Green shoots in Poole

The Kenyan beans that I sowed in the half barrel and squat pot on 4th July are coming through so we are hopeful of a harvest if a little later than usual!

The sweet peas have been glorious. It's lovely to have them to pick for the house and for friends. And the more you pick the more you get! They were so prolific that it has been possible have vases of them in several rooms. They've slowed down a bit now and the stems are shorter than they were but I'm hoping that they will come into a second wind. Unfortunately the greenfly found the plants and multiplied seemingly exponentially. This meant that in spite of blowing on them and giving them a good shake the greenfly got transferred indoors and made a horrible mess. Fortunately the local sparrows have come to the rescue paying me back for keeping them fed and watered through the winter. They find the greenfly delicious and have brought them down to a more bearable level. It always brings a smile to my face when I see the little birds amongst the flowers.

I have a vase of the sweet peas in our practice room. The fragrance seems much stronger when my head is upside down! I'm not sure if this is because the olfactory part of the brain is stimulated by the position or if the fragrance collects lower down.

This observation had been rolling around in my subconscious for a few days when I recalled a yoga exercise I did once with the late John Davis. In the exercise we placed the tongue in different positions in the mouth and noticed that changing the position amplified a different sense. Perhaps something related to this is happening when I invert my head. Unfortunately I can't remember the details. If you know the tongue positions and the senses that they relate to then please do let me know.