Come Rain and Sun

Over the hills and along the coast we walk on a hot summer day to get away and find some peace and quiet. There's no mechanical sound up here as we are well away from the roads that are hidden behind the hills. Nature has been particularly lush this year for some reason and the plantlife appears somewhat larger than most years, with some grasses having grown to well over six feet in height. Rare and unusual plants and flowers are found like the example in photo four. Also seen are butterflies like the Marbled White and Common Blue, with the Peacock now making a late appearance. It seems as if the flowers lift up and take flight on the breeze.

Photos five to eleven were taken in a place that nobody much knows about, so it is nice to give a glimpse of some of these places.

In the last photo we find some Chicory growing in a field, for some reason although it is considered a native, Chicory is rarely encountered here. Nature is out and about on these long days and short nights and I have met young badgers happily snuffling up the road and passing by unaware of my presence. Other much larger badgers were alarmed at being caught out and have galloped down the hill, making their exit through the nearest hedges with a noisy crashing sound. The native seven spotted ladybird is also making an appearance again after being in decline for some time due to an invasive species.

After leaving the word hedgehog in my list of labels for the last post out of wishful thinking, as I haven't seen a hedgehog for a good number of years, two young fellows arrive just outside the window from where I was sat a couple of nights ago, announcing their arrival with much snuffling and foraging about. It was certainly a very welcome sight to meet these delightful creatures again. It has been quite dry here this summer so they might have been looking for water, and water is left outside for the birds, insects and now hedgehogs because of the ongoing scarcity.

Many years ago a hedgehog found his way into the house I was living in and crawled into the hem of a curtain to have a kip. Not realising that it was a hedgehog and presuming it was a drunken friend passing through the house as they sometimes used to on their way through the village, the sound was ignored till the next morning when the hedgehog was discovered and helped upon it's way. I then found out that hedgehog shit is actually a fairly persistent substance.

For no particular reason other than it has been on my mind lately included here is the short story of St. Odran, mainly as a reminder that the truth of a situation is not always welcome news.

When St Columba decided to build a church, he found that the chosen site was infested with demons. He discovered that these creatures could be driven away only if a holy man were buried alive on the spot. St Odran volunteered for this honour, and was duly entombed. After three days, St Columba decided to dig St Odran up, and ask for news of Heaven. The latter declared that there is no wonder in Death, and Hell is not as is reported. On hearing this, Columba cried out, 'Earth again upon the mouth of Odran, that he may blab no more.'

Serfs Up!

In amongst the disturbing video's of fizzing and bubbling seas on Pensacola Beach and the strange earthquake warning signs or Haarp signatures of these lights in the sky over the Gulf of Mexico, G20 black bloc agent provocateurs doing the usual "left alone by the police" photo opps before the cops move in and arrest lots of peaceful protesters and unfortunates out on the streets of Toronto, footage of everything from sea birds to dragon flies covered in oil and various other terrible things going on round the world, news hasn't been very cheery of late, as I expect everybody has noticed.

Regarding the black bloc, I do wonder what the police would do if the peaceful protesters became not so peaceful and actually turned on the black bloc and started beating them up, would they wade in to help the black bloc? Who knows? They always seemed to give the BNP plenty of protection to march up and down, but it might be an interesting experiment if it wasn't a bit illegal.

Meanwhile the sun comes up and goes down as the summer weaves it's lazy course like the river that I can't manage to reach because it goes through some posh peoples private land. I met an old man who asked me about the possibility of following this gentle river and I had to disappoint him by explaining that it wasn't possible. Is a nice tiny footpath on some of the only flat land around, perfect for old folk to walk upon too much to ask? Apparently so.

Land, land, we are surrounded by land, most of it just used for grazing, but can we have a little bit to live on sir? Not really because you're not allowed to build on it and you can't afford to buy it anyway. Land prices around here vary a bit but a quick check reveals these prices; One acre near Kingsbridge with no planning permission £20,000 (US$30,000). Three acres near Stodleigh with no planning permission £45,000 (US$68,000). As Mr. Deek might say; "Greetings landless peasant scum" and lets hope it stays this way, God help the status quo if we could actually have a patch of our own country to live on, where would it all end?

Well The Diggers tried it on common land and look what happened to them, honestly! What an idiotic idea, the stupid bastards. The common land around here has the army running up and down on it, practicing killing people and leaving their shit lying around all over the place.

Down here we had The Enclosures and up north they had The Highland Clearances which is how we get to where we are today where people like the Duke of Buccleuch, the largest landowner in Britain owns 270,000 acres, spanning parts of Scotland and England. The Ministry of Defence owns 240,000 acres though they still insist on arsing about on common land. I'm not having a pop at landowners, well I am a bit, but not Dr. Fish 'cos he's nice and he lives in a big country, but this is a small country with a large population. It's my own fault for being such a povvy bastard anyway.

Well that's enough of my moaning for now and certainly enough history for the present.