Wednesday 8th August - Rain

It rained yesterday afternoon!

A short shower, maybe only three minutes, of large, heavy drops. Enough that if he hadn't bolted out and rescued it, the duvet cover would have been soaked through.

Then the sun came back, and within a very short time, the world was as it had been - hot, dry, scorched.

This happened several times during the rest of the day, but then, at dusk, the skies clouded over properly, and the temperature dropped, and a strong breeze whirled up the dry leaves and rain, proper rain, came and soaked the garden.

I stood at the door, watching, listening, and enjoying that fresh, mineral smell.

This beautiful song came to mind;

"As torrents in summer,
Half dried in their channels,
Suddenly rise, though the
Sky is still cloudless,
For rain has been falling
Far off at their fountains; 

So hearts that are fainting
Grow full to o'erflowing,
And they that behold it
Marvel, and know not
That God at their fountains
Far off has been raining! 

here is Elgar's setting, sung by The London Quartet

They are my All Time Favourite Singers, and I strongly recommend this album, and also "Lullabies and Goodbyes"

I hadn't paid much attention to where the words have come from (the London Quartet always sings with such extraordinarily clear diction that you can make out every word without having to look them up)

It is an extract of a longer poem by Longfellow (good name for someone who writes long poems, don't you think?) - in fact from a book of long poems - I wonder if it is modelled on The Canterbury Tales?

Here's the link to where I found the poem, and where you can read all of the "Tales of a Wayside Inn" written in 1863.

"As torrents" is just two verses from the final part of "The Musician's Tale; The Saga of King Olaf";

The Nun of Sideros.

Here it is

In the convent of Drontheim,
Alone in her chamber
Knelt Astrid the Abbess,
At midnight, adoring,
Beseeching, entreating
The Virgin and Mother. 

She heard in the silence
The voice of one speaking,
Without in the darkness,
In gusts of the night-wind,
Now louder, now nearer,
Now lost in the distance. 

The voice of a stranger
It seemed as she listened,
Of some one who answered,
Beseeching, imploring,
A cry from afar off
She could not distinguish. 

The voice of Saint John,
The beloved disciple,
Who wandered and waited
The Master's appearance,
Alone in the darkness,
Unsheltered and friendless. 

"It is accepted
The angry defiance,
The challenge of battle!
It is accepted,
But not with the weapons
Of war that thou wieldest! 

"Cross against corselet,
Love against hatred,
Peace-cry for war-cry!
Patience is powerful;
He that o'ercometh
Hath power o'er the nations! 

"As torrents in summer,
Half dried in their channels,
Suddenly rise, though the
Sky is still cloudless,
For rain has been falling
Far off at their fountains; 

So hearts that are fainting
Grow full to o'erflowing,
And they that behold it
Marvel, and know not
That God at their fountains
Far off has been raining! 

"Stronger than steel
Is the sword of the Spirit;
Swifter than arrows
The light of the truth is,
Greater than anger
Is love, and subdueth! 

"Thou art a phantom,
A shape of the sea-mist,
A shape of the brumal
Rain, and the darkness
Fearful and formless;
Day dawns and thou art not! 

"The dawn is not distant,
Nor is the night starless;
Love is eternal!
God is still God, and
His faith shall not fail us;
Christ is eternal!" 

I guess I would have to read the preceding 21 chapters to find out what is going on, but the final five verses are stirring stuff.

Tuesday 7th August - A Time for Learning

One of the most important aspects of the long Summer holiday is it gives me a chance to learn something. This Summer I've become fascinated by water colour painting, and have been immersed in Youtube video tutorials, particularly Rick Sucowicz and Angela Fehr.

In one of her posts, Angela made reference to the 'Competence Ladder', which I had either forgotten or hadn't come across (at my age one can't be certain...)

Here is wikipekdia's definition;

1. Unconscious incompetence

   The individual does not understand or know how to do something and does not necessarily recognize the deficit. They may deny the usefulness of the skill. The individual must recognize their own incompetence, and the value of the new skill, before moving on to the next stage. The length of time an individual spends in this stage depends on the strength of the stimulus to learn.

