More "Wild Kingdom" from our garden...a ladybird larva stalking some aphids on one of the teasel plants. We've seen lots of ladybirds and ladybird larvae this spring, which is a good thing, I suppose. And we don't mind the aphids, especially on a tough plant like the teasel.
Olga is barking and running around near our back fence at the moment, which makes me think there's a fox about.
I love this time of year. It's sunny and pleasant outside, we can open the windows and air out the flat, and the days are as long as the train on Princess Di's wedding gown. It starts getting light at something like 4:30 a.m. and doesn't get completely dark again until about 10 p.m. (That can be both a blessing and a curse, because it plays havoc with my sleep patterns.)
And look at our rescued fig tree! The poor guy is definitely behind his figgy brethren in terms of schedule -- I've seen figs not only with leaves but with fruit on them already -- but at least he's waking up. The leaf buds are recognizably fig-like.
I came home last night to another batch of garden recycling bags sitting on our doorstep. This is becoming laughable. It took forever to get our first batch -- more than a month after we paid for the service -- then suddenly we got a second batch and now a third. To make matters more complex, this batch's bags were labeled with other house numbers! I'm not even sure they were for this street, but I took them to the appropriate houses and left them out front. I have no idea why we got them.
Maybe this will be a question on the "Life in the U.K." test that Dave and I need to pass to get permission to stay here?
What should you do when the local council mistakenly delivers three times the correct number of garden waste bags to your house, some of them labeled with different addresses? You should:
a) Give them to your neighbors
b) Call the council and complain
c) Use them all for yourself even though you don't need that many
d) Write a stupid blog post about them
And now we all know the correct answer, at least in my mind!
I love these very long days. Interesting simile - as long as Princess Diana's wedding dress. Does that mean the days are twenty five feet long?
ReplyDeleteI just tried to think of something really long. It's not the best simile, since Princess Di's wedding dress is ultimately a tragic emblem, but it's the best I could do. :)
ReplyDeleteThose are great photos, and about those bags, well that is some pickle.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear that London is as screwy as our cities when it comes to services.
ReplyDeleteLove, love those tiny fig leaves.
That sunrise/sunset time reminds me of why we left Port Townsend, WA. Summer days were way too long, and winter days were dismally short. It made me think that our bodies get accustomed to the latitude where we grow up. It can be challenging to our inner clocks. Interesting dilemma with the garden waste bags. I would do two things: a and d.
ReplyDeleteI like the simile! I think I'll start calling really long days "twenty-five feet long" days, or maybe "twenty-five footers" ...
ReplyDeleteNow I feel sorry for the aphids. Gah.
As for the bags, this is the kind of thing that makes me vacillate forever and get nothing done. Should I deliver the bags to the addresses? I don't have time, maybe on the weekend. Should I call council and tell them, so they'll be aware their delivery person isn't doing his/her job properly? Maybe, but I don't like to do that, but if I was running the office I'd want to know. Should I write a blog post about it? Yes, but how do I work it in because I can't write a whole post on it. Welcome to my indecisive mind ...
You certainly have a good "herd" of aphids. I'm glad I don't have them.
ReplyDeleteIt's good to see that fig tree coming around! And, that question and answer made me laugh! Good one.
ReplyDeleteWe like the same similes
ReplyDeleteYour summer is like our spring only our days aren't nearly so long in spring, nor summer for that matter though they are longer. Minnie caught sight of a possum the other night that was in the garage when I was closing up and now she is convinced every noise she hears out there is the possum and she barks like crazy wanting out to get it.
ReplyDelete