We have a number of babe magnets in our garden at the moment. Buddleia, roses, evening primrose and a whole host of other things are playing host to our own very special ‘babes’ - butterflies in their dozens.

It’s quite interesting to see that different species of butterfly have different preferences in terms of the plants they’re attracted by. The buddleia is covered in Tortoiseshells and the lavender is covered in these Gatekeepers. I reckon I’ve seen 5-6 varieties this afternoon, without stirring far outside the kitchen door.

What I should have done is got off my arse earlier and taken some of the Tortoiseshells on the buddleia before the sun went round the corner. Anyway, with little or no real effort, here is a Gatekeeper.

Do you think those stories about butterflies flapping their wings and causing typhoons are true? Somehow, I suspect not, but they’ve got to come from somewhere haven’t they? Typhoons that is. Maybe a butterfly flapped its wings in Outer Mongolia and that’s what’s caused the mini-typhoon that’s hit our home this week.

In case you’d not spotted it, I’m not my usual ebullient self today. I’m aching and tired from my week away and I’ve got a dose of the blues because of (in no particular order):

Building works
No bath
Rats everywhere (DM even saw one going into the loft a couple of days ago)
Cash flow (or lack of it)
Chaos and disorder in the house (back to those builders again)
Sore shoulders
Heat rash
Hens where they shouldn’t be

On the positive side – we have our first home-grown potatoes for supper tonight, freshly dug this afternoon.

Sparkling glass was last year's subject.