h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hello Paulh! You ask about the summer.

Well ... it's strange. It started out with lots of rain, then went dry for a bunch of weeks, then some rain again, then dry ...

Another funny thing is that it is COLD. There were some nights I had to sleep with my winter clothes and blankets!

But now it's warming up again!

The plants in the veld are looking very good, taking it all in stride. I've been on several botanical outings so far.

Next week I go seeking reptiles in Venda again with my friend Ruan. We'll see what the climate is like there ... typically it is very hot and humid.

Two thirds of my country is in a lockdown again. The rest is also under restrictions of course.

I was going to meet my two grandchildren and mutual family this weekend but I chose to cancel. I think I will cancel christmas also. Or at least postpone it.

It matters little to me. And should not matter to anybody else either. It is for a greater good after all

Today I stayed inside except for 45 minutes when I went to the supermarket for bread, turkey, and prune juice.

Tonight I may "attend" a choir rehearsal via Zoom. Some kind friends are setting it up for me. If all goes well, tomorrow or Saturday they will come by with sheet music and record my voice part, which will be stitched into the anthem for Sunday.

This is at least a different and unique experience.

On the days when I don't go out, I sometimes order groceries delivered from a nearby supermarket.

They sometimes have trouble figuring out where my house is.

I get phone calls form them asking how to find my place. They eventually find it.

My right shoulder almost feels as if it is sprained.

I don't think I've overused t lately, but it's not hard to overdo things without realizing it.

I have come to realize that I'm using my computer almost just as much as I did before I retired. I have several longish breaks though, but I'm still bit worried that I might stress what's left of muscles in my arm and back

Could this be your problem also?

Very likely.

Plus, I've been rehearsing a choir anthem while reading th score onscreen. This meant awkward scrolling and an unnatural position for myshoulder.

Let's hope we both get well or at least better again

My bar is set kind of low.

A little bit of improvement would reassure me.

I will take my antidepressant in about 90 minutes. I've never needed it more than tonight.

I think I know why I'm unusually depressed.

I started taking Diltiazem to lower my blood pressure last Sunday. It can lead to depression. Maybe I need to tell my doctor -- on Monday. I just have to get through tomorrow first.

What a difference an hour makes!

I figured that there was nothing useful I could still do, so I went to bed and had a refreshing nap. An hour later, I'm feeling better. Not great, not ready to conquer the world, just better. I'm eating chucks of Mackintosh apple with peanut butter smeared on them. This is a tasty treat, and it has the advantage of being okay for stabilizing blood sugar.

We had a cloudy, rainy day, which had its charms, but sunny it was not. The little sun we get is weak. It's hard not to get sad at night (or even during the day). .

Tomorrow is another day, as Scarlet O'Hara said. And fortunately I don't have to fight a civil war tomorrow -- that I know of.

Here in the south of England, it's grey and drizzly, and the weather forecast says it's going to rain all day.

I've heard it said that a strong, constant light can ease depression.

It's not cold though. I have a fuschia in my garden. I don't know if you have them: https://www.lovethegarden.com/uk-en/article/fuchsia.
It usually dies right down to the ground in the winter, and regrows in the spring. Right now, it still has flowers on it.

Today was good for my morale.

A neighbor asked for my opinion about a letter he had gotten from the park's lawyer about a violation: he built an addition that was too close to his neighbor's trailer. After he left, I looked up similar cases form the past, and emailed pertinent bits to the park manager and the Board's President and Treasurer. I felt good about having all this information to share with others. Turns out that my neighbor left out some details that undermined his case.

Then a friend dropped by to chat and eat lunch. I set up a separate table for him, with a lovely dinnerware pattern:
http://www.replacements.com/china-noritake-venetian-rose-footed-cup-and-saucer-set/p/4720691
http://www.replacements.com/china-noritake-venetian-rose-14-oval-serving-platter/p/4720831

After lunch and a chat, I guided him around the Park, showing him the landscape gardening I had done, partnering with the neighbor who had been at my door an hour earlier. I'm proud that people working together were able to make the park more beautiful with plantings.

Then I did two loads of laundry at a laundromat, and gave the car 30 minutes of exercise to recharge the battery.

After supper, I found a couple of 60-minutes Christmas specials featuring Julie Andrews and Placido Domingo, among others. I'm always discovering new programing on Youtube. Right now I'm on a Vera Lynn loop. Her bright spirits do wonder for my mood.

I just watched 70 minutes of Janis Ian and thought you might appreciate it too, so here you are

http://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1656217101217196&notif_id=1607903725536581&notif_t=watch_follower_video&ref=notif

I was reading the edited guide article on roses http://h2g2.com/dna/h2g2/alabaster/F92077?thread=7721986&latest=1 and I saw a conversation about growing roses from seed. I don't know if many people realize this, but when you have double-petaled roses, they may not produce seeds. This is because " In roses with double flowers, for example, the petals block access to the reproductive parts, so insects can�t get in to perform pollination." http://www.quora.com/If-flowers-are-reproductive-organs-then-why-don%E2%80%99t-flowers-like-the-rose-hibiscus-jasmine-etc-develop-fruits No pollination means no rosehips, which contain the seeds. Single-petaled roses have this problem less often. The garden at the entrance to my trailer park has a rose bush that is actually growing in the garden of the neighboring apartment building. But the branches lean through the fence into our park, and rosehips from the blossoms have fallen into our garden, where they sprouted and produced numerous rose plants. These were welcome, and we did nothing to obtain them. This was a single-petaled variety, for what it's worth. If you want roses identical to those on another plant, dig up one of the suckers that grows at the base of the mother plant, and transplant it. If grow new roses from seed, you're getting a unique plant, which may be better, worse, or in some other way different from its parents. Knockout Roses, which are very popular here, have a stipulation that they may not be propagated from the plants you've bought for at least twenty years. I've never seen rosehips on our knockout roses. I personally love both singlepetaled and doublepetaled roses. Here in the park, none of the doublepetaled ones have made seeds, while all of the singlepetaled ones have. There's one in particular that is just loaded with seedpods. I showed it to a friend yesterday. he remarked on the multi-season interest that these red pods provide. Yay!

I thought that some of the roses you can buy in garden centres are actually grafted onto stronger stock. This means that, if you get suckers growing at the bottom, they may belong to this stronger plant, which might not be as attractive as the one you bought.

Roses are native to the UK, so we do get wild roses. I think there are four species - all single and varying in colour from nearly white to strong pink.