This is the first summer for two years I don't have swallows nesting
somewhere in the house.

When I opened the door the breeze blew an irridescent confetti across
the floor; butterfly wings. Red Admirals seem to have settled and died
in every room of the house. ( I rescued two I found bettering
themselves against the window panes. I've no idea how they get in -
perhaps they arrived as caterpillars and pupated in the house?

It's 8pm, and it the sunlight is brighter now than it was at midday.
The last time I slept here was Easter, when sleet was still falling, and
by 4.30 the curtains were drawn. Now I can read on the porch until 10,
and walk through the wood without a lamp at 11.