Summer time

After all that snow and frost we had during the winter and then the heatwave in April, you'd think that nothing would ever grow again ...... but  here the bushes and trees this year are weighed down with fruit. Must be the unusual  weather or something. I know I haven't done anything different. Is that what you've found, where you live? We've already had baskets of strawberries out of the poly-tunnel. I picked the last of them tonight.   Raspberries are almost ready. The red currants too are ripening well. I put a net over them to stop the birds pecking at them and then one little blighter  managed to get himself tangled up in it. I had to cut him free. He was OK but I definitely didn't want to risk that happening again so said net ended up in the dustbin. I thought, 'Oh well, birdies - if you want them - help yourselves' But they haven't touched that particular bush again. We've got a couple of blackcurrant bushes. They were absolutely dripping with fruit, so today I grabbed a secateurs and lopped off all the branches and brought them into the house - put the kettle on and a good DVD and we both sat down at the kitchen table and picked all the fruit off in comfort. If you don't mind a bit of mess, it's a great way of picking them and one less job - the bushes get pruned same time. Blackcurrant pie tomorrow!