A Busy Sunday

Click to play “Yurt Down” time lapse film

Yesterday was Sunday which, when you are self-employed, has no special meaning to it. So, my Sunday started with gardening, in particular the only gardening I can be trusted to do on my own, that being moving soil. Our new raised bed (built with the Limery) is now ready for some squashes…

After that exertion, I needed to sit down with a cup of coffee and a bacon butty, which was exactly what happened. And locally-produced bacon, to boot.

THEN… I put together the time lapse film of myself and a few volunteers taking down the yurt at Denmark farm. This is something I have blogged about before, but I thought it might be fun to produce a time lapse film of the event. I intend to make another one when we put the thing up next spring. I discovered that my trusty camera has a setting to tell it to take a picture every so often so, in true pioneering spirit, I decided to give it a go. Click on the picture at the top to watch the result on Youtube.

A guitar with, frankly, too many strings to its fretboard…

Having pieced together the film, I decided to record a simple soundtrack to accompany it. I used this as an excuse to play the guitar in the picture above – I bought it about five years ago and haven’t really quite mastered yet. Listening to my efforts now, I think I have quite a way to go!

Surprisingly, I finished composing (if that’s what it can be called) and recording “Yurt Down Blues”, all one minute 6 seconds of it, in time for a cup of tea and a look at the crossword.

Sunday’s can be quite satisfying sometimes!

oOo

What I did this (so-called) Summer

Moths…

According to Facebook, it has been some 22 days since I posted anything on my Books by Jon Sayer page, which means that it has been that long since I wrote a blog post. The days of (not-really) summer seem to have flown by, and I have started to ponder what I actually did in those 22 days.

…(Kraft)Vaarks…

Here’s a list:

1. Made a lot of tea and coffee. And boiled dozens of Kelly Kettles (well, OK, two actual kettles half of a dozen times).
2. Opened and helped to drink quite a few bottles of wine. I mean, I’m kidding, of course only water for me.
3. Been to the bottle bank to recycle all those bottles of wine I had absolutely nothing to do with drinking.
4. Over the course of a second (around midnight) last week, became one year older. Oddly, in that second, everything started to ache just a fraction more than before.
5. Had a trek to the cinema to see a Star Trek – from my house, that cinema feels like it is in a galaxy far, far away, along with a different sci-fi franchise.
6. The Recycling Plastic Locally project has made some progress in that now almost all the wiring for the temperature controller is done and I am going to do a test melting quite soon, if only to try to use up the almost (that word again) full bucket of chopped up milk cartons I now have.
7. I did some animations – 2 in particular were satisfying to complete because I did the music for them as well as the pictures. Check them out here and here.
8. Photographed some wildlife in the form of moths and butterflies in our Limery and fruit cage.
9. I added about a thousand words to my novel. I know – rubbish. I promise to do better.

So, that’s why I haven’t posted. Not one but nine excuses. Plus I have a note from my Mum. Well, the Snail’s Mum. And it’s really a birthday card rather than a note.

…and, er, more moths

oOo

Mrs Ghost (not) in the Limery

Resting on a packet of Squash seeds

Look what we found in the bathroom the other evening – it’s a female of the species (more deadly apparently, but this one seemed benign enough) of the Ghost Moth last seen in A Ghost in the Limery.

Ignoring the lights

Her wings look as if, unfurled, they would have inked on them an ancient treasure map or, perhaps, just a map of the Ghost Moth World.

oOo

Blimery! It’s a Colourful Limery!

A Ruddy Pepper

Phew, what a scorcher! Today (19th July 2016), the UK is roasting with temperatures into the 30s (centigrade that is. If it were Fahrenheit, there really would be a problem, possibly with my ability to differentiate between hot and cold). In fact, it is too hot for me so I have largely stayed inside, staring at the cold black and white of the electronic document that is my next novel.

A Blooming Sunflower

BUT… we all need colour in our lives so here is some, courtesy of the wonder that is the Limery! It’s almost a rainbow, but more edible. Enjoy!

Love me Tendril

Purple Strain

I’m your Venus (you’re my lunch)

Pitcher This

Verdant Pepper

oOo

 

A Ghost in the Limery

Wrapped in paper-white wings,

        hovering ghostly in the cool evening air…

        …hairs standing on the back of its head,

        the scary or the scared?

oOo

* This is a Ghost Moth (Hepialus humuli) that visited the Limery one evening. It is known to hover in groups, giving the appearance of a floating spectre.