There were people here doing something to the computers yesterday so I couldn't do a post.
Have just been to this client's house. The woman who goes on and on and on and on and is going doolally so she tells you the same things again and again but each time the facts change. I was there from 10.30 til 12.10. As she waved me down the street, she said "You didn't want a cup of tea, did you?" Hmph.
Walked a very long way round to my favourite little lake last night. Where I was going to go was full of cows and that was far too intimidating. They crowd round you and get all jumpy and skittish. Ever since I heard of a farmer getting trampled to death by his own cows I don't go far from a fence when I see them, in case I have to leap out. This walk would have taken me too far from any fence. Hubby says they won't harm you; they're only curious. I don't think the harm would be intentional. In fact I think I'll google it; I bet there have been loads of instances of cows hurting people. We once had a car kicked by a cow as it was being herded by (with others - one cow doesn't make a herd), so there you are.
The little lake wasn't so appealing without the sun on it. Anyway I saw a few wheatears and skylarks and heard cuckoo(s) a lot. Bluebells not really out yet, but soon will be. Heard first local yellowhammer of this spring. Saw a buzzard close up and herd the vibration of his wings in the air. There was wheatear sitting and walking on the ground in the ponies' field.
The ponies went MAD. they had their little feed and when I came back after the walk to get the buckets they thought I was coming with food again and cantered round and round and round, their little feet thundering.
I am back, having googled cows trampling people. It does happen. Apparently "a handful" of people die this way every year. The examples I found were dog walkers but just because I don't have a dog doesn't make me feel safe. They say it's when they have calves that they are threatening, being protective, but I have had that treatment when there are no calves. The advice given in one article was to stay as far away from them as possible. Well, I've tried that, but unless you are so far away that you will reach your exit quicker than them, they will come to you and crowd right round you. If you move towards them they'll spin round and do unpredictable things. If you wave a stick, they might just run but they'll probably be so startled they will jump about and kick etc. If you don't move, neither will they and you'll be there an awful long time.
Even as a pony owner, I would say exactly the same thing about horses and ponies. I am very nervous crossing fields with horses and ponies. I don't even trust my own gelding; if I stand with the mare cantering straight for me I know she will veer off at last minute, but I don't trust the boy.
Wednesday, 29 April 2009
Monday, 27 April 2009
No, not scenic!
Have just looked at the website "Scenic or not" where you are supposed to give scenes markes between 1 and 10 depending on how scenic you think they are. Are they "havin' a laugh?' There were very few to which I gave more than 3. My problems are:
How can anybody think of putting a picture of a crossroads with a signpost and not much view, or a petrol station, or a primary school or an average residential street into a scenery competition? I know it's all subjective but even so...
You can't give less than one vote. So if somethiig just is not scenic, you still have to allow 1 out of 10. Some stuff shouldn't even be in the running, eg the rally at Margam Park. What's that got to do with scenic-ness?!
You are supposed to judge the place, not the skills of the photographer. So if I look at the pictire and it's somewhere I know and like, then do I give it a high mark? But what if I can't see what I know and like about it in the photo? Do I then give it a low mark? You see, soembody has only photographed the actual river in a place where I really like the view down the valley. The actual river itself is nothing out of the ordinary, not distinguishable from many other rivers, so I should mark the scene as not scenic/ average? But that's hard when I think of it as a lovely spot.
There's a picture of "Low Fell Top". You can see there is a very wide view which would be quite a sight but the foreground is mostly grass and a rock. Nothing special about that. So do I mark it for the distant view or for the grass and rock? There's a pic of something Tower. It's just a stone tower with half a house next to it and some trees. No view. How can you judge that? Are you being asked to mark the foreground, as the picture's title suggests, or the view from the top?
The voting is open to abuse. People will just see somewhere on their home patch and automatically vote for it. Or take some nationalistic group which decides it doesn't like people from another part of the country. They'll just high votes to their own and low votes to the bit where they think they don't like the people.
As far as I can see, you can't search for particular areas to see the pictures people have put in. You seem to just have to vote on each one that is randomly thrown at you.
I can't get much assistance from the site. The "Home" button just starts the pictures rolling.
I agree with the leader board in the main.
However in the time I spent on the site there was really hardly anything remarkable. I just think it's not that the photographers aren't skilful; they just haven't photographed the right bits. My own holiday photos are much, much better than any of these pics, even if I do say so myself. If I wasn't so thick I would be putting loads of mine on but I don't know how to and the site doesn't tell you.
It's laughable that most of those photos have been entered. They are a joke. I was expecting a feast of glorious scenery but it's all sooooo mediocre and I am hugely disappointed!
