| Thu 1 |
Well that really was a bit of a slog. But we pretty much got there. |
| Fri 2 |
#000000;" />Last of the proceeds from the smokery. Smoked duck breast. In salad with lettuce, tomato, asparagus, pine nuts & croutons; served with a lemon & olive oil dressing. Followed by raspberries and cream. Washed down with a bottle of Falanghina. A passable Friday evening repast. |
| Sat 3 |
Just watched a 10 minute film To Scale: TIME on YouTube demonstrating the age of the universe. And one has to wonder what really is the point, and why do we bother? |
| Sun 4 |
What a lovely day. And the gardener came. So the place looks a bit tidier, except for the deliberately unmown lawn which looks like what it is: a scruffy meadow. Pottering in and out and took a few photos.  |
| Mon 5 |
Oooo … next door’s marmalade cat so nearly got that squirrel – despite looking heavily pregnant. |
| Tue 6 |
Mid-afternoon and the garden is awash with juvenile tits, some still being fed by parents. They were going everywhere; continually flitting hither and yon; and little clubs of then in a couple of places just hanging out. Half a dozen Blue Tits and as many Great Tits – and that’s just what I counted; there could well have been twice that. Plus a couple of sparrows joining in. |
| Wed 7 |
Somewhere in the house there are three cats. But I’ve no idea where as I’ve hardly seen anything of them all day. Rosie appeared for a share of our lunch – no change there. Tilly and Boy have put in the odd guest appearance but no more. Other days they’ll all three be in and around all day. |
| Thu 8 |
I blogged about the roses in our garden, but having walked round today I realised that we have both wheat and barley growing amongst the unmown lawn. Just a couple of ears of barley and a couple of dozen wheat, so not enough to make bread or beer. But they’ll not go to waste; if they don’t feed us they’ll feed the birds or mice. I guess they’re seed that got lost from the bird feeders last autumn. |
| Fri 9 |
So why are there feathers on the dining room rug? Which cat is the villain? They’re dark and small, so probably sparrow. But there’s no sign of a corpse. |
| Sat 10 |
It’s a wonderful hot sunny day, but sadly annoying on several counts. First I can’t sit outside because of my hayfever, even having had my usual antihistamine my eyes are streaming; guess that’s some part down to the unmown prairie called a lawn. There’s continual noise of someone, somewhere strimming or the like. And of course the neighbours are all sitting outside talking. One in particular never stops; never draws breath; it just the rivers of babble-on. |
| Sun 11 |
Bad light stopped play this afternoon, and despite much stomach rumbling in the gods, nobody thought to provide any rain. |
| Mon 12 |
Another hot and sticky day; lots of thunder in the afternoon and about 30 minutes light rain. And for once nothing in the schedule which had to be done – not that this stopped the day going tits up fairly early on. |
| Tue 13 |
A new book available from the literary society. So I spend all afternoon consolidating payments, packing and posting. It’s a thankless job, made worse when Royal Mail’s online postage system doesn’t work properly. |
| Wed 14 |
It’s uncomfortably hot, even for me. So I spend the day indoors without clothing (not unusual). Can’t sit outside as the pollen gets my hayfever going withing minutes – itchy, watering eyes mostly, despite daily antihistamine and regular eyedrops. Very annoying, especially as I’ve had hayfever since I was about 6 years old. |
| Thu 15 |
The gardener comes this morning. Oh! No, the gardener comes after lunch. I see … The gardener comes not; he’s tied up sorting some leaky plumbing for another customer. I wonder if Saturday will bring more luck? |
| Fri 16 |
Phew! What a day. Who would think that a trip to the hospital to get new hearing aids would be so tiring? OK, so it was a hot day; but audiology appointmnets aren’t invasive or threatening, they’re actually quite benign. It’s all the hassle around it that’s so draining: from middle of the night hypos, to early supermarket deliveries and getting taxis. But we won! |
| Sat 17 |
The gardener actually got here this afternoon and did some planting and tidying. At he same time we spent a nice few hours outside as well, doing some potting, fixing the watering system, and getting some sun (but not sunburn!). Sent the gardener away happy with a couple of chilli plants and some homegrown coleus. |
| Sun 18 |
Weatherman speak with forked tongue, again. Instead of thundery showers, we managed just 30 minutes desultory drizzle, which is no good at all for the garden. |
| Mon 19 |
A day marking time; no physical or mental go. |
| Tue 20 |
Today is Tuesday 20 June 2023, and that’s not something you can say every day. |
| Wed 21 |
Day 3. Hill. Jelly. Treacle. Toothpicks. Rinse and repeat. Why are washing machines so endlessly boring? |
| Thu 22 |
Last evening there was a lovely crescent moon (apparently 14% illuminated) and Venus in the western sky just after sunset (like my sketch below). More please! |
| Fri 23 |
How is it that a friend you knew as a teenager when you were newly married is now celebrating their 60th? Even if I accept that I’m a geriatric, the friend in question certainly isn’t 60 already. Tempus fugit velociter. |
| Sat 24 |
Sad to be missing the friend’s 60th birthday bash – and her younger son’s 21st too – but N and I still don’t feel comfortable and safe in large indoor gatherings. And although it’s only been 28°C today, with the humidity thrown in, it is just too hot to get dressed up. |
| Sun 25 |
Shortly after 06:00 this morning our resident fox was still on the prowl. And right up by the trail camera so we got a good shot of the top half as he/she was so close. We’ve had this fox around all year, and I think it may be the only one we now have; at most we have two; whereas we did have at least three individuals (although they’re difficult to differentiate from poor night-time trail camera images). And boy are they a good disposal system: put out a plate of scraps (chicken carcass, cold baked potato, disliked digestive biscuits, lamb bones) and it all magically disappears during the night. |
| Mon 26 |
I’ve been saying for some time that I’d revamp the Anthony Powell London tour I originally did as part of the 2011 conference. I started on the rewrite a couple of months ago and put it down, as one does. Today was the day to find all the ends and tuck them in. Several hours later and the tour notes are done, complete with street-by-street navigation. At 20 pages this version is twice the size of the previous one, and is definitely not a coach tour as it includes places you’d not want to try to get a 50 seater coach! The notes have been sent off to my friendly local black cabbie (who does lots of tours of London) for comment. It’ll be interesting to see what I’ve got wrong! |
| Tue 27 |
Technology. When it works it can be a real benefit and a time saver. When, all too frequently, it doesn’t work it’s a complete PITA and wastes so much time. Spent and unhappy afternoon fighting with Royal Mail’s on line system and, separately, the phone system. I think I won the former but definitely didn’t win the latter. Came away feeling totally smacked. |
| Wed 28 |
So in the end we did something we’ve not done since the before times and ordered in pizza. |
| Thu 29 |
Still at least I didn’t drown in the shower. Had I done so it would have been all of a piece with the rest of the day. |
| Fri 30 |
On a wonderfully damp evening I’ll leave you with something cheerful: the flowers on our recently acquired scented geraniums. |
