This has been a very good summer for marrows and runner beans. Problem is that they all come on at the same time and I swear they grow to one foot length overnight. The question is, what to do with them? Where to store them?  Whether to freeze them all?  I have written about this elsewhere but we intend to have as many fresh bean meals as possible. While fresh they are delicious. Only the old ones get stringy

An unexpected meeting

The last thing I expected was to be in Glastonbury today but at 9:54 an old friend texted me to say that she was in Glastonbury that day, and was there a possibility of meeting up?  Since the friend lives near Brighton and we have been intending to see her we thought this was an ideal opportunity for everybody so we arranged a meeting for two o’clock. I will always respond positively and immediately if something comes out of the blue and not invent excuses for not doing it because inevitably the meeting will have some not immediately obvious beneficial purpose apart from the pleasure of meeting the various parties.

Software problems

In the morning I tried to sort out my Mailpoet software on this site so that I can write to people and send them regular updates of my adventures. The problem is that you cannot be equally familiar with all aspects of productivity of working with computers. I am a good if not obsessive enterer up of data but what I am not good at, or should I say unfamiliar with, is publicizing my work and seeing it from the customers point of view.

In this particular case of my diary I’m not selling anything, but the principles apply. It is about marketing, self-promotion, branding etc. You have to do it otherwise you might as well not exist save the gratification of – as in my case – writing material to share with friends who already know about the diary. It is however more immediate than Samuel Pepys whose diaries were not seen for 100 years after his death.

At the same time I had one of my regular chats with John and I have expanded the previous conversation we had of a few days ago on the same blog as the 92 year old woman who featured in the headlines.

How to replace a blade on my mower

I normally tried and do everything on my own; if I can avoid spending money I will. One of them is replacing the blade on my mower and I cannot for the life of me remember which way you have to turn the nut in order to get the old blade off. I think it is clockwise, it is the same direction that you use to tighten ordinary nuts but the trouble is that if it does not move you don’t know whether the solution is to pull harder or maybe to consider that you got it wrong. Or maybe that the original idea I have was wrong. I must ring up my suppliers tomorrow to find out.

My 60th visit to Glastonbury

Anyway, off we go to Glastonbury. We arrived just after 2:00 p.m  being slightly late after avoiding a couple of road closures. It is very pleasant to catch up and be asked how you are. I know this person really was asking me about my health because  she wanted to know. We have a deal, she gives me health advice and I give her a psychic readings where necessary. We went into a very nice but rather expensive cafe with a little fountain next to our table and had a chat with a couple of people. Our friend flirted with a very nice looking man.

We also complemented a senior lady who knew she told me that she was developing Alzheimer’s. The complement was about her headdress which consisted of flowers. Glastonbury is one of those places where you can speak freely to anybody and not only do they not mind, they almost expect it.

Strange to see tomato plants grow on the street, but then, that’s Glastonbury for you. Anything within reason (come to that, sometimes without reason) goes.

How to leave your lover (or one way anyway)

My friend spoke  about her now Ex-boyfriend that she had been with for at least six months but had asked him to leave or shall we say she terminated the relationship a week ago. She said that with pride. She told us that she had learnt many things from the relationship about esoteric science in particular but after love bombing her and getting his feet under the table he started treating her in a stereotypical way that she was a dominant person and he was the person who said ‘yes dear’, ‘no dear’ at the appropriate time.

Another feature of the relationship was that he had a large collie dog that tended to bounce up and cling on people by their shoulders.  The dog was quite frightening to older people.   When the boyfriend came to this her he insisted that he bring the dog who promptly started to take over the flat and occupy the seat where my friend used to sit.   She had shoe him off.   I found it extraordinary that the relationship had lasted as long as it did but it seemed that the  main factor was that the flow of knowledge and benefit had come to a halt, the chemistry was no longer there, the nuisance was greater than the pleasure of learning and basically the pump had run dry.

