Day 321 - There Will Be Blood

abandon hope

Our next door neighbours kindly (if unknowingly) provided me with a timely Halloween photo today.

We'd been for a climbing session/workout this afternoon, and arrived home just as the light was fading, to find that our neighbours had clearly got Halloween plans!  They have a number of children and grandchildren, who are now excitedly running around the garden shouting.

I hope they don't come trick or treat-ing...in nearly ten years here, I've never had a trick or treat-er at my door...it's extortion by another name, isn't it?!

Bah humbug.

In more important news, more blood spilled climbing today!

bloody friction paint

It seemed appropriate for the date, in any case...which is more than can be said for the weather...

It hit 24C in London today...that's 3C warmer than has ever been recorded in the UK on Halloween!

Does anyone else find that fact as disturbing as I do?

I realise that a sample of one does not a theory prove, but it's hard to deny that significant climate change is already happening...and catastrophic climate change is unlikely to be too far behind...after all, it's not like we've seen the error of our ways and are busily reversing the damage...

What have we done to our planet?!

:-/

Day 320 - Mushroom Magic

shrooms

I'll start with a confession - I know next to nothing about mushrooms, and have virtually no appropriate identification skills...

I'm hoping one of my dear readers might help out with this one (perhaps someone whose name begins with, oh I don't know, An*??)...

In any case, we took Robin up to the woods at the top of the hill today, and it being all damp and Autumnal, there was a range of mushrooms on show.

However, a word of advice...if you are going mushrooming, don't take a dog!

When I first spotted the little field of mushrooms above, there was a large yellow dog standing in the middle of them...hence the damage you can see...

Meanwhile, in the field we found this perfect specimen...

pre-dog

In the background you can see Robin, blissfully unaware of the interesting fungi I was trying to get a nice phone snap of...mere moments later, he noticed our interest, and before we could stop him, he dived straight in and bit a chunk out of it...

post dog

Fortunately he spat it straight out...I have no idea whether or not this is poisonous and wouldn't want to risk it...

This next one looks a bit like a Liberty Cap to me...

magic?

Of course, the Liberty Cap is the traditional magic mushroom in the UK, containing the psychedelic compound psilocybin. 

Whilst I'm really very interested in the consciousness-altering properties of naturally occurring hallucinogenics, I've never tried them and wouldn't have the confidence to identify them myself...although I'm sure they grow naturally around here.

When psychedelic substances are used in a spiritual context (which is primarily where my interest lies), they're referred to as Entheogens...there's a new word for you!

It seems to me that all human cultures, as far back as we know, used any hallucinatory or otherwise consciousness-altering substances they could find...many are well known - peyote, used by indigenous Americans...various cactus and morning glory, used by south American cultures...fly agaric across Northern Europe...opium and its derivatives, used by many cultures in Europe and Asia over thousands of years...cannabis in the near East and the Caribbean...

So if all cultures, given access, take drugs...then it's a natural human behaviour, isn't it?

And yet pursuit of such experience and activity is labelled "crime" (although it's rarely clear who the victim is)...we've basically made it a criminal offence to be human...

Well, the law is an ass!

If an opportunity arises to expand my consciousness and cleanse my spirit, I shall take it in a heartbeat.

Yeah, I'm just an old hippy...

:-p

Day 319 - Amiable Animals

nicely to heel

Fairly drizerable, Autumnal day today, so not many photo ops...mostly more dog pics then!

Hey, you have to work with what you've got...it's going to be dark by the time I get home, for every remaining day of this year-long blog...conditions aren't going to be good for amazing photo's - sorry!

Still, the one above captures the feel of the day - the damp leaves everywhere seem to reflect the general atmosphere...and look how nicely Robin is walking with Anna!

A few minutes earlier, we were up on the ridge that runs along the north side of the valley, and took this shot looking back from whence we came.

our house

Our house is on the far side of the little cluster of buildings in the upper middle of the shot...the old farm buildings are currently being developed into (expensive!) housing, although fortunately we're the other side of the main road, so it doesn't have much impact on us. 

