Vulpine visitor

26°C, hot summer’s day, no cloud or wind.


Get home and doze in the hammock in the garden with a good book: what a fine way to end a fine day. I can listen and see some interesting urban wildlife there, including a visitor that was low on my expected list. On waking slowly and looking up, I saw a fox in the garden. We made eye contact, he was evaluating the threat from me, I was looking on in surprise and trying not to alarm him. Then turned  tail & slipped out through the gap in the fence. After a while- I noticed that he was still there, curled up and waiting just outside the boundary fence.  He looked up, eyeing me up with one side of his face hidden behind the fnce. Why would he stay there? Why not continue his patrol?
There is a big pile of branches, twigs and other stuff on the top left of the garden, that set me thinking- for years we’d assumed that it was a home for hedgehogs. But now there is the possibility that it is a den: a den for foxes. The photo below is of low quality, but at least I managed to sneak into the house and get the camera.
Looking here, I worry that he has mange.

Wormwood in Staffordshire

25°C, 1/10 cloud; light NE; C=79 miles


Absinthium: after stopping by the road for a bike adjustment, there it was – a clump of Wormwood. It really does like sandy soil, by the roadside away from other plants; or is it stiffling the others with that Thujone? I brought a piece home to make sure of the identity. You know what it’s like, after spotting one, seeing them everywhere is easy. I want a sample in the garden.

Willington Power Station: only has 5 cooling towers, and nothing else, no generator hall, no chimneys no other buildings. No wonder it looked so ugly last time I passed it- it’s being demolished. It looks like there are plans to put housing on there (as there is everywhere in the UK).

Beautiful day; 79 miles but not very fast.

El Cant De La Sibil

20°C, clear summer’s day.


Montserrat Figureas: Delivered CD today from France. It came faster than the Amazon sourced order. Sacred music from Southern Frmace in Latin. Thanks to Simon from Can Llouquette for the recommendation. It’s good for; purity and space. It’s not good for; sing-along (thankfully). Teenagers will probably hate it though.

I’m eagerly waiting for Rachmaninov’s Vespers to arrive now. I had one on loan from our music dept. and though the recording is from St. Petersburg, the production made it all sound a bit remote and vague to me.

Rain & mist 1240m high

16°C, rain


Last Wednesday: mist and rain photo. What an unforgetable day. We’d stopped at a rocky Col to eat, then on hearing pat pat pat of rain, decided to descend. Coming down the south slopes the rain beat, the thuinder roared and we brisky sought lower alitiudes. Between lightining flashes, I coudl see burnt out trunks fo trees, branches of charcoal in places and thought of the lightninhg bolts. Then I looked back. You know those days where light filters between deciduous trees- it becomes green; well, here the mist itself became green. I’ll never forget that moment, I want a waterproof digital camera.