Back after three weeks to the lotuses on the balcony, this week those in the big pond, which began to blossom after there had been four, one after another in the little one. But the first, which had been a beautifully developing bud when I last wrote, was damaged, and the morning I expected it to blossom I went up to find a little crick in the stalk.

That was immensely depressing, but when I went up next morning I found that despite this injury it had bloomed. And the bud nearby which I thought would have taken a few days longer had begun to bloom.

I show them in turn here, and then both together, the broken one held up straight. The next day the other was in full flower, and I show that next, followed by both together, the broken one held up by a leaf, less obtrusively than when I had held it.