Death of Literacy and Signs of The Times

 

Spotted on a (very expensive) hard-back accounts book in WH Smiths

So many empty shops

Vending machine

Oh, dearie me...

And much roadkill...

One Year

 Oh, I miss you

2012, we got married..

Late Autumn Light

 This evening, almost at sunset, this most glorious light

Oak

Rowan

Oak

and Peaceful Pussycat (snoring gently~)

Curses of a New Computer

 Almost £2750

Nice enough, shiny and Loads of Capacity, (a Terabyte of memory!) but new versions of software are needed, there are loads of idiotic pre-sets.  It had poor transfer of information and Applications, and Oh! Why does the new BBedit have text in white on black? How stupid? I'm not a 15-year-old gamer nor am I willing to accept the Hipster Vibe thing.

And my beloved Photoshop doesn't work!!!

New version, almost £100. I got robbed first for a download by a stupid re-seller with no manners, had to buy a new version on a disc (which involves finding the external hard drive, adding a connector, waiting, waiting, Grrrrr)

I had not thought about it, but I probably make 500 images a week with Photoshop, and the process is easy and intuitive after 30 years of working with the programme. I just hope the latest version looks and feels like the older ones, will accept my pre-sets, and will not cause bald patches

Meanwhile, some photos processed before the grand move

Roadkill

Late wing

Octopus and moon

Exploded Light

Sandbag

And

Death of Literacy

Bless Tesco, they do try...

 

Stormy Weather

Rain, cold, I got the duvet out and put the heating on and lit the fire... Huge winds, big rain, trees falling over, humungous puddles, and firmly closed windows...

...and I've been making kites and flags, see here for what there is in stock. Still no commissions, I don't plan to do that ever again...

I did get a few late squashes

And here's a Roadkill entry - Tiny Boot In The Rain
Also, still cross with Blogger, now no formatting for text. Sigh...

 

Cat Does Impersonations

 

Cat Inspects The Strawberries "I don't eat these, what are they good for?"

Slug Impression "Why would I need to Walk Anywhere?"

Slag

Roadkill

And, not photographed, but this morning - "I'm starving, I'm going to pat your head till you get up!" while meandering along my back

Good friends...

 ...are worth more than gold. We went to Suffolk to buy up a retired mechanic's stock of parts, and had a picnic on the way back, parked in Thetford Forest.. Such a nice day, and I didn't work too hard. I can't say how much that means to me...

On the other hand, here's a not-helping cat...

Too Darned Hot

 I spent much of yesterday in the shade, with a book, gently steaming. I couldn't sleep till 3am, it was breathless and much too still, apart from a rampant black beetle which decided to ramble round my bedroom...

Best job of the day was washing pots - the green house was full of little dirty stacks, and I put a bucket under the tap and indulged in cold water. My herb garden got watered too, one cup full at a time. Thoughts about irrigation and dry-gardens abound...

Aaaand Blogger is being Horrid again.. PLEASE leave it be, folks, I don't need a learning curve this steep every single time...

Clean pots

Garden produce

Need to Get Out More

And a lovely new art piece by Sarah Hibbert, mounted and hung in my (so far) tidy dining room

Frustrating, but Lovely

I'm so limited in what I can do, no bending, no lifting, no twisting, so, no weeding, no planting-out, no grass-cutting (although I am getting that done for me.. )
Just want to be on my knees, communing with the slightly damp earth..
Greenhouse is flourishing, 2 sorts of cucumbers, lots of types of tomatoes, Chinese lanterns!




I picked all the gooseberries (too much, too much, made me hurt for two days) and sat today in the garden topping-and-tailing, then made Jam!

Cat is being helpful

And the hollyhock is holding up the sky...

A Big Commitment To The Future

Like many of us creative types, this Lockdown Thing has been hard - in theory, lots of time to create, in practice (and particularly for me, living on my own) a lot of time spent doing essential scut-work and no energy left at the end of the day. And the sewing machine parts have been flying out of the door into the Post Office, for which I am suitably grateful...

So, my Commitment...
Two big boxes of smaller boxes.  The surgeon found rather more of a mess than we had hoped (and why wasn't I given better advice beforehand?) Eh? Would it have been so hard to say "limit this sort of bending, don't twist"  at some point before the surgery? Now I'm much more limited forever, it would have been good to get in some practice.. And how about the Booklet about Back Surgery before, instead of after, rather than 3 copies of the "How to avoid blood clots" which I got?  Or it is, perhaps that too many people, faced with 6-12 weeks of recovery, just run away screaming?

Anyway, I have to re-sort all my fabrics, cut the dross, fold, pick, pack some for sale (next year!, that seems like a long way off) and destash generally.  And, more smaller lighter boxes, more shelves, fewer heavy loads.. Nothing over 2 kilos above my head...

These arrived yesterday, 20 medium and 30 smaller boxes.. HB has put the first couple  of full ones needing sorted on to the big table, and I'm going up to start. I'm going to set a timer, maximum of1/2 hour at a time, and see how it goes...
And, I will get to revisit my Stash..

Onwards and Upwards

I have been neglecting..

...my Death of Literacy posts, but this one really caught my eye, while queueing for the Post Office

Now, tell me, my darlings, what does this actually mean?

Garden Part 2 - Details and The Indoor Garden

Cat loves the hardy geraniums

Strawberries in pots

Clematis Montana on one of two big arches that divide the garden - this was overgrown and horrible, so I hacked it mercilessly last year. Seems to be recovering...

Honeysuckle on the other arch, doing rather too well, may need cutting back

Cherries

Squashes

Apples

Crocosmia - when I planted this I was expecting "Lucifer" the orange-red type - this seems to be most unusual and has seeded all over the garden

Lily bulbs emerging in a very old pot

Nicotiana in a big pot, hoping for scent at dusk

This lovely and highly-scented pink rose was a present from Lizzie, to go with the golden hop you can just see - the hop is so rambunctious that i have to cut it back every day before breakfast...

Viola "Mystical Pineapple Crush" _ i just had to get these. Bought just before lockdown and still doing really well

Pelargoniums, and a bit more of that hop

Beans!

Pink pelargoniums, in a hanging basket. i love this colour

My "Fish Rising" sculpture in the herb garden

And John's "Five Fishes" on the back of the shed by the car park (carp ark?)

Indoors is thriving too


I appear to have broken Blogger, so I'll go away. I did have more images...


Oh, perhaps not. The greenhouse casts a spell on next-door's wall
Enough for tonight...