compost

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23°C, cloudless & stillSun

Getting better, had the energy to load up the compost with the neighbour’s compost binful. Grass cuttings are amazing, they come out all warm.
The Arborist is coming soon to cut that Eucalyptus tree down. that means some swift fence building at just the right time. I hope it rains, the fence posts will be so much easier to drive in. I may have the energy to replace the gutters & arrange the feed to the butt in a day or two.
Hildur Guðnadóttir:

 Doesn’t that look like Clevedon Pier? It does, doesn’t it?

Return to the slow country

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26°C, hot & sunny

It’s not ironic that I have a cold on the hottest weekend of the summer so far. It’s merely a coincidence. there are always advantages to this kind of thing- maybe my Achilles tendon can recover fully with a few days off the bike. Dosed up with cold remedy I have been able to dig out another slab, plant some wild-flowers (don’t worry, I bought them, they’re legit). Comfrey and a few others.
I thought I had got all of those slabs, but there are a few left. I will route them all out in the end.
Those recycled compost bags are so cheap that it’s no problem to use them until my own compost heap is ready.

This is the Pyracanthus, the slabs were to stop Rosie digging, but she’s not interested in digging any more.So they’re gone.


Here is my newest Artemesian.

Big But

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15°C, it’s warming up. Light frost to begin.

Bought a water butt; haven’t exactly figured how I’m going to plumb it in but at least I got the new guttering to feed it.
Perhaps a photo when I am not so bone tired.

That really is a fabulous Angelica plant, don’t you think?

Tendinitis

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13°C, showers soon

Mild Achilles-tendinitis has been niggling for the past few weeks. It’s very mild but stubbornly persistent, no treatment yet, but I may use ibuprofen before I ride today.

Rode: only did 35 miles and feel rather tired. Something’s not right. The rain didn’t come, had to hose the garden instead.

A Janus outlook

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11°C, clear.

Looking into the future and the past. The Future, holds a day resting, I shall paint window ledges and bake a rhubarb crumble. This one will have apples and I quite fancy some grated ginger.
The past contains a week of tiring workload, late nights and an unforgettable concert in Manchester. My tutor group did their last day at school yesterday. I made them a leaving card with a portrait on the front. They went down well enough , I suspect that they were better drawings than last time.
The recent past is recorded in some quite nice photos in the woods: May at its best.:

That crappy little Fuji camera can redeem itself under favourable conditions.

...now for a catnap

Groovy!

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3-12°C, cold but bright.

Deaf Institute concert: The Books in a very groovy venue. Maybe tell you later if you are good, I now have some serious drawing to do.

We had travelled back in time to the 1970s. That decade looked better then I remembered; all earthy colours, apart from the purple nylon-flock wallpaper. Most of the blokes wore beards; the girls were under thinner layers of make-up than most of the impasto-caricatures that walk these streets. The Deaf Institute had a cafe on the first floor with the dance-hall upstairs. The only problem was the impressive looking domed roof with skylights- that meant the band couldn’t start until 21.45 when the light had faded enough for us to see their light-show.
I enjoyed the show thoroughly, despite the sound which was poorer than at Warwick a few years ago- it sounded a bit muffled and some speech was hard to follow. We struggled to think of a venue as stylish as this in the Midlands- maybe the Glee Club. I don’t know.

Saturday resolve

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14°C, chilly, but bright Sun

Scrapped the Sunday bike ride; doing all the things I’d normally do on a Saturday instead: window ledges, varnished; back-door, painted; slab, dug out. Got some energy, but not enough to ride.
Search for a blog topic: Here is a site that searches across most blog providers.

…now to make supper.

Staring emptiness

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11°C, grey but dry.

Woke puzzled: why feel all this staring emptiness?
Later it became apparent that I merely have a cold. Back to the slow kind of country then for me.
Two astounding plants
..
Angelica (above) & Artemesia Ludovicia, below

They’re shooting up like something from jack-in-the-beanstalk, flashing out massive paddle like leaves as they go. They make me smile these two. What will they do next (don’t tell me, I await the surprise)?

Back from Moelwynnions

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Cold & windy, but lots of sun

The Moelwyns And Yr Widdfa.

Saturday: wandered about the Moelwynnions, visiting ponds & small lakes on the hills south of Snowdon. The Rain threatened but didn’t carry it out until I was most of the way down. Then we walked through a dense forest which was good shelter.
Sunday: From Llyn Gwynant towards Pen-y-pass (but cut north to the Moner’s track & make Snowdon. It was horrible, I have never seen it so crowded. We pushed through the masses and found a quieter place on the Rhyd Ddu path. Met some nice people on that route, who I caught up with again after climbing Yr Aran. Beautiful day but cold in the strong wind-chill.
Today ( Monday): Drove home through the Arenigs, I’d love to camp there next time. Endless rolling grasslands which should offer some peace and solitude. There are few official campsites there.
There is another way.

This needs some research. Marina Tsvetaeva:
[388]
 

I bring to my lips this bitter herb—
the leaves’ gooey cursing, the sticky oath
of our violating, perjuring earth:
mother of snowdrops, of maples and oaks.
 
Look how I’m buttressed and blinded,
subordinated and resigned to the roots;
Isn’t it overwhelming and wonderful
for one’s sore eyes in the thundering park
 
where the frogs, like droplets of mercury,
linking up their voices in a single sphere
transform the fragile reeds into branches,
the steam-like mist into a milky mirage.
 
Voronezh, 30 April 1937