More Random Bits.

My routine trip to Ashbourne today provided another example of something I’ve been complaining about for a few years – the systems out there in that world I try to avoid are becoming increasingly broken. And I was further reminded that so many of those entrusted with operating the systems are hidebound and inflexible at best, and seriously incompetent at worst. I still incline strongly to the belief that the Thatcher/Blair years were responsible for downgrading British society, but since I claim to know nothing I can’t be sure. Ashbourne was otherwise uneventful, apart from the fact that I gave up browsing the charity shops because too many bloody tourists kept getting in the way.

But it’s good to see that the barley on the lower fields down near the river is now ripe. It’s a bit stunted after the dry spring, but at least it’s yellow and ready for harvesting. I have a particular fondness for barley, you know. I love the way it ripples in waves when the wind blows. When I was in my teens I was particularly drawn to a traditional Irish ballad called The Wind that Shakes the Barley. It seems I was already aware of the propensity of barley to charm the eye even though I’d grown up in the suburbs of a city and didn’t know what it looked like. Maybe it was another genetic memory from the Irish part of my ancestry.

The wheat on the higher parts, on the other hand, has now reached the pale green, pre-ripening stage, adding another hue to the patchwork of variable greens which grace the lowlands and uplands of the Shire’s topography.

And the moths finally came out to grace the twilit garden today in spite of the unseasonably low temperature. They’re late this year. I remember that time a couple of years ago when they were playing the part of fairies on Midsummer’s Night. They missed their cue by a couple of weeks this year, but at least they’ve now turned up.

And I saw three swallows yesterday. Three!