Lots of high cloud this morning though a couple of vapour trails visible in the gaps. Five thirty. Woke at four thirty to the whoop of wood pigeons but must have nodded off again. They still whoop. I can also hear a siren but can’t see if it is a cop, ambulance or fire brigade.
The only other sound is the clock in the conservatory. It’s showing completely the wrong time. Thirteen minutes slow even allowing for the fact that we must have forgotten to change it when we moved to British Summer Time. Analogue clocks huh!
To the right of the clock is a Cezanne print of some apples in a bowl on a table. There is a jug with some sort of floral print. The bowl has five apples and there are four more on the table itself.
I’m not really here to describe the pic itself. It’s just that every time I look at it I notice it is on a slight slant and keep meaning to correct that. Never got round to it. Perhaps it is destined to always be at a slant. It’s the sort of thing THG would sort without even thinking.
On the radiator shelf below Cezanne is a glass yellow oval shaped vase with a small neck. This is the first time I’ve noticed it! Gosh. Wonder how long it’s been there. Years probably. Feels right for a single long stemmed rose but it is empty.
The siren has faded away into the distance. Mission of mercy, or a mad dash to catch a thief. A crook, wrongdoer.
I feel this morning I might continue with the garage tidying. Made a start yesterday but this is not a quick job. It needs tidying before it can be tidied, if ya know what I mean. The bench was a real mess with stuff having just been dumped there over the course of last winter and spring. One of my containers of screws and nails needs sorting since it was accidentally dropped on the floor and its contents mixed up. Well…
This is a good opportunity to tidy things. There’s a load of stuff in there that should be taken to the tip. Old bodyboards and large plastic crates full of god knows what. One of them has all the bar gear from the festival. I also have three or four sets of golf clubs that to some extent have been handed down to the kids but which remain in our garage. The original Ping Eye irons need to be sold. They will be worth something.
One thing that really needs a decision making on its future is our old family tent, the Gelert Zenith Six. This is a huge beast that needs two people to carry it and the whole family to put up. It has three sleeping pods and a large central area where you could stand up and easily fit a table.
We are never going to use it again and by the time any of the kids has a family that might need it it will probably have disintegrated. I will need to discuss this as it won’t be just my decision having been an integral part of family holidays over the years. It does take up a lot of shelf space and I believe the pegs may have been repurposed. We still have a bag of pegs I could throw in with it.
For what it’s worth I’ve just read a biography of Barnes Wallis. They would also go on family camping holidays. Theirs would be a month long and require the digging of a latrine ditch. Talking nineteen thirties here. No campsites with shower blocks and electric hookups. I wouldn’t mind the absence of power but you do need loos.
During one of our family camping holidays in Jubilee Park I recall the warden swinging by on the Sunday morning to report that he’d had a complaint about someone being seen urinating in the bushes overnight. Most probably some caravanning type hidden behind twitching curtains. Anyway when I asked people to fess up, seven out of the ten adults present raised their hands. I wasn’t even one of them. The toilet block was only eighty yards distant. Ya gorra laugh.
It must be said that even if the campsite does have a toilet block, which they always do nowadays, I would always look for a pitch near a hedge.
The wood pigeon continues to whoop and I must away to make the tea. Ciao amigos.
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Taking tea on the deck in front of the shed. It isn’t cold but it’s not going to be one of the hot summer’s days we had last week.
“The hot days of summer spent lazing in a shady hammock by a riverbank, dozing to the tune of the gentle dance of the water. An occasional cow calls from the far side of the hedge and the dragonflies buzz, flitting across the surface at the water’s edge.
The holidays have started, for some. Those lucky enough to stop for the whole summer and spend their time idling, recharging. A pair of shorts is the only clothing required. Late breakfast on the veranda after a walk along the beach. What to do today?”
Back on the deck the sound of great tits mingles with the resident blackbirds and a bee thuds into the glass door of the shed. A dunnock interjects tunelessly. Why was the dunnock not favoured with a nice voice?
One of the blackbirds has landed on the lawn in search of food. Feels quite late in the morning. He isn’t one of the early ones. We coexist, the birds and I.
The choir has been joined by a jay, blackcap, robin and sparrow. Wow what a team. The concert is reaching a crescendo. Good word that.
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There is a point in the day when you decide to get off your backside and get on with some jobs. Not quite there yet and THG was somewhat sceptical when I made this observation.
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The step ladders are in position under the eating apple tree. I’ve been thinning them out. Also trained a bit of grapevine further along the wire.