Welcome to the jungle

Oh. My. Goodness. My laptop has expired. The lights are on but no-one is home. The screen is black. Functioning but black. Black. Black.

This makes writing, emailing, browsing, trying to remember what is on that machine… tricky.

And I am one country away from any sort of shop to solve the problem.

Luckily I have this spare laptop that has a non functioning letter ‘o’ buried deep in the bowels of the basement. It was the 2015 model.

Frankly, I’m amazed mice haven’t gnawed the wires. It is cumbersome. Slow. Goodness I really have to stop thinking about using that letter ‘o’. It keeps sticking.

So be grateful you have anything today. Each phrase and sentence is eked out. And all the while I am mourning all the talking books I just downloaded from my digital library And can’t access because they are trapped in the broken machine.

Not to mention all the sized and sorted photos in my photo folder. Grrrr.

Still, mustn’t grumble. First world problems and all that. Thank goodness I have a back up. Even if I don’t have a functioning letter ‘o’.

On with the show.

Arggh, enuff of that ‘o’!

***

(that *** key sticks too)

So. Two days of sitting. Weeding. Seeing just what treasures remain. It’s late October and there ought not to be this much abundance.  I am picking rasberries daily. The figs are almost gone, but it doesn’t stop me hunting when I need a break.  Cherry tomatoes, beefsteak tomatoes, aubergines, rocket salad, peas for heavens sake, herbs galore. Sorrel. And flowers.

I’m picking just as many dahlias as mid summer. It’s marvy.

The only variation in the flower arrangements now is that I’m using parsley and coriander as the green foliage.  A hard frost is due at the end of this week and I know the delicate herbs will be blackened and soggy overnight. There is only so much pesto once can make. And freeze.

In fact each day my collection of herbs in vases grows on the kitchen counter top.  And each day my basil glares at me accusingly.

I picked this batch exactly a week ago. Cutting all the plants to the ground assuming the cold weather was imminent.

But no.

And most days I have to sort the tomatoes to remove the rotten ones.  But I haven’t yet done another big batch of sauce.

Why? Too busy outside. This weather won’t last and I am having way too much fun in the blast of sunshine at the wrong time of year.  Today it was cutting back the lavenders (I reek) and even contemplating a spot of hornbeam hedge planting.

I need nine trees. And five more rosemaries for the guesthouse garden, and about six vibunum tinus, two or five choiysa Aztec Pearl if I can find them….

Absurd acquisitive streak. It doesn’t get the pesto made or the coriander chopped and frozen. But a visit to Vachon plant nursery tomorrow might be a fun diversion.

Beats weeding.