Just back from south of France via Bilbao today, after a super early morning flight.

South of France was a nice break from routine. Even though we worked remotely, the environment was a bit different – we lived in a cute little ’hobbit home’ in the countryside, got to do a couple of hikes, ate some yummy food, and took a long weekend off without work – which was a refreshing change. I can’t really remember the last time I’ve taken a proper break, although I would argue this wasn’t a proper break either. Nonetheless, I count small blessings.

I discovered on this summer break, how similar poison hemlock – that plant behind the famous poison that killed Socrates – is to wild carrot / Queen Anne’s Lace! (See comparison.) The fields around our hobbit home were dotted with small white flowers that was probably a mix of both plants, since they thrive in similar conditions. Baby-F got a bunch of rashes on his legs and arms from wandering into the field and brushing against some of the white flowers. Poison hemlock is surprisingly dangerous – it seems that many /all parts of it can be fatal when ingested purposefully or even accidentally in not such large quantities.

Despite being exhausted, I feel reasonably productive today. Watered my mostly dying plants after we got home, had lunch, did some light gardening, then completed the digging of a pond that I wanted to install in our garden, went to our local nursery / garden centre to buy some garden plants, and actually installed the pond. We even found a frog and placed it into the new pond as our first tenant. Although it then hopped out again, which wasn’t a exactly a resounding endorsement. Nonetheless, baby steps.

I also discovered a couple of plants have rooted and sprouted from *within* my compost – with their shoots and leaves emerging through the cracks of my compost bin. It’s amazing how hardy and resilient living things can be – how strong the will to survive, live, procreate… and how hope and life can spring eternal, even in difficult conditions. Inspiring… I picked one of the plants (an avocado shoot) and potted it up.