Beltane the fiery and traditional welcome to Summer. Celebrated on 30th of April or the 1st of May, May Day.

Maybe Lola was feeling the beat of Pagan drums through her paws yesterday when she was feeling so excited about being out and about in the fresh air.

Beltane was the traditional time for putting livestock out to summer pastures. Lola is the closest thing to livestock we have.

Since Hugo died our dog-walking life has taken a different pattern. Hugo favoured walks and adventure over all things. Lola prefers bed and sleeping over all things.

Until yesterday I would never have noticed her excitement at being out on a particular day. Because Hugo was excited to be out every day.

Dogs just like children give me parental guilt. Am I a good enough and effective parent for them to thrive and be happy.

I was a parent to children long before I was a dog mum. I wish it had been the other way round. But life is life and a constant learning experience.

This morning Lola has reverted to bed Lola. Beltane is done for her.

Two inconsequential recipes to share today.

People have asked for my organic dog poo processing recipe . So here goes with that.

We have been dog owners for 13 years . Most of that time we were city- based with either a small garden or, as now, a small yard. For a while we lived in the countryside and this method worked well there too.

A long time ago I had friends with two big dogs and a large garden who long before the internet buried a bottomless compost bin 1/3 into the ground in an area out of the way. When their dogs did a poo in the garden it was popped in the bin with tea leaves and coffee grounds from the kitchen. Worms and other creatures who chomp on unthinkable things found their way into the bin. There was never a smell and the bin seemed to settle at about 2/3 full

Our small London garden could not have housed such a big item, but we experimented with a terracotta rhubarb forcer. The same organic magic happened. Just poo, tea leaves and coffee grounds. Our Rhubarb forcers also seem to settle at 2/3 full

In both cases our friends dogs and our dogs were not habitual pooers in the garden . This system works for dog bathroom emergencies. It might well work for larger quantities. I see no reason why it wouldn’t .

The only time the system needs to be disturbed is when moving house or relocating the Rhubarb Forcers.*

The first time I moved the Rhubarb Forcers was because of a house move. I approached the job with trepidation but ultimately all was well . We had stopped using them 3 months before. Collecting our garden dog waste in poo bags and delivering them to poo bins that the council provided on the streets.

Trepidation was completely unnecessary. The compost created was almost perfect. Fine, light brown compost, no smell. Had I been presenting a gardening programme I would have romantically run my fingers through it in the style of the opening scenes of Gladiator, as Maximus runs his fingers through ears of corn. The only minor problem was that some t-bag bags did not seem to be biodegradable but as we always split them it was easy enough to pick them out. We decided to only use actual tea leaves and coffee grounds in future.

One rhubarb forcer per dog seems perfect. When one is nearly full we put a lid on it and open the other for business. Allowing rain and sunshine in.

The other two times I have had to move the Rhubarb Forcers the results have been the same. Lovely compost.

*Rhubarb Forcers are bottomless terracotta pots

Enough of poo . Now for miraculous results.

Hidden under our rogue Pampas Grass was this palm tree and to a degree the mid to lower levels of the gumtree. Now the Pampas has had serious remedial cutting-back the almost unbelievable growth of the palm tree has been revealed. He was certainly on Death Row for the last 5 years but 2 years ago I moved the Rhubarb Forcers very close to where he was planted. Last year he did not do much that I noticed but under cover of far too much Pampas Grass he has made a ridiculous achievement of growth. I wonder if the Pampas and the Black Gum are also benefitting  from the close proximity of dog and coffee organic matter. Who could begin to guess, but now we are down to just one dog I wonder if supply and demand may be a problem..

And so onto the second inconsequential recipe.

There is an element of  squabbling in one of the organisations I work for. Not a life or death issue but troublesome to those involved and troubling to those on the sidelines. Intervention might be needed and then again it might  not.

My father and grandfather were both rural men at heart but whose career choices forced them to manage other humans. Other humans are complex creatures with foibles and opinions or views on how life should be.

Intervention is sometimes needed but timing is everything.

My grandad would reassure my dad that , ” Sometimes people need to be left to stew in their own juice for a bit”

My dad would say the same thing to me in the early stages of my career.

I have no idea if this was just familial advice or East Anglian wisdom passed down.

But I do find that allowing  squabbling humans some time, “Stewing in their own juice” is a very effective recipe for some types of conflict resolution.

Two recipes on a Wednesday that may never be needed. Until they are.