But you can just about make out our house in that photo, honest!

Back to dog photo's...by way of demonstrating how super smart this dog is, I hereby present Robin (Robinho is an emerging nickname at the moment, pronounced roo-been-yo (by us at least)), in full-on Einstein mode (another of his nicknames)...

big brain

I should make it clear that he did this all on his own...there was no prompting of any kind.

Genius!

Shortly after I mentioned yesterday that it was always Robin mirroring Loz, and that I felt that Loz doesn't mirror, this happened...

queen loz

Robin was happily dozing by the fire, and keeping his head down whilst Loz was having a mad five minutes dashing around house, when this time Loz chose to come and sit with him.

She's not mirroring, as predicted, but still, he was there first and she came and sat by him.

I think maybe she's simply treating the pouffe as a throne, and in the process placing her minion firmly in his place - at her feet. 

Finally, here's another example of the mirroring thing from this afternoon...

curly

Robin hasn't quite got the orientation right this time, but he's copying Loz's curled-up posture fairly closely.

I do think these two are going to become good buddies.

Hope so...

:-)

Day 318 - The Final Hole

too late?

As I drove home today, I remembered I was due to complete the Hole in the Hedgerow series...it's a four parter, comprised of four photo's of this view through the hawthorn, taken approximately 90 days apart.

Parts One, Two and Three were taken in late January, April and July, with the final part due in the last few days of October.

However, despite having left work very early today, just after half past four, the light was almost gone as I arrived home at five...I hopped out of the car (as much a big old 50 year old can hop, anyway), and took a couple of snaps. 

I'm not sure I've got away with it, so I might take another one tomorrow if we have some reasonable light.

In other news, those who may be sceptical about my claim that Robin was mirroring Loz in yesterdays, post, may I hereby present further evidence for your examination...

copydog

This photo was taken at 00.30hrs this morning (late last night)...in both this photo and the one from last night, it is Robin who has subconsciously copied Loz's position...this time even more closely than the earlier example.

Robin even had his nose under his tail when I first saw them like this, but the click of the camera disturbed him and he fidgeted slightly.

It has been proposed by scientists that "species which can mirror each other form friendly cross-species liaisons"...humans do this, chimpanzees do it, and dogs do it. 

Do cats?  I'm not sure, I think probably not, given their generally unsociable nature. 

But in our case, it's Robin doing the mirroring, and even though Loz doesn't actively participate, she still may reap the psychological benefit of a companion that is in sync with her.

In any case, we hope it reflects a growing bond between the two of them...it makes for a symbiotic relationship that would be lovely for both of them, and would help to keep a calm, friendly atmosphere in the house.

Anyway, I'm going to watch out for further instances of mirroring, and will report back any success!

B-)

Day 317 - Symmetry of Being

ooh be doo

The plan had been for Anna to walk the dog this morning, but given the presence of our new neighbours, it seemed prudent to accompany her.

Partly, I didn't want her to have to walk past the Gypsies on her own...but also, I was curious to take a closer look at what was going on out there - I'd noticed that a white van had appeared along with what looked like another trailer. 

I was sure I'd heard kids playing down there last night, but there was no sign of any this morning...just a white van, two trailers, and two horses.  A fire was burning on the verge (which I labour to mow and keep ruly, the cheeky buggers), with some sort of cooking contraption over it, there were various random items scattered about, and there was horse poo everywhere.  

(why does the spell checker happily accept unruly, but objects to ruly?!)

The trailers were open but there was no sign of any occupants - obviously we didn't look too closely, and besides, we were vaguely distracted by trying to keep Robin's nose out of the horse poo. 

So we wandered down the lane for our walk as usual.  On the way back, I noticed a man, standing up from the verge near the hedgerow, 50m down the lane from the Gypsy 'vans...I assumed he was one of them.

