16 October 2016

We’ve had some glorious weather this week – exactly what autumn ought to be about. Clear blue skies with a light breeze and a touch of crispness in the air. Cool enough for a sweater or light jacket but no need for the coat yet. The Orchard has begun to display the muted colours which pass for autumn foliage in our part of the UK and work on Penelope’s Garden continues apace.

Having trashed the area formerly known as the Vegetable Garden with the mini-digger last week, this week’s main task (for me, at least) was to rotovate the patch with the assistance of a vintage rotovator borrowed from the local hire centre, similar to many I’ve used in the past.

Vintage in the sense that bits kept falling off and rods and levers flew off the machine at will. After securing various bits with a selection of bungee cords, we persevered and the job was eventually completed leaving me with aches in muscles I didn’t know I had and the garden looking beautifully cultivated with lovely, rich soil – our neighbour told us that it used to be part of the old village allotments back in the day so it was well-worked for generations by villagers growing their vegetables.

In between her b****y Sticky Wall orders, Pen has been attacking the overgrown parts of the garden with her usual ferocity. As well as all that was involved in getting the weeds and roots out of the vegetable garden, she’s also tackled a dark little corner at the back of the house.

She machetied her way through the undergrowth and has been busy removing jungles of ivy and mountains of weeds. There’s a tree to get rid of as well which is growing right up against the house and she has already excavated heaps of stone and rubble which had been dumped there for many years with piles, no doubt, still to get rid of. She’s a human dynamo!

I guess I won’t be alone in being glad when the whole election thing is done. We always get a lot of coverage of the US presidential elections but this round has been extraordinary by any measure! Still, I’ve made up my mind and have sent my ballot on its way.

i_voted

I ran across the following in the New Yorker this week – I guess it pretty much sums up many people’s perceptions of this year’s election.

wtf

I’m sorry not to be at Lake George this weekend as my family gather for a final time in that wonderful place. We’ve had many fabulous family reunions there over the years, most recently to celebrate my father’s 90th birthday in 2013.

xcstravaganza_reunion

Wonderful times in a wonderful place.

Some of you have been able to join us at one time or another in that magical place and we will have told you the stories of how our family came to enjoy the privilege of being there.

This weekend my family are also planning to scatter some of my father’s ashes at the little family cemetery there. My father loved Lake George and spent many summers as a young boy and young man wandering over that land along the same paths and trails we tread today, always arriving at his cousin’s, it seems, just in time for dinner and/or dessert. It’s good to know that there will be a permanent marker there so that folks in centuries to come will know that he loved that place and that we loved him.

dad_at_lake_george_with_belinda_c1940

Much love to you all,

Greg

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