Well, once again St.George's Cross is flying, attached to my neighbours' line pole by the ubiquitous sticky tape. My neighbours spen the day in garden with friends and neighbours, but I didn't notice change in atmosphere to indicate when match was on or how it was going. I've since picked up it was one-nil due to own goal. Hmmm.....

I seem to remember hearing that St G represents rather more than the English and checking it out on St George's Day. For those interested, here's a list as supplied by Wikipedia:

Amersfoort, Netherlands; Aragon; agricultural workers; archers; armourers; Beirut, Lebanon; Boy Scouts; butchers; Canada; Cappadocia; Catalonia; cavalry; chivalry; Constantinople; Crusaders; England (by Pope Benedict XIV); equestrians; farmers; Ferrara, Italy; field workers; Genoa; Georgia; Gozo; Greece; Haldern, Germany; Heide; herpes; horsemen; horses; husbandmen; Istanbul; knights; lepers; leprosy; Lithuania; Lod; Malta; Modica, Sicily; Moscow; Order of the Garter; Palestine; Palestinian Christians; plague; Portugal; Ptuj, Slovenia; riders; saddle makers; sheep; shepherds; skin diseases; soldiers; syphilis; Teutonic Knights;

Popular isn't he? Any chivalrous, syphilitic, horse-riding Lithuanian shepherds out there? Canadian Boy Scouts into archery and troubled with acne? German saddle-making butchers with Herpes? Sheep?

And where or what is Lod?

Well, today has begun in glorious sunshine.

I have a stinking cold, went to bed early for me - 11.30 - and was wide-awake at six. I actually heard 'Farming Today' while fully conscious and a really nice Radio 4 thing about the Gower area of South Wales. Cold still bad, but I am a weird mix of light-headedness and ebbing and flowing energy. I was starving hungry and actually did myself a proper cooked breakfast at eight while listening to 'Today'.

My neighbours across the way have also been up early. The flag disappeared and not yet returned but there was a line of washing out by eight.

Life stirs on the balconies as well. A man clad in a towel came out for a smoke, and then reappeared with what looked like security lights. He handed these to a disembodied hand and arm I saw stretch up from below, but obscured by a fence. On his disappearance back into the flat an young man in a Cardiff City top appeared for a smoke and look around.

The birds seem to be making up for lost time and the chattering and calling continue throughout the day. There are sparrows that seem to live under the eaves of the nearest corner of the roof to the flats. There is something about the colour of the sparrows and the roof as well as the way the birds move that make it seem as though the sparrows 'wink out' of visibility rather than merely duck under the roof.

The elusive sparrows remind me of the way Anne McCaffrey describes dragons and 'talents' 'disappearing’ in her novels. My lover and I were watching this disappearing act yesterday and talking of such possibilities and whether Tibetan monks can render themselves invisible. He reckons Alistair Crowley also claimed to be able to do it, but may have been just trying to keep up with the monks. We then talked about other forms of ‘invisibility’ – Paul McCartney’s disguises, Molly Parkin acting ‘mentally ill’ and Marilyn Monroe switching ‘Marilyn on or off…

I miss the rabbit...

Following lasttape's comments on my Exes post I have thought more about issues of space and sharing.

Although 'circumstances' limit the time my lover can spend in my home I like the fact it is so imbued by his touch.

Before he and I decided it was safe to declare depth of feelings and admit to possible futures, reclaiming my home for me felt important, although it had been mine all along.

Unlike the original Polly Garter, I do not clean for others, but like my image of her, housework is definitely not a priority! As a lazy soul there is something rather nice about my lover spontaneously ‘sweeping through’ for me as he makes me a cuppa, but it is also an unexpected gift and touching demonstration of his commitment to our joint ‘nest’ even if it is only joint on a temporary basis.