I suddenly realised as he tucked his shirt in and did his belt up whilst strolling casually away, that it wasn't only the horses that were leaving poo everywhere!!

As we passed the camp again, there were two men and a dog sitting around the fire...another dog barked excitedly from within one of the trailers...no sign of women or kids.  

Not wishing for any controversy, we bade them a bright "good morning" and headed home. 

Anna was due to be working from home in the afternoon, and I was a little concerned about leaving the house (and Robin!) unattended, so decided to work from home for a while to see what transpired.

Around 11am I popped upstairs for a nosey out of the window, and couldn't see the white van...or the trailers!

Going outside, I cautiously peered out of the gate, to see the fire still burning a hole in my verge, but no other sign of the Gypsies.

Finding myself somewhat relieved, I got my day back on track and headed into the office.


Anywho, whilst working at my desk this morning, I left the pet gate through to the kitchen open, so that Robin could choose where to be...Loz had the run of the house, and Robin had the run of downstairs.

Upon mentally emerging from some work, when I turned round I was surprised to find that this was where they'd chosen to rest....Queen Loz with her minion at her feet.

Interestingly, Robin has mirrored Loz's posture almost entirely...whilst not curled as tightly as Loz, he is curled around the same way, in the same orientation, with his head pointing in the same direction.

Mirroring is a technique that dogs frequently use to signal conformance - using the same body language as another symbolises a kind of symmetry of being...it says "I'm the same as you, I'm nothing to fear, I wanna be like you...".

I would suggest that it's not a species specific behaviour, but rather one of the universal behaviours used and understood by most larger mammals, at least...

We humans do it, after all!

:-)

Day 316 - New Neighbours

partial obscurity

To our surprise, as we left to take Robin for a walk this afternoon, we discovered new neighbours had moved in since we took Robin for a walk this morning!

Parked up on the verge just outside our gate, there has appeared a traditional Gypsy caravan, complete with two large workhouses tethered a little further down the lane.  

I tried to take a photo from out in the road, but didn't want to be rude and obvious about it - so I took this one from the bedroom window, from where you can just about make out the back of the caravan.

Romany?

For years they've passed by this way now and then, and I've seen them camped in Gaydon, or further along the road to Warwick, but they've never stopped here before. 

I find myself fairly conflicted about the situation.  

My initial response is "OMG, what are they doing, they can't stay there!", and concerns about security flit worryingly across my mind...

But then I realise that they have to be somewhere...and I don't want to thoughtlessly accept a knee-jerk, conditioned response, and make all sorts of stereotypical assumptions about who they are and what they're up to. 

I actually admire their refusal to conform to society, and very much respect their right to live as they choose...and I have no direct experience of them, so I choose to assume that they'll cause no harm, and will no doubt move along in a day or two...   

When we got over to the orchard, three buzzards were hanging in the breeze above the woods.  I got my phone out to try to catch them all in one shot, but even as I was fumbling with settings, they wheeled away.

how many buzzards?

By the time I got to take a shot, one had disappeared over the trees, and the two remaining seemed somehow further away.

There are two buzzards in this shot, I promise...you just need to really want to see them!

;-)

Day 315 - Blood Sports

war wound

It's always oddly satisfying to come away from an exercise session with some blood having been shed...as long as it's your own blood, that is.

I'm not a fan of any sport that involves trying to extract blood from someone else.

I suppose it's fair to say I'm largely indifferent if all parties are consensual (please feel free to do whatever you like), but if there are non-consensual parties, I strongly object and would seek to prevent any such activities from happening, should I witness them.

Fox hunting, for example...what the fuck is that about?!

You know I rarely use profanity on this blog - but I choose to here as a demonstration of how much I really don't get it...how does anyone get pleasure from the infliction of pain and suffering on another being?

I realise that some people do, and I suppose they would generally be well represented towards the right of the political spectrum...I'm looking at you, Daily Mail readers and Fox News watchers...

But I just can't get my head around it.

