As readers may know, ever since my last Blencathra experience, my hip joint hasn’t been what it once was. I’m currently engaged in remedial stretching exercises that should ultimately allow me to ‘rest’ in this elegant position for minutes on end:

Settling down with Maza to watch ‘Our Mutual Friend’, we were somewhat surprised to find it ended sooner than expected, with some very unfinished business. We assumed it must be a new style of production, leaving most of the story to the imagination, as things seemed to happen with very little warning – until I checked the back of the box, and found what had taken us less than three hours to watch should have gone on for at least six. After fiddling around on the trusty laptop, and still finding only one episode on each disc, I donned my Arctic suit and scurried up into the attic. Lo and behold, if I sat through the closing credits of Episode One, and then meditated for a minute, Episode Two appeared. Similarly, with Episodes Three and Four, on the other disc. Instead of doing that, we had switched discs as soon as the credits for Episode One began, and had gone straight into Episode Three, the conclusion of which (that is to say, the credit rolling we should have sat through, which would have led to Episode Four) was so unsatisfactory.

So, tomorrow, we will have to watch Episode Two, to find out why Episode Three was all over the place, closely followed by Episode Four, which should wrap up some unresolved issues.

Checking the reviews over at Amazon, a few people complained about missing episodes and the abruptness of the ‘ending’.

View of the snowy garden from the dining room, showing geraniums flowering happily:

Closer view

Closer still

#

Another

Last of the ham

Heel requiring exfoliation

Woozle track in front garden

These might be the perfect solution for life at the homestead in winter – especially for those venturing into the attic of an evening.

CO2 is a trace gas in the atmosphere. Plants thrive as a result of having it available for photosynthesis. Man’s CO2 addition is about 2 to 3% of that very small trace and any regulating we might do will amount to nothing in terms of changing the CO2 quantity. Basically, the 2 to 3% of a trace means little, even if CO2 has an effect on climate, which seems unlikely, as the release of CO2 in nature is caused by climate (temperature) change, rather than the other way round.

Bitterly cold with frost possibly persisting through the day. Heavy snowfall may push down from the north.