12/08/17

Still on holiday in Portugal.  Walking down to breakfast this morning I was unaccountably reminded of my view that the only constant is change.  Change is the one inevitable fact of life, everything is subject to change from second to second even if the changes are too slow to see in a whole lifetime they still happen.  Even granite erodes.  For no reason whatsoever my thoughts turned to the inevitable destruction, not only of this hotel but of the whole planet and solar system.  True: that death may be several billion years away and the human race may be long gone by the time that event occurs but it will occur.  Even though all memory of myself and my descendants will have been erased long before that event I still feel sorrow at the thought of the loss.  That may be stupid but that's what I felt on my way down to breakfast, the loss, not only of the moment and all I have known but of the planet and the whole  solar system.  Strange melancholy thoughts for a driver away from home.  See you sometime.

09/08/17

I'm on holiday in Portugal for a week.  I have been busy when not at work so I haven't had time or inclination to comment on work for the last few weeks but I suspect that will change when I get back.  It's not raining here and that's a wonder for both of us.  The summer in the UK has been more miserable than usual, temperatures have been low and it has been wetter than usual for the time of year, though not nearly as bad as 2012.  We have had all the plums from the first tree to ripen, Opal, and will miss most of the second but when we get back the others should follow in succession with either the Marjories seedling or the Haganta last.  Hopefully that will be in October.  My orchard has seventeen varieties of plum.  The first of the apples should be ready when we return though there will only be a few of the first as the trees are young and I haven't allowed them to carry more than a single fruit this year.  The other momentous news is that we are to be grandparents for the first time, we are both looking forward to the event early next year.
See you  when I get back.