The sun rises into a cloudless sky. A real Indian summer. Down in the valley the farmers have started to harvest the sunflowers. The clouds of chaff a sure sign the year is about to turn a page. Here at the Rickety Old Farmhouse Sophie continues to glare at the birds nesting in the wisteria. From time to time she'll briefly race off to join Bob on guard at the front gate. Passing pilgrims merit a quick yelp and then she's back to deal with the wrens.
'The mystery of the Hanging Garden of Babylon' written by Stephanie Dalley, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Antiquaries. Thoughtful, measured, difficult at times but an absolute delight. She sifts through the ancient texts to let us know where the gardens were and what they looked like. History as detective mystery. Not often you come across a book that contains a line like this : "As an Assyriologist I work on clay tablets written in cuneiform script by Babylonians and Assyrians ". It seems there is as much literature from Nebuchadnezzars time as there is Latin text. The perfect book when you have two PON's at your feet and a glass of champagne in your hand.
