Dog in the mailbox

My "brilliant" idea of putting a stuffed toy in our mailbox appears not to have deterred the starlings. They have wiggled past him, and put down the first layer of straw for their nest. So much for that theory.

I have spotted a pink stuffed hippo in another charity shop. That may be the next cunning plan. Either that, or locking up Junior Ginger in the box.

And speaking of hippos, it is raining heavily. Once again the mountains are full of rain clouds and our river is about to burst again. This is summer folks, and just to prove it, here are flowers in a friend's garden.