Sliding Into Politics

Yesterday was pretty low-key -- drizzly and gray. I walked my newly purchased slides down to the photo shop in St. John's Wood to have them scanned, and I would have walked back, but the weather was so grim by then that I decided to take the tube. I got half a dose of exercise, anyway.

These "rescued" slides are a bit different from the ones I've purchased in the past because I know the photographer's identity. Some of the slides had her name on them, and I found a web page about her, so when I put them on Flickr I'll include that information. I've seen others who rescue old photos do the same thing -- post them as the "John Smith Collection" or something like that (obviously using the photographer's name). I'm a little nervous about someone who knew her finding them and getting annoyed, but then, they didn't save the pictures and I want to give her credit. (Her mother's diaries wound up on TikTok!) She died in September 2022, and apparently she left no immediate survivors, so maybe there's no one left to complain. In any case, I think identifying her respects her photography so that's my plan.

Needless to say, given the weather, I did not take the two pictures accompanying this post yesterday. I just thought they went together well, sharing the "fly" theme. (And these flies weren't attracted by substandard poetry!)

This little hoverfly kept perching on my book as I sat on the garden bench on Monday, reading. It's nice to have company.

I also had about a billion starlings in the trees behind me. They made such a racket I couldn't resist recording them:

Steve Reed · Noisy Starlings

It was hard to concentrate!

Did you hear about Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the bear? It is just about the weirdest story I've ever heard about a presidential candidate, and that's saying something. That guy is just not right in the head. He makes a big deal about his sobriety but that doesn't sound like something a sober person would do.

And how do we feel about Tim Walz? I think he's a promising choice and seeing him and Harris together at their rally yesterday was uplifting. Even when they're critical of the opposition, there's a positivity about these two that I think the country and the world need right now. And I love this new emphasis on how "weird" the Republican ticket is -- how out-of-step with most voters, how theocratic.

JD Vance is on a roll about the need for Americans to procreate. This despite the fact that the planet is groaning beneath the weight of its burgeoning population. The idea that there aren't enough babies is only a problem if you're obsessed with race or nationhood. The fact is, Earth has plenty of babies. They are not evenly distributed and they aren't privileged to share the same resources, but we've got plenty of people. Let's talk about how to fairly feed and house and clothe everyone who's already here -- and how to simultaneously preserve our wilderness, the animals, the rainforests, the insects, instead of packing more people onto this globe.

Wow! I am in a political mood today.

Last night I watched "Firebird," a movie that came out a few years ago about the relationship between a gay officer and private in the Russian army during the Cold War -- as The Guardian called it, "Brokeback in the USSR." It was a bit obvious, but overall very effective and watchable, especially with its handsome lead actors. I enjoyed it. This may be the first time I've ever watched an Estonian movie.

What's Blooming Now

I've just been reading about storm Debby and I certainly hope all my friends and family in Florida are doing OK. Here in the UK it's business as usual, weather-wise. About 72 degrees and sunny yesterday.

I walked to Camden Market to look through the photographic slides and spent a couple of hours there with my slide viewer, choosing about 60 to rescue. I'll take them for scanning today or tomorrow -- probably not all of them. While I was there, a woman walked up behind me and told her friend that old photo slides, with holes punched in them and strung together, make a great lampshade. I silently thought, "Yikes! I'm glad I got here before you!"

Anyway, here are some photos showing what's blooming in our garden. The "flesh rose" (above; not its real name) is giving us a second flower, which smells fresh and lemony.

The bees are all over the teasels, which are flowering like crazy. We've never had so many teasel flowers in our garden. I really do need to cut some of them down to control their proliferation, but I'm waiting for the flowering to end.

The Japanese anemone is blooming, which is always our sign that it's about time to go back to school. (Next week, for me!)

The geraniums are blooming...

...and the Peruvian lilies, or Alstroemerias, have been going all spring and summer. They are prolific bloomers and never disappoint.

Our passionflower is being passionate...

...and the Inulas are sending up their bright, summery flowers, which radiate like miniature suns.

And finally, the cardoons have burst into bloom, with bees constantly plundering their artichoke-like flower heads.

So, yes, lots of garden activity around here! And there's more -- the Agapanthus, a few other roses, the lingering hydrangeas, the orange crocosmia, the wallflower, the loosestrife...I could go on for ages. But I won't.