I do have a proposal for bringing some fairness to the situation for all concerned, and it's quite simple:

You have the right to hunt, shoot and kill others, if it's a free world...but if you do, then you relinquish the right not to be hunted, shot or killed by others.

Seems like fair dinkum to me!

However, all that said, pursuing any activity with such passion and determination so as to draw your own blood...well, that is to be applauded!

Play that guitar until your fingers bleed!  Run until your feet are blistered!

Climb until your skin is torn and bloody!

Today, I smacked my shin on a hold as I fell off the top of some gnarly (tough, in climbing parlance) problem.   I thought I'd just thumped it, but when I pulled my trouser leg up to look, I found that I'd gouged quite a chunk out of it.

Half an hour later, I looked again to find that the blood had soaked through my trousers, run down my leg, and stained my shoe...

bloody leg

Nice!

This isn't my worst (best?!) climbing injury - I broke my leg in 2012 falling from the impressive height of about 1m, and breaking my fibula even before I hit the ground...but then that's not such a great kind of injury, as you have to stop climbing for a bit.

Fortunately, today's is the best sort - lots of blood, not much pain, and no impediment to further climbing.

Like I said...nice!

B-)

Day 314 - Size of a Sofa

bigdog

I missed a golden photo opportunity today, so I'm afraid it's yet another picture of Robin.

We've had him off lead around the house today, as he seems more relaxed with Loz, and at one point he went and lay by the sofa...at which point, I realised that he's the size of the sofa!

It's not a huge sofa, I grant you...just a fairly normal sized two seater...

It's funny really, much of the time, he doesn't give the impression of being that big...but then other times he seems really huge...he's no great dane, of course, but to us, being so used to the size of Jazz and Bluez - there's quite a bit more of him! 

We've thought about whether another dog will help him to use up some energy, but we can't have another dog as large as he is - this house just doesn't have the necessary space. 

He's a very playful dog, but we haven't played with him much, as we have to keep his energy down in the house...but he does like to play the roll around on the floor and bite each others faces game, which he could do with another dog in the kitchen, and of course much of the year, in the garden.

So our current thinking is that we could get another dog, smaller, probably a bitch, maybe a few years older, and importantly, very submissive.  Robin is a little dominant, so we wouldn't want another dog that would compete with him - better to get a naturally submissive dog who would happily allow him to be the boss.

The photo I just missed was this...

no-birdy there

This pile of feathers, less than ten feet from where I was sitting at my desk, just moments earlier, had a beautiful kestrel (or maybe a sparrowhawk, I'm really not sure!) atop it...

I'd stood up from my chair and immediately saw it out on the lawn..not daring to move, I asked Anna to pass me the camera...as she was removing the lens cap and switching it on, the bird upped and flew away...doh!!

It must have been there for 10-15 minutes to completely devour the bird it had caught, so I guess I stood up just too late...oh well...

In other alternate photo news, someone sent me this brilliant aerial shot that must be 50 years old or more...

our house

Our house is about 20% in from the left, and 20% down from the top, the leftmost of the two cottages in the corner of the field. 

We have quite a number of very large trees within metres of our house, which aren't even there on this photo.   Most of the buildings are still the same, although some of the out buildings are now converted to homes.

But at least there are no additional buildings...

It's nice to know that there are places that haven't been developed further over the last half century!

I feel privileged to live in one of them...

:-)

Day 313 - Ceasefire Agreement

mutually assured dozing

A tentative truce has been negotiated over the last few days, and so far, it's holding up well.

For her part, Loz unilaterally laid down her arms over a week ago, having only felt the need to demonstrate their efficiency and effectiveness once. 

Unfortunately, that event led Robin to feel somewhat unsure of the cat, and he's since taken quite some convincing that she is, in fact, harmless (as long as he behaves, natch).

However, in the presence of a uniting force such as Anna or a fire, he's gradually relaxing.

