I’m probably being a bit naughty by continuing the numbering, considering that I’ve been away for at least two weeks (three if you consider the whole holiday). We’ve had an unbelievable time, visited many places (in the time available to us) and met many people. All of whom have been incredibly friendly, and where needed, helpful.

The picture is of the original, actual Freedom 7 capsule, which carried Alan Shepard into space on a sub-orbital flight (Shepard didn’t orbit; it was up and down – but it did the job).

Having seen the capsule, just how cramped it is, and knowing that it sat on top of what was essentially a repurposed ballistic missile, I can’t begin to imagine the courage it took to climb into it – and the Apollo 11 capsule, which was on display only a few feet away.

During my trip, I had questons possping in to mind. Whilst I may not do them all in one go, and some of them I may cover in a Letter to Steve.

Talking of letters to Steve. I won’t be publishing one this week. I need to get back into the swing of things. So, I’ll be reading Gilbert’s Letter XXVIII on Monday with a view to publishing my version next Sunday.

I apologise for my absences over the past three weeks, this last week in particular, as I decided not to buy the Internet package on board ship, which was at sea for seven days.

The break in the routine, is because we are on holiday. We have just had a lovely 3 and a bit days in Washington D.C. and if you are following me on Facebook, you’ll have had the full story. Because FB is where family and friends mostly are

We had a very full visit to D.C., cramming in Arlington, where the changing of the guard was impressive and the wreath ceremonies moving, To the Lincoln Memorial, where I suggested he might try to give us a bit of a hand. The White House is shrouded in very dense fencing, which is unfortunate, but a friendly secret service agent told us about the observation deck of the Hotel Washington, where we enjoyed a drink a chat with a couple of nice chaps, and a still obscured (by the ballroom construction engines) view of the White House.

We’ve done Smithsonian Air and Space (extremely well laid out, and very highly recommended) and the Spy Museum, which was entertaining.

The morning of our last full day was a visit to, and tour of, the Capitol. Most impressive, a pity. That the House of Representatives wasn’t in session at the time, but it was interesting to see the chamber. That made me think, as I haven’t yet visited our Parliament building. I really should correct that oversight.

We are now with family in Montreal for a few days.

Posting will continue to be intermittent here for the time being.

I almost definitely won’t be posting tomorrow night.

I don’t think I should enumerate tonights post.

Things should get back to some semblance of normality soon.

The reason for the break will become clear. Everything is fine; don’t worry – this is NOT a medical issue.

I had to do a couple of trips out to various shops, and we went to the Garden Centre to meet up with other members of the Camera Club.

I did take a look at the passion flower seed pods, not much development. I’m inclined to think that the pods I’m watching aren’t going to drop of their own accord. I’m still not going to force it.

I must admit that I’m having a difficult time with tonight’s post. I’m afraid inspiration just isn’t coming to me. I’m in a bit of a limbo.

Hopefully, things will sort themselves out over the next few days.

It seems that I have accumulated rather a lot of emails in gmail. Google has been sending me a lot of remiinders that I am running out of space, and suggesting that I buy more.

To be honest, I think I will just delete unnecessary emails, I seem to have a fairly efficient method of achieving that.

Unfortunately, monitoring the process and making sure that it doesn’t delete anything I need is a hands-on activity, so time has slipped by me. Meaning that this is a rushed post.

I haven’t seen a starling for quite a while. I’ve heard them on occasion, and not very many.

We were sitting at the bottom of the garden, enjoying a cup of tea and a couple of biscuits, when I heard what sounded like quite a few Starlings.

I looked around, and there were literally hundreds of them on the roof. I really can’t remember the last time I’ve seen so many of them, let alone on the roof nearby.

The temptation was too great, and I did put some food out. They dived on the bird table.

The Butterflies have been very frustrating this year. A few years ago, we did the Big Butterfly Watch. It was almost like they knew we needed to photograph them, and they stayed quite still, allowing several shots. Today, a rather glorious peacock butterfly settled near to me. I grabbed my phone, stood up (it wasn’t that close) and off it flew.

We’ve had quite a few small whites in the garden. I counted 5 at the same time. They are aggressive little beasties; either that, or it is a love dance. It certainly looks like they are fighting.

Also, the small whites are fast; they zip between locations. Absolutely fascinating to watch.

I’m at a stage of planning the Portsmouth video where I can almost think about drafting the prompt cards. I pretty much have the locations sorted; all that remains is time. Not yet, though.

In the meantime, I need to come up with something that can fill the space between those moments, and yet not require a lot of effort, and the videos themselves don’t need to be too long.

YouTube has two different video formats: long, where the images are recorded in landscape and short, where the images are recorded in portrait. The thing is that I don’t really want to do the portrait format.

Also, I have a tendency to make things too complicated and end up not doing anything because it really is too difficult. I need to accept that sometimes, the simplest things can make perfectly good videos.

Elayne likes to keep a lovely garden. I am really pleased that she does, because it is a project to be proud of, and I do like to see it.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve appreciated nature, but retirement has changed the nature of that appreciation. One example of this is the seed pods of the passion flower bush that grows on the fence line between our neighbour and us.

Six months ago, I would not have thought of taking a pod apart to see what it is like inside. Now, I’ve done it twice, at different stages of maturity. I’ve just had to publish, it’s two minutes to midnight, and I didn’t want to miss the count.

I haven’t finished with the passion flowers, but there are other things in the garden that interest me. On the other hand, I don’t intend for what’s in the garden to be an obsession; it is merely an opportunity. Next, though, I might take a look at the olive tree. Apparently, it has olives growing.