Back home after a fortnight away, I find that it had rained horrendously while I was away, and it still continues to rain. So my morning ventures to the balcony, to feed and admire the fish, have to be short, for even if the rain has stopped the seats are all wet. The seat under an overhang, next to the large pond with the angels, is an exception, and I do have a few moments there when it is not raining, but there have been no lotuses in the pond since I got back.

Despite the incessant rain, the flowers continue to flourish. The red rose bush by the little pond, by which I used to sit first when I came up, is full of blossoms, of different shades, ranging from a deep red to a shade that verges on orange. The reddest of the roses is in the centre of the first picture, with lots of others around it, and lotus leaves to the right and the leaves of the margosa tree behind.

The one pot on the balcony had also done its stuff, and produced a beautiful single rose, a white one larger than any others there. That appears in the second picture, while the next two show the orange blossoms in the long bed at the north of the eastern edge. Those at the further end are light while those at the bottom are a bright orange, though whether these colours will last is uncertain. And indeed whether the light rose will appear today, for it is taking ages to load.

All these pictures were taken on the 31st of May, the day after my return. The pink bush between the two orange ones had no blossoms then, but there were some buds and a few days later they burst forth in glory. The other flowers are still there and it is a great pleasure to look at so many colours, red and white and pink and yellow. But I fear they will be gone by the time I am able to sit down up there to relish the scene.