Buddleia: Weed of Concern

This is the time of year when the Buddleia (correctly, believe it or not - Buddleja, as ruled in 2006 by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature) is coming into full bloom. The sight of that glorious abundance of purple (or lilac or white) flowers on every patch of waste land, beside every railway line, in woods and hedges and gardens - and indeed pretty much anywhere, even high up on buildings - reflexively gladdens the heart of the butterfly fancier. Those nectar-rich blooms are famously attractive to butterflies, not to mention bees and moths - but in this terrible summer the Buddleias are not likely to be having many callers. If not born to blush unseen, they will, I fear, be wasting their sweetness on the desert air...
Buddleia is, according to one of many websites advising on its 'control', 'now undergoing a reputation reconstruction' (not with me, it isn't), as it becomes increasingly notorious for its invasive properties. Like many an imported plant, once it has got over the garden wall it has gone, well, wild, even 'rampant'. Originating on the scree slopes of Tibet and mountainous China, Buddleia found itself perfectly at home on thin-soiled waste ground, roadsides and, in particular, railway verges - where, conveniently, the breezes generated by passing trains spread its millions of seeds along the tracks and up into the air, to lodge wherever there was a foothold. The railway companies fight a never-ending, always-losing battle against Buddleia, and every year it comes out on top. If ever the railways are abandoned and left to nature, they will become one great network of Buddleia highways in no time... In New Zealand, where Buddleia is classified as a 'weed of concern', they're trying biological control with Chinese weevils. Let's hope that doesn't go wrong and they end up with 'weevils of concern'

God: The Latest

Just to keep everyone in the loop - and to spread the good news - I've had another email from God, or, as He now styles himself, God Allah.
God is now based in San Mateo, California, from where He announces 'His Official Millennium Arrival and The Resurrection'.
His statement continues: 'I am pleased to update you on My Successful Arrival. I am seeking sponsors, e.g. businesses, organizations, communities, etc. to further the cause of The Resurrection. I want the world to know I love you and am here amongst you. I thank you for your prayers and issue My Press most expediently. I believe although this is an emergency, I advise you to stay calm, pray and welcome Me unto you so I may help you.'
So there you are - keep calm and carry on. Oh, and dig deep for The Cause...

Hosepipes and Lords

Much rejoicing down my way at the news that, surveying the drowned world around them and the rain-black skies above, our local water company has finally withdrawn its hosepipe ban. We were going to have a garden party to celebrate, but it was rained off.
However, there was no restraining the outbreaks of spontaneous celebration when the news came through that the government is taking steps to reform the House of Lords. People poured from their houses, dancing and hugging each other in the street, pensioners joining hands with teenagers in sheer joy - at last, the government is listening to the people and heeding their incessant clamour for reform of the second chamber. At last they are doing something about a situation that has been choking the life out of this once-great nation, etc, etc...
(Actually, speaking for myself, I'm all for Lords reform - I'd pack the place with hereditaries. The proposed reforms - which involve large numbers of party deadbeats 'elected' for 15-year terms - look to me like another example of fetishising Democracy as an end in itself. Democracy is pretty meaningless without accountability and the institutions to sustain it, as recent events in the Middle East - not to mention the post-colonial history of most of Africa - demonstrate all too clearly.)

Also in Norfolk...

Wandering in the grounds of Blickling House, we kept coming across signposts mysteriously pointing the way to something called a 'Sitooterie'. What could this be? Perhaps some Dutch garden landscape feature? 'Maybe' I quipped, 'it's a place to sit oot in.' How we roared... Picture our amazement, then, when the Sitooterie turned out to be precisely that. It seems (to judge from a quick Google search) that these Sitooteries are all the rage. The Blickling one is excitedly described here. I have to say that in reality it is decidedly underwhelming.

Doubled Angels

Well, I've seen a thing or two this weekend - of which perhaps the most breathtakingly beautiful was this - the angel roof of Cawston church in Norfolk. I've always been a sucker for an angel roof, but this one, with its doubled angels, standing on the hammerbeams and lining the cornices, is, I think, the loveliest I've ever seen. As well as its amazing roof, Cawston also has a rood screen of rare beauty - there's more about it all here - so visiting this church for the first time was quite an experience. And then there was Salle, and South Creake... Yes, I've been church crawling - and dodging torrential rain and enjoying brief sun, and eating and drinking very well, and enjoying the birdlife and the occasional Ringlet and Meadow Brown - with Bryan (lately one of the principal ornaments of the blogscape). We also spent a good deal of time comparing ailments, bemoaning the general state of things, and staring into the middle distance in companionable silence. That's what old friends are for. Peter Porter wrote a fine, grief-infused poem about another great angel roof (in Suffolk), where the serene angels fly in line, wings outspread, along the ridge beam of the nave...

More Boson

The trouble with the Higgs Boson discovery - if that is what it is - is that, as someone on the radio this morning put it, rather eloquently, it completes a building that has no windows. That is to say, if it does indeed confirm and complete the Standard Model of the Universe, there may be nowhere left to go without stepping outside that model altogether - which, if it is indeed true, cannot (by definition) be done. Stephen Hawking was surely right to say, having hailed the breakthrough, 'It is a pity in a way, because the great advances in physics came from results we didn't expect.' Well, quite. And as the Standard Model apparently has nothing to say about the 96 percent of the Universe's matter that we cannot apprehend, let alone comprehend, this doesn't seem a very satisfactory state of affairs. Is it time, I wonder, for a paradigm shift? Not that I'm volunteering...

Joyous news

You'll have to excuse me if I'm a little distracted today. Earlier this morning, I had the joyous news from New Zealand that our daughter has given birth to a fine big baby boy (8lb 8oz). All is well, and she sounded very very happy, as are all of us. Ich bin ein Grandpapa!