I wonder how you’ve been spending the hot summer nights. Listening to music, perhaps? Or reading one of the great books? Or charting the movement of the planets? Not me. I’ve been watching whipper ...

I've just spent an enjoyable morning cutting off heads. Nothing more bloodthirsty than seed heads, but I still have a slight feeling I enjoyed the decapitations too much. I blame the whipper snipper.

More unexpected work on the acreage with lightning striking two trees and falling on fences, so I'm chopping wood and repairing the chicken free-ranging fence area. Plus, I also get into some whipper ...

According to my Mum, the difference between a good haircut and a bad one was "two weeks". Mum was entirely wrong about this, as was her belief that you didn't need to read the "method" in a recipe.