I had ambitious plans for taking a walk yesterday, but it was rainy so that didn't happen.
Instead, I was sucked into the final 200 pages of Martin MacInnes's book "In Ascension," which I had to finish because it was so good! Very ambitious in its grasp and description of science, both on a cellular level and in the environments of deep ocean and outer space -- and yet not dry. In fact, quite suspenseful. And the plot does go to Ascension Island toward the end. It reminded me a lot of David Mitchell's book "Cloud Atlas," which was also wildly ambitious and widely cast across space and time.
Also, we got our front door lock fixed. Have I mentioned this problem? The lock has been loose for months and months -- here's a video I made last summer for the management company. We'd already tried to tighten the visible screws and that didn't work. It took the property managers a while to fix it but they finally sent a (sexy young bearded) locksmith yesterday, who removed the lock and found that the backplate had never been properly attached to the door. He attached it, put the lock back together and voila! It's fine now.
Here are a few garden photos, in case the tiny snail on our hellebores up top didn't satisfy you. Above, another view of our luscious yellow tulip, which comes from a bulb one of our neighbors discarded years ago. It blooms every spring to thank me for rescuing it from their garden waste bag.
The honesty plants are beginning to bloom. We have four or five of them that came up from seed, children and grandchildren of plants I grew from seed several years ago. This one looks a bit spindly -- the others are much more lush and green but they're not in flower yet.
My squirrel cage is working! It's keeping the squirrels out of our lilies. In fact the lilies are going to outgrow it soon, at which point they will hopefully be large enough to resist the rodents.
Finally, I think I gave the impression in yesterday's post that I'm not an adventurous eater. I wouldn't say that's true. I tend toward the vegetarian so I never like a particularly meaty meal, but I'm not strict about it and I have, in fact, eaten a fish head before. I even ate the eye, which is an experience I'd rather not replicate. It tasted like a plastic bead full of briny Jell-O. This was way back in the late '90s and I guess I didn't feel the need to do it again on Tuesday!
I am glad that I had finished my porridge before you started talking about fish eyes!!
ReplyDeleteUrk! Fisheyes! and fish heads too. I like fish, but not the whole thing.
ReplyDeleteI like the tulip :)
Your description of eating a fish eye: Poetic and unpleasant.
ReplyDeleteThat lock must have made you feel SO secure. Glad it’s fixed.
The snailflower is fascinating. Wouldn’t you just love an entire garden of those?
From the video they are internal screws that need to be tightened, manning you take the lock apart by undoing the visible screws. How nice that the locksmith was one who could send your imagination raging. Good work with the squirrel cage.
ReplyDeleteThe snail at the top could symbolise the speed at which your landlord and landlady seem to move in relation to maintenance matters. You can bet your life that if there was a door lock issue in their own house, it would be addressed within a couple of days.
ReplyDeleteThat couldn't have felt very safe. Aside from a break-in being facilitated, it could have jammed while locked, leaving the residents to come and go via the window. I'm glad it's fixed.
ReplyDeleteIf I'm passing on the fish head I will definitely pass on the eye.
ReplyDeleteFer pity's sake, don't pass it my way.
DeleteYou reminded me that August requested that I tell his grandfather that he should put a lock on the bathroom door that leads off the pantry. I just told Glen about this who said, "There is a lock on it." I went and checked out this so-called lock (we've lived here twenty years, you know) and there is one but it does not lock. This, too, I duly reported to the grandfather.
ReplyDeleteYour flower shots are really beautiful.
I'll eat just about anything put in front of me. The only thing I have passed on, thus far anyway, is balut. It is a traditional Filipino food where they boil an fertilized and aged duck or chicken egg. It often has veins, bones and feathers forming when eaten.
ReplyDeleteI haven't eaten a fish eyeball, mostly because my wife begs to have them all when we eat a whole fish. Being the nice husband, I let her have them.
there isn't enough time to look after gardens. there's always something more that can be done.
ReplyDeleteYour garden will be full of blooms this summer. The pot of protected lilies looks like it is doing very well. The bright yellow tulip is great. Sometimes tulips multiply and give you several. Having a working lock on your door is important. I am glad you got it fixed. I will be the less adventurous individual that refuses to eat anything on a plate with a face. At least I can say I know what a fish eye tastes like. Thank you very much!
ReplyDeleteI'm grossed out by the fish eye eating, Steve. Yuk!
ReplyDeleteThere are so many things that need fixing in my home but the owner never gets around to it. Of course, that is me so... It sounded funnier in my head than when I typed it out here! :)
Nice to come back and see your blog so vibrant as always. I have not been writing enough on my own recently, or reading others as used too. Just so many pressures at the moment... But as for eating fish heads .. mmm... I'll leave that to you and your memories!
ReplyDeleteI most definitely am not an adventurous eater.
ReplyDeleteI was able to tag your book at my digital library, though it's only available in audio. That's okay with me. But I also tagged another I found that looked good! Ascension (without "In" in the title) by Nicholas Binge. Hopefully I'll get to both of them this year!
ReplyDeleteNope! on the fish eye. I'm from poor Southern, salt and pepper are adventurous spices for us.
ReplyDeleteLove the radial symmetry in your first 2 photos. The snail looks cozy.
ReplyDeleteFrances: Ha! Yeah, sorry about that. :)
ReplyDeleteRiver: There are really only a few parts of the head that can be eaten -- the cheeks, the eyes, the collar.
Mitchell: I think we HAVE an entire garden of those!
Andrew: Yes, that's exactly what he did! It's always nice to have an attractive tradie, isn't it?
YP: Oh, no question! They do move incredibly slow. Having said that, I didn't push the lock issue very hard. It never seemed insecure enough to be a danger.
Boud: That happened once! But we got it unjammed, as I recall. I don't think we had to call for help.
Bob: Yeah, I'd recommend passing.
Debby: Ha!
Ms Moon: I guess that shows how often you lock your bathroom doors! Ha! (We don't lock ours either.)
Ed: I've heard of balut, and yeah, I wouldn't go there either.
Red: Always! We keep our garden pretty low-maintenance but there's always stuff that needs to be done.
Susan: This tulip bulb was quite small when I first got it, and it sent up small flowers, but now it's very sturdy. I hope it reproduces at some point!
Ellen D: Ha! I knew what you meant before you explained it. :)
Bike Shed: It's always a challenge to stay on top of blogging! I think I'm behind on your blog as well but I promise to come and check it out.
Tasker: Well, it's good for all of us to know our limitations. :)
Kelly: OK, let me know how the Binge one is! I will say that "In Ascension" starts a bit slow. It took me about 30 pages before I got interested.
Allison: And yet southerners eat catfish, which is pretty much the definition of a skank, bottom-feeding fish. (I say that as a southerner myself!)
Wilma: It's really tucked right in there, isn't it?!
I love looking down into tulips! Nice shot.
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to know you can lock up safely, even if it's never a problem. And the garden is coming along very well indeed!
ReplyDelete