Walking Continues

What would the world be, once bereft Of wet and of wildness? Let them be left, O let them be left, wildness and wet; Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet. ~ Gerard Manley Hopkins, from Inversnaid The Kidneywood on the left is the star of the garden this year. It's beautiful and allegedly a favorite of butterflies and bees. It's hard to tell - there's much competition. I keep trying to develop a way of keeping track of the gardens - wild and vegetable. Avoiding replanting of those things that have refused residence would be nice. A list of overly aggressive plants would also help. But what I have learned is that plants behave differently in this garden. Things that grow for my brother and sister laugh at me. Plants that don't thrive in their gardens consume any spare space for me. And growth, even in a time of drought has been surprising.* What's new? This year I located plants I wanted - Mexican Buckeye and Texas Redbud for two. Having seen a Kidneywood in a f...

It is true that I once refused to eat haggis in Scotland  and this did not sit well with the local population. ~ Rick Ridden Whenever people discuss foods of Scotland "the haggis"* is usually the first item mentioned. It was mentioned in the itinerary of the tour. It was discussed by my fellow travelers all along the way.  I think most on the trip tried it - haggis balls (small fried balls of haggis - like hushpuppies or the more standard haggis at breakfast). Many suggested it tasted at bit like meatloaf. I love a good meatloaf, but b ecause I do not eat "organ meats" I decided to skip the haggis in favor of other things. And as far as I know, no one seemed insulted by my refusal to sample any. I did eat black pudding (also known as blood sausage) a couple of times as I have been a fan since eating it in Ireland. In each case here it was good - one was particularly, well, almost sophisticated. I believe that was the prized Stornoway black pudding.**  Scotland is bl...