Voltaire

 Oh for goodness sake, America, not again! How very depressing and worrying. 

Well, Voltaire said that the only thing to do was to cultivate one's garden, and I feel he was largely right. 

I haven't had much time - hardly any - to cultivate my garden, but we did have a walk in the Botanics, which was, as ever, soothing and healing to the weary soul. This (yellow) red hot poker - not normally my favourite plant - caught the light nicely. 

And look! it's spring! Well, no it isn't, but this rhododendron is blooming in a very spring-like fashion.

 

The last of the Japanese anemones. 

And another day we went down to Dawyck Botanic Gardens, in the Borders.

The best of the autumn colours were lying on the ground but there were still enough bright leaves and berries on the trees to cheer us. 

The reason I've been so busy is that I've reluctantly become the chair of one of the choirs I sing in. The AGM was two weeks ago, and since then I've been frantically working out what the chair does, and then doing it. There's been a lot to read! Not that any one thing is terribly onerous, but there are a lot of these things, especially as it's a month till our carol concert. I don't know why the AGM is at the end of October, but it's not a good time. Basically you become chair and then people say, "Now it's very urgent that you organise this carol concert and here are the 97 things you need to do," and then when you've done them, you discover that there are another dozen or so of which you were unaware. 

Ah me. I'm glad I'm not running the United States.