pumpkinstrokemarrow

Epsom is now the proud possessor of three re-paved bus stops. Two in the road, one in a lay by. All in a tasteful shade of bitumen black with just a hint of pink. Not sure what this rather dingy colour signifies; perhaps it is the undercoat for something more striking. A few years ago a patch of road outside the interesting Cornerstone School was coloured a lurid yellow - a shiny version of the sort of paint that one does yellow lines with - and it lasted about a week until the wave of protest had them scrape it off again.

Second wave of potatoes is on the move. Dobies cunningly made the maincrop Desiree a lot smaller than the second early Kestrel so I have more row to prepare. Only having two thirds of a row left from said Kestrels, had to commandeer what was to have been the runner bean row. We will see how well the potatoes compete with the comphrey there - the various bits of root of which seem to be impossible to eradicate. Last year they popped up all over the place. Now half way through a third leaf mould trench to take the remainder.

Continue to have to water the leaf beet seeds and onion sets - both being on the move and ground surface being very dry. Let's hope that the water gets turned on fairly soon.

Picking up some more bits and peices from Liverpool, the visit to Port Sunlight was very rewarding. It seems that the Lever Bros made a huge amount of money out of inventing the first cheap and effective laundry soap and then reinvested a large chunk of it in the community. This included a very large and flashy barrel vaulted congregational church - which could easily be mistaken for something a bit higher - a very large model village after the Bournville model and a special lodge for the masons in his employ. The regalia for said lodge are displayed in a discrete part of the Lady Lever Gallery - the less discrete parts of which display the art collection they put together. Amongst other things, two important Holman Hunts. The Scapegoat which I found much more impressive in the flesh than I was expecting - perhaps the best thing there. And May morning in Magdalene which I did not understand at all. There was also a very large public house so he managed not to be too stuffy about his munificence. Last but not least a very impressive war memorial; very well set off by its gardens. The memorial to Lever himself - erected by his grateful employees - not so hot. I wonder how much arm twisting was involved in getting the subscriptions in - similar things in London for admirals and what have you erected by their adoring rating are a bit unconvincing. All in all a place to visit again.