How can anybody think of putting a picture of a crossroads with a signpost and not much view, or a petrol station, or a primary school or an average residential street into a scenery competition? I know it's all subjective but even so...
You can't give less than one vote. So if somethiig just is not scenic, you still have to allow 1 out of 10. Some stuff shouldn't even be in the running, eg the rally at Margam Park. What's that got to do with scenic-ness?!
You are supposed to judge the place, not the skills of the photographer. So if I look at the pictire and it's somewhere I know and like, then do I give it a high mark? But what if I can't see what I know and like about it in the photo? Do I then give it a low mark? You see, soembody has only photographed the actual river in a place where I really like the view down the valley. The actual river itself is nothing out of the ordinary, not distinguishable from many other rivers, so I should mark the scene as not scenic/ average? But that's hard when I think of it as a lovely spot.
There's a picture of "Low Fell Top". You can see there is a very wide view which would be quite a sight but the foreground is mostly grass and a rock. Nothing special about that. So do I mark it for the distant view or for the grass and rock? There's a pic of something Tower. It's just a stone tower with half a house next to it and some trees. No view. How can you judge that? Are you being asked to mark the foreground, as the picture's title suggests, or the view from the top?
The voting is open to abuse. People will just see somewhere on their home patch and automatically vote for it. Or take some nationalistic group which decides it doesn't like people from another part of the country. They'll just high votes to their own and low votes to the bit where they think they don't like the people.
As far as I can see, you can't search for particular areas to see the pictures people have put in. You seem to just have to vote on each one that is randomly thrown at you.
I can't get much assistance from the site. The "Home" button just starts the pictures rolling.
I agree with the leader board in the main.
However in the time I spent on the site there was really hardly anything remarkable. I just think it's not that the photographers aren't skilful; they just haven't photographed the right bits. My own holiday photos are much, much better than any of these pics, even if I do say so myself. If I wasn't so thick I would be putting loads of mine on but I don't know how to and the site doesn't tell you.
It's laughable that most of those photos have been entered. They are a joke. I was expecting a feast of glorious scenery but it's all sooooo mediocre and I am hugely disappointed!
PEOPLE!
Two posts in one day. As Kippers Dickie says, women have more to say.
EVERY time somebody leaves this room, he or she leaves the door wide open. It is pushed to all the time. They have to open it to come in but they will not close it when they leave. GRRRR!!! There is a cold draft across my feet when the door is open. GRRRRR!!! I keep a big stick behind me to shove the door with when they leave it open but stick is obstructed now by stuff on floor so I am having to get up and walk.
Half the time, they just expect you to stop what you are doing and listen to them. If you ask to be given a minute, or ask if you can get back to them, the look of disbelief on their faces just makes tyou deal with them right there and then.
When you do get back to them (when allowed that luxury), they keep answering calls and keeping you waiting. GRRRRR!
An ex-employee brought her baby in this morning, to the accompaniment of loud crooning, cackling female voices. She (the baby) looked just like a very old man I know who is aged 92. I'm not saying that I thought he might have anything to do with the baby's conception, but it is remarkable how just a bit of baldness can close a gap of 91 and a half years.
EVERY time somebody leaves this room, he or she leaves the door wide open. It is pushed to all the time. They have to open it to come in but they will not close it when they leave. GRRRR!!! There is a cold draft across my feet when the door is open. GRRRRR!!! I keep a big stick behind me to shove the door with when they leave it open but stick is obstructed now by stuff on floor so I am having to get up and walk.
Half the time, they just expect you to stop what you are doing and listen to them. If you ask to be given a minute, or ask if you can get back to them, the look of disbelief on their faces just makes tyou deal with them right there and then.
When you do get back to them (when allowed that luxury), they keep answering calls and keeping you waiting. GRRRRR!
An ex-employee brought her baby in this morning, to the accompaniment of loud crooning, cackling female voices. She (the baby) looked just like a very old man I know who is aged 92. I'm not saying that I thought he might have anything to do with the baby's conception, but it is remarkable how just a bit of baldness can close a gap of 91 and a half years.
Thursday, 23 April 2009
Drink!
What is tea meant to taste of? It's hard to define and it's hard to taste. If it's too weak it tastes of nothing and if it's too strong it tastes of too much and it's just bitter in a tea-ey sort of way. Maybe tannin is the flavour of tea. People go on about liking this brand but not that brand. There doesn't seem to be much difference except that the cheap tea to me has no taste, but Happy Shopper does actually have a taste and that is of damp cardboard, probably damp because it has been lining the cat litter tray.
