Good afternoon

The hill.

Ah, blessed rain; not a monsoon down-pour but a steady rain.

Good morning

Yoda thinks, "Gardening, schmardening. My catnip alone you be leaving".

Nepeta cataria

And what have I been up to?

Planting, watering and watching the herbs flower. Don't trust me on the Latin names when I provide one, I've lost the labels.

Columbine Aquilegia chrysantha

Speedwell Veronica spicata

Yarrow Achillea

       When I'm not reading, playing music or even wasting time sitting here at the computer listening to BBC Radio 4 on iPlayer I can now play all my old vinyl discs. Wow, both sides have music on them. I felt like dancing this morning; boy, am I out of physical shape.

There was an old woman tossed up in a blanket,
Seventeen times as high as the moon;
Where she was going I could not but ask it,
For in her hand she carried a broom.
"Old woman, old woman, old woman," quoth I;
"O whither, O whither, O whither so high?"
"To sweep t' cobwebs from t' sky,
And I'll be with you by-and-by!"

Mid-Summer's Day

      I finally, after taking too long to get used to the altitude and dry heat after being in the moist air of England at sea level for the past five weeks or so, feel like posting a picture of the hill again. Culverts and the bridge that carries route 260 over the Little Colorado are being worked on hence the trailers and other works paraphernalia parked by the road.

       Kathy and I have planted a few more herb and vegetable plants and tidied up the yard and gardens a bit. We are fostering a dog for the local voluntary animal rescue.

      I am currently reading Paul: The mind of the Apostle by A.N. Wilson; Robin Hood by J C Holt and Walking English: A Journey in Search of Language by David Crystal.

Another book

I had to browse the bookshop, a book browsers paradise, when visiting Kim Ayres exhibition of portrait photography and this book was sitting on top of a pile. Gripping reading; an excellent companion to Cod.

Alan Villiers remembrance There is a link to a comprehensive bibliography from that page.

Time in Blighty is short now

Well, that was a bit disheartening. An American visiting the tower at St Nicholas, Chipping Hill in Witham thought I was American. I must stop 'D'ing my 'T's and not use American idiom.