As I wrote this post, the fox silently brushed past the open back door. Olga didn't even notice until I got up and closed the door, and now she's eager to go outside. I'm sure the fox is gone by now so I'm going to let her out.

I've been texting with Dave and he's doing fine in Michigan, and I've been slowly plowing my way through "The Woman Who Lost Her Soul." It has gotten much better.

The Bee

This blooming orchid lives, for the time being, in our living room. I used that celery vase, the green one with the face, to prop up its stem because it's the only vase tall enough to keep the flowers from dragging on the windowsill. It's pretty, but the reason I'm posting it is the bee in the upper left of the photo.

That bee has become obsessed with the orchid. (I assume it's only one bee, but I suppose it could be several. I haven't seen more than one at a time.) It flew inside a few days ago and, as I do with all bees that come inside, I got a magazine and gently shooed it out the window. This is not an easy task because the bees often don't cooperate, but I managed. It was back minutes later.

And it's come back every day since, flying in and out on its own. Yesterday I caught it in a drinking glass and took it out to the middle of the back garden, thinking that might be far enough away to keep it out of the house. No! About fifteen minutes later, there it was again.

I have no objection to an infatuated bee courting our orchid. I just don't want it to die in the house, as sometimes happens when insects get trapped in here. But it seems to know what it's doing, so from now on I'm leaving it alone.

I don't remember any insect showing an interest in our orchids before, but apparently bees do pollinate orchids in the wild. So maybe it's just doing its thing. Weirdly, it seems more attached to the leaves than the flowers. I wonder if there are tiny insects on the plant -- scale, maybe -- secreting honeydew and that's attracting the bee.

I took Olga to the cemetery yesterday. It was a very slow walk, but as you can see, she had a lot of fun rolling in the grass. (And I started that video after she'd already been rolling a minute or so, so that's not even her at her most vigorous!)

A Week on My Own

This butterfly fluttered through the garden a couple of days ago, one of the few we've seen this year. It's been a terrible summer for butterflies, at least around here. Normally we see peacocks, commas and red admirals and I've seen none of those in our garden this summer. We've had some common blues, some cabbage whites and this one, a gatekeeper.

Normally, when our butterfly bushes are in bloom, we get lots of butterflies. This year the flowers came and went. I wonder if the spring was too wet and/or too cool? I'll be interested to see what this year's UK butterfly count reveals.

I walked Olga through the neighborhood housing estate yesterday morning and she had the good fortune to meet up with her pals, Harry and Spencer. (Harry is the lab, I think.) These dogs used to get so excited when they saw each other, and now they wag tails and give leisurely sniffs but there's no more leaping around.

Aside from the lack of butterflies the garden is doing well. We've moved on to our late summer flowers, the inulas and anemones, and I'll post some more pictures tomorrow. This (above) is the foam flower, or Tiarella, that I moved from a flower bed where it was overwhelmed by the other plants. It looks so much happier in its pot!

I sat out yesterday and read another hundred pages of "The Woman Who Lost Her Soul." I must say, it's getting better. Maybe once I was able to vent those complaints yesterday I could move past them. I'm still not promising to stick it out to the end but the likelihood is growing.

Dave is off to Michigan and Indiana today on his annual trip to see his parents and attend Drum Corps International (DCI) finals. So I have the house and dog to myself for the next week. Hopefully I won't starve!

Speaking of which, I don't know this woman but a friend sent me her obituary from our hometown paper. "Best obituary ever," my friend said. It's the simple pleasures, right?

What is Frances Saying?

The little European goldfinches have been in our garden again, eating something off the tamarisk. I don't know if they're eating bugs or the plant itself, but I don't suppose they do any harm, and I love watching them.

Remember how I said the porch railing looks so good since Mr. Russia painted it? Well, yesterday, Mrs. Russia dropped the bombshell that they're redoing it. "It's too shiny," she said. They're waiting for matte paint to arrive in the mail and when it does, the whole thing gets stripped and repainted.

I protested that it looks fine, but I doubt my words will have any effect. As I have said, they are insane.

I'm glad you liked yesterday's old postcards. I must admit I am not at all sure I'm reading the one from Frances Delany correctly. I thought I'd post it here in case any of you have a better idea what it might say.

