just this and that around home.  Yet when I come to look back over the week, it's surprising what we've actually done.

From Culver Down we could see St Helens Fort (on the extreme right) ; strange to think we walked to it a couple
of weeks ago

This week has seen events around the country commemorating the 75th anniversary of 'The Hardest Day', a major air battle in the Battle of Britain.  On Tuesday, 18 Spitfires, in three flights of six, took to the skies over southern England.  One of the flight paths included the Island, albeit briefly, and we joined several hundred people on Culver Down to watch.  Telephoto lenses were required, although N did get a photo from a distance, but perhaps it was more a time to reflect on the past.  

Then today, quite out of the blue (no pun intended), a rumble of aircraft engine had us peering into the skies above our house, and we caught sight of the very distinctive delta wings of an RAF Vulcan, and watched with awe as it passed right over our garden.  Another great photo opportunity.  The Vulcan, was apparently participating in a number of events today as part of it's final flying season before it is retired, and we just happened to be on the flight path, again. A pretty incredible sight.

A hint of red ....

.... and now in full technicolour!

The weather has been decidedly un-summery, and I even found myself reaching for a fleece earlier in the week.  In August!  However, in between the rain, we've been fitting in some maintenance jobs inside and out, all of which are on the grand list of things that need to be done this year.  Why we had been putting off doing them I don't know, because as is so often the case, they didn't take any where near as long to do as we thought.  There's been some general tidying up in the garden, too.  The salad crops continue to pay for themselves many times over, and this week we have been delighted to spot our first red pepper - previous years have only ever resulted in green ones which have refused to turn red, so this is a real achievement.  We are hoping it's the first of many.