She eventually told him that she was not his wife, only a girl friend and sent him on his way. Whether they will be ‘just friends’ at some future time is premature to speculate on.

I always try to look for the positive in things and said maybe the lessons she has learned will make her more aware and sensitive too the characteristics of people who may not be good for her in the long term. She asked me for a psychic reading and I picked up a lot of noise in the aura that I thought was not suitable for her needs and requirements in the longer term. Having said that, who knows why we come across people and for what reason. If the earth is a school then teachers must appear, which they often do in strange guises.

I was inspired to say that when people are nasty to us or behaving appropriately all you are seeing is a damage report on the way they have been treated and their life experiences. It is not to be taken personally. You are just The catalyst and catalysts perform a very valuable function in society so don’t apologise

A new magazine has appeared in Glastonbury

I was in the natural health food shop and I spotted a magazine I had not seen before, ‘I am Glastonbury‘. It is obvious that the two co-founders, writers, editors and designers, Bear and Inanna, ( a very unusual name which is primarily a female name of Persian origin that means Lady Of The Heavens. Inanna was the Sumerian goddess of love, war, and. fertility),  have got their feet firmly on the ground.

They have started with a very solid advertising base to support their large glossy magazine. I am not sure why they have not numbered the pages. I don’t think this is a competitor to what exists already but a more PR oriented coffee table type publication. It looks a bit like the Mendip Times.

An excellent feature is the very large double spread map they have on the center pages which has been lacking in all the other publications. I hope the virtual copies available will get worldwide attention because people come to Glastonbury  from all over the world. I like the article on the joy of foraging in August. There is obviously plenty of new raw Energy here and I wish them all the best

My horoscope

I saw my horoscope in the magazine mentioned above. When I was in my 20s I took my birth chart very seriously as it was 100% spot-on regarding to what I knew of myself at the time. It was done by an expert who had worked for the US military for many years and was responsible for  recommending people to be in certain positions. Since then I have kept an eye on the daily charts. I don’t find the division into 12 birth signs and the consequent daily reading to be enormously helpful for example for Geminis this month says

” August brings intellectual stimulation, enhanced communication skills, and opportunities for new Ventures. Embrace curiosity, connect with others, and explore exciting possibilities. Prioritize self-care amidst the social buzz. Use astrology as a guide and seize the month’s energy”

Now, this is not wrong, but if I were to look at all the other 11 summaries for the month I could probably read myself into most of them. It may be that for Geminis such as myself the Gemini reading is more true than the other ones. I tried to do these positive suggestions every month with varying degrees of success. However, if I wanted a piece of advice about a particular venture I would definitely go to an astrologer. The best ones are very good indeed. If you have to sum everyone up within in one of 12 groups for a period of a month I think you have to make some compromises which can introduce a certain blandness.

I don’t think these readings cause any harm though when you are encouraging people to use various aspects of their personality or watch out for certain problems and difficulties.  When all said and done, the best thing is to develop our intuition and confidence in it.

Anyway, back to Glastonbury

Social chat and a coffee break

Whilst the ladies went to the health shop, I went to Burns the Bread and had my usual fix of their lovey let a coffee and a rhubarb muffin. I took them down to the place where I normally eat, the back entrance to the Town Hall, and while there I met two people from Austria for whom this was their second visit to Glastonbury. I told them about the goddess center which is a really beautiful house, should I say mansion, about which I have frequently written. Use the search bar and type in goddess.

one of the beautifully appointed public rooms

Our two hour time slot ended with myself and Françoise going with her to a very esoteric health food shop and also to others selling incense, healing oils, and all the other things that where people require as a counterpart to allopathic medicine.

She took us along to the main car park by Glastonbury Abbey and showed a caravan that she had purchased this last April/May. It consists of a kitchen area, a toilet and shower at the back, a bunk bed and two padded benches that can be converted into a bed. Certainly, enough for two people to live together for a week or so, provided they get on well together of course.