I've got it all except that first word or words -- the best I could come up with is "standing." It looks more like "I landing," which doesn't quite make sense, or maybe even the more nonsensical "I tanding." What do you think, blog sleuths? I assume she took a train where there was standing room only, but would that really be "very nice"? It's a mystery.

I can hear her teachers now: "Frances, what have we told you about your penmanship?"

(She also appears to have signed France, or Terance, but the latter makes no sense as she clearly said "daughter." I'm gambling she's Frances.)

Well, that's probably taking you way too far down the old-postcard rabbit hole.

I'm reading a book right now that I kind of hate. It's called "The Woman Who Lost Her Soul," by Bob Shacochis, and it's about American intrigue in Haiti. Shacochis makes it really, really challenging to read this book. He is fond of run-on sentences and changing perspectives, and the timeline jumps around, and he doesn't use quotation marks, which in a complex novel makes me crazy.

The thing is, there's an interesting plot here, but it's buried beneath unnecessary authorial trickery. Where was his editor? Why do some writers want to make it hard to read their work?

Anyway, I'm about 200 pages in, and I think I may quit. (That's another thing -- it's a 700-page book.) I rarely quit books but I am feeling resentment that I'm being made to work so hard.

Here's the latest from our garden cam. We had hundreds of videos of wind and blowing leaves this time, so I only have about a minute of interesting footage. The cat at the very beginning is carrying some kind of prey in its mouth. At first I thought it was a bird and I was annoyed, but I think it's actually a mouse or rat. I think I see a long tail. And then there's a squirrel close-up, and the fox makes an appearance, and then Olga comes sniffing around after the fox.

Last night we had our friends Gordon and Donna over for dinner. Dave, inspired by our recent trip to South America, made ceviche, followed by roast chicken and a gin & lime pie. Yummy! We sat out in the garden, amidst the teasel forest, until it got dark and then moved into the dining room.

Old Postcards

Mailed to Paris, December 1909

(In French): "From our father's stopover in Finland, I send you my affectionate wishes a little late for French fashion; but let's not forget that we are in Russia. We continue our beautiful, very interesting journey, have no problems and are in very good health. Russian Christmas 1909 -- A. Lesum"

Mailed from Carnarvon (Wales) to Lancashire, 1906

"Dear Nancy, Pleased to hear you have recovered from your indisposition. Could you not arrange to come over here. It would surely improve your health. I am still having medical attendance with my ears, also boils on my neck. Kindest regards to all, your sincere cousin, Percy."

Mailed to Oldham, August 1915

"Dear Father, Standing very nice on that train hope that you are better and can come tomorrow. It's very nice here. That's all just now from your loving daughter, Frances Delany"

Mailed from Nottingham to Keighley, West Yorkshire, 1904

"My Dear Sisters, Just a postcard tonight. I do hope your cold is better. I have been over this bridge tonight (south) to Bridgford. There was not a sound on the water, different to how this postcard looks now. Best love to you all, Agnes"

Mailed from Malacca (now Malaysia) to Nottingham, February 1937

"Darling Mother, We are having tea on the sea front just near this old gateway -- very lovely spot. Lots of small islands and very old fort. Have motored nearly 100 miles today. Love to all, fondest love to you darling. Mr. S kindest regards. John C."

(All purchased from an antique shop on my recent trip to Hebden Bridge.)

Missing Roller

I can't resist another dahlia picture! Can you see the hoverfly on the lower flower? That's one of the reasons why I like this Bishop's Children variety -- the open flowers are great for insects.

And as you can see, my miniature plant stands arrived yesterday from Amazon, so the plants are off the ground and hopefully less accessible to slugs. Of course a slug can still climb up that thing but at least it's a little harder. I went out and checked the plants just now and they weren't molested overnight, but then it was pretty dry last night and slugs don't appear to have been on the move. Let's see what happens when it rains. (Today, supposedly.)

Dave was gone most of yesterday for medical appointments, so Olga and I were hanging around the house by ourselves. I got out our leftover paint -- from when we had the flat painted six years ago -- and touched up a few spots on the walls that had been bothering me. When I opened up the paint can I was surprised to find our small paint roller still inside it! After our renovations last summer I remember wondering what had happened to it -- I always assumed the painters took it. But no, they just left it in the can!