Violet Ground Beetle

Another wet day today with some quite heavy rain at times. This morning I had my replacement blinds fitted in the kitchen, bathroom and en-suite. Two men did the job quickly in only 45 mins and took away the old blinds and cardboard etc and cleaned up after themselves. Then I cleaned the hard floors in those rooms which I'd already partly cleared so the workers had nothing in their way.  This afternoon I'd been invited to the house of another of the charity shop volunteers for a cuppa and a game of scrabble with another volunteer. I set off to walk there and the barely noticeable raindrops became a downpour, I got totally soaked by the time I got to the end of the road, so I turned back for home. I had to get changed and then set out in the car. No rain was forecast for this afternoon, at least it happened at the start of the walk! I play online scrabble (words with friends) with two friends separately, where you just play a word when you're free, then they play when they're free. It was so different playing the physical game as it's continuous and also online it won't let you play a word that doesn't exist, so you can easily just try a word to see if it's ok. Also looking down on the board online is much easier. I still enjoyed it. Back home I looked in the garden for a photo, no birds or bees given the weather, but I did spot this beetle in the pond unable to get out. So I rescued it and took a photo for blip in payment. My picture insect app says it's a violet ground beetle and that 'they can spray a jet of hot chemicals from their abdomen to deter predators, a rare ability among beetles.'  I then popped down to visit G and had a look at her lovely renovated conservatory.