You get coffee flavoured everything but you don't get tea flavour, do you? Unless tea loaf is supposed to taste of tea. Maybe Rich Tea biscuits are supposed to taste of tea.
I like that litter tray reference and I use it a lot. If I get letters I don't like I say to people "I'll keep that to line the cat litter tray" even though he does only use his tray once in a blue moon.
Don't know why I'm thinking about this today but it may because we're going out tonight to friends' house and one of them I suspect has a dependency on alcohol. Anyway... whenever you hear of somebody having got rid of their addicition, they always refuse to touch a drop. You would think that they would eventually just be able to go back to what was normal (I mean before they got addicted) and be able to just drink moderately. Presumably they are cured of their addiction and they've put to rest the demons which brought it about so why therefore should it come back? I daresay it's stronger than might be imagined by people who have never been there.
You get coffee flavoured everything but you don't get tea flavour, do you? Unless tea loaf is supposed to taste of tea. Maybe Rich Tea biscuits are supposed to taste of tea.
I like that litter tray reference and I use it a lot. If I get letters I don't like I say to people "I'll keep that to line the cat litter tray" even though he does only use his tray once in a blue moon.
Don't know why I'm thinking about this today but it may because we're going out tonight to friends' house and one of them I suspect has a dependency on alcohol. Anyway... whenever you hear of somebody having got rid of their addicition, they always refuse to touch a drop. You would think that they would eventually just be able to go back to what was normal (I mean before they got addicted) and be able to just drink moderately. Presumably they are cured of their addiction and they've put to rest the demons which brought it about so why therefore should it come back? I daresay it's stronger than might be imagined by people who have never been there.
The price of accommodation
How much should one pay for a hotel room for a night? I know it depends where, when and what standard, but say a hotel asks for £100 for one night in a double room. (It doesn't even have a pool or spa which I wouldn't use anyway.) I could get 2 or 3 nice dresses for that amount and they would last me years. OK, hubby doesn't wear dresses so that's not a fair comparison. But for my share of the bill I could get one or two nice dresses. Oh, maybe the last two I bought were much reduced in the sales. OK, one nice dress then. The same two people could get 2 or 3 decent mid price restauarant meals for that. It would probably pay for weeks' food for this household (including cat and ponies). It just seems comparatively a lot of money for being unconscious for a few hours. OK maybe there's the breakfast but not always. It just doesn't compare well to other things.
Often how much you feel prepared to pay is related to the visible end result. You have nothing nice to keep, see or take away after a hotel night (except maybe inside your head). You pay a lot for a new kitchen but then you see it every day and enjoy making food in that pleasant environment. Buy a settee and it looks nice in your room and is comfy to sit on and will last you years.You spend many times more for damp-proofing and you see nothing and feel you've spent money on nothing. It's a bit like that in a hotel. You've gone to sleep basically and woken up the next day. Nothing to show for it. You know you are less tired and stiff than if you had kept the money and slept in the car, but is that worth £100? It's a lorra money.
Often how much you feel prepared to pay is related to the visible end result. You have nothing nice to keep, see or take away after a hotel night (except maybe inside your head). You pay a lot for a new kitchen but then you see it every day and enjoy making food in that pleasant environment. Buy a settee and it looks nice in your room and is comfy to sit on and will last you years.You spend many times more for damp-proofing and you see nothing and feel you've spent money on nothing. It's a bit like that in a hotel. You've gone to sleep basically and woken up the next day. Nothing to show for it. You know you are less tired and stiff than if you had kept the money and slept in the car, but is that worth £100? It's a lorra money.
Wednesday, 22 April 2009
Nature watch and pies
Cuckoo! Heard from the garden last night. I was not the first of the pals to hear one but I'm just glad they're here.
Pies were a hot topic on R4 this morning. How pies have changed. So often it is a bowl of painfully hot stew you get, with a defrosted slice of puff pastry sitting on top. That isn't really a pie. A pie should have a bottom, middle and top and you should be able to cut slices out of it, not have to dig vertically with a fork, losing all the gravy as you bring the fork to your mouth.
Had a really nice lentil mush for my tea last night. Hubby was going to be out all evening and I had forgotten to defrost my fish so I went to the cupboard and knocked up a real feast with onion, garlic, lentil, tomato, bayleaf, salt and pepper and a stirring in of grated cheese. Just remembered there was some bacon in the freezer. That would have been nice chopped up in it. Oh well, maybe another time. Finished my Easter Egg too.