It's funny, he learns most things very quickly indeed, after only a couple of repetitions...but this one is proving more difficult for him to assimilate.

Loz is having to give him many repetitions of being close to him (either passing through under his nose, or sitting within a couple of feet of him), and displaying clear calming signals to him - squinting her eyes, looking away, purring, being very calm herself - to try to persuade him that she means him no harm.

Robin doesn't feel 100% sure about that all the time, but under some circumstances he's doing really well.

In this photo you can see how, when the forces of Anna and fire are combined, this has a very powerful effect, and Robin is able to mirror the cat's behaviour back at her...

Notice how they are both facing the same direction...both have closed eyes and a minimum of tension around their face...both have front paws tucked under, a clear signal that there is no intent to either move, or strike.

In this way they reinforce their truce, and with patience, they should learn to happily coexist without supervision. 

It's been really fascinating to see the transformation in Loz over recent years. 

Prior to coming to live with Jazz, Bluez and I, she had only ever been terrorised and chased by dogs...suffice to say, she was extremely un-trusting of the labs, and really not happy about having to share space with them. 

However, over a few years she learned to appreciate the presence of the dogs, and the safety they bring...just having a big dog around saves you having to be on the lookout for intruders, for a start. 

Eventually she learned to really like their company...if a fox needed seeing off, she'd come and get them, and try to lead them back to the poor creature...who was only passing by, after all!

Over the last year or two, we gradually realised that she actually followed Jazz around quite a lot.  Although he never looked at her, and they didn't interact at all, she could nearly always be found within a few feet of him...they seemed to have a nice little mutual company thing going on. 

When we brought Robin home, we were a little concerned over how she'd take it...but she's been the perfect role model, giving Robin all the right signals about how to behave.

She's very calm with him, and likes to be close - she's starting to follow him and sit near to him like she did with Jazz. 

I'm really hoping a similar companionship will develop...it would be lovely for both of them.

Now the photo above was taken at around 11.30pm last night, so doesn't really count as a photo of the day...

But this one was taken a few minutes after midnight...

shadow

Having worked so hard to keep Robin calm, once he'd gone to bed Loz had a little energy to burn, so partook of a fun few minutes catching (and killing) the lure that Anna was directing.

Thanks Loz, for showing a wisdom borne of experience, befitting of your Queenly status!

B-)

Day 312 - Zig and Zag

sit-stay

After the tail end of ex-Hurricane Gonzalo had passed overnight, today we awoke to a lovely sunny morning...

I wasn't at work today, so walked Robin a little later than usual, around 9.30 - and was pleasantly surprised by the calm, cool morning...bright sunshine lit the valley in a soft haze, and the BigDog (an emerging nickname) was in reasonable form.

He had a burst of energy as we entered the field and I let him loose...he rushed around in large circles for a minute, flashing by me and tempting me to chase him.

In order to both manage his exuberance and test his self control, I showed him that I had a small biscuit for him, and told him sit-stay whilst I walked off up the field. 

When I was around 50m away I called him and he charged up to me, skidding to a halt straight into the sitting position, his nose nudging my closed hand looking for the treat he knew was there. 

We repeated this a few times until his charge became less urgent, then zigged and zagged across the field.

Robin likes to run ahead (primarily because we humans are just so frustratingly slow)...every time he ran past me, I changed direction and started walking away from him again.

Within seconds he'd notice, run back to me, and rush past me again...and once more I'd turn away.  

This might sound mean, but really it's just reinforcing the idea that he needs to pay attention to me when we're out...it also disabuses him of any notion he may have that he's leading the way - we're going where I say, not where he says!

So we made our way to the top of the orchard (where we first met Frankie - of whom there's no sign, and we fear the most likely explanation after all this time is that he succumbed to the laminitis...).

At the top of the field (although still some way from the top of the ridge that forms the northern flank of the valley), I stopped to try to capture some of the cool peacefulness of the day...

valley of the morning sun

This is a lovely field to give Robin a run in - it's bordered only by other fields or woods, it's nowhere near the road, there are no livestock in it at the moment, and the grass is long enough to make running around slightly harder work, thus consuming a little more of his energy. 

