Hose been spoiling our summer fun?

‘I became subject to a hosepipe ban on 11 July. The next day I read … that I should enliven my summer by turning my garden into a water park.’ Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA

As a long-suffering customer of Yorkshire Water, I became subject to a hosepipe ban on 11 July. The next day I read in your Saturday magazine that I should enliven my summer by turning my garden into a water park: “All you need is a hose …” (From stargazing to slushy-making: 50 fresh ideas for a super summer on the cheap (some are even free), 12 July). Are you taking the piss? Hang on, you might just have given me an idea for keeping my garden watered.
Paul Comaish
Horsforth, West Yorkshire

• When Rafael Behr writes: “Ultranationalist ideology and a personality cult around the president are embedded in all public discourse as tests of loyalty” I had to check if he was referring to President Putin or Trump (Trump isn’t a reliable ally – but Nato dollars can be more persuasive than Putin’s propaganda, 16 July).
Kevin Quinn
Musselburgh, East Lothian