Pies were a hot topic on R4 this morning. How pies have changed. So often it is a bowl of painfully hot stew you get, with a defrosted slice of puff pastry sitting on top. That isn't really a pie. A pie should have a bottom, middle and top and you should be able to cut slices out of it, not have to dig vertically with a fork, losing all the gravy as you bring the fork to your mouth.
Had a really nice lentil mush for my tea last night. Hubby was going to be out all evening and I had forgotten to defrost my fish so I went to the cupboard and knocked up a real feast with onion, garlic, lentil, tomato, bayleaf, salt and pepper and a stirring in of grated cheese. Just remembered there was some bacon in the freezer. That would have been nice chopped up in it. Oh well, maybe another time. Finished my Easter Egg too.
Tuesday, 21 April 2009
When is a mountain not a mountain?
Personally I don't agree that anythiing over 2000 feet is a mountain. I don't know what the definition should be; maybe it shouldn't be just a question of height, but I think the absolute minimum should be 3,000 feet. I just don't think that the average 2,000 foot round things merit the title "mountain" but there are people who call even a hill of a few hundred feet a mountain.
Have I said this before? I'm afraid I'm getting like my elderly relatives, saying the same things over and over again. Oh dear.
What I really set out to ponder today was : Where is the Easter Egg mountain? They said on Radio 4 last night they would be speaking about it but I had to get out of the car and go to where I was going so I missed it. I have seen no such mountain in the shops so what have they done with the unsold eggs? I was hoping to get chocolatey bargains. Hmph.
Lindt don't fool me. I know that those very pretty gold foil wrapped rabbits become reindeer at Christmas. The shape is exactly the same so they remove the rabbit painted wrappers and put on reindeer wrappers with antlers drawn where the bunnies' ears were. And after Christmas, they deck them in their bunny costumes again and put them back out on the shelves. Maybe the tall, upright kind of bunny could be converted into a chocolate Santa with appropriate wrapping. I'm sure it could. The long ears could be his hat.
Small eggs get dressed as fir cones and sold as chocolate tree decorations or stocking fillers.
Have I said this before? I'm afraid I'm getting like my elderly relatives, saying the same things over and over again. Oh dear.
What I really set out to ponder today was : Where is the Easter Egg mountain? They said on Radio 4 last night they would be speaking about it but I had to get out of the car and go to where I was going so I missed it. I have seen no such mountain in the shops so what have they done with the unsold eggs? I was hoping to get chocolatey bargains. Hmph.
Lindt don't fool me. I know that those very pretty gold foil wrapped rabbits become reindeer at Christmas. The shape is exactly the same so they remove the rabbit painted wrappers and put on reindeer wrappers with antlers drawn where the bunnies' ears were. And after Christmas, they deck them in their bunny costumes again and put them back out on the shelves. Maybe the tall, upright kind of bunny could be converted into a chocolate Santa with appropriate wrapping. I'm sure it could. The long ears could be his hat.
Small eggs get dressed as fir cones and sold as chocolate tree decorations or stocking fillers.
Monday, 20 April 2009
Sun, nature watch, ponies and food
Sun, sun, sun! Although I had to be cooped up indoors for some of the time.
The swallows are back in the village and I hope they will be nesting again in the hay shed again soon. The race is on amongst some of my acquaintances for who hears the cuckoo first. Unlike some I am not home all day so feel at an unfair disadvantage. The best evening time is around 8pm. Saw wheatears in four different places. Their name has nothing to do with wheat, apparently; it's a corruption of a name for their white rumps.
Forgot to mention weeks ago but crowfoot has made its usual appearance in the stream.
Had my first sheep tick of the season because I sat on the grass yesterday in the garden.
Ponies' winter coats still there but falling out in great clumps. They are rolling a lot and birds sit on them quite a lot. I think it's all part of getting the coat out.
Finished that book "Katerfelto". Katerfelto was a man who was a bit of a magician, witchdoctor, charlatan, gypsy all rolled into one and he had a horse also called Katerfelto. In the book, the horse did escape onto the moor never to be seen again and now I wonder if the Katerfelto they speak about is the fictional one, or was there later on a real Arab stallion called after the book character who really did run on the moor. Must re-read about the history of Exmoor ponies.
Visited family on one day whose rules we have to abide by and who won't go outside in the sun. Did get out for a short walk however. Went for a meal. Nearly had coq au vin but it was one of those days when I just really fancy something tomatoey, garlicky, juicy and cheesy so I chose spinach and ricotta canelloni. I always expect 3 canelloni tubes but here were four and there was lots of tasty sauce. The pasta was a very tiny bit undercooked, however. For pudding I had trifle. Very nice too but I couldn't taste any alcohol and thought it didn't have quite enough cream on top.
