Quick daily posts

[richardandtracy]

It was so hot yesterday we shut ourselves in. We had 35C in the shade, and the sun was almost painfully hot when in it. Today has been less bad, and I've been out strimming the bank with our industrial grade two wheel brush cutter/strimmer. Between the two of us (Tracy and I) we've got about half way without total exhaustion or heat stroke in three half hour sessions. Needed to drink over a pint after each session, and my shirt dripped when I wrung it out. Our progress wasn't helped by the throttle handle breaking. I may have to make a replacement as I cannot imagine spares for a 4yo machine being stocked in the current circumstances, but I will search on Monday.

I think all told I have destroyed 20 oak saplings, many more Hawthorne, cherry and chestnut. In a couple of years the bank could be a woodland without mowing it.

Regards,

Richard.

[Serinde]

A woodland... might be nice?

Going to battle the clematis today and the box, having sorted the pieris, winter jasmine and weigela yesterday... Mustn't forget the forsythia, which grew so well in the spring that an unexpected bit of wind has blown the top over -- it's very own Covid hair style!

[wendywombat]

I'm amazed just how the woodland can take over! D/H decided that cutting the whole of the field was just getting too much for the mower (and him) and left part of it to Nature. It's now got a variety of trees and bushes growing and there are animal trails easily seen through it. Also at the very back where we border (unfenced) the oak woods it also is becoming overgrown with small bushes.

It's all very dry and crisp now as we have been suffering temperatures close to the upper 30's and no rain for about 6 weeks! There's a lot of dust about from the farmer's fields where they are harvesting and I hope that we don't get another field fire where a Combine Harvester suddenly combusts like one did a few years back. I understand that several do each year caused by the dust and heat inside the Harvester. The fire we had near us destroyed 4 hectares of crops and took 5 appliances a couple of days to put out. They just managed to stop it catching the pine trees igniting which would have spread to the oaks behind us!!!

[Podolyanka]

I thought I did see a couple of ideal gardens in my life. But then I came across this...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAMM1bNv9sU

[rcperryls]

Well, the summer heat here is usually between 90 and 95F but today will be cooler because of the storm blowing by. I had to fill out an annual questionnaire that is required by medicare for some reason before my hopefully tele appointment Thursday with my doctor. It asks a lot of questions about emotional health and physical things like do you have rubber mats in the tub etc. Anyway, one question was about whether or not you had moments of frustration or anxiety or apathy. I answered that one yes. I figure when the doctor asks I will say there is a point when a pandemic, political craziness and elections coming (but not to get me started because no one has enough time for that coupled with a pandemic) and a tropical storm barreling up the coast didn't usually result in feelings of contentment. I did however find that one of the benefits of the Disney+ streaming service is that I could watch the original Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs which was delightful. However, there are two documentaries with it that go into fascinating detail about how the film was made. There were so many obstacles and creative challenges and much of the discussions and progress of the artists and animators and composers was filmed. I'm thinking of watching the animated movies in chronological order. All the cartoons up to then were the shorts that were generally 5 to 7 minutes long and cute and funny with virtually no plots. To create an hour and 20 minute animated film with character development and emotions and the amount of music was amazing in 1938. Actually they must have started in 1934 because it took 4 years to make the movie. Anyway, if you are looking for a brief escape from the real world, I recommend this if you have access to Disney+. I think with a lot of movies it is the Special Features that I like best.

Carole

[richardandtracy]

I saw a program recently about how Disney made 'Frozen'. I am sorry to say that it has put me off Disney for life. It was interesting to see the animation, the storyboards, the singers and voice actors, that sort of thing.

But... they also included the meetings where the cold blooded exploitation of young children's pester power on parents was knowingly and deliberately enhanced as far as possible, with psychologists being brought in to advise on how far they could go. Then the programme showed the cold blooded testing of this exploitation, with different levels being tested on sample groups of victims to see if the psychological limits could be pushed further with small tweaks to enhance the spend per head above and beyond the budgeted target figure put into the film's projected income when the initial proposal was put to Disney's management board before the film's go-ahead was obtained. That was utterly unconscionable and was utterly repulsive. I found such blatant, deliberate targetting and brazen exploitation of parents by targeting vulnerable minors (because that is what children are, they don't have the sophistication of an adult - which is why Disney was exploiting them, not adults) repulsive and repugnant, and feel it should be a crime to target minors like that. I have not knowingly watched a new Disney film since.

And probably won't again.

If you get the impression I was repelled and disgusted, you're bang on the money. I am so saddened this behaviour is associated with a company that produced so many good children's films. It's like the disillusionment that goes with finding a friendly relative has a nasty, sordid secret. It tends to tarnish memories of even the innocent pleasures.

Regards,

Richard.

[Mabel Figworthy]

That sort of manipulation is revolting (and unfortunately probably more common than we would like to think).

Still, I feel that Disney in 1938 was not Disney in the 21st century; I've seen documentaries like the one Carole mentions (possibly the same, if it's not a recent one) and the love of their craft that spoke out of that means I will watch Snow White and other early films with the same enjoyment. Try to think of modern Disney not as the beloved relative with an unxpected nasty secret, but as a nasty impostor who happens to have the same name as the beloved relative who, alas, is now gone.

