"I Know it's a Long Drive from Malibu..."

Notes:

I found a bird in the greenhouse to-day. I netted it with the fishnet and picked it up in my hands and held it out to the outside, and it flew away. I could feel its heartbeat the whole time. I managed to do all this while eating breakfast. Then I read out by the fishpond.

I've heard about voles a great deal, but never firsthand experienced their effect on tulips. Dear sweet Lord, it was like something out of a horror film. Yesterday the bed was full of deep red double tulips, and to-day when I looked two of them had turned black and were drooping, and when I tugged very lightly on them they came right up out of the ground--their bulbs had been eaten off under the earth, they ended in a ragged stem. I've never seen anything like it before.

Our bewhiskered gentleman in the fishpond came and had dinner to-day while I watched. He's really beautiful. We're taking him to the Oriental house once we dig a fishpond there, or at least I assume we'll dig a fishpond there.

I drove up with Daddy. Robin went back to her family to-day, so now it's just a very grumpy ewe. She tried to kill me. ^__^ I climbed around in the barn and took photographs of things for Luisa, of the insides of the outbuildings and of the barn and the cedars by the stream.

I telephoned Zara this evening. ♥ I've missed her so much, I'm so glad to have talked to her again. I apologise to her, incidentally, for being antsy and silent and awful. I'm apparently worse on telephones than I remember. >_> But we laughed a lot and were ridiculous and I can't wait to see her again. ♥ ♥ ♥

We planted potatoes and flowers to-day. Potatoes in the sun with their eyes to heaven, and petunias in the garden and there were so many earthworms I couldn't count them all I tried, I tried. Mum and I dug things to take to the Oriental house.

I think it was a good day.

(we had ice cream and watched Rosemary&Thyme in the evening.)