Wednesday 11th October

Today, in chronological order

Snails have et my seeds all up - it's my fault, I left the packet in the cold frame (which is up on an old garden table) for a couple of weeks, and only noticed them today;

There are some seeds left in the packet, so I brought them in to dry out, and packed the packet into a bag. I'll just have to see what happens next year. I discovered them when I planted out my chard seedlings - what a difference starting them in paper pots made - so easy to pinch off the weakest seedling (poor things) and put the whole pot in the ground. Definitely the way to go.

I have bought some battery candles and am very pleased with them. They have a timer, so switch stay on for 6 hours, then switch themselves off. The next day they remember when to start and to stop. One candle has said 'it's bedtime' as I started it at 3.30am. The other one was started later, but not by much. They are the most realistic battery candles I have ever seen. Marks and Spencers, if you are interested.

Book club meeting tonight, which is why I am feeling so tired. They are all meeting in person; I join by zoom, and 2 hours is a long time to try and be a participant in a zoom meeting. The meeting starts with a pot luck bring and share food, drinks, dessert; people might say they'll bring the bread or the drinks or the dessert, but the rest of the food is always surprise contributions. I'd already eaten; it was fun seeing them share cold meats, prawns, quiche, salads, crisps, dates and biscuits.

Oh the book? We couldn't discuss in detail as not everyone had finished, and several people didn't want spoilers. 'What Strange Paradise' by Omar al Akkad. I couldn't finish it, as I knew, from the earlier chapters that there was going to be a huge tragedy, and didn't want to read the details. So I found a synopsis on the internet and read that. It's not an easy read, as in not at all 'cosy'. It's about refugees and asylum seekers crossing the Mediterranean Sea, ending up on a small island (probably based on Lampedusa). We had a lively discussion about immigration, and the drivers for people wanting to leave their homes and get to Europe. What's the solution? Answers on a postcard. Where do you start? With the chicken or the egg, if you see what I mean. The three words 'Stop The Boats' is just not an answer. Far too simplistic. There's no quick and easy solution.

I did some drawing during the meeting (there are times when several conversations are happening at different ends of the table and it gets hard to listen to one or the other)

This is some of what I could see (as well as people!)

      And then I caught the words 'those large windows with an arched top' and my pen sort of took over;

 

Further left there is a drawing of the host, but it's not a good likeness. In fact it's not good - I'm still practicing faces!