A very faint rainbow at the end of a very wet and gloomy day.
Admin1 is rereading Jingo by Sir Terry Pratchett. Admin2 is reading Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson.
Causing a Fence
We have been meaning to get our half-dead overgrown hedge which brings down the tone of the area removed for ages, even though it is a godsend to wildlife, but we just don’t have the time, tools, skills, energy or chops to look after it. So when a man came to our door offering to change it for a fence we were receptive. Asked him to leave his business card and later found a leaflet from a well-regarded company in the letterbox so told him to go ahead, having also been assured he had a chipper and digger. They were a different company with no machinery except a chainsaw. They ended up hauling away seven tons of trees by hand and we ended up paying three times the estimate. So it goes. Still we do have a fence.
Squirrel and Nutshells
Cheeky little critter surrounded by the detritus of its feast. Now that our hedge is gone they just hang around the house.
Admin1 is reading Judas 62 by Charles Cumming.
We scored 10 on the GSQ.
Solitary Passion
Of all the hundreds of flowers that have bloomed on our passiflora (which lives in a small pot and has grown all over the patio, tangled up with the honeysuckles, beans and grapes) this year, only one has developed into a fruit.
September was slightly colder, wetter and sunnier than last year.
Admin1 is reading The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd. Admin2 is reading The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. Both were disappointingly juvenile.
Conkers
‘Tis the season for nuts (see UK politics) and this year the council is asking citizens to collect tree seeds to turn the city into a forest. We are making an anti-contribution by having our massive hedge chopped down.
Admin1 is reading Run Time by Catherine Ryan Howard and Admin2 is reading Peculiar London by Christopher Fowler
Fox Snooze
A nocturnal predator enjoying a daytime doze among our overgrown ivy.
Admin1 is reading The Cliff House (should be called Cliff Hanger) by Chris Brookmyre. Admin2 is reading Run Time by Catherine Ryan Howard; filming by gaslight in a cabin in the woods.
After allowing recovery time for agonising jabs, we did the GSQ with family support and scored 12.5. Better and better.
Getting the Needle
Admins1 and 2 went to the usual place for flu and covid jabs and left with achy arms. Here’s the traditional pic of Scott Hall Road in very boring weather. On the way home we passed a rather swish mural advertising a game called Saints Row and commissioned to celebrate the entrepreneurial spirit of Leeds yoot.
Bow Wow!
Two awesome rainbows brightening our evening. According to an article in the paper today, seeking out awe can make you happier and healthier. Awfulness is the new mindfulness.
Admin1 is reading Peculiar London by Christopher Fowler. Admin2 is reading The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith, a gigantic doorstopper which needs a comprehensive workover by an editor. How many times does the author describe the office manager as having an e-cigarette clamped in her teeth? As if that were even possible.
Gold Leaf
The leaves are turning, and this one has a spangle of glittering dewdrops. Winter is coming but the sun is shining and our solar panels have made more money this year than in any year before.
Admin1 is reading The Lost Man of Bombay by Vaseem Khan.
We scored 12 on the GWQ. A return to form!
Cloud Appreciation Day
Our contribution to the Memory Cloud Atlas; a cumulus mediocris which was what was on display today.
Admin1 is reading The Liar’s Girl by Catherine Ryan Howard. Admin2 is reading Not Saying Goodbye by Boris Akunin.
Snail Race
Two mismatched molluscs dashing headlong over a cliff.
Speaking of cliffs, Admin2 is reading The Cliff House by Chris Brookmyre (thx Admin1): six women, all nursing terrible secrets, arrive for a hen party on a remote Scottish island. What could possibly go wrong?
Fly Undone
An evil spider with a web like lightning and an underbelly with glowing eyes is sucking the life out of a helpless trussed-up bluebottle.
We know how that poor fly felt. We scored 6.5 on the GSQ; our worst score this year that sees our return to single figures.
