Saturday August 2nd

I got up just before 11 a.m and went out immediately to my beetle trap, where I found three black beetles and a red coloured fly. The mincemeat absolutely stank so I buried it in the garden and tried to identify the beetles. They were not meal-beetles, as I had thought but a different species of ground beetle, maybe Pterostichus madidus?

Dad got up around midday, (Nanna P. is still here) and we had dinner and then Mum, Dad and N.P. went into Farnshaw to do the shopping, leaving me at home to read etc. I drifted around the garden watching the hoverflies and bees until Mum and company came home.

I did nothing worth mentioning (it must’ve been mundane and boring because I can’t even remember what I did!), until the early evening, when I went across to Mr Tillotson’s to ask him if I could bury my beetle trap in the garden. Dad was already there (he goes across every few days) and Mr Tillotson said yes, I could. At first I couldn’t find a bare piece of earth because there was grass everywhere but eventually I buried the trap beneath some bushes by the side of his lawn. Mr T. seemed quite interested in what I was doing – it’s sad that he’s so ill.

After doing that I played “Heavy Weather” by Weather Report and laid on my bed frightening myself by thinking about the time when I’ll be dead (> c2040+). I can really frighten myself by doing that – my heart begins to race and I’m seized with panic almost.

Since it was cloudy and quite warm (good moth weather) I put out some moth sugar (on the willow and cherry tree) and spent the rest of the evening trying to identify the different moths which were attracted to the light. I identifed the Garden Pebble moth and there were many more species which I hadn’t a hope of identifying. The variety of moths is really amazing.

I am now sat in the dining room listening to the torrential rain outside and Clint Eastwood killing people in the other room. It is 0032 and I want to go to bed. At the moment I’m looking forward to Monday when I’m going to buy Collin’s Field Guide to Insects of Britain (£5.95) from W.H. Smith’s.