Sipping nectar

Edit: oops, posted the wrong photo -- extra is the one I intended to blip :)

This is only my second butterfly blip this summer, a reminder of how scarce they have been during this hot, dry season. This swallowtail looked full of vigour though, fluttering about and sipping nectar from a buddleia revived by yesterday's rain. A lucky shot with my little Sony (now retrieved from S); the dazzling sun meant I couldn't see what I was doing (no more rain is forecast ...).

Today retirement felt like more of a reality as I turned down a large job from a client on the grounds that it was too much work and I wouldn't be around to support it afterwards. It feels very odd. Work comes to define your life so much that even when you're ready to stop, not doing it invokes an uncomfortable feeling of purposelessness.