LIME TREES are dappled with light-brown winged seeds. These are waiting to fall naturally, but the wind and the rain bring many of them down before they are ripe. They look like little drumsticks attached to a flimsy sail. In some summers there are already patches of autumnal yellow leaves on the lime trees by now, but this year a rainy August seems to have kept most of them uniformly green.
Common or garden snails are more active in wet weather because the rain helps them to keep their skin moist. They come out more often during the day at such times. If it is very hot and dry, they shrink back into their shells and seal themselves inside. They can live hidden away like this for several months if necessary.
When they are out and about they propel themselves along by using a slimy kind of foot, gliding over the grass and leaving a trail of mucus behind. They have four tentacles in front, two which enable them to feel their way, and two longer ones with eyes at the tip. They feed on decaying vegetation, and also on algae and lichen which they scrape off walls, using a long tongue that is covered with rows of teeth.
DJM