Posted on by activejon

Topsy Turvy

I sometimes have trouble falling asleep. My mind just keeps on thinking about things , things to do, things I should have done, things I shouldn’t have done… perhaps! Like a computer with the power button glued solid I lie awake for hours.

Last night I went to bed early (10) with the intention of getting up really early (5!) so I could do some scything before the sun made outdoor work unbearable. I fell asleep but something woke me up and I couldn’t get back to sleep. I tried the usual tricks and nothing worked so at 3.30am I decide to give up and just watch You Tube till 5 and see if I was in a condition to scythe then! So at 5.30 this morning I was out in my red work gear, headphones on and scythe in hand causing mass grass genocide. It was lovely and cool and still slightly damp, which is when the grass cuts best. I had hacked (not the correct term or method of scything) all the way down to the stream, cut the plants around the benches when I noticed that the sun was beginning to come up. My working time was numbered.

I redid most of the path that winds its way up along the western side of the field. The fields are now looking and feeling quite wild and beautiful which is just how I want them. I did notice two young trees that had been savagely attacked by deer and though they were both a long way down the hill I am a bit worried about my new trees if Bambi becomes braver.

Before I could cut my way all the way back up the hill the sun turned the exercise in to a sweat bath and I called it a day.  Almost three hours work done I headed for a shower and back to bed.

The sun shining on the bottom of the field at an angle I have not seen before! Taken at 6.56 am!
For a famously vain and sartorially sensitive soul as I this is a difficult photo to post, but it captures nicely the inner feeling of someone who’s had stomach issues for a few days then no more than an hours sleep before heading out to do battle with weeds for an hours or more at a time when one should be soundly asleep in bed! Just look at those eyes… !
Spotted this little yellow snail on the red gate as I headed back to work. Would never have noticed him if he wasn’t on the bright red background his shell was only about 7 or 8 mm in diameter!

I slept till 3.30pm!

This is from a few days ago but was captured on my mobile phone and forgotten till today when I used the phone to take the above photos.

The other day some one triggered Sanja with a question about snakes in Croatia. It resulted in my patiently reading through a couple of websites about what species there are here and which are potentially dangerous. Needless to say there are only three dodgy ones and only one of those is very dodgy, but they will all scarper rather than attack if they see you coming. So it was one of those weird synchronicities that the next day when I was pushing my bike up our hill I came across this geezer. I didn‘t notice him at first, I think he may have stopped moving when I approached and I was looking up to see if Sanja‘s favourite dog was going to come and hassle my eardrums. But as I passed by it moved and then when I stopped to look back at him he stopped to look at me, which I concede was a trifle unnerving. I took a step backwards and he slithered remarkably quickly off into the undergrowth. But as you can see at full stretch quite a long bugger. I‘m now wondering if thats a discarded skin on the road just above him!
And then I came across another later the same day whilst doing a quick bit of scything in the front garden when the sun went in. I think I hit the poor thing with the scythe, as it curled into a coil rather than slithered off but I decided not to offer it first aid.
Snakronicity or what?

One Reply to “Topsy Turvy”

  1. I am planning to set some noise traps that will hopefully scare them off, if there is any sign of them getting near the new trees!

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