From A Distance.

It was quite a nice afternoon yesterday, so I went for a bit of a walk. I headed up this lane known locally as Snappersnipes. I have tried to find out where that name came from but haven’t found a good explanation. That led to a road called The Butts. I know some people might find that name amusing as well, but I know where the name comes from. In the olden medieval days, it was compulsory for all men in a town to practice archery. That was why the English won such battles as the battle of Crecy in 1346 when the English army were firing 6.000 arrows a minute. The area of a town set aside for archery was called The Butts. Anyway, I walked along there to Newtown and headed towards the White Horse. By the time I got to the top of Newtown I was knackered and hot. I sat on a bench and surveyed the view of the White Horse from a distance. 

This man with a friendly greyhound came along and we had a bit of a chat. After he had walked on, I realised that he was the first person I had spoken to since last Saturday. I walked on a bit further as far as the Equestrian Centre and took a photo of some horses and then turned back. My original plan was to walk through the woods and come out at Chalford, but I knew the path would be boggy after all the recent rain. That is my excuse for not walking further anyway. I’ll try and have a longer walk next time. This morning I put another book for sale on eBay. The House Without Windows by Barbara Newhall Follett signed by the illustrator Jackie Morris. 

I only bought it about a year ago. It is a children’s book, not really my thing, but I was fascinated by the authors life, and her mysterious disappearance. That is my news for today. I have to go to the post office in a minute and I might go for another walk later if the sky brightens up a bit. 

Tuesday Morning Beat.

It has been a nice sunny Tuesday morning. I was up good and early today because I didn’t go to the pub yesterday. I always seem to be up and about early when I avoid the pub. I put another book for sale on eBay called Even Dogs In The Wild by Ian Rankin. It is a signed copy as well. Crime fiction isn’t really my thing, but I like Ian Rankin as a person though because he is a big Van Morrison fan. I saw him once in London when he chaired a discussion with Van at a concert to launch Van’s Lit Up Inside book of lyrics. That was a great night, I can’t believe seven years have almost gone by since then. While I was busy doing that, there was a knock on the door, and it was the nice post lady who handed me a package which contained a magazine called Beat Scene. I haven’t bought this magazine before although it has been going since the 1980s. I used to buy books a long time ago from the guy who has published the magazine as a labour of love since it started. His name is Kevin Ring. I think I met Kevin once at a Beat event in Plymouth in 87. I have just spent the last hour reading it and I am very impressed with the quality of the intelligent well written articles, the photographs, and the layout of the magazine. The magazine concentrates on the American Beat writers and others associated with them. If you like the Beat Generation or Charles Bukowski or John Fante and similar writers, then I think you would enjoy this magazine. I think you will find it quite easily if you google Beat Scene. I must say I much prefer a real book in my hand or a magazine to reading everything on the internet or Kindle. I was given a Kindle once as a present and I only used it once. Give me a proper book any day. 

What else have I done since yesterday? Hmm, the rain was torrential yesterday afternoon, so I passed the time listening to a talk by Eckhart Tolle called Awakening The Essence Identity. It lasted two hours, but I found it fascinating. To me, Eckhart is giving much the same message as Krishnamurti, but in a much more understandable way. I find it much easier to grasp what he is talking about. Anyway, I can’t sit here all afternoon, there is more to life than the internet. I’m going to get dressed and go for a walk. I need to go to the shops anyway, because my fridge appears to have eaten all my food and then wet itself. See you later.

I found this humorous drawing of Eckhart Tolle on the internet somewhere. I hope whoever drew it doesn't mind me sharing it. 

A Quiet Sunday.

This morning I was supposed to go and see Westbury’s best kept secret which is The Chinese Garden at Beggars Knoll. It is a private garden on the way to the White Horse, but they open it to the public about one day a year in aid of charity. However, when I got up this morning it was raining and windy, so I sent them an email and said I wouldn’t be going. That was disappointing, but hopefully there will be other opportunities to visit it. Instead, I watched the overnight events at the Olympics and the Closing Ceremony. I was really pleased to see that Kellie Harrington of Ireland won a gold medal in the women’s boxing. I had never heard of Kellie before the Olympics but followed her progress all the way to the final. The whole of Ireland got up early to cheer Kellie on. There will be some mighty celebrations when she gets home to Dublin. I think that was one of my highlights from Tokyo. It was also great to see Sky Brown aged 13 get a medal in the skateboarding. When I heard that they had added sports like skateboarding, surfing, BMX , and climbing to the Olympics I was a bit dubious, but I can see the thinking now. It is to encourage youngsters to take up sport. This is what they are interested in. I bet sales of skateboards have increased tenfold in the last week after Sky’s success.

Caterpillar on nasturtium.

This afternoon the weather improved, the sun came out and I had a potter about in the garden. I found another very lethargic bumble bee which was a bit upsetting. I gave it some sugar water to try and revive it. I had to go indoors to answer the phone and when I came out again there was no sign of it. I googled ‘Lifespan of a bumble bee’ and it said that they only live for an average of 28 days. I always worry that there is some disease of bees going around. I found lots of caterpillars eating the leaves on my nasturtiums. A few years ago, I would have been annoyed about that, but now I am pleased because I read a lot about butterflies being in decline. 

Happy Single Party?

I was also pleased to see my dahlias are beginning to flower. I saw a yellow one which I looked up and it might be a variety called Happy Single Party. After that I sat in the kitchen listening to a CD that I found in a charity shop last week. It is called The Wide World Over by The Chieftains. What an enjoyable album it is. The Chieftains are joined by lots of guests such as Sinead O’Connor, Sting, Ricky Scaggs, Joni Mitchell, Diane Krall, Art Garfunkel, The Rolling Stones and Elvis Costello. My favourite tracks are Shenandoah with Van Morrison, Guadalupe with Linda Ronstadt & Los Lobos, and Redemption Songs with Ziggy Marley. I don’t know what I will do this evening, but I have two cans of cider in the fridge which I’m going to drink in a minute. See you later.