A warm and dry July has meant we have held a fair few activities in the shade of the garden. We are lucky to have plenty of trees providing natural shade as well as some very large parasols. We have enjoyed seeing quite a variety of moths and butterflies who also seem to like the warmer weather, and we have noticed some large clutches of black caterpillars on the pumpkins and nettles from the peacock butterfly. Hopefully they won't attack our delicious vegetables which we are eating. Runner beans, French beans and chard are doing well, and we are enjoying regular portions of them. We've also had a good harvest of tasty tomatoes and beetroot.

There has been some great music this month; our young volunteer Will, gave us a recital of some of his piano pieces one morning, it was a real pleasure listening to him. Chris came in again and played some entertaining pieces on the organ. Graham gave us some great songs from the 50s and 60s to sing along to and got our feet tapping and body swaying, and Jan gave us a lovely church service with one of the residents playing the organ.

Nick and his sheepdog Laddie arrived in a bright blue Riley, just right for the warm weather. Laddie came in and said hello to residents doing his usual rounds. A number of the residents popped outside to see the car which was a great talking point.

Residents enjoyed a drive to Watchet one sunny afternoon and sat on the quay front and had ice cream and a drink. They heard David Milton sing a song on the quayside and he popped over to say hello as he is a shanty singer who comes in to sing regularly for the residents.

Jo came in and did reminiscing outside under the parasols, and one afternoon we had a game of boules under the trees.

We had a lovely visit from Owl Enlightenment from Glastonbury again, they brought a small white faced owl, a black barn owl and an owl similar to a tawny but more peachy in colour. Residents were able to have the owls on their arms and observe the intricate feathers, and the handlers gave us some interesting facts about them. On the day they came in, the residents spent the morning drawing owls to get in the mood, and the handlers really admired our efforts.