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THE MORNING CLOUDSCAPE sparkles. Banks of cumulus are on the move with swirls of fine cirrus above them, bright against a clear blue sky. Summer is taking its time to fade away. Droneflies and hoverflies visit the last of the Dog Daisies.
Turner would have loved a sky like this. Every part of it is in a state of change, in colour, form and luminosity.
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One of the apple trees, which hasn't looked in good shape for many years, has died back altogether this year. The other, alongside it a the end of the garden, is suffering from leaf wilt and has produced no fruit. I think it is time we replaced them. But our crab apple, a Golden Hornet, has done much better. Its branches are clustered with little yellow apples. The Blackbirds haven't started on them yet.
As it gets towards sunset there's a sky full of contrasts. There are a few clear patches but mountain ranges of cloud loom over the Pennines. A window in the clouds reveals pale yellow sky in the west facing ranks of deep denim blue cloud in the east. Most striking is a partial rainbow hanging over the valley. From a gap in the clouds the sun is shining like a spotlight through an approaching shower.