Flowering Quince

I was woken by a text message on my phone from the awnings man, saying he’d call round at 9.30am if that was okay. That got me up and about! He turned up on time, and we had a look at the awning Dad had had installed over the patio at least 15 years ago, probably more like 18 or 19. It has done well, and still works after a fashion, but it now looks grubby, faded, frayed and very sorry for itself. The plastic handles on the crank have gone brittle and are held together with gaffer tape. So I will replace it with a brand new motorised one, which retracts into a cassette along the wall to protect it from the elements (and pigeons), has strong waterproof material, a remote controller which opens and retracts it from indoors, and a vibration sensor so that it will retract itself if the wind becomes too strong. It won’t be particularly cheap, but as the lounge faces southwest it’s very much needed as a shield from the heat and brightness of the afternoon sun. I’ve narrowed the fabric down to three green/cream striped variations, and am in the process of researching prices at other companies. So far, my findings indicate that the quote from this company is in line with others. It’s a small father and son business, and they’re quite local which I’m always in favour of using if possible. We shall see.

In the afternoon I went out along the country lanes in search of a blip for the Mono Monday challenge, and ended up at St Mary’s in Layer Breton. The church building isn’t particularly pretty, old or interesting (see Extras), but I was drawn to the vivid red blossom on a tall shrub in front of it. So rather than a mono photograph of something from the built environment, I bring you the joy of these gorgeous blooms on a big flowering quince bush (Chaenomeles). All quince species have flowers, but gardeners refer to these particular ones as "flowering quince", since Chaenomeles are grown ornamentally for their flowers, not for fruit. I think it’s quite spectacular.

A quick top-up from Tesco, including some hot cross buns to take to Tuesday morning house group, and that was me done for the day.