I am absolutely shattered to the point where I keep falling over!! I have spent the last week heavily involved in our graduation ceremonies (commencement in the US). We have had 2500 students graduate in eight ceremonies over four days. My job is to look after the University’s guests (VIPs) and ferry them back and forth between the University and Worcester Cathedral. This equates to 400 people over the four days and sixteen coach journeys. Every day has had different challenges: people in wheelchairs, a guide dog for a blind guest, non-English speaking guests, people turning up at the last-minute, lost robes, mislaid speeches, missing coaches, the threat of rain but we got through as we are an excellent team. On top of this there were two dinners – one formal with people I don’t know and one relax and fun with the guys that robe all the students. I have spent four days and two evenings making small talk so not only is my body shattered from being on my feet all this time and walking miles but my brain has turned to mush!
I had a notion that I would be gardening today but the body and brain are unwilling which is a pity as the sun is shining so instead I went for a walk around the garden to clear my head and to remind myself of the jobs that I need or want to do. I found myself really looking at the detail. I think in Autumn, as the plants decay, you start to notice more detail. I found decaying leaves quite wonderful to observe just as I do water drops on plants.
As I was too tired to do any gardening I spent some time fiddling with the controls on my bridge camera trying to work out how to use the manual option. I failed and have a lovely collect of white photos. I really want to try to work out how to use this function better but am yet to find any helpful book, web page or instructions. I would love an SLR but the budget doesn’t stretch that far at the moment.
However, I think some of the photographs I took this afternoon aren’t that bad considering its with a point and shoot camera. I love the detail of the fading hydrangea flower above, its like fine lace work. The light was strange as well due to the scudding clouds which meant that one moment the sky was clear and bright blue and the next it was full of menacing gray clouds threatening rain
Having mooched around the garden taking photographs I didn’t want to go back in so I spent a happy half hour in the greenhouse tidying up the various plants I have put in there to over-winter.
Tomorrow I am hoping that I will feel more rested and have the energy to finish off the bulb planting.
