More Garden Archaeology

The guys- Matthew and his guys- are in the process of putting new fencing in round the garden- and this object came out of one of the post holes they dug.




It seems to be made of glass- and was presumably part of some sort of decorative scheme. No, I don't think it's Roman (wish it were) but what on earth was it? We're getting lots of brick out of the same patch of ground so it's fairly obvious that there was once a building there, but- given that our property was never anything grander than a farm- it's unlikely to have been anything but a cowshed or a barn. Would a cowshed have had pretty walls or floors involving the use of sea-green glass tesserae? Doesn't seem likely, does it?

Professionalism Not Such A Bad Thing After All

Yes, I admit it; I've grumbled as much as anyone about the professional political class, but one of the lessons to be drawn from watching Trump in action is that there's a reason why it exists. Politics is a skill, a craft, an art- and amateurs are liable to make a mess of the job- especially when said amateurs are unread, uniformed and incurious.

Trump has swanned into the presidency, knowing very little about anything and under the impression that the office allowed him untrammelled powers. The best that can be said about what he's achieved thus far- and maybe it's no little thing- is that he's delivered a shock to the system...