*An occasional borrowing from Ganching.
1. Got up very early, read some of my books and then closed my eyes (just for a minute). Was awakened three hours later by the eldest daughter who had arrived for a full day of gardening on her vegetable plot.
2. Attended to my latest obsession which is nurturing the compost bin. About ten days ago I trailed it out of an overgrown part of the garden and set it up beside the shepherd's hut.
It's almost full already, a mixture of grass cuttings, leaf casings and blossoms from the beech trees, general green stuff, veg peelings, a fish head, wood ash and some pee.
It's coming along nicely. We have compost all the time just by chucking stuff in a big pile but that's Bert and Zoe's domain. This is mine, something I can micromanage, poke at and sniff. It used to smell great but recently... maybe go easy on the pee.
3. Made a birthday cake for Bert. There was the traditional pose with the two oldest grandchildren. A reader might note from this picture the placing of two bags of sugar on the shelf behind. This is a rural Irish custom as one can never have enough spare bags of sugar. Also in the background, a DAB radio which is always on as its owner (me) can never remember how to get it back on again should it be turned off. This is something that needs to be addressed owing to rising electricity costs.
4. Watched the season 2 finale of Love/Hate with Bert. Which is excellent. Alerted to it by Kerry Sister.
5. This is a strange one. Fell down an internet rabbit hole with King Crimson. I was well aware of them in my teenage years but they weren't top of my pops. I reckon I'm just about old enough now to appreciate their brilliance.
6. Made a plan to go out after dark and listen to the long-eared owl babies. They're back again, somewhere around here, I don't know exactly where and that's OK. I've learned to let them be.