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

What if it's already half full of blackberries?

it's ok KB I'm back from my trip to scotland it will stop raining now

Seasonal sights of the day:

- More blackberries (along with a blackberry expert who likes to drone on about the perfect state of ripeness - surely a seasonal creature )

- rabbits galore (ok, maybe not seasonal, but amusing)

- rose-hips by the barrel-load

- again, no striking bird activity. But maybe I need to look more observantly...

Seasonal event of the day:

It's somehow appropriate that the poet laureate of blackberries shuffled off this mortal coil just at the tail-end of August. Fascinating man.

I've been watching the birds gather for their pre-flying-southerly conferences all week. But it was still bloomin' 'ot this afternoon.

The storks are still here. Plums and the wasps to go with them are the order of the day.

The wasps are less prominent now, here. I think that most of ours are dead now.

Seasonal sign of the day: the Mellow Man.

The Mellow Man is so called because he's the embodiment of , and because I don't know what his real name is. He's in charge of all a flower pots and window baskets in a particular part of town. And a good job he does, too. It always looks fantastic. (I used to do that job too. It's a great job for a mellow man. It's like meditation. Also a great job for a daydreamer, or anyone who likes to ponder things, or make up poems, or whistle and sing while you work.)

But I digress. Today the Mellow Man was pulling out the pelargoniums he'd carefully tended all summer, and putting cyclamen in. That's admitting the end of summer, I reckon.

Maybe he'll get a job in a nice big warm greenhouse in time for winter.

I want his job... it'd be a loverly zen-ting to do, between folding towels and housework
Talking of which... do you, by any chance have bottles/jars of rosehip syrip to sell (I recall you saying rosehips were a plenty back in August... )

felt a bit* Autumunal today, first thing... slight chill in the air, and the sun didn't have the power like it had, the last week or so Though, strangely enough, its not feeling any colder now as we head into the evening, than it did from about midday today

Nary a drop of rosehip syrup to offer, I'm afraid.

Although I don't think it's too late - there are still quite a few around in good nick! It seems you can buy it online, too. Are you after it for anything in particular?

Yeah, the temperature is still pretty warm, actually. It's gone all grey and drizzly here, though. And all the lights were on when I left work.

(not any particular reason... I just remember my Father making it, wehn I was a kid, years and years ago.... And I seem* to recall it was really* tasty.... but I'm probably thinking about when I had it... twenty six or more years ago... maybe my tastes have changed a bit ) hmmm... talkign of tastes... interesting supper tonight; a peach (loverly and ripe), and cheese... seriously ... (I'm finishign off the contents of the fridge before I go away tomorrow; this now leaves me a more standard arrangement of ham, cheese and a couple of eggs, for which I think there maybe an omelette apppointment for breakfast, along with the two homemade multigrain rolls I just got out of the freezer to defrost overnight)

ahh... talking of chilhood memorys... peaches... the smell* of a peach, before you bite into it, and then when you break the skin... every time, when I do that, with a real* proper ripe peach that has flavour and isn't one picked when utterly unripe, like this one... the smell
and I'm instantly there... hot summer... many many years ago... wondering through the Victorian Glass-house, on the estate of Lord sommerlayton.... and stealthily stealing one of his peaches

I wasn't sure how seriously to take that last sentence, but Google tells me that

a) there was a Baron Somerleyton...
b) from your neck of the woods...
and
c) he served as "Master Of The Horse" until 1998.

There still is a Lord somerlaylton (however its spelt), as far as I know... the somerlayton hall is an open visitor attraction type place (national heratage? not sure)...

Somerlayton is a train stop on the Norwich to Lowestoft line.... its the last stop going to Lowestoft, before Oulton Broad, then its lowestoft, and not only end of the line, but more end of the world really Not sure if he's still an active lord (I.E., in the house of lords)

God. Listen to that rain. I meant to start work early today, but at the moment I'm still lying in bed, listening to the rain and not getting up. Which in itself is quite a pleasant way to pass an hour.

Go and read my journal - it's lovely and sunny.

You got your share of the rain earlier, as I recall!

Today was Beech Nut Day. I was finding them on the ground all over the place. They're attractive little things.

(Beech Nut Day isn't a Hallmark day or one of the many awareness days, in case you were wondering. But I've just decided since I generally ignore them all anyway, I may as well make my own ones up.)

We had a huge beech tree in the playground of the junior school I went to, and I remember very well picking up the three-sided beech nuts and we even nibbled the nut inside. Autumn was in the air, uniforms and shoes were still new and crisp, and we were all loving seeing each other again after the holidays.

I have never really worked out who or what takes the seeds out of the beech nuts most often. It is some of the birds, I think, because they seem to go from filled nuts to hollow shells very rapidly.

KB, I am disappointed. You've been around here long enough to know that we always blame such things on 2legs.

For shame

Oh crap. Facepalm indeed. There were double-entendres there that I didn't even think of. I was thinking of birds as opposed to mice, rats or squirrels.

Now here's a definite seasonal sign. Brent geese are back!

Every year, tens of thousands of them descend upon us. Around 90% of the world's population of Brent geese will be living about 20 minutes from my house for the next six months or so.

Someone should tell the Daily Mail. Comin' over here, eatin' our seaweed...