Tuesday, July 7, 2015

The sneakiness of butterflies and why a pot of washing powder doth not a lunch make....


Sunday 5 July 2015

28 degrees - very pleasant for most of the day

Up early and lots of writing.  I do so enjoy making this blog and love the discipline of emptying all my thoughts, feelings and sentiments each day onto this clean white page. Like the pensieve in Harry Potter, my pot of memories will stay to be dipped into from time to time and as needed.

The sky was the palest of blue this morning, with tiny cathedral pink and white clouds obscuring the sun.  A light breeze played and the garden called.  The potager is starting to be infested with weeds again and I spent a useful morning going through the potatoes, strawberries, haricot beans and cabbage side of the garden.  Took off three barrow loads of weeds and neatened everything up.  So many cabbage white caterpillars on the cabbage - it looks like shredded lace.  Washed them off with the hose.  They start off as tiny yellow seeds on the underside of the leaves - sneaky those butterflies - and then the babies break out and start creating havoc.  By the time I got around to noticing them, they were lined up like buses at the main station.

Dug up some of the Amandine main crop.  They are still very small but perfectly formed, with creamy and firm flesh and good texture.  Ate the first cherry tomato and some blueberries.  The raspberries are very small.  Poor things.  They would so love to be in Scotland, where they are rampant and hanging with fruit.

Found many interesting snail shells.  Have an idea that they may make interesting subjects for resin pendants.  Boiled them up (rest assured the owners had moved out!!) and was amazed at how much grot came out.  OH thought I was making lunch....  Yes, I find the use of washing powder in my cooking gives a certain je ne sais pourquoi....

OH decided to power wash the patio which was not a good idea and I am now worried about how much water is left in the well.  The Karscher is old and has never worked well.  The hose attachment didn't come with it and our technique is to jam in the end of the pipe and then twist.  Sometimes it stays in,and sometimes it doesn't.  It stayed in today largely because the water pressure is now really low.  The Karscher was not happy and started with a low mechanical groan on being awoken from its sleep in the porcherie.  After an hour this had risen to a scream and it stopped every ten minutes or so and needed a rest.  OH made the most of this to keep on popping into the house and watching telly.

Came in when it got to 1.30 and dozed on sofa.  This heat is turning me narcoleptic.  I cant open the windows at night because the mosquitoes love me and the bites become swollen to the size of dinner plates and itch and then get infected and take a week to go down. Various remedies have been suggested - notably heating up a spoon in boiling water and tapping it on the bite.  That really hurt...  also toothpaste - that was more effective.  The most immediately effective is putting the infected area in a bucket of ice cold water but I soon heat it up and it is not easy to coordinate with sleeping in one's bed.

Watched Lord Jim with Peter O'Toole.  He has the eyes of a maniac.  There is an actress called Daliah Lavi.  I rather like the name Daliah or Dahlia.  I may take it up, on a part time basis, to see how it works out.  I know a live and kicking woman by the name of Darcy Dahlia.  She is from Brazil.  She says our town has more strange people than exist in the whole of her country.  I feel that is somewhat of an accolade....


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