Warmish in the morning, thunderstorms & heavy rain most of afternoon.
Picked first peas, about 1lb. Thinned out turnips, which are very good & look untouched by the fly. Began digging patch for greens, but too wet to do much.
Hens which have made nests outside will apparently continue to sit there in the middle of pouring rain. Very small newt tadpoles put into aquarium seem to disappear. Fear the large ones may be eating them, but if so this must only occur at night. Note that the water-snail is able in some way to elevate himself to the top of the water & remain floating there – or possibly is naturally buoyant & only remains down when using suction.[a]
11 eggs. (1 double egg – the first for some time).
[Orwell’s note]
[a] Can also rise to surface when he wants to, or can remain on bottom without holding on.
Orwell Diaries 1938-1942 
So many small wonders surround us. I remember as a child I could watch an ant hill for hours. I could explore a patch of garden no larger than a few feet long by a couple of feet wide and stay entertained for a very long time. As adults we are much further from the ground and have our minds on much higher things. However, what good does it us if we think about saving our environment whilst we tread upon the summer strawberries?
Does that snail take on ballast or something? How odd … and I love that he notices and wonders.
Apparently, the Wallington Water-Snail possesses levitation skills far beyond those heretofore attributed to them.
Richard Blair worked for many years as an undercover agricultural agent for the British government. This would be, I think, after his stint working undercover as an Opium Department bureaucrat in a far-off land. Anyway: I can’t find the exact date, but it must surely happen any nanosecond now; that is, Eric Blair’s father dies this month.
Whoa. Now I’m on a Death Watch via the wormhole.
:shock: