Baptism

In part of the Store garden that we have cleared before replanting, a strange plant appeared. Out of curiosity we let it grow, observing its leaves, then trumpet flower and finally its prickly fruit. What was this plant then? So we took a photo and looked it up. “Jimsonweed”. Here is what Wikipedia says 

“ Datura stramonium, known by the common names thornapple, jimsonweed (jimson weed), or devil's trumpet, [2] is a poisonous flowering plant in the Daturae tribe of the nightshade family Solanaceae.[3] Its likely origin was in Central America,[2][4] and it has been introduced in many world regions.[5][6][7] It is an aggressive invasive weed in temperate climates and tropical climatesacross the world.[2] D. stramonium has frequently been employed in traditional medicine to treat a variety of ailments. It has also been used as a hallucinogen (of the anticholinergic/antimuscarinic, deliriant type), taken entheogenically to cause intense, sacred or occult visions.[2][8] It is unlikely ever to become a major drug of abuse owing to effects upon both mind and body frequently perceived as being highly unpleasant, giving rise to a state of profound and long-lasting disorientation or delirium(anticholinergic syndrome) with a potentially fatal outcome. It contains tropane alkaloidswhich are responsible for the psychoactive effects, and may be severely toxic.[2][9]”

We decided that we should be super careful of this plant and pulled it up while wearing gloves and it’s now in my brown bin for green waste recycling. How it got there we will never know but it just shows that in this continually increasing global nature of this world, plants are overcoming physical barriers….

One evening, we had an amazing sunset, and there were several posts on Facebook by people who observed and photographed it. But more amazingly, there was a double complete rainbow also posted on Facebook at the same time. My photo from our house, had no rainbow, you will have to use your imagination.

While doing a dog sit in the village, I walked him to the nearby Charvil lakes. As we entered the lakes there was a group of people getting out of a mini bus. Soon after walking by the bank of the lake, we came across more people standing under a gazebo. Being a friendly sort of chap, I asked them what they were up to, picnic perhaps? No, it was a baptism! A twenty year old was going to be immersed into the lake which my new friends told me was cleaner than the Thames. They had all come to this area for the day from Brixton. They had done this journey before. They were going to have the picnic later on. As we reached half way around the lake I could suddenly hear singing. Sort of gospel music. It sounded amazing. I met a couple of people, who had also heard the singing so I could tell them what the singing was about.

On a day before doing the central village dog sit, I was asked to look after the chocolate Labrador I know so well. We did a walk and on the return leg the automatic line painter was in action on the playing field. The Labrador was a bit puzzled at the device and barked at it.

Back in our garden which is looking a bit autumnal now, we have a few roses. Two were bought from a well known supermarket. They usually put up up a flower or two, but one of them has put a profusion of flowers in the early part of autumn.