Almost a year

  . . . and the ever changing bit of land that is our garden.

When I first saw our house in February 2025 I thought 'Hm weird titchy garden' but actually its a brilliant space - small enough to be able to make a big impression on, and big enough to experiment with all sorts of plants - and ponds! From a lifeless bit of lawn and one central bush we now have two ponds: one I put in last summer and a new big one, dug and managed by our super pond nerd friend who has spent a few days helping us wild-up the garden.

Fun trip to a gravel merchants to get natural Loire gravel and rocks (6 euros for a boot full as opposed to a small bag of plastic-wrapped gravel from a garden centre for 15 euros . . .) pond bought (biggish investment) massive hole dug, rocks, logs and found plants dug in, and a sweet flowering cherry added, which bees are already visiting, and the whole plot is beginning to look very welcoming for insects, birds and amphibians. 

Next stop, trying to find a bit of frog spawn and or a few newt eggs as we want this pond to be a natural habitat and not an overflow for the goldfish in smaller pond - some will soon need re-homing as its getting crowded in there.

Thanks Jan for your super pond powers.

March last year

pond nerd in action

March 26

Unexpected things in a familiar environment

I thought I'd 'flanned' (flaneur - one who wanders without particular plan or map, if you don't know the term), all our local roads and areas, but while waiting for the dump to open (life of excitement) I took the dog for a wander and found all sorts of small marvels such as a perfect bit of graffiti, 'this here is not a Banksy', and this blocked up garage door which was constructed with a level of bodge that even I could not have achieved.

Being gripped

In my case by a want to create more art, and writing - a good thing! I think it's been a fallow period while I was concentrating on trying to get our B and B operational. It's almost there, and since we are having biblical amounts of rain currently, I can't venture out to try and redo (bodge) the window frames and shutters that our future guests will be sitting next to - when we've done the terrace area . . . another job. So, apart from dog duty, in tray garbage sorting, house work and all the usual life stuff I have found more time to write and paint.

With an exhibition booked in August - a good continual prod forward, and a desire to complete my third-in-the-series of Londonia so I can get it out to any potential agents/film people I'm busy, and yes, gripped!

Here's an outline sketch of my latest painting  - canvass courtesy of our local recycling emporium for two euros - a rather more apocalyptic work, but with positivity included . . .

The Tea Time Sessions present

 

St Louis Blues, recorded live at the TTS studio/front room

Life of inanimate objects

From the left

'Whoaaaa.'

'You all right?'

'Just ignore him - far too many bottles last night.'

'I know, disgraceful! I mean just look at these two next to me!'

'Hahahahahah - that bit when your wheel fell off . . . hahahah.'

'And then you crushed that bike . . . hahahahahah.'

While I was slumbering

 . . . A good night's sleep - how divine. Something I seem to be getting better at lately, and long may it last, whereas my other 'arf tends to get up at around 4am! and wanders like a gangly ghost around the kitchen in his pyjamas. However, the wandering is, luckily, highly productive. Yesterday, woken by the scent of baking bread, I slipped from the bed and went downstairs to find Sir had made bread and rolls, yogurt, Kiefer and had prepared lentils to soak, while intermittently playing the cello.

I think Mark must have been a baker in some other life, possibly in the Middle Ages as from what I've read, getting up in the middle of the night to do household chores was quite common before returning to attempt to sleep again amongst the various other family members and uninvited insect populations. This he still has to re-master - the re-sleeping bit, at least we don't have the insect population, or not that I'm aware of . . .

One of two reasons to use the internet

Technology and Wealth: The Straw, the Siphon, and the Sieve | Frankly 119

The other reason is my other favourite channel: The Functional Melancholic, of whose videos I have posted before.

Nate Hagens is an extraordinary human being; having studied and been immersed in the world of economy, finance, Wall Street etc, he departed from the latter, feeling he could no longer agree with the economic model that we have been using for decades. 

Caring deeply about the environment, biosphere, and above all truth - something severely lacking in our current time - he has created an incredible channel/platform - the Great Simplification in which he interviews experts in their fields of knowledge, and also shares his thoughts and expertise in his own monologues - Frankly (see above video) which are fascinating, educational, not in the least 'mansplaining'

humble, and generous. 

There are many videos and we are making our way through them, learning so much each time. 

It would be useful to have people like this in so called, control, of our planet.