(no subject)

[puddleshark]

The early mornings are not so bad. At 6am in the forest, it is pleasantly cool; a little mist still hanging over the distant marshes, and the Tree Pipits and Woodlarks are singing.

The dog walkers are out early to beat the heat, and I know the names of all the dogs (though not the names of any of the owners), and I get to say hello to the little black collie cross who loves everyone, and the very gentlemanly Border Collie who comes and sits politely beside you and waits to be admired, and the very shy rescue Staffie who, if you don't look at him, will come up and sniff you with a quick wag of the tail.

I don't get to say hello to the lunatic young Springer Spaniel. Instead I have to turn my back on him and cross my arms, while he goes boinging manically around me, because he has to learn that humans will only say hello if he sits nicely. It may take some time for this principal to be established. Years, possibly, from my own experience with Springers.

Coming back through the village, the air is full of honeysuckle scent. But the grass on the roadside verges is already parched and yellow, and the Wild Carrot is already in flower. It's a late July, early August landscape and we're still in June.

***

Work is busy. The last few weeks have been about logistics and supply problems. Equal parts ingenuity and stress. And I am quite tired.

In the Co-op this morning, a woman was shopping in her pyjamas. I admire her determination to do the weekend properly. (They were very stylish pyjamas, in case you wondered).

***

My new banjo has a screw loose. (How appropriate, I hear you say...)

It's a relatively inexpensive beginner's banjo, that came with a nylon shoulder strap that was attached with screws to the body of the banjo. I now learn, the hard way, that it is a really bad idea to attach the strap this way. You should always use a strap that hooks onto, or feeds under the brackets.

The shoulder strap had become twisted, and while I was untwisting it, I inadvertently unscrewed one of the screws holding on the shoulder strap. And yes, the shoulder strap fell off, and yes, there is now a loose screw in the body of the banjo.

Turns out the banjo is actually easier to hold without that shoulder strap, which was pulling the neck down. I will have to replace the shoulder strap, but hopefully I'll be able to position the new strap in the right place.

This weeks' lesson is The Lilting Banshee, my first jig, which is a great deal of fun. The notes run up and down the scale in a most finger-baffling manner.

Here it is played by someone competent:

Watch on YouTube

***

I'm desperate for some addictive television series to binge-watch in evenings when it's too hot, and I'm too tired to think. But there are still no Chinese or Korean dramas showing that I want to watch. I have started watching a great many series, and abandoned them after a few minutes, or a few episodes. It's all very dire.

I worry that, now that US streaming services have started buying Korean series, all that money will pressure the producers into making their dramas more "American", and there will never be any Korean dramas worth watching ever again. And I worry that, now that censors in China will pass only dull, party-approved educational dramas or the sickliest of idol romances, there will never be any Chinese dramas worth watching ever again.

I'm re-watching the Taiwanese supernatural mystery drama Oh, no! Here comes Trouble on iq.com. Catching all the lovely little details I missed on a first viewing. It is very funny, and very sad. In a world of soulless mass-produced dramas, this is the one drama that was made with love. So much love. (One gory scene in the first episode - don't look if you are squeamish - but it is not horror).