Rain, rain, - glorious rain!

It is evening, and the nicotiana and evening scented stock are perfuming the night air.

I wend my way through the garden and note the dry soil, hear little gasps from the newly opened lilies, and see the barn flower dropping its golden head over the fence.

Even though the weatherman has promised rain for tomorrow I remember I have been down that road before, - promises, promises, and then no reward.  So I start the sprinklers on the back beds, and again at the front I hook up the hose with little sprinklers every few feet, - the one that Charles secured to the front fence to water the flowers along the roadway.  The one that I bless him for.....

However, this time the forecaster was true to his word, and I woke to the sound of raindrops on the sunroom roof (not that I can hear them, but I remember what they sounded like when my hearing was A-one.....)

Wonderful, - a chance to get out my umbrella, go to the church to do Pew Bulletins, stock up on fruit and veggies at the fruitstands and visit the library where I have two books awaiting me.

That will make six in my 'must read' stack, and the one that is getting immediate attention is Alexander McCall Smith's new Isabel Dalhousie novel,  "The Novel Habits of Happiness", which arrived in the mail on Wednesday, as Amazon promised.

I have, also, Horatio Clare's "Running for the Hills" - a memoir of the years he spent 'growing up on his mother's sheep farm in Wales'.  I put it aside at chapter two to devour McCall Smith, but I haven't lost my enthusiasm for these memories of the wild mountains of Wales, and one families' experiences, "tender, bleak yet bountiful".  I compare them with the enthusiasm my children have for growing up with sheep, on a mountainside, and the life-long memories they cherish.

And then I have "Grass beyond the Mountains" - Rich Hobson's account of his escapades and adventures pioneering the Chilcotin country of British Columbia - a re-read....and I am still dipping into "Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell" by Susanna Clarke, - 1006 pages and my summer's challenge.

Well, the morning wears on and the library will be opening in another half an hour,  so I will go and get my umbrella from the doorway and take it out for an all too infrequent outing!

Bless the rain and the satisfaction it brings to thirsty flowers, and the relief that must be heaven to those who fight the dreadful wildfires in British Columbia this summer.  And that wonderful scent of raindrops on dusty leaves and lanes.....