It was a nice walk, and he's been well-behaved all day. 

Loz has been making a point of sitting near to him, much like she used to with Jazz.  Her energy has been lovely, and she really seems to be sending him the message that she's neither afraid of him, nor anything that he should be afraid of. 

I'm not sure he's quite got the message yet - he's still a little anxious in her presence...

But on a day like today it's easy to believe that he will get over himself to the point where they can happily coexist without our constant management.

Come on Robin, you're a smart dog...no need to worry about that cat...

;-)

Day 311 - Autumn Leaves

leave it

Today seemed as though it was the first truly autumnal day, with even a hint of winter thrown in for good measure, as the day wore on.

The morning was one of those...four back to back meetings, to which I was progressively late (later and laterer), at least one of which was vaguely stressful, and I also had to move my car at one point...on top of that we had major service issues - internet down, mail system down, remote access down - and part of my job is to manage the Service Desk which a good number of our thousands of users will call when their systems aren't working properly.

The meetings got gradually further behind schedule until they eventually finished around 13.45hrs, 45 minutes late, with just 45 minutes before the first of the afternoon's meetings...this one was just for a major project that I'm accountable for...

So, ya know, no pressure...

I was famished, so decided to go out in search of food, but as I left the building and pondered where to go, I remembered I had a banana and a cereal bar in my bag, and figured they would do...in the interests of resisting the urge to eat all the time (just like Robin), I decided to forego additional lunch in favour of a wander to look for Autumnal photo ops...

Although I somehow also managed to buy a bag of crisps along the way... ;-)

I took a stroll to the local graveyard (always a cheery option), and took a few fairly awful snaps on my phone.

Here's a nicely framed, lovely coloured tree, against a busy and utterly inappropriate backdrop (from the perspective of getting a good photo)...

nice try

I also met a skittish little squirrel running around the base of a tree with a large conker in its mouth...

squiggle

Obviously, this is exactly the sort of shot that a camera phone is completely useless at...but hey, you can see the little chap with his big bushy tail!

Lastly, and completely unrelated to any of that, here's a late bonus entry to the Cat-in-a-Bag series.

cat in a bag

Maisie is great for this series...basically, you just get a bag and put it near her...

Before long, she'll be in it! 

This is actually a duvet bag that just has an old pillow in it...Maisie was nosing into it, trying to find a way in.  I lifted the top up to create a little cave and she was straight in, purring with pleasure at her brilliant new hidey-hole. 

I expect that'll be her new favourite place for a few days...

Until she gets bored of it and decides it's rubbish.

That's Maisie!

:-)

Day 310 - Delphic Dog

submissive

This dog is a bit of an enigma, and no mistake...he's so good in so many ways, yet doubts linger over his temperament and stability.

We're even starting to wonder whether he's got a split personality, or some underlying health issue that bothers him sometimes...or maybe a dietary issue - the wrong diet can have a significant impact on a dogs behaviour and demeanour. 

Around two thirds of the time, he's almost a perfect dog...polite, relaxed, compliant, amenable, and friendly...he was like this all weekend (notwithstanding the infamous stealing-food-from-small-child incident), from the moment we got up on Saturday...chilled, affectionate, playful, cooperative.

We thought it might be because we drained some of his energy on Friday, and so we gave him a lot of exercise (physical, mental and psychological), through the weekend.

But then today, when we thought he might be dozy and settled after such a busy weekend, he's been a different dog...edgy, nervous, distant, stressed, maybe even depressed...it can be hard to predict how he will respond, and it's difficult to make a connection with him.

