Despite two sowings of my favourite snapdragon “Canary Bird”, I had no success with them so was forced to buy plug plants of whatever snapdragon I could find, which turned out to be “Brighton Rock”. They’re now in flower, and not quite what I was expecting, but they’re OK and the bumble bees love them. Also loved are the “love-in-a-mist”, which are now in full glory – mine start white before gently becoming the palest of blues.
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Two pairs of mating damselflies around my pond this afternoon, and at least one unattached one. The glare of the sun on the water makes them really hard to photograph, but I thought this attempt was interesting, with the insects themselves largely in shade but the shadows of the tracery of their wings showing up delightfully.
Massive thunderstorms around 3am today! Fortunately, the rain wasn’t heavy enough to flatten the flowers, and there are a couple that have just opened. The Oriental poppy is always a welcome and cheerful sight at the far end of the lawn, marking the transition from “fruit and flower” garden to “veg” garden. The first couple of spikes of pink foxglove have opened (which will attract any bumble bees not already focussed on the ceanothus).
In the pond, the monkeyflower has opened (was mimulus, now something unmemorable and unpronounceable), and a couple of recently-emerged damselflies are zooming about.
The broad beans have started flowering, so the badger-detering pop-up netting has been removed. The variety is “The Sutton” (extremely dwarf, so not needing supports), which I think now qualifies as a heritage variety, having been introduced in 1925. Much later flowering than most people’s – bitter experience has taught me that sowing in autumn or early spring just results in the seeds rotting, as even in raised beds the ground is effectively “soil soup” for the winter months.
(posted retrospectively)
This afternoon was a trip to the dentist for three extractions. Lower front teeth, just about my only remaining ones (there’s a crowned upper rear left molar, and one central lower incisor left). That all went very painlessly, and although I did go very woozy for a short period I didn’t actually faint. The dentist used some kind of automated tooth-removal tool, rather than gripping the tooth and pulling, which seemed to go well, and he didn’t have to hold my head in a vice-like grip (unlike some previous extractions elsewhere.)
That all means a diet of mush and soup for the next week or so – a large shepherd’s pie has been made that will do several days. The gums will have to settle for eight weeks or so before the moulds can be taken for new dentures, and I’ve decided that it’s worth getting both sets made at the same time (to ensure a decent bite, and for colour matching) but it’s going to be rather expensive. All told, the course of treatment – extractions and new dentures – is going to be a couple of thousand quid, but I think it’s worth it. I’ve had dentures for a decade, and they were last modified eight years ago to add a couple of extra teeth that had had to be removed.
There’s some suggestion that bacteria from dodgy teeth and gums can get into the bloodstream, leading to low-level inflammation and other stuff (including early Altzheimer’s), so there’s that consideration as well as the cosmetic one.
The first stem of the alstroemeria “Summer Breeze” opened this afternoon. Fitting colours for the weather we’re currently having, though we don’t currently have a breeze, and one would be welcome in the afternoon high of 30C. I’ve spent most of the afternoon in my bedroom, where the aircon bought last year kept things at a steady 22 degrees.
The Allium cristophii (aka A. albopilosum, “Star of Persia”) are now almost in flower, taking over from the ealier ornamental alliums. I think they’re my favourite – the silvery sheen on the petals is glorious, and the open latticework of the flowerheads is dainty and inviting. Certainly to the bee in the centre of the photo!
Nap time! Outside temperature is 27.4C in the shade (I’m in a bit of an urban heat island). Fortunately, having bough an air conditioner after suffering heatstroke last year, the bedroom temperature is a quite enjoyable 21.4C despite being south-facing.
The ceanothus is nearly in full bloom, and assorted insects are starting to discover it (there’s one in the top left of the photo – others were not obliging enough to wait to have their pictures taken!) Phone photo only, as I didn’t have a chance to get any of the cameras out.
Twenty years ago this week, I attended a “Gay man’s self-defence course”. It was some 18 months after I’d become disabled and had to give up work. I felt it was needed – being visibly disabled living in Tottenham was moderately high risk. The guy from GMFA who did the booking was Barrie, and the course leader was Simon.
My blog for the time says “I asked Barrie to pass on to Simon my appreciation of the trouble he had taken, and the way he ran the self-defence course. Barrie said that he’d be happy to do so, and that he’d chatted to Simon earlier in the week as a debrief: my name had cropped up and apparently Simon had said that I was very brave and determined but that there were some things that I just hadn’t been able to do. In many ways that was good to hear, but I do have some reservations about people seeming to often see me as ‘brave’ … actually, I’d rather the effort didn’t show as much as it does sometimes seem to! It isn’t really bravery … more about accepting that if I want to do things there will be associated costs in terms of pain and mobility as well as money, but that just means budgeting these items effectively. I think I see it more as determination (or even bloodymindedness, a quality I am not short of), in that if there’s something that I want to do, I will try quite hard to do it.”
My feelings about disabled people being labelled “brave” haven’t really changed, though since my diagnosis of Aperger’s syndrome / ASD I do perhaps realise that there are a few situations where bravery is needed to face the socialising associated with some of the things I want to do.