2. Conscious incompetence

   Though the individual does not understand or know how to do something, they recognize the deficit, as well as the value of a new skill in addressing the deficit. The making of mistakes can be integral to the learning process at this stage.

3. Conscious competence

   The individual understands or knows how to do something. However, demonstrating the skill or knowledge requires concentration. It may be broken down into steps, and there is heavy conscious involvement in executing the new skill.

4. Unconscious competence

   The individual has had so much practice with a skill that it has become "second nature" and can be performed easily. As a result, the skill can be performed while executing another task. The individual may be able to teach it to others, depending upon how and when it was learned.

   
   

   

   
   

   
   

   So obvious, really, but nice to see it set out so clearly.

   
   

   The other thing I am learning about is gardening. 

   'That camelia needs to be in the shade' says James, in passing (he's here again; another fence panel has gone in, and he's about to start on next-door's conifers.)

   
   

   'Is that skimmia in ericaceous soil? No? That;s why its leaves are going yellow.' I repot  it in some ericaceous soil that has been waiting for the camelia.

   
   

   I guess that I'm at all different stages;

   
   

   probably 2 or 3 for water colour painting, gardening, knitting, sewing, novel writing

   
   

   3, heading for 4 with playing the harpsichord

   
   

   4, with the piano, and teaching it, but in danger of sliding backwards if I don't do some serious practising in the very near future!

   
   

   I consider that being a continuous learner is a staggeringly important part of being a good teacher. Each skill acquired adds a greater dimension to what one already knows, and expands the experience of learning, and enables one to reach further into the mysteries of effectively imparting  and sharing skills and knowledge.

   
   

   This is such a Big Thought that I haven't yet managed to codify it into a set of simple statements like the ladder of competence above. But I expect someone else has!

   
   

   In the meantime, just remember that all the new crafts and skills I embark upon during the holidays are, in a big way, play, but also, in a bigger way, part of a life of learning and discovery, which started within minutes of my birth.

   
   

Tuesday 7th August - In and Out of the Garden - 3

This saga is going to run and run..., no, walk and walk might be more accurate.

James came back yesterday evening, and the result is a couple of panels

There would have been another, but it got broken as he unloaded it from the trailer. Meanwhile, our neighbour has decided that he WILL have his conifers razed to the ground after all. He had originally wanted them cut down from about 12 feet tall to around 8 feet. James had cut them right back on our side, which is why they look so hideous. That didn't matter, because the fence panel would have hidden most of them, and also the ugly chain link fence fixed to concreted in angle-iron posts.

Now that the conifers are going completely, the chain link and posts will have to go too. (You can't see the chain link in this photograph, but believe me, it is there and it is not an attractive sight.)

"I could make you a lovely border in front of your new fence" suggested James. "Dig it out properly, bring in trailer loads of good soil, and plant it up with shrubs and climbers." 

One of the things that has made gardening a dispiriting process her has been the hopeless, rough, intractable, infertile ground. The idea of James coming in and sorting it all out... time to rummage through all the money boxes and see what can be managed.

If only they were £2 instead of 5p coins...

And there is always the money monster... one pupil loves him so much that she makes her mother give her coins to feed him... that's an esy way of earning money...

I was thinking of having easy-care shrubs or climbers which would provide some kind of flowers right through the year. James waxed lyrical, naming all sorts of things that I shall have to look up; I'm making a spreadsheet. Not too sure about ornamental grasses - I'll have to have a think about that.


The wasps have decided that our apples are ripe. So I picked one off the south side of the tree and tried it. I felt a bit like Snow White; the apple was rosy and red on one side but green on the other. I shouldn't have been surprised to find that the red side was pleasantly sweet, and the green side unpleasantly sour. I'm still awake, so it is not a magic apple.

Another day has started. Breakfast (in bed) has happened, and I'm enjoying my second cup of coffee. Time to get dressed and do a few bits and pieces before the world gets too hot to think or move.

Sunday 5th August - In and Out of the Garden - 2

Here's the back gate... just visible through the laurel

We've been meaning to reclaim the path to the open ground behind our house for many, many years. Knowing that James would be bringing his chipping machine on Monday evening made this too good an opportunity to miss.

The first step was to open the gate, and the second to do some clipping. Then we could get through, into a sort of secret pathway. You have to image how shady and dim it is, as my phone takes an optimistic view of things.

