Queen's birthday

Dahlia before the frosts we've had all week

Today is the day we celebrate the Queen's birthday here in New Zealand. Her real birthday is sometime in April (she is a Taurus, like my mum) but for some reason we celebrate it in June. The English Queen is still our titular head of state, but doesn't really have much to do with everyday things that happen in NZ. Mostly the day is a holiday for us, nothing really happens - no ceremonies or rituals - except the announcing of who has received a medal or a title from the Queen. Mostly these are awarded for service to the community, but retired politicians seem to get them too.
    So today I haven't really done anything. I started tidying the front garden, and slashed myself across the face with a rose branch that I was cutting down from the guttering. Now we have had some fierce winter winds, the rose  plant has been bashing away at the house during the night and keeping me awake. The rose plant had the last laugh though. 
    Back to work tomorrow, it will be hell after a long weekend, huge piles of returned items to process. Oh joy. Then to court on Wednesday for the pre-school pre-hearing. We're all getting sick of it now, it will be great when we hear what will happen, but there's still more work ahead.
   I've just discovered Flavia de Luce. She is the heroine of a series of books by Alan Bradley, a girl who is Wednesday Addams crossed with Violet Baudelaire. I've read "As chimney sweepers come to dust" and am now starting at the beginning of the series with "The sweetness at the bottom of the pie". Murder mysteries with lots of weird stuff and great characterisations thrown in. Don't know how I didn't come across Flavia before, but even librarians don't know everything!