Overkill
Today all the newspapers are black and every electronic billboard has been switched to pics of the erstwhile queen. HMQ is queing in every bus shelter, hanging around the shops and looking down from high buildings. And it rained on and off all day so a very feeble rainbow arrived to cheer us all up.
Admin2 is reading Act of Oblivion by Robert Harris; those who signed the death warrant for Charles I get their comeuppance when Charles II ascends to the throne.
God Save the King (Not my god, not my king)
A very boring caterpillar.
Admin2 is reading The Lost Man of Bombay by Vaseem Khan (thx Admin1).
Happy Birthday
Flowers, books, cake, cards, gin and also lots of coffee. What a lovely day.
In a black-on-black moment Admin1 is reading The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith. Admin2 is reading Black City by Boris Akunin; a Russian ninja detective tracks a terrorist among the oil barons and bandits of Azerbaijan in the run-up to World War 1.
Hedge Sparrow
A young dunnock trying out our unpopular bird food.
Admin2 is reading Girls Who Lie by Eva Bjorg Aegisdottir; a cunning and clever book about lying girls.
We scored 9.5 on the GSQ. Still in double figures — just.
Catch the Sun
Last month was our sunniest August ever: 239.610kWh. It was the only August to appear on the high score table for the best months ever and featured 6 of the all-time best-ever days. On average it was 5 degrees warmer than last August by day but only .5 degrees warmer by night.
Admin1 is rereading Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith. Admin2 is reading Mother’s Boy by Patrick Gale; a fictionalised early life and wartime years of the poet Charles Causley.
Carnival
Admin2 took this unprocessed photo of the Chapeltown carnival with the camera accidentally on night setting. It could pass for an 18th century engraving if the distant sound stage and dancing pen were picturesque ruins, the white vans were livestock and the clothes were not quite so modern.
Admin2 is reading This Is the Night They Come for You by Robert Goddard.
We scored a commendable 11 on the GSQ.
Pink Sunset Rainbow
Admins 1 and 2 saw this lovely sight on a dry evening; the first rainbow we have seen since the very wet month of February.
Admin1 is rereading Lethal White by Robert Galbraith. Admin2 is reading A Change of Circumstance by Susan Hill, a mundane saga of family life disguised as a crime novel.
Red Sky at Night
The shepherds are delighted.
Admin1 is rereading Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith. Admin2 is reading Take Nothing with You by Patrick Gale; boy with cello needs a fellow.
Iridescence
An iridescent cloud shimmers above golden linings and a smoking chimney.
Admin1 is rereading the magical The Secret Commonwealth by Phillip Pullman, which ends on a cliffhanger with still no sequel in sight. Covid has something else to answer for.
And at last we scored 11.5 on the GSQ, bringing our score back to double figures. Good work everyone!
Fruit
Happy half birthday Bob!
We had to put the fruit outside to fend off the fruit flies. The criss-cross pattern of the netting, bowl and chair is quite harmonious, but the criss-cross filter was overkill. Live and learn.
Admin1 is rereading The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith. Admin2 is rereading Expo 58 by Jonathan Coe; Our Man in Brussels.
Clouds!
First clouds we’ve seen for ages. We even had a drop of rain, but not enough to register and none of the thunderstorms we were promised. And we had an unexpected visit from B&D, who dashed off precipitately to avoid the precipitation that never arrived.
Admin2 is reading The Liar’s Girl by Catherine Ryan Howard.
Greedy Pig-eon
A bird reaching for the berries on the elder tree on another 32 degree day. It all falls apart tomorrow.
Admin2 is rereading the marvellous Piranesi by Susanna Clarke.
We scored 9.5 on the GSQ with backing from G&D. Well done everyone.
Shine On Sturgeon Moon
Ongoing hot sunny days and warm nights with clear skies occasionally crossed by meteors.
Admin1 is rereading The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith and Admin2 is reading Uncanny and Improbable Events by Amitrav Ghosh, which is meant to be about climate change but is mostly about the impressive number of books in all genres that Amitrav has read.