Today there is a high pollen count of grass seeds, so photos of the grasses up on Bath Downs will calm my nerves!
Tis a day I am not particularly inspired to write. There has been a hitch in the selling of houses, their solicitor is playing what I would call a 'silly buggers game', I have a feeling it is to make us reduce the price, LS has called their bluff, now we wait!
Books have still been thrown away at Sainsbury's recycling this morning, and I am happy with that. I should turn to the news for inspiration but only note that charities are being called to account over how they spend their money. It does seem a lot goes to charity with actually very little seeming to be done in the country that is supposed to benefit, and large salaries to charity heads fills one with unease.
The latest news from Langtang in Nepal, the village was wiped out completely, is that rebuilding should take place at Ghora Tabela.
AN’s Temba Lama (from Langtang) has suggested that any rebuilding of the main Langtang settlement might best be done at Ghora Tabela, which is less prone to avalanche damage. Rasuwa Relief are already speaking with experts in the geomorphology of Langtang and with structural engineers. This will ensure any rebuilding will be safely sited and built using methods giving greater earthquake resistance, but still being practical in remote mountain areas.
We are saturated with news at the moment about tourists stripping and posing nude on top of a sacred mountain in Malysia. They are idiots and therefore deserve what is coming to them. If our Western culture 'yoofs' thinks it is fine to go round the world in a discourteous fashion, actions and consequences comes to mind and they have to live with the laws of the country they find themselves in. Am I getting old and grumpy, probably yes but in an age when photos can fly instantly to social media what were they thinking of? And also they were incredibly rude to their guide, now that really makes me cross......
Edit; A more erudite article by Jonathon Friedland in the Guardian this Saturday
Soothing photos from 2008
Edit; A more erudite article by Jonathon Friedland in the Guardian this Saturday
Soothing photos from 2008
Ash trees; Up on the downs the ash rules supreme, late coming into leaf it survives the cold of winter and the fierce weather of gales that can be found on the more exposed parts of the downs.
But of course ash is the magical symbolic tree of - the Norse Yggdrasil tree, from which Odin hung for 9 days - a magical number in itself.
If you look at the leaves as they emerge, many ashes have a terminal leaf with four leaves on either side of the stem, making nine, though to be truthful sometimes you can get an 11 leaves or 13 leaves trees; perhaps they have hybridised along the way, so perhaps if you found a nine leafed ash, it was a bit like finding a four leafed clover.
But there is more to the tale, Aubrey Burl in his Stone Circle book, says that the ash also has a phallic symbolism in that the large black terminal bud has two small buds on either side, think on.....
But of course ash is the magical symbolic tree of - the Norse Yggdrasil tree, from which Odin hung for 9 days - a magical number in itself.
If you look at the leaves as they emerge, many ashes have a terminal leaf with four leaves on either side of the stem, making nine, though to be truthful sometimes you can get an 11 leaves or 13 leaves trees; perhaps they have hybridised along the way, so perhaps if you found a nine leafed ash, it was a bit like finding a four leafed clover.
But there is more to the tale, Aubrey Burl in his Stone Circle book, says that the ash also has a phallic symbolism in that the large black terminal bud has two small buds on either side, think on.....
It seems that the buying and selling of a property is fraught with maddening 'glitches'--one so wants the transaction to 'over and done.' We have a contract on the house we need to sell--after refusing a 'contingency' clause which would have allowed the prospective buyer 90 days to piddle about looking for financing. A bank appointed appraisal is standard if the buyer is borrowing funds--inspections of varying kinds can take forever to be scheduled, etc. It is a trying time--and one needs all the 'soothing' mechanisms available. I hope this goes well and closes soon for you.
ReplyDeleteYes it is probably very different in America, here we have 'exchange of contracts' after all the solicito'rs work has been done, and then both families move out of their respective houses on a particular day.
ReplyDeleteWhat is happening at the moment, is the studio extension, built in exactly the same style as the house and the same materials 25 years ago, did not have a 'signing off' piece of paper at the end or work. This came into effect 20 years ago and so this piece of paper does not exist, though the building had full council approval.
I quite like the way you moved, it looked less stressful, though I know it wasn't, at least we don't have cats to move ;)
It is deemed to be the most stressful thing to go through Thelma. Do hope you keep your cool and it all goes through. My friend moved last Saturday and is at last in - now she is feeling a little flat because all the excitement is over.
ReplyDeleteHi Pat, I'm glad she is happy and settled in, we might be one day;). I have reached the stage that says 'what will be will be' should be able to write it in Greek, they are having problems to of course....
DeleteI shall never look at an Ash Tree in quite the same way again!! LOTS of them around here - which is why spring seems to arrive so much later in our valley. The oak won the race this year so I am hoping (despite El Nino) we have a good summer. I hope that the sale goes ahead without any more hiccups.
ReplyDeleteThere were lots of ash up on the downs Jennie, and until I had read Burl never thought about how many leaves the ash held. So you can see I went round counting leaves at one stage in my life! Actually in the cull of books a couple of his went, 'coffee table' type, they are so heavy and also Stonehenge books, an ancient monument I am never going to get my head around....
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