blither blather

Senor Onion has been ill since Thursday. It started off with vomiting, and after a couple of days of that, it is mostly him being lethargic, sleeping a lot, no appetite, and having a fever that just won't quit. (he veers back and forth between chills and feeling super hot, and his legs ache. So maybe it is flu. Though there is a lack of a head cold) He says it also hurts when he swallows. It might be scarlet fever (but no sign of a rash) because there have been a few cases of it at school. So very 19th century. I will keep an eye on things and if there is a lack of improvement tomorrow, it is off to the GP.
My job has been to bring him hot water bottles, getting him to drink water, and gatorade, and giving him cuddles. A fairly easy job.

Miss Biscuit remains cheerful and healthy for now.

A childhood friend will be in the country next week. (She is traveling around with her sister and mom, and I think another friend.) It has been a few years since I have seen her. She just finished her PhD, and she is quite deserving of a real vacation. It has been a long road to getting that degree. She has battled mental illness since we were teens, (and it was also about that time she was diagnosed with a spectrum disorder.) There were periods when she was out of college because she was in a mental health facility, so I am intensely proud of her for getting to this point in her education. She studied soil microbiology. She can tell you loads of cool things about the health of dirt, and what goes on in compost tea. I should have her look at my garden. "what should I add? I will give you cake for your troubles." She has always been tons of fun to be with. I remember fun nights making ice box dessert, and chili cheese dip, and then watching weird fun movies. She is the friend who ended up with a free pony, and she wasn't even that fond of ponies. I still laugh about this. She was out with her sister, and they found this pony on the side of the road, and it didn't appear to come from any near-by pastures. They took it home to keep it safe in theirs, and they asked EVERYONE "hey found a pony, come and claim it." (small town, it is pretty easy to find out who lost a pony.) And no one ever came forward to claim that old pony. My friend got to have him. He was pretty old, and she mostly treated him like a large dog. Fed him, let him walk around the fields, and gave him ear scritches. A free god damn pony.

I voted in my first UK election earlier this week. It was just for police commissioner but I did research the candidates. My preferred candidate lost. But it was by such a tiny amount. It was something like barely 1%. It was an interesting learning experience. In seeing how they do things here compared to my experiences in voting in Washington state. I think both countries could learn a few things from one another. I had a pleasant chat with the poll workers. They were pretty giddy that someone showed up. I think something like 23 percent of eligible voters turned out. I find that pretty disappointing. Get your shit together Cornwall. It may be a small thing to vote for but it still matters.

I am curious how many people have gardeners who come and sort things out. I have this garden that was established by a retired couple. And it is lovely in many ways but good lord the shrubbery and the vines... it requires a lot of upkeep. I may be at home a lot but I have other things to do. I like poking about in the garden but this is some massive stuff. I have begun to rip out things that don't interest me. I know it will take a few years to have my vision come to be, but I think I need someone else to come in, and deal with some of the larger stuff. And maybe rip out a lot of vines and ivy. God damn ivy...
I did some work on things this weekend, and some of the garden waste will be picked up on Monday but I may have to do my own trip to the tip to dump more of the branches.