During a morning interlude between the rains, Jackie continued her work on the Unidentified Fir bed. Plants, including more than fifty spring bulbs were put in place; more broken tiles were dug out; and choked shrubs were freed from a rampant vinca. I did some clearing up.
I then made a virtual trip to Fremantle in Western Australia where I photographed my grandchildren. This is how it came about. At first I had been on the phone to Sam on his hands-free while he drove home. When he arrived there Malachi and Orlaith launched themselves into the car and both began shrieking at a million decibels.
Once in the house Orlaith entertained me for a while and mentioned that if we were on Skype she could show me her owl. This prompted Sam to introduce me to the joys of Facebook VideoCall. He talked me through the process, and I conversed with both children before Malachi read us all a bedtime story.
Mal was keen to show me the pictures in his book. Orlaith hampered this somewhat by thrusting the owl into the foreground.
I have been having trouble e-mailing Ray Salinger some of the photographs taken on 19th September. They have been timed out in transmission. I therefore printed some for him this afternoon.
This evening we dined on Jackie’s delicious sausage casserole, creamy mashed potatoes, and crisp carrots and cabbage. I drank Louis de Camponac cabernet sauvignon 2014, and Jackie drank Hoegaarden.