| Sun 1 |
I don’t understand the guy next door to me. He doesn’t like the pigeons because they go “flappy flappy” flying away when he goes down his garden. And yet he persists in chucking old bread out on his garage roof for the birds – mostly pigeons, of course! |
| Mon 2 |
A sad day. Returned from lunch to an email that my osteopath had died; he was only 72 although he did have failing kidneys. Over the years he’d become a friend as well as my osteopath. Because of lockdown I’d not seen him for 18 months. A true gentleman, remembered with great affection. |
| Tue 3 |
Phew! Work of various sorts today from about 0930 to 2045, including two Zoom meetings. But I did achieve pretty much everything I set out to, and a lot else too. I’ll call that a result! |
| Wed 4 |
Slept late, then had a day regrouping after yesterday, and clearing away some of the junk on my desk and in my in-box. |
| Thu 5 |
Time to take in the wasp traps (see Thursday 29 July). Oh dear, I’ve caught nothing but a few very small flies. Fuller’s London Pride is obviously not to wasps’ taste. I’m not really surprised as I’ve seen hardly any wasps yet this summer, and the last week hasn’t been good flying weather. |
| Fri 6 |
Managed to cock up defining a new website an installing WordPress. I hate having to get the hosting admins to fix it for me. |
| Sat 7 |
Slept very late again; achieved little. |
| Sun 8 |
Afternoon spent baking: rustic raspberry & blackberry tart; rustic tomato & onion tart; casseroled lamb shanks; stewed gooseberries; stewed blackcurrants. That should keep us fed for a bit. |
| Mon 9 |
Spent a large part of the day tinkering around building a website. Why can you never get WordPress to do exactly what you want? |
| Tue 10 |
When going out our cats are always told “Take care. See you later. No live prey please.” So what does Boy cat bring us in the middle of lunch? Live mouse. Which he then proceeds to lose in the study! |
| Wed 11 |
Anyone who shares their home with a cat, knows they are perverse creatures. Ours, when offered chicken from your plate will tell you it’s their favourite food and ask for more. Today, when taking the meat off the chicken carcass I kept some scraps aside for the cats’ tea. Result: universal disdain from all three! |
| Thu 12 |
Last night was supposed to be a peak for the Perseid meteor shower. Yet again, not a hope due to complete cloud cover. We never get to see these phenomena nowadays – just like we don’t get thunderstorms any more. |
| Fri 13 |
Friday 13th is always an odd day. Luckily there’s only one this year, compared with 2 last year (March & November). And just one again next year (May). |
| Sat 14 |
Last year’s 4 scotch bonnet chilli plants on the study windowsill were cut back in February. They’re being prolific. I’d already picked 15 fruit. Today I harvested 34 chillies, in sizes from “processed pea” to “large ping-pong ball”. They’ve been frozen whole, so small amounts of crushed chilli is easily available when needed. And there’s more to come! |
| Sun 15 |
Whatever it was that was going to be done today, wasn’t. |
| Mon 16 |
A lot of people are reporting their cats being ill after eating the new recipe Felix cat food; there’s a big group on Facebook, but it’s all anecdote and the manufacturers aren’t listening. So I spent some time drafting a survey to try to gather more reliable information which we can analyse. |
| Tue 17 |
Awake and up really early, so I had almost the whole day working on my family history. Many years ago, my mother did a lot of her father’s line, but I think I’ve proven her mistaken about 250 years back. |
| Wed 18 |
More work today on firming up yesterday’s family history work. And work on a website for the PPG, which is taking an age! |
| Thu 19 |
Wide awake at 0530; shall I get up? Next I know it’s 0930; I’d better get up. Then the next I know it’s 1100; somehow I manage to get up. |
| Fri 20 |
Sleep? What is this thing called sleep? Consequently feeling wrecked and the day went to Hell in a handcart. |
| Sat 21 |
Was that a day? Up early again on too little sleep so felt out of it all day. Definitely out of it after wine with dinner. Hic! |
| Sun 22 |
N picked 2 ice-cream tubs of blackberries from the front garden; it’s a really good, self-set and vigorous blackberry which almost always crops well. There’s also a big patch of large fungi by the wheelie bins; they’re not ordinary mushrooms and not deathcaps; trying to ID them. |
| Mon 23 |
Another Monday – at least I’m told it was Monday. And another itching collection of gnat bites. |
| Tue 24 |
Got a magnificent book on fungi [Roger Phillips, Mushrooms (2006)] to try to ID the fungi in the front garden. I think they’re probably The Prince, Agaricus augustus. If so they’re supposedly good eating (they’re the same family as commercially grown mushrooms) but I wouldn’t dare risk it. |
| Wed 25 |
Why is depression such a vicious spiral of inability to get out of one’s chair? Even on a nice summer’s day. |
| Thu 26 |
A hard day’s work organising two very different sets of announcement material for 1 September. |
| Fri 27 |
Another of those days where you’re busy all day but seem to have nothing to show for it; except perhaps fish pie for dinner. |
| Sat 28 |
Put up the 2 wasp traps for round 2 of Big Wasp Survey. At the same time noticed that the woodland floor between the old apple tree and the pond is prolific with small brown puffballs, probably Scaly Earthball (Scleroderma verrucosum).
  Wasp Trap (left) and 3cm diameter Puff Ball |
| Sun 29 |
Awake just after 0630 this morning and looking out of the bedroom window. Suddenly in the ash tree outside a small sparrow-sized bird; looks odd; it’s not a sparrow; yes, a first for me: a juvenile Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. Nice, as they’re now relatively rare due to loss of elm trees. Have now seen 3 of 4 native woodpeckers (all in the garden here); only missing Wryneck (and that’s very unlikely). It just shows what is around even in suburbia. |
| Mon 30 |
A grey, breezy, not very warm August Bank Holiday. Well at least it isn’t raining this year. |
| Tue 31 |
Had a couple of new season English apples today. It’s that time of year already. Discovery, an early variety. My memory was they’re not up to much, and it was right: they’re dry and only moderately sweet. A bit like the apple equivalent of a ship’s biscuit. But they do have pretty blush pink streaked flesh. |