This photo, taken approximately 30 seconds before the one above, shows a very different energy and character...

anxious insecurity

I'd asked him 3 times to sit, but he didn't want to - usually he hardly needs asking once...I put a little pressure on his back - which normally reminds him what I'm asking if he hasn't responded to the initial request - and he complies straight away...but tonight he didn't, and he wanted to turn round, which I physically resisted (with my left hand lightly hooked around his left hind leg in this photo)...you can see how stressed and resistant he is, for no clear reason.

Maybe a third of the time, he seems to be like this...a little antsy, a slight reluctance to comply, sometimes accompanied by a hint of boisterous, chaotic energy, and an apparently powerful attraction to anything edible. 

Of course, that could be a typical description of any adolescent male dog...but he also scratches a bit more than you'd expect, which again implies possible dietary deficiencies leading to dry skin.

So anyway, we're going to change his diet and see if that helps at all.

Here's a portrait that shows a touch of that slight, anxious tension...

concern

You can see the concerned stress lines around his eyes, giving a hardness to the gaze rather than the usual softness.

Now I think about it, he's been kept outside in kennels before, yet with us he's hardly interested in the garden at all, wanting to go back into the house all the time...maybe he was concerned because I was taking him in to the garden, asking him to go further away from the house, then going back towards the house myself to take photo's...perhaps he thought I might leave him out there?

A moment later, he looked away...you can still see the stress in his face, around the eyes...

avoidance

Since we came in he's been a little unsettled, although I've put the fire on in the hopes of relaxing him a bit, which might be working. 

We'll monitor his food intake (which we do anyway), and maybe take him to the vets...if nothing else we might be able to rule out one or two physiological possible causes of his unrest. 

I'll keep you posted...

:-/

Day 309 - Pareto Principle

giant jenga

Today was another transformational day, in that I completed the transformation of the pile of logs on the lawn to the stack of wood outside the back door. 

(for some reason, Google decided to Auto-Awesome the photo I initially uploaded, and I quite like the effect, so I've used that version instead)

I must admit, it's not packed to my usual high standards...there's far too much air in this structure, and the logs are in no way efficiently stacked...it's not the most stable free-standing block of wood!

This was mostly to do with having a different process this time.  Previously, when stacking logs, they've all been dumped in a huge sprawling pile on the concrete you can see in the front of this shot.  

So when building my Giant Jenga Puzzle, I can pick the right log each time, and so construct a tightly packed cube fairly easily.  

This time, the wood was not so helpfully positioned some distance away on the lawn...

thanks

I enlisted the help of a small plastic crate, into which I could fit around a dozen logs, which (conveniently) was about as many as I could easily carry at once (in terms of weight).

So instead of cherry picking the most appropriate log for that moment, I was simply grabbing the first twelve I came to under the edge of the pile...obviously then when stacking, I was limited to only those I had in the crate...and in fact, only the top layer....rather than selecting from many dozens logs, I was forced to select each time from half a dozen or less.

Hence the loose, unstable log-pile you see at the top. 

However, it was a good lesson in the Pareto Principle, also known as the 80-20 rule, a rule of thumb that states that 80% of outcomes can be attributed to 20% of the causes for a given event...

A helpful way of looking at this idea is to consider that you get 80% of the benefit of a task in the first 20% of the time spent...the Law of Diminishing Returns asserts that the last 20% of the benefit will be increasingly expensive, ultimately taking 80% of the time.

I only spent the 20% of the time necessary to do a Quick and Dirty stack, and so achieved most of the benefits (a stacked pile of logs outside the back door), only missing out on the additional efficiency of a more solid structure...

And ultimately, does it even need to be efficiently packed?  

I suppose there's marginally less likelihood of a collapse...but even then, would a collapse be disastrous?  It'd just require a minor rebuild...and I'm not short on space, especially as it's just the vertical space directly above the stack...

So I saved myself all the additional time of trying to stack it perfectly, and it's unlikely to have any detrimental effect whatsoever...so all that additional (wasted) time spent would have simply meant more inefficiency in the system than the inefficiency that the poor stacking introduces...

I think I can call that a net win.

The 80/20 rule...worth using!

B-)