Summer in the garden

My garden is a noisy place as I write this. My three children are outside in the sunshine running in and out of the water sprinkler. Such simple, innocent and boisterous fun: excitement levels are high! I find it wonderful that cold water can have such a joyful and thrilling effect on small children. It feels so much more wholesome, pure and natural than computer games or tv.
I have to confess that my perfect garden experience would be much more peaceful - a glass of chilled white wine, a good book or a good friend and maybe a plate of summery pasta, like the Puttanesca I shared with Gina on Monday.
While sitting in the garden yesterday evening as dusk fell, my husband and I were treated to our first bat sighting of the year. The bat swooped in and made circuit after circuit over our garden, yummying up all those insects living in my carefully cultivated long grass. My middle son thinks it was a Long Eared bat, although he didn't actually see it and his opinion is based on the frequency of my flapping arms as I demonstrated this morning. I think it is more likely to be a pipistrelle, so my next project is to beg a bat detector off my friend, the Education Officer at the Park ,to measure the frequency of its squeak as this will, I understand, provide a more conclusive identification.
It would seem my garden is providing a valuable environment for all sorts of life!