Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Tuesday 28th April

"Be like water, taught Lao-tzu, philosopher and founder of Taosim, soft and limpid, it finds its way through, over or under any obstacle. It does not quarrel; it simply moves on.
Ruskin Bond

My computer went slow yesterday and behaved in a most odd manner but is working alright this morning so it must have been my server. Perhaps I am going a bit mad in my solitary state cooped up with a slightly mad dog ;)
Weird dreams last night, a little girl walked up to the bed, blame 'Devs' for that, then ex-husband walked through the wall and I then woke on the vision of seeing a live rat near the fireplace in the sitting room. Thank goodness it was only a dream. What else has happened, the light in Paul's study has come on a couple of times without anyone being in there and so has the heater in the en-suite bathroom, somewhere I hardly visit except to flush the loo, which has always had a bit of a problem with sticking.
Here I reside in a largish cottage, all by myself, except for animals, with a feeling of guilt at the space I occupy and a need to move on, and in the outside world a certain chaos reigns. Except there is no chaos only marvellous people coping with a pandemic, thank god for kindness.
There is a very large drive of pebbles with a turning space attached to this cottage, and of course weeds start to appear in the gravel and the little winged seeds of the sycamore spread their bounty. Think in 50 years, the drive would develop into a woodland. So I decided to spray a weed killer on the worst, though I have been weeding them by hand. Full bottle with spray in the garage, how do I use it? Yes not only am I socially inadequate but I can't work out how it works. Eventually succeed, then with hens and dog underfoot I try to spray, get rid of animals and then cover the grass I have sprayed with plastic to protect the hens.


The spurge (Euphorbia) plants fill a hole

Good things happen of course, my son has sent a second batch of chocolate (to make me fat?) my daughter has sent me 'spacemasks' for headaches. And my two magazines, Permaculture and Resurgence have dropped through the letterbox, so plenty to read.


whoops a dandelion and the hen has raked over a seedling plot

Took Lucy down Salton Lane yesterday and picked one bluebell from three different spots in the village, including my garden. You can tell the difference between the Spanish hybridised bluebell and the native one, not only by the colour but by the lipped appearance of the bell flower, they all seem native round here thank goodness.

Bad behaviour? People are starting to break out of 'lockdown' here in North Yorkshire, Malham Cove being the case in question. It is in the Yorkshire Dales and looks lovely. I can understand the frustration but not the abuse and bullying of the police, though of course the police use force as well.


12 comments:

  1. I heard about the Malham Cove "trespass" on Radio 4 news. Whilst it's understandable (they probably think - it's remote, what harm can there be?) and lockdown plus good weather is such a temptation, they have to remember the same rules apply to everyone. In Wales, Porthcawl has apparently been the go-to place. I am glad we live where we do, though on Sunday's walk there were lots of cars on the Llanfynydd road - more than usual. Chatting with the postie yesterday, he said he has to do the shopping as his wife is asthmatic and staying at home, and town is "just like normal"! I know we have few cases here compared with elsewhere in Wales, but even so . . .

    Sycamores grow everywhere don't they? A successful tree! I have lost count of the number I have pulled out this past month. We don't use weedkiller here. It is the school of hard labour and all weeding done by hand (or with a hoe).

    Bluebells round here are all the wild ones, thankfully.

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    1. I wondered this morning what was happening over the Severn Bridge, to keep the English out of Wales? Did I read somewhere that they have stopped the tolls. Must admit I don't like using weedkiller, most have been hand pulled but creeping buttercup and grass are trying establish. Left the red dead nettle for the bees. The road here, which is a B road, is still very quiet, mostly van and lorry, so people seem to be sticking to the letter of the law.

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  2. Really enjoyed your newsy post this morning (apart from your dream with which I truly sympathise - horrible) and was comforted to hear of your trouble to get the weed killer working - same here. Trouble is that I have had two husbands, both very practical and so I have become lazy about such things over the years. Rain onthe way today I hope - my garden is pleading for it.

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  3. The dreams were not helped either by Lucy scratching at the door as well but dreams are nonsense I suppose, the clearing out of the mind in the night. Looking forward to that rain, have been filling big pots full of soil for my beans which need planting out.

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  4. So many people are busting out and going to beaches and out and about. I can understand, but their recklessness is a danger to so many others and can extend this chaos and sadness.

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  5. They need to have the transmission of how it moves round read out to them, at the moment rate of transmission here in England is below one person to person and the hospitals are already starting to use their wards for the problems of illness, which of course means all those operations put on hold.

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  6. Those do sound like unpleasant dreams. I hate it when I am not sure it is a dream.

    (You might try white vinegar or boiling water on the weeds first. Works for me.)

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    1. Boiling water, minus dogs and hens seems a good answer, thank you.

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  7. My computer goes slow when it decides to do a scan. I take advantage and try to improve my Bouncing Balls score because it makes that run slower too.

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    1. I presume bouncing ball is a game, it is not the very first game that fixated me to the computer all those years ago? Anyway it is working fine now, McAfee doesn't seem to slow down when scanning though.

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  8. Maybe ghosts on the strange happenings? I have heard of others like that.

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    1. Well Rqin although I don't believe in ghosts, the weird thing was the desk light coming on in Paul's room twice and the heater in the en-suite, he always had a shower in there. Practicality puts it down to perhaps a surge in the electricity.

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