Despite the temperature...

...being 25 C earlier and 21 C now it has been chilly today. There is an icy wind blowing. I got back in bed this afternoon to warm up!

Also the wasps and hornets were mithering me earlier on the swing. The wasps wouldn’t leave me and batting them away didn’t work because they came back to investigate me and my drink which was black tea (no sugar).

And the hornets. I don’t know if it was the same pair or several pairs. But I just saw two at a time. They flew exactly parallel to each other but one was always nearly a hornet’s length behind the other. It reminded me of a Japanese woman I knew who always walked a couple of paces behind her English husband. He would entreat her to walk at his side, but she was a traditionalist and always walked just behind him with her head slightly bowed. She was only young, in her 20’s.

She had a sense of humour though. She did Sumi-e, black and white Japanese ink paintings. She was on the other side of the room holding the painting up to someone who was going to buy it, and they did. But I was shocked when I realised it wasn’t Japanese writing at all at the side but rude English words. F*** off, and there were loads more rude words on each painting.

I went over to ask her what on earth she was doing. She was laughing mirthfully in a delicate Japanese way as though she were sharing a private joke. No one else saw what I saw. You couldn’t see the rude English words when you were on top of the painting looking at it, which is what one does when choosing and buying a painting. You still couldn’t see those words quite a few paces away from it.

It was only on the other side of the room, maybe 10 metres away (10 yards ish) that you could see those rude English words so clearly.

I looked through all her paintings on her table and I couldn’t see one rude English word within the Japanese calligraphy. So she told me to go to the other side of the room and held them up one by one for me to see.

I am shaking my head at her and wagging my finger at her. Every Sumi-e painting had a rude English swear word on them. And she is collapsing into more and more mirthful giggles.

There were 60 or more people milling the room. No one noticed, no one noticed her and me, with her holding the paintings up and me looking disapprovingly at her and wagging my finger at her, which just caused more and more giggles from her. Still no one saw the English swear words written as Japanese characters on the side of the paintings.

I am seriously shocked...

The paintings were exquisitely beautiful...

Her name was Keiko (I don’t know if I have spelt it right).


Strange those two hornets made me think of her walking a step behind her English husband. I was fascinated watching the hornets gliding around in a graceful manner. But when the little blighters began circling my ankles I retreated into my bedroom.

I don’t think they would have harmed me, it was like those two hornets were on a sedate afternoon walk...they glided so smoothly...

Earlier this morning I was photographing butterflies. The one on the left I think is a Meadow Brown. The one bottom right is a Speckled Wood.

I shall enter this for admirer’s silly Saturday challenge because of the story....