A book and a muzzled goat.

A mostly dry day today, but raining now, early evening, just when Daughter1 is arriving on the boat from Mull. 

Spent some time this morning turning leafmould, or rather decanting from one Weldmesh bin into another, hoping that the stuff at the bottom would be ready to bag for use this winter. Unfortunately the bottom layer, which is a couple of years old, is the least rotted of all, so it will have to wait until next year. I still have a big bag which looks fairly composted, so I hope that will be usable.

That should have been my Blip, but I quite forgot, so by way of an Emergency Blip here's the book which I've just finished re-reading. Tom Weir was a near neighbour when I worked at Ross Priory so I met him from time to time. He was a great writer and an experienced mountaineer, and this book relates a journey he undertook in 1952, when Nepal was just opening up to westerners. I always remember that much more recently the local Gartocharn SWRI asked him to speak at one of their meetings but they couldn't afford him! For that reason I was delighted when he actually paid to come to hear me speak about one of my trips to Nepal!!

I did bring a few things back from Nepal back in the early 90s, but the only artifact I could lay my hands on immediately was this rapidly disintegrating split bamboo goat muzzle. I picked it up off the path one day and decided to bring it home. I well remember the look on the security man's face when he checked my baggage at the airport. I think he actually waved it about to show his colleagues! But then he was probably a Kathmandu man and had never kept goats in his life!