New lodger.

12C, light cloud.
He moved in tonight but has come with food poisoning. It’s probably the sea-food. Hope he survives the night.

Powis Castle- my favourite artemesia plants did not make it through last winter. A few sheltered plots near here didn’t kill them off. So, I need to think carefully about where to put these new ones.
Artemesia Absintheum is a real favourite of mine soIl was not happy to see these plants flounder. At this time of year, view have the strongest scent. On that theme, I bought a fennel to go with it. The hope is that it will grow into a full sized shrub.

Carrier

Woodblock print of Mount Fuji and cherry blossom from 36 Views of Mount Fuji by Hiroshige. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

12°C, light cloud
I return: skipped a few rides this week with a non-descript lack. Not enough to call it a cold, but I presume it was one in the background. Or was…
A colleague talked about how she is a carrier, so she doesn’t get too many colds but her husband does. He thinks she brings them home from school. Sounds like a plausible idea that I can relate to.
Anyway, there is a light easterly breeze which brings snows of cherry blossom.

Mosside 1987

Watched The Culture Show tonight; Not Like Any Other Love. A documentary about The Smiths, edited from an older South Bank Show. The bit that caught my eye was my old school mate, Tony. I haven’t seen this clip before, but he says he was stuck outside his flat, locked out. What was, at the time a tedious wait for a mate, became, many decades later, art.

These deck-access flats were scary places. Tony had boarded up the deck windows and painted graffiti to make the place look like a squat. He didn’t want to get burgled. Inside were tons of music equipment, guitars, amps and loads of cockroaches.
Behind the board where “occupied” was painted was the kitchen. Inside, dozens of names and drink details. Each person who ever visited had an entry which detailed their tea or coffee preference, milk and or sugar.

I remember one visit; a cat was stuck at the top of that lamp-post, terrified & unable to get down. A couple of lads appeared and one of them shinned up and grabbed the cat by the scruff. He dropped it to the ground and it slinked away with its head as near to the ground as it could be.

Forsythia

6°C, cold bright start.
Lodgers: is there something in the lodger-landlord relationship that resembles a parent-child one?
“I see you have helped yourself to my laundry tablets, would you replace them in the next few days. They are not actually part of the deal.”
In fairness, this lad doesn’t depend on my shopping and then put empty boxes and bottles back in my cupboard. There must be something that turns an otherwise adult male into a teenager though. It’s like a pet dog that behaves like a puppy when they want food.

Dust devil.

18°C, clear blue, light wind.
Ride with MapMyRide! Distance: 80.92mi, time: 05:21 pace: speed: 15.09mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/273429400
The bike ran smoothly, all that work in the winter to replace bearings and so on, has transformed the bike. Gone are the annoying clicks, skipping gears and poor handling. It feels new, and more comfortable than I can remember for years.

Then, a natural phenomenon not seen by me for years. A dust devil swept across a ploughed field near Clifton Campville. I stopped to watch, fascinated. Not seen one since the early 1990s.

Twelve green bottles and a glow in the dark condom

16, sunny.
Today’s rubbish from the binge drinkers. Why did you need a glow-in-the-dark condom on a bright sunny day?

Bank holiday.

12°C, getting warmer.
Not my favourite choice this weekend, you can guess what I want to do. What I have to do is all domestic. For each of the last few years, Mayday has seen me camped in Wales, in between mountains. This year, I am moving stuff around in the house to, potentially, make space for a second lodger.

There will be discoveries, long lost possessions from my life, and from others who have gone.

Whitebeam unfurling leaves in early May.

Worms.

12°C, sunny.
Ran a session at work to teach the kids how to erect tents today. Their walking about on the grass brought lots of earthworms up to the surface. As you can imagine, teenage girls didn’t all react at all well. although, one had the courage pick one up and chase the others girls with it. In reality, no courage was involved, she was simply not  perturbed by any disgust instinct. Mayday was a  very exciting day for that earthworm; enough to make their other days seem quite dull. A day from wriggling and giggling depending on whether you are an invertebrate or not.

Ever the typical teacher, I took a moment out to explain why worms respond in that way and how it means that patch of lawn must be healthy.

Related articles

• Why Do Earthworms Come Out When it Rains? (thefarmerslife.com)

Lancs 95k

9°C, strong wind, rain. CK-41.0 mi.
Paddy-wagon ride in Lancashire flatlands. Very strong wind though and the GPS app crashed on save, so I have no proper record.

Hub, 8-speed.

10°C, sunny.
Won on ebay, this unused hub for a Campagnolo 8-speed cassette. The splines are all the same size which would be a clue for an expert. But me, I don’t know what model it is. I only need the bearings and free-hub from it. The hub is of no use, it is drilled for 28 spokes only.