[Serinde]

I can’t remember the last modern Disney I watched. I fell out with them over Winnie the Pooh! However, Fantasia was my favorite as a child, and my children loved it, too.

[richardandtracy]

I so enjoy films like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Aristocats, Dumbo, Snow White, Beauty and the Beast. They are part of my childhood, which are also shared with my girls, and I love them, treasure the memories. But Frozen, anything after and anything from a bit before, no, I can't bear any more. I refuse to bear any more.

Silly, foolishly emotional response that my head knows is irrational, but (UK readers will know what I mean, and anyone else - you don't want to know, you really don't want to know) it feels like Jimmy Saville all over again, or Rolf Harris.

Must admit we are now building up family fun memories with films like the 'Carry On' series, St Trinian's (new and original) and the live action 'Addams Family', 'Casper' and similar anarchic but fun films. Would love to share films like John Candy's 'Armed and Dangerous' and 'Beverly Hills Cop' with the girls too, but they don't seem to be broadcast very much now. Lockdown has been great for building up these shared film memories with the kids. From these shared memories, and the wonderful weather, who knows, some of our Covid-19 memories may be good enough to balance loss of the seven people we know who have succumbed so we don't look back at the time as one of unmitigated misery.

Regards,

Richard.

[wendywombat]

I remember feeling really cheated when I watched Frozen!
We had seen a trailer with the snowman and the reindeer so when the film came onto TV and having been told by our youngest G'Daughter just how wonderful it was...(Never trust a 7 year old! ) we decide to watch it!
Utter disappointment! All that ghastly singing and posturing! We watched right through to the end and the scene that we had thought so funny wasn't included in the film!
I agree that the old original Disney had a magic and naivety about them....I also loved Fantasia....saw that at the cinema with a Big Screen as a child.
There doesn't seem "nothin to laugh at at all" to quote The Lion and Albert by Stanley Holloway

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaw-savyK0s
This has the ability to make me

[Serinde]

When our boys were young in the late 1990s, there seemed to be great children's movies. We all enjoyed The Lion King (original cartoon), Toy Story (but not sequels), Aladdin (so funny), Chicken Run and the like. They were old enough for Lord of the Rings, plus were familiar with it from the excellent BBC adaptation. I think we struck it lucky.

We downloaded Frozen at Christmas as everyone had made such a fuss of it, but never bothered to watch it. Lucky, from the sounds of it.

[richardandtracy]

Tracy has just removed a garden resident from our conservatory. As you do.
This one was a frog. Big by our standards, about 3" long.

Oh dear. All cats have been hunting, and yesterday one of them (probably Ozzie) put a 6" rat (that's a 6" body plus 6" tail) down in front of his food bowl and wandered off after eating. Fortunately, this rat was dead when he put it down, so it didn't make its own plans for the kitchen cupboards.

Oh, the joys of a wildlife garden, secure boundaries and open doors at night.

Regards,

Richard

[wendywombat]

We have had a saucer sized Toad wandering across our front patio each night. He/she is most welcome as we have been plagued with mosquitoes! Obviously the pipistrelle bats haven't been doing their job well enough!

[Serinde]

I found a tiny frog once.

We have been mercifully rodent-free due to a feral cat and her kittens. She is such a beautiful creature and doesn't seem to bother the birds (or perhaps has no taste for the burgeoning sparrow population?), but various neighbours are feeding her and have called the Cat Protection League, so I expect no more beautiful kittens... I know it's for the best.

[wendywombat]

We have little green tree frogs here...but I haven't see or heard one for a while!
They look waxy and shiny with red 'painted' toenails! One year we had two 'singing' to each other. One was in the down pipe at the back of the house so it's voice was magnified. Th other was in the front porch.

Today we have just been spied upon by a young male roe deer. He looked through the window but when he saw us he turned and ran! I think he might have come down for water as we keep a supply here for birds and animals.

[richardandtracy]

Boy, what a day.

Just a bit warm. It was 28C in my workshop. And that was a lot cooler than in the sun. Today I went out with the chainsaw and spent an hour getting rid of a couple of Hawthorne trees and several self sown cherry and plum trees. By several, I mean 20 odd trees between 2 & 8 ft high.

The orchard part of the garden is a great deal more open and we can see though an area that had closed in years ago. At last I feel I'm gaining on the annual growth.

We do need rain. The last significant rain we had was March.

Regards,

Richard.

[Serinde]

Wish I could send you some, Richard. We had at least part of the 100mm of rain on Tuesday that brought part of the hill down (again) at the Rest and Be Thankful onto the A83. We are very green up here.

[wendywombat]

I wish we could have some rain!! It's tinder dry here and >38C again!
Only bonus is D/H doesn't have to cut the grass!
Plums are falling off the tree as Prunes!

[Mabel Figworthy]

Of to a very very hot garden in a bit to celebrate our grandson Teddy's first birthday!

(by the way, has anyone come across the phenomenon called a "cake smash"? And could someone please explain to me why this is a good idea?)

[Podolyanka]

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/education-39656299