After a good deal of work, involving secateurs, loppers and a hand saw, and I cleared a path through nearly as far as the big oak on the other side of the garden. McCavity came through the gate, where the sunlight streams through, to investigate

There is an abandoned bird's nest in one of the trees (that's a leaf, not a robin, to the side of the nest!)

Nothing left of the occupants except a few feathers.

Now we can get through the gate and along the back of the laurel hedge. The final part of the path is still a tricky scrabbling scramble through nettles and brambles and undergrowth. That's something for another day.

(Yes, those ARE my fingers, not apples, in the top of the photo.)

We have generated rather a lot of rubbish for clearing...

But compared to what James left behind, to deal with next time, it is almost nothing. At least, I'm hoping James will agree...

Saturday 4th August - In and Out of the Garden - 1

 Before

During

James-the-tree-surgeon and assistant have chopped, lopped and chain-sawed through all the vegetation. It was mostly ivy and brambles. Sadly the great soaring branches of the Mock Orange have all gone; the main stems are exactly in line with where the new fence will go.

My tender, fragile little white Japanese anenome is sheltering under an upturned green tub. I checked later, when all the thrashing around had ceased, and it was still there, just; I've watered it, and propped up the wilted flower stem, and replaced the shade-giving flowerpot.

James' new shredder made short work (haha) of most of the trimmings; hence the pile in the far left-hand-corner of the garden. But it was impossible to remove the ivy from the fence panels, and in the end he just sawed through the whole lot, ivy, panels, bits of plastic trellis, and piled them into the middle of the grass. I think they will have to be taken away and disposed of.

He'll be back on Monday evening...       

Friday 3rd August - Is this what retirement is like?

This is the first time I have had a glimpse of what it might be like when we are both of us retired... but by then we shall both be older, so it will be different, of course.

On Wednesday we visited my godmother. Although nearly 90, she is still managing on her own with very little help. But a little help is needed from time to time; replacement light bulbs in her kitchen and bathroom fitments are beyond her to purchase or fit, as she only ventures out as far as the local supermarket, once a week to stock up. We will go back next week to fit the new bulbs and do whatever else seems a good idea while we are there.

Thursday, and the heatwave has returned. We went out together to buy paint; a couple of half-pans of watercolours for a friend, and a couple of matchpots of emulsion in case it ever comes to pass that we get round to the hall-stairs-and-landing; a job that's been "on the list" for twenty-five, or maybe thirty years. And I picked up another bucket of fallen apples (and wasps). That must make 700...

James-the-tree-man came round in the evening to warn us he would be starting on the fence at 8.30 am on Saturday. I have very mixed feelings - I know it has to be done, but it is going to look SO different.

All this greenery is not a hedge, just ivy and honeysuckle and brambles grown up and over the fence. It will have to be stripped back to the ground, and then replaced with raw brown panels of larch lap.

I spent this morning working my way through this tangle of weeds and brambles to see if the white Japanese anenome is still alive. The pink flowers come back every year, but the little white one, given to me by a friend, was nowhere to be seen. I tend to put off searching for it, in case it isn't there...

But here it is! I cleared the weeds from around the single stem, soaked the ground and then a mulch of damp earch around it. Finally I marked the place with a wire frame, and I've now put a flowerpot nearby to give it some shade as the smallest shoot is wilting in the heat. James knows that I was to keep it, so hopefully it will survive the carnage and destruction all around.

Yesterday's housework tasks were dealing with the dining-room table, from this (not to bad, all things considered)

to this

and cleaning out the cupboard under the sink which was indescribably horrid so I won't attempt to describe it.

Today I have hoovered the stairs, changed the pillowcases (a sort of one-step-at-a-time approach to changing the bed-linen) and cleaned the catflap - those cats make it very grubby! That filled in the morning very profitably. I've also discovered where I put the brushes, paints, sketchbooks and so forth that I tidied away last Summer. Well, that's life.

Everywhere is so quiet - no cars, no passers-by, no birds, no wind...

It is 2pm.

Siesta, I think. I suspect that's what the cats are doing - I can't see them anywhere so I hope they have found somewhere cool.