More Eye Surgery.

Back home now after 2 days of driving. The trees lining the roads are looking very autumnal glowing gold and bronze especially when they were lit up by the sun. With the slight spectrum shift and polarization caused by my beloved wraparound sunglasses the trees and the clouds looked spectacular. Even so I'm rather tired as I'm not used to driving such long distances especially when I couldn't take my little micra over 70mph (the official speed limit) without some suspicious vibrating. I had the tracking done recently but I'll book it in for a check as soon as I get the chance. Driving into the heart of a city reminded me just how lucky we are to live out in the countryside. It wasn't the traffic, after all I learnt to drive in central London, but the sheer tedium of those city streets and the lack of space. I didn't mind the busy city roads and I'm quite happy to pull across several lanes of traffic so long as I've indicated and had a quick look. One taxi driver stopped to let me out of a side street and I promptly cut up a white van to get into the next lane. I then probably really annoyed the driver by being unsure which lane to be in next, first signalling one way and then the other before making up my mind. That just makes me laugh. We arrived in Bristol with plenty of time to spare so we went to the Bristol Museum which is only 5 mins walk away from Ultralase. I don't know if it is the many afternoons spent as a small child in the big London museums (the V&A, Natural History, Science and Geology museums) but I find myself so at home in these grand Victorian marble palaces.

The Bristol museum has a little bit of everything and is currently holding an exhibition on Flight based on the Bristol Aircraft Company. There were a lot of interactive exhibits for the many younger visitors. One that really made me laugh was a simulation of a luggage conveyor belt with x-ray machine. A dad was pushing the suitcases on the belt so his child could look at the screen to see their contents but the toddler was far more interested in climbing on the rollers and following the suitcase through the machine. I don't suppose it was a real x-ray machine.

The museum is built in the grand style with marble staircases everywhere branching off to mezzanine levels housing things of interest both old and new.

We had a look around the Egyptian exhibition, amazing to think that some of the objects were thousands of years old as were these Assyrian stone wall panels , about 6ft square. We admire their classical beauty and purity of line and it takes a conscious effort to visualise them as they would have been, gaudily painted in bright colours (as were all those white marble statues we find in Grecian temples.)

I loved the Blue Bristol glass though these modern examples in the museum shop were rather expensive.

Unlike our initial eye surgery which took about 5mins per eye and half an hour from start to finish, Peter's re-do took much longer. Well over an hour as they did various tests before completing the surgery. If I'd have known how long it was going to be I would have spent the time happily browsing in Habitat which is on the next corner. We did pop in for a quick look at beds but it wouldn't have been fair to drag Peter round while I looked at all the beautifully designed but expensive furniture and household items. Peter's eyes are more sore this time but today he was able to read 4 lines better than the 20/20 vision line. We spent the night up in Tewkesbury with our friends for a lovely supper and pleasant evening. We returned to Bristol for a check up today (managed to fit in a browse around Paperchase which again is expensive but so stylish), before driving the 200 miles back to Devon.

Now I've done my school work, checked my emails and am ready to crash out before starting yet another week at school.

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Local markets

An absence of supermarkets in Southern Vietnam (despite its rapid development) means that there's a vibrant culture of community markets, street sellers, and street food vendors. And with a cultural emphasis on fresh food, made with fresh ingredients means that food (even for travelers) is delicious.

Here are a few images from early in our trip.

Herbal remedies

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A last day in Rome

Campo de Fiori market

A final day wandering through the streets of central Rome on a cool winter's day saw lots more people enjoying a Saturday post-Christmas. Tourists from all over, but also families out to lunch.

Unexpectedly, we ran across a upscale vegetarian restaurant (Il Margutta) at lunch-time, and enjoyed selecting eggplant, grilled peppers, and other dishes (more vegetables than I'd seen in our entire trip).The market at Campo de Fiori was open, with vegetables and fruits from warmer parts of Italy and abroad. The varieties of lettuce and radicchio were grown nearby, though, and cheese, dried tomatoes, and nuts were also being offered.

The nicest balcony that we saw in an otherwise plant-challenged city

These dogs were enjoying an outing on the Spanish steps (Mocha would NOT like to have any sort of sweater, however, quite popular for well-dressed Roman dogs).

The view was nice from the hills above; Rome was quite peaceful on this post-Christmas visit.

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Winter travels

Even in the Southern US, we have gray wintery days. Today wasn't so cold, but overcast and dark. My gardening companion and I are preparing for our annual winter trip -- almost always somewhere brighter and warmer. There's not too much to get ready. Since we travel light, there's not much to pack, and after instructions to the housesitters, and saying goodby to Mocha, we're off.

A travel shop window in Southern England

This year, it may not be too much brighter and warmer, but will definitely be different than some of our previous winter destinations. We're heading towards Campania, Puglia, Basilicata, and maybe Sicily. These Southern Italy destinations have me thinking about interesting seeds to buy -- hmm, great tomatoes, perhaps.... (I've gone to quite a bit of effort to sign up for a USDA 'small seeds' permit, so as not to repeat my unpleasant experience in May where all of the seeds I'd bought - retail commercial seed packets from Great Britain - many from Italy - were confiscated on my return. Hrrmph....)

But really, it's about exploring a new part of the world again -- this doesn't have much to do with natural gardening, but natural gardens. We'll see what the Mediterranean vegetation along the coast looks like, explore a few national parks, and experience Southern Italy in the winter.

And we'll see lots of gardening going on, too, I imagine!

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A global perspective

My blog isn't about politics or economics, it's about my garden, and natural gardening, and things I observe and feel passionately about. But I also like to reflect on what's important to me and what I'm thinking about. We live in a global community, without a doubt.

My gardening companion and I love exploring the natural world wherever we're able to visit, and there are many wonderful places on our planet. We've been fortunate to visit remarkable places over the decades that we've been able to travel.

So we felt a distinct affinity to an essay by Pico Iyer published in this week's Time magazine. Iyer is a wonderful (travel) writer, as is Paul Theroux, but his graceful reflection on what it means for America to turn outward, rather than inward, with our election of a new president, is something that we can celebrate.

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Squash seedlings

I'm spending some time getting all my seedlings and young plants in pots tucked in the ground. They'll have the best situation for flourishing, if my gardening companion is away for a few days, or absent-mindedly forgets to water them everyday. My containers will be fine -- but seedlings in small pots-- hhmm, probably not.

I'm going to be traveling for a couple of weeks, leaving a week from now -- on a garden-visiting excursion, much anticipated during what passes for our few months of winter here in the Carolinas. I love traveling to different places, often natural gardens, always interesting cultural places, and usually travel with my gardening companion.

But, I'm traveling specifically to visit gardens this time, on a solo trip, echoing a remarkable trip I took a year and half ago. Traveling is always interesting, but I find that it's always prefaced with worries about leaving home and the garden, and wondering why in such a lovely time of the year here I'm trouping off somewhere else!

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