Green fingers

 It was time to do some gardening at Rock HQ as the green menace was making gains on the Bonsai Mountain

hiding what little grazing there is on offer to the various vegetarian beasties that inhabit our part of the world. So began  several hours of hard labour battling with the bracken.

Thanks to the blue strimmer the bracken was no match

and the slopes were reclaimed from the green foe.

Meanwhile at the quieter and sedate end of the gardening spectrum little t checked his strawberries he planted a while ago and was very pleased to find they had borne fruit.

There were three massive (to him) red berries which were just enough for a fruity snack. He was very pleased with his efforts and had to be held back from picking the green ones on the just in case they taste nice too principle.

Chester showed his appreciation for all the effort your truly put into clearing his patch by dumping huge amounts of recycled grass on the lane.

Beach party

 While yours truly was busy going nowhere on an exercise bike this morning his beautiful and oh so patient wife got things ready for a quick trip to the beach. The division of labour was thus as yours truly is about to set out on a mega man test, although not the full monty that was planned (due to MBAOSPW being very pregnant, 2nd rider having failed to recover from knee surgery fully and only one support driver available for the P2P main event) which is now only a few weeks away (modified P2P not birth, that's 24/9/13 whereas man test is 8/8/13) so all training opportunities must be taken, and having MBAOSPW take on the task of preparing everything for the beach party prevented the "where is the... did you pack the...." conversations as everything necessary will be packed on account of her ruthless efficiency whereas I tend to get there and think would it be a good idea if we had such and such. That was how we came to be at the seaside by lunchtime with Miranda packed to the gunwales with everything but the kitchen sink.

 MBAOSPW's mother, supergrandma was even more prepared and was already there with one of these!

 Which really did have everything including the kitchen sink and a choice of beach necessities.

 Once weapons of choice were stowed away I took a few minutes off diet to sample fish and chips, well some of them, the big dog behind me had more than I did.

 And so we got on with the task in hand, construction of sandcastles, little t was keen to show his skill set

and needed minimal instruction

 so I left him to it and cooled off

while he did some amphibious assault training.

Worth ten pressed men

 Little t the ever growing apprentice smallholder got to grips with the barrowill (wheelbarrow) in an effort to help clear away the increasing pile of horse plop (each horse averages 8 plops a day around 5 tons a year, give or take)

 His contribution was minimal

but he was determined to finish the job.

There and back again

 This is last nights sunset from our front door showing the sun at almost its furthest point across our horizon. We missed the solstice shot as the clouds hid it from view, but ever since the 21st the sun is travelling back towards the left of the picture

and by the equinox it will be behind these trees and continues behind the woodland at the end of our lane. Slowly the days are getting shorter. Already. Again.

Back again

 I was only thinking the other day that this tree stump had sported a spectacular fungi last year and here it is back again. Still no idea whether it is edible of not. Edible as in mmm delicious not mmmmm not bad oooer stomach ache, hallucinations and death.

Product testing

We weren't actually shopping for a bed but lil t thought he would try it out for size, bounce and durability.

Trick shot

 Ohe years here at Rock HQ there have been many things that baffle, like a sheeps capacity for self harm , or the discovery of rules such as any animal can get through a gap exactly half its size or essential tools are always the furthest point from  any job currently undertaken. Todays wonderful discovery is this pile of pooh. Perhaps the boys have heard me moaning about the monster turds they deposit daily for yours truly to step in sweep up, so maybe they thought they were helping. But the question has to be asked.

 How did a pony gets its pooh on top of the tree stump thats over four foot high?

Thats some trick shot.

Answers on a postcard please.

Reaching new heights

 Little t has been exploring the Bonsai Mountain and demonstrating new skills

such as gate climbing. This is not the first time hes done it, its the second time today but the first time there was a camera handy. He also demonstrated a reluctance to stop walking and go home, sitting down and refusing to move until promised a cheese sandwich (his choice) on the proviso we got back before dark.

In the spotlight

This is yours truly pictured with the cast of the RSC after they ended their world tour of the UK in The Big Top Theatre, Ludlow Festival. I do like a bit of Shakespeare (I'm all over culture me) so having the chance to see from the left Gary Fannin, Ben Stratton and Matthew Pearson perform all 37 of Shakespeare's plays in under two hours was a real treat (except for the theatre seats which were a bigger joke than the acting, Ryan Air offers more arse parking space and leg room)
Having accepted the lack of blood flow caused by seating watching the three "actors" performing The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised] without the aid of prompts, scenery, and expensive props was hilarious. During the show the audience was transported back to The Globe theatre and relived the excitement of  the opening night of the Bard's scribblings. Provided you accepted that Will rapped Othello, presented the Kings plays as an American football game, Juliet had unfeasibly large breasts and an ill fitting wig and that Shakespeare ended his career after invading Poland and starting WW2.
The Reduced Shakespeare Company (The RSC) (the real RSC stole their name) (they say) also did Hamlet in a record breaking 3 seconds and then played it backwards. I have seen them four times now, they tour extensively. When I met them I told them that I had seen them quite often, they said I was a glutton for punishment but I told them I tried to see them as often as possible as they need the money.  So keep a look out for them and their other shows, The Bible, the complete word of God (abridged) and The Complete History of America (abridged)

Culture vulture

 Tonight, for one night only,

 we stormed the castle

to get to the Big Top Theatre.

To be continued.........

Work in progress...still

 Typical British summer weather put paid to outdoor pursuits and gave a ready excuse to rest knees rather than do more damage by clocking up some mileage. It also thwarted plans to finish the rabbits des res which is in danger of becoming permanent in its present form rather than the two storey palace as per make it up as you go along plan. The exquisitely fashioned door latch may also stay longer than planned.

 I did get one job off the list despite the weather and much to Chester's annoyance.

The lawns got mowed.

Size matters

 Some of you may remember that just before Christmas 2012 a great Great Dane called Minnie and her side kick a Bernese Mountain Dog called Elf landed at Rock HQ. Elf was from the class of 2011 and as nice lady who owned her and Minnie gifted them to us as her life was taking a different turn that made it impossible for the dogs to stay.  
 Much as we liked Minnie she was a bit of a big pudding to live in our cottage so after a few visits she went to live with my beautiful and oh so patient wife's brother. The two get on famously, Minnie is something of a celebrity in her local area and has a very fetching pink collar to help passersby with gender identification problems as they had a habit of saying things like "He's a big lad!"

 As can be seen from the pics above Minnie is very happy and still thinks she is a lap dog.

Speaking of big puddings, when we caught up with our soon to be daughter in law I made up for the restricted diet of late by stuffing in several platefuls of Chinese food at an all you can eat buffet and topped it off with a couple of visits to the never ending ice cream, jelly and banana fritter trough.

Another long day

 Fitting that on the longest day I got to spend the day with Miranda exploring parts of several counties.

 Travelling to interview people, listening to the radio (radio 4 obviously) beats work

and I got to see some great views

which made up for the disappointing lunch!

A lesson in Bean Bag Diving

 Right! My turn.

 Ok, remember my training.

 Poise. Control. Breathing.

 Focus. 3....2.....

 1...Go! Splash down!

 Surface..... get to the edge of the bags.....

 Smile for camera and sneak a glance at the scores....

9.2...what! That was perfect! Ref!!!