The Big Garden and Croft

Denise: The couple staying at Carrick called round this evening, complaining of an unpleasant ‘drains’ smell in the house.  Was it coming from the utility? No.  So not the trap of the floor drain dried out again (simple remedy – pour in some water).   Smell generally everywhere – seems to be coming from the ventilation.   Oh dear! This was reported by another guest back in spring, but only briefly. This couple seem a bit more put out by it. The problem seems to occur only when the weather is very still, and the when the temperature is falling, so that … Continue reading →

Jonathan: Becky – our eldest daughter – is 3[-] today.  She’s a lovely girl. A highlight of her birthday, she tells me, was the annual Aberystwyth Food and Drink Festival (sounds good to me!) on the streets of her home town.  She told me of a young woman selling ‘food from the wild’, such as samphire cakes, crab apple jelly and the such-like. I can’t tell you how proud I feel to know that Becky values – is excited by – such things.: for not only does it say something powerful about her values, it also it says these values … Continue reading →

Jonathan: Today has been sparklingly fresh and sunny, and so just as I last week said that I would, I cycled to St Alban’s for the day. National Cycle Route 61 passes very close to the campsite here in Welwyn Garden City: from the A1000 on the south side of WGC it crosses the A414 and then follows the line of a former railway through Hatfield and then  west for about 7 miles to St Alban’s, ending near the Abbey Station.  The quality of the route – in terms of surface, width, junctions and signing – was highly variable and … Continue reading →

Jonathan: Today, for a change, I’ve come to Chelmsford by train. Walk to Welwyn GC station, train south to Moorgate (but signal failure meant I had to change to another very crowded train at Finsbury Park), walk to Liverpool St Station (no signs to give directions), and then train north-east to Chelmsford, then short walk to office.  Time taken 1h 50mins door to door. Driving the far more direct east-west route along the A414 is just 40 miles (and about half that on dual carriageways) – but has never taken less than 1h 30mins, maximum so far 1h 45mins. I … Continue reading →

Jonathan: Have you noticed that angels always seem to be dressed in white? A golden-yellow white as opposed to an Ariel or Daz blue-white, it’s true, but white nonetheless. I can’t say whether the cut of the cloth, or the tailoring varies much from one angel to another, just they they alway seem to very bright and lacking any adornment, pattern or texture.  You’d think that up there – beyond the reach of vanity, envy, avarice, lust or other incidentals to that earthly phenonomenon called fashion – they could indulge themselves a little without falling into sin. But apparently not. … Continue reading →

Jonathan: And it isn’t even the afternoon yet ;~( Ennui, they called it in the 19th century.  Women trapped in unchallenging lives by social mores and gender discrimination. It’s the unchallenging and trapped bit that applies in my case – though hopefully not for much longer. The forecast for the weekend was promising, but in truth it’s just been warm and grey. Not that it would have made much difference if it had been fresh and sparkly: I just don’t have the motiviation, the enthusiasm, the emotional desire to engage in this land of strangers and strangeness. During the week … Continue reading →