Clarity

I went a bit mental in the garden tonight. I only meant to cut the grass, but ended up cutting down nettles and periwinkles and trying to avoid cutting the buttercups.

The landfill bin has been locked in the shed after the debacle with the Council over the dumped recycling waste on our garden, to prevent any more possible strategic "dispersal" of waste from neighbouring properties.

We've also evicted a number of very large spiders from the house recently, and I've taken to transporting them close to the shed so that they are not so exposed in the garden and have a chance of making a nice home by the shed. Well, it turns out that possibly a couple of these evicted spiders may have got on very well. Very well indeed....... as the wheely landfill-bin's side and lid are now lavishly covered in layers of webbing, containing several bundles of baby spiders. They are mostly still clumped together, but I can see that they have begun to wander out into the shed.

I wonder if they're baby huge spiders, or baby garden hunting spiders? The fast, small, running ones that live in the grass and on the fence? Time will tell. In the meantime, the shed is a spider-nursery and I can't put anything in the bin!!

The weather, although no good for the type of cycling that I like to do, is lovely at the moment. It's windy, though not scarily so, and the rain comes down now and then in a lovely swoosh - I can hear it hammering on the roof right now. I like the way it makes me feel snug and cozy. The way it cleans the air and makes is smell cool and fresh and damp is something I really enjoy - even more so now that the last vestiges of smoking-related dullness of my senses has long since gone. The new greens of the trees are brilliant - even jewel-like.

My Great-Grandmother once told me it's impossible to take photographs of rainbows. Maybe in her day, with the photographic technology that was available, that may have been so. I didn't bother to try to photograph rainbows for years. Until one day, I tried just on the offchance. Ever since, I've taken photographs of every rainbow I've seen where possible.

Almost a year ago now, I started cycling again. A few hundred miles and many, many enjoyable trips later, I think it's time to celebrate a wonderful year outside exploring the beautiful area that I'm lucky enough to live in and to read back and remember why I started to do this in the first place.

In July, I posted this. The most important part, the part that I need to remind myself of, is that cycling for me is mean to be a meditative, relaxing, anti-stress activity. I have a nasty tendancy to give myself unrealistic and unenjoyable targets, which is not what this is meant to be about. This is meant to be about taking quality time out for me - time to clear my head, time to think and muse and time to just be me. No expectations, no competition, no rules, no pressure. This is important.

In this last year I have bought another bike, some lights, some panniers and some books. I've not spent a massive amount, and still don't have "proper" cycling clothes. Winter still gives me trouble as I get cold, my feet go numb and find that my cycle computer stops working.

I can honestly say though, that my enjoyment of cycling has increased every single time I go out. I want to keep it that way.



(Click on picture above for a bigger version to open in a new window.)

The iBuzz is here.

iPods have come of age. Love Las have produced a "super-fun marital aid that plugs into your iPod! The music-activated vibrating bullet stimulates you in time with your favourite music. And you can listen to your songs while you're enjoying the vibrations... Use the his-and-hers attachments to add extra excitement. Turn him into a vibrator with the stretchy ring and use the soft sleeve for sensitive stimulation. Supplied with all the wires you need to use with any iPod or music source. Plug into any music player to let you enjoy your music like never before!"



Ian predicts a massive increase in the sales of downloadable MP3s of Ravel's "Bolero".....

Cycling in the evenings after all this stress at work is enormously relaxing. I don't mean just the endorphins, although that's nice enough. I mean the mooch factor. I'm never going to be a racing-snake, pootling is my thing. I keep an eye on my average speed, but I'm far more interested in being out in the sunshine for as long as possible and exploring. It's also fun to know how fast I can come down hills.

I like going as slowly as I want to and turning down side streets and getting off and walking whenever I feel like it to examine things more closely.

I like being able to stop and watch the sunset, and see the place where I live from a completely new perspective. My perspective.

I've been working like a maniac for the last couple of weeks. Bank Holidays are always a nightmare as, although I enjoy the time off, everyone who expects progress on things I'm organising conveniently forget that I'm minus a few days, and those days in between most everyone seems to be on a "go slow" which means everything gets done laboriously slowly until the Bank Hols are forgotten. *sigh*

So to make up for that, weekend visits to National Trust properties have been indulged in, this is one of my favourites, Ightham Mote in Kent.



I've been cycling a lot too. A lot of hilly mooching round the local area to get to know it well. The roads look so inviting, and the traffic is so light! I can't resist.



This has also given me a chance to keep an eye on the development of the local flora, blossom, daffs, bluebells and the like. I think the bluebells in the woods are going to peak this weekend coming. The trees look like large clumps of candy-floss have blown into their branches. It's all so cheerful looking!



Below is where I ate a lovely cold pasta salad for my supper this evening. Riding to and home from this location was amazing. The birds sounded like they could not possibly sing louder or more tunefully, and the flowers and blossom were so prolific that I was cycling through constant perfume. Complete bliss.



Life's not at all bad at the moment!