Odd Smell

I had a dream in which these two little kids were laughing at me so I grabbed one of them and roughed him up a bit and asked him why he was behaving the way he did and the nice woman who was suddenly there began explaining that he and his mate came from deprived homes. "Their houses," she said, "Smell like a burned tree."

Uncut

The parish magazine (printed in full colour, delivered free to every home) carries an interview with a man who makes his living cutting and maintaining lawns. Asked about the changes he's seen since starting up in 2003, he says, "So many gardens I work in now have bee hives or solitary bee nests and bug hotels. Wildflower meadows are also very popular. Ten years ago you hardly saw any of these wildlife friendly aspects in domestic gardens but they are becoming the norm now."

We've been asking our own gardeners to leave areas of the lawn uncut for the sake of the bees and butterflies and also for the aesthetic appeal of the thing. I like to see the feathery grasses waving in the breeze and Marlowe likes to hide among them and watch lesser forms of life go by and remember how things used to be when he was king of the Serengeti.