in Just-
spring when the world is mud-
luscious the little
lame balloonman
whistles far and wee
and eddieandbill come
running from marbles and
piracies and it’s
spring
when the world is puddle-wonderful
the queer
old balloonman whistles
far and wee
and bettyandisbel come dancing
from hop-scotch and jump-rope and
It’s
spring
and
the
goat-footed
balloonMan whistles
far
and
wee.
Gareth Dutton.com has gone live. A website I wrote for a good friend of mine. If you need a photographer in the London area, check him out.
And so on Wednesday I became a gardener at Trinity College, Cambridge, for the day. My good friend George is head gardener there, and I wanted to learn some tips from him about lawns, and also about what kind of things one does in that kind of job.
It was a great experience, and the lifestyle certainly suits me I have to say. Now if only I could do that every day instead of working in an office.
So it arrived today via courier, just as promised. And I have to say thus far I’m impressed. Lovely interface, fast device, easy to hold, good response from the touchscreen, and a good camera. Obviously I need to dive in further and experiment a bit more, but it’s good thus far.
Broad Beans
My beans are starting to look pretty glorious in the sun now, and my potatoes have finally started to show through.
I have some broccoli plants in the car, ready for planting tonight.
I decided to take a step forward with technology. My current mobile is damaged and doesn’t really work properly, plus Android has matured to a level that I now want to try it out.
My brother-in-law is developing applications for Android, and I’d like to support him and play about with them as well. All in all a nice little phone with some good looking features, and whilst I’m not overly ecstatic about a Vodafone contract, at least they abolished roaming charges this summer. Not that I’m likely to roam this summer.
The less said about the Google tie-in the better. But maybe with owning one of their devices I can find a way to bring them down from the inside..
It has to be said that lactic acid does not feel to pleasant. I’ve slept more in the last two nights then I did in the last two weeks prior, and my body seems to begrudgingly be thinking about repairing itself in what can only be described as a cumbersome fashion.
I have overtrained massivley of late, and am continuing a rather extreme course of exercise, involving several rowing outings a week (often 12), and am attempting to clock 250 miles/week on the bicycle, often falling short at around 200 miles due to time reasons.
I’ve trained excessively before, when rowing at university for example, or when training to do 3 marathons in 3 weeks; indeed my normal training for running and rowing would be considered by most to be excessive. Still, I don’t ever recall feeling the lactic acid course through my veins quite as badly as this.
I played badminton last night and I was absolutely shocking. My body simply could just not cope with the demands I place upon myself when playing badminton – even at a semi-casual/serious level. Mentally I was slow and unprepared, and even though I could on most occasions realise where the shuttlecock was going, and get into a position to be able to play a shot; I simply wasn’t able to mentally goad my body into playing what I wanted. I have never played badminton as badly as I did last night.
I’m hoping that getting some proper sleep for a change will actually enable my body to start repairing properly, and that I can get to the level of fitness I want after my knee injury. Otherwise I might have to take some time off, and who knows what will happen then.
For the first time in about seven years, I got a decent nights sleep. And it’s utterly incredible how it makes you feel.
The Black Knight
One day, in the mists of time, a knight dressed in black approached a great castle. His trusty stead, blacky, was happily trotting along through the early morning sunshine. As the knight came to the castle, the sentries at the outer gate moved to block him. ‘Whoah there, good sir knight, who are you? And what business do you have here?’ they asked. ‘I am the Black knight, from the black lands, on my black stead, blacky, and I am here to see the king’, he replied, patting the horse gently on his neck.
‘Oh, right – then please go through’ and the sentries stood back and opened the gate to allow the knight passage. And so the knight moved on over the drawbridge, and came to the portcullis.
As the knight approached, the sentries at the outer gate moved to block him. ‘Whoah there, good sir knight, who are you? And what business do you have here?’ they asked. ‘I am the Black knight, from the black lands, on my black stead, blacky, and I am here to see the king’, he replied, and so the sentries back off and opened the gate allowing him passage.
The knight proceeds on through the castle grounds, nodding at peasants here and there as he passes, all the while approaching the main castle. As he comes to the main door, the sentries moved to block him. ‘Whoah there, good sir knight, who are you? And what business do you have here?’ they asked. ‘I am the Black knight, from the black lands, on my black stead, blacky, and I am here to see the king’, he replied, patting the horse gently on his neck again.
‘Very well, but you will have to dismount and disarm here, good sir knight.’ The black knight did so, and was allowed entrance. Going up some stairs, he came to the throne room where two sentries at the door moved to block him. ‘Whoah there, good sir knight, who are you? And what business do you have here?’ they asked. ‘I am the Black knight, from the black lands, and my black stead, rusty, is outside. I am here to see the king’, he replied. The sentries moved aside and waved him inside.
As the knight approached the king, some soldiers moved to block him. ‘Whoah there, good sir knight, who are you? And what business do you have here?’ they asked. ‘I am the Black knight, from the black lands, and I am here to see the king’, he replied. ‘Very well, they said, but you should shine your armour first.’ So they called for a paige who came and polished the knights armour until it gleamed. The knight approached the king.
‘Good sir knight, who are you and why are you here?’ asked the king. ‘Good Sire, I am the black knight of the black lands. And I come to seek a quest.’ The king mused for a while, and then said ‘Ah yes! I do have something for you. 100 miles north is a cave with a great red dragon. Slay this dragon for me and I shall give you untold riches!’ The knight bowed, and left.
