Observations from a Hill

  Pictured, tonight's meal on the barbie, featuring my ad hoc construction of Black & Decker Workmate and various bits from one of our old storage heaters: the galvanised steel front plate and the bricks therefrom forming the hearth, and an old roasting tin forming the lid. Cooking utensils hang conveniently from the handles of the Workmate, my old welding gloves acting as PPE in handling the hot stuff, and various other bits and bobs serving to increase or moderate the heat. Cost? Bugger all. Result? Pretty much the same as any purchased BBQ. On the food front, the kebabs hiding and cooking under the roasting tin were purchased from the butcher in Llanfairfechan and were lamb & mint. We ate them with salad in pitta bread, and in my case with a good dollop of Encona Carolina Reaper hot sauce. Whilst not for the faint of heart or the inexperienced, this sauce is, I would hazard, not as fearsome as the reputation of the eponymous chilli itself portends, but perhaps I'm no...

  It's time to write my diary and it's time to write this post: measuring time by action and in so doing denying its passage in favour of the moment: this very Zen thought occurred to me as I was writing those [in themselves, locked in time] words, or maybe momentarily after. But now the sentence is writ and the moment gone and posted to the cloud. But I'm still here. In the moment. For now...

The old cliché about 'joined-up thinking' actually has much more substance to it than those that employ it for empty rhetorical effect could ever know [pictured, a graphic from Six Sigma (US) which I think demonstrates my point nicely with or without the spelling and grammatical errors]. The problem we have in so many areas of life and our economy and politics is fragmentation of intent through poor planning and outsourcing; through bad management, reactive thinking and lack of strategic coordination. The big irony at the heart of it all is that blind centralisation of resources is at the very heart of the issue: the very thing that was meant to streamline and make efficient all of the necessary services that drive our society has achieved its diametric opposite; replacing actually [organisationally and cost] efficient service structures, such as the NHS, tax, transport, urban infrastructure and repair; public transport, social services, public amenities, &etc. &etc: ...

  We've decided to try and keep track of the various creatures that inhabit/visit our garden, starting with the Lepidoptera. Pictured, the first entry in this informal catalogue, which got itself trapped in the dining room/study this morning: a Speckled Wood [northern race]:- Parage aegeria. As I've said before, we're pretty well blessed with a garden that teems with wildlife, although the very hot spell recently has quietened it down somewhat. I've seen but one Hummingbird Hawk Moth so far, and the butterflies, apart from the above pictured have been mostly whites of various types; Peacocks, Painted Lady's and Red Admirals. The bee population has reduced a tad of late, but we still have plenty of the precious little pollinators around in this neck of the woods, compared to a lot of places, so no immediate concern is required. One thing that strikes is both the number of blackberries we have and how ripe they already are. The birds have already harvested most of our...

So, the World Cup is over for another four years: there you go. Last night's Final was a bit of a curate's egg to be honest, with one side making an effort to win the game by actually advancing into their opponent's half and - shock, horror! - trying to score goals. Meanwhile, the opposition fannied about in their own half, rarely venturing out of its confines, and for ninety minutes doing bugger all than try to draw fouls and the occasional corner, as if the only chances they fancied were set-pieces. Spain played damned well to little reward until extra time. Argentina played the kind of negative football that gives this game such bad odour to us fans of rugby union: diving and play-acting for the officials [thankfully in this case to little avail] rather than actually indulging in playing the game. It really was a noisome spectacle at times. In the end, it panned out as it always should have, with a very well deserved trophy for Spain. At the match's conclusion, when ...

Ah, the idyll that is the bottom of our garden on a fine summer's eve, cooking cheeseburger on the barbie. Two things immediately spring to mind with a third thought in tow: firstly, the charcoal I'm using, which I sourced locally [blog posts passim] from Parc Y Moch via Spar. When I bought it, I paid what I thought was a rather premium price to support a local micro-business; but it has turned out to be quite the economical purchase, as this is now the fifth or sixth fire I've made from the bag. Compared to the apparently cheaper, garage-bought easy-light stuff, it pans out to be a much cheaper option and makes a rather more superior barbecue fire to boot. Secondly, tonight's burgers have proved a considerably better repast than the very meagre luncheon-of-which-we-partook at The Bull in Biwmares this afternoon. Granted, my pint of Bass ale was at its best, but alas, the food was not. Given that the new summer Sunday menu is so - ordinarily I would hazard, creditably -...