Riding north on his trusty black stead, blacky, the black knight quickly reached the cavern. Dismounting and leaving blacky by a watering hole, the knight crept into the cavern. There, at the end of a vast space sat a huge red dragon on a horde of treasure. Noticing the knight, the dragon started. ‘WHO DARES DISTURB ME? THE RED DRAGON!’ The knight approached slowly, ‘I am the black knight, from the black lands. And I am here to slay you for the great king’. And so battle ensued. After a long and bloody fight, the dragon was defeated. The black knight took its severed head as proof and returned to the castle.
As he approached the outer gate, the sentries moved to block him, ‘Whoah there, good sir knight. Who are you and what is your business here?’ The knight looked surprised, but as he was covered in the blood of the red dragon realised he might not be recognisable. ‘I am the black knight, from the black lands, and this is my trusty stead, blacky. I bring the head of the red dragon and am covered in his blood’ The guards stared for a while, and then slowly realised. ‘Ah, we’re sorry good sir knight, we didn’t recognise you covered in blood. Please proceed’. And so the knight moved through.
As he approached the portcullis, the sentries moved to block him, ‘Whoah there, good sir knight. Who are you and what is your business here?’ The knight looked surprised, but as he was covered in the blood of the red dragon realised he might not be recognisable. ‘I am the black knight, from the black lands, and this is my trusty stead, blacky. I bring the head of the red dragon and am covered in his blood’ The guards stared for a while, and then slowly realised. ‘Ah, we’re sorry good sir knight, we didn’t recognise you covered in blood. Please proceed’. The portcullis was raised, and the knight moved through.
And so the knight moved on through the castle, past the peasants and peons, and eventually came to the castle. The sentries moved to block him, ‘Whoah there, good sir knight. Who are you and what is your business here?’ The knight looked surprised, but as he was covered in the blood of the red dragon realised he might not be recognisable. ‘I am the black knight, from the black lands, and this is my trusty stead, blacky. I bring the head of the red dragon and am covered in his blood’ The guards stared for a while, and then slowly realised. ‘Ah, we’re sorry good sir knight, we didn’t recognise you covered in blood. Please proceed’. And so the knight dismounted and entered the castle.
Approaching the throne room, the sentries moved to block him, ‘Whoah there, good sir knight. Who are you and what is your business here?’. ‘I am the black knight, from the black lands, and my trusty stead, blacky, is outside. I bring the head of the red dragon and am covered in his blood.’ The guards stared for a while, and then slowly realised. ‘Ah, we’re sorry good sir knight, we didn’t recognise you covered in blood. Please proceed’. And so the knight moved through.
As the knight moved towards the king, his personal soldiers moved to block the way. ‘Whoah there, good sir knight. Who are you and what is your business here?’ ‘I am the black knight, from the black lands, and I bring the head of the red dragon and am covered in his blood’ The guards stared for a while, and then slowly realised. ‘Ah, we’re sorry good sir knight, we didn’t recognise you covered in blood. You must have your armour shined before approaching the king!’ And so the paige was called for, and he cleaned and buffed the knights armour to a shine.
The knight finally approached the king, who bid him bow before him. ‘Sire, I bring to you the head of the red dragon’. The king clapped in glee, and then decreed that, as he promised, untold riches would be bestowed on the black knight. And everyone rejoiced. Before the black knight turned to leave though, the king coughed, ‘Good sir knight, wouldst thou be interested in a new quest? 100 Miles east, there is a blue dragon. Bring me his head, and you may marry my daughter, the princess royal!’ The knight looked across at the beautiful princess and bowed at the king. ‘I will return with the head of the blue dragon!’ and so he turned and left.
Riding east on his trusty black stead, blacky, the black knight quickly reached the cavern. Dismounting and leaving blacky by a watering hole, the knight crept into the cavern. There, at the end of a vast space sat a huge blue dragon on a horde of treasure. Noticing the knight, the dragon started. ‘WHO DARES DISTURB ME? THE BLUE DRAGON!’ The knight approached slowly, ‘I am the black knight, from the black lands. And I am here to slay you for the great king’. And so battle ensued. After a long and bloody fight, the dragon was defeated. The black knight took its severed head as proof and returned to the castle.
As he approached the outer gate, the sentries moved to block him, ‘Whoah there, good sir knight. Who are you and what is your business here?’ The knight looked surprised, but as he was covered in the blood of the blue dragon realised he might not be recognisable. ‘I am the black knight, from the black lands, and this is my trusty stead, blacky. I bring the head of the blue dragon and am covered in his blood’ The guards stared for a while, and then slowly realised. ‘Ah, we’re sorry good sir knight, we didn’t recognise you covered in blood. Please proceed’. And so the knight moved through.
As he approached the portcullis, the sentries moved to block him, ‘Whoah there, good sir knight. Who are you and what is your business here?’ The knight looked surprised, but as he was covered in the blood of the blue dragon realised he might not be recognisable. ‘I am the black knight, from the black lands, and this is my trusty stead, blacky. I bring the head of the blue dragon and am covered in his blood.’ The guards stared for a while, and then slowly realised. ‘Ah, we’re sorry good sir knight, we didn’t recognise you covered in blood. Please proceed’. The portcullis was raised, and the knight moved through.
TBC..
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