Made a pudding from my Pudding Club book - toffee apple pudding. However I made it with rhubard and also the Golden Syrup was best before end of 1996 which hubby noticed so I couldn't use it. (Would I have used it if he hadn't noticed? I didn't get that far). Also it involves suet. I can't face using suet except in Christmas pudding and mincemeat so I did my usual compromise. It was really very nice and next time I will make sure I have Golden Syrup in it and will try it with apples.
The swallows are back in the village and I hope they will be nesting again in the hay shed again soon. The race is on amongst some of my acquaintances for who hears the cuckoo first. Unlike some I am not home all day so feel at an unfair disadvantage. The best evening time is around 8pm. Saw wheatears in four different places. Their name has nothing to do with wheat, apparently; it's a corruption of a name for their white rumps.
Forgot to mention weeks ago but crowfoot has made its usual appearance in the stream.
Had my first sheep tick of the season because I sat on the grass yesterday in the garden.
Ponies' winter coats still there but falling out in great clumps. They are rolling a lot and birds sit on them quite a lot. I think it's all part of getting the coat out.
Finished that book "Katerfelto". Katerfelto was a man who was a bit of a magician, witchdoctor, charlatan, gypsy all rolled into one and he had a horse also called Katerfelto. In the book, the horse did escape onto the moor never to be seen again and now I wonder if the Katerfelto they speak about is the fictional one, or was there later on a real Arab stallion called after the book character who really did run on the moor. Must re-read about the history of Exmoor ponies.
Visited family on one day whose rules we have to abide by and who won't go outside in the sun. Did get out for a short walk however. Went for a meal. Nearly had coq au vin but it was one of those days when I just really fancy something tomatoey, garlicky, juicy and cheesy so I chose spinach and ricotta canelloni. I always expect 3 canelloni tubes but here were four and there was lots of tasty sauce. The pasta was a very tiny bit undercooked, however. For pudding I had trifle. Very nice too but I couldn't taste any alcohol and thought it didn't have quite enough cream on top.
Made a pudding from my Pudding Club book - toffee apple pudding. However I made it with rhubard and also the Golden Syrup was best before end of 1996 which hubby noticed so I couldn't use it. (Would I have used it if he hadn't noticed? I didn't get that far). Also it involves suet. I can't face using suet except in Christmas pudding and mincemeat so I did my usual compromise. It was really very nice and next time I will make sure I have Golden Syrup in it and will try it with apples.
Thursday, 16 April 2009
Moans and favourites
Felt a moan coming on this lunchtime when out shopping. Why is it that that when people approach 2 abreast or more, it's always me who ends up getting out of the way? When it's their children or their dogs for which I have to move, that's even more annoying.
Had a bad dream last night that we were on a ferry and we upgraded our quiet, secluded reclining seats for a cabin. The cabin turned out to be in a big noisy open plan area with just a curtain round it, rather like a hospital cubicle, but the curtain was a lot shorter and lower so you could see above and below it, and right opposite was a family with screaming children.
Top ten favourite towns and villages (not in any order):
Venice
Porlock
Bossington
Ludlow
Inveraray
Herefordshire black and white villages
That isn't 10, or it is with the villages, but it leaves room for more or I could turn it into a bigger number if I like.
Had a bad dream last night that we were on a ferry and we upgraded our quiet, secluded reclining seats for a cabin. The cabin turned out to be in a big noisy open plan area with just a curtain round it, rather like a hospital cubicle, but the curtain was a lot shorter and lower so you could see above and below it, and right opposite was a family with screaming children.
Top ten favourite towns and villages (not in any order):
Venice
Porlock
Bossington
Ludlow
Inveraray
Herefordshire black and white villages
That isn't 10, or it is with the villages, but it leaves room for more or I could turn it into a bigger number if I like.
Another annoying question
"Are you sure?" Red rag to a bull. Say it's about as offering to get something at a shop for somebody, when you're going there yourself anyway, or are going nearby. "Oh, are you sure?" Is it convenient for you?" Well I'm not that gracious (I'm afraid), unless for some reason I really want to get or stay in their good books)and rarely have time on my hands so I probably wouldn't have offerred if I hadn't been sure or it hadn't been convenient. Honestly! As if I'm going to turn round and say "well no, actually I'm not sure at all. I don't really want to do that tiny thing for you. I've considered how my day is going to pan out and it won't actually be convenient at all so I don't know why I said I would do it. I feel really stupid now, not thinking it out before making my offer. Sorry. You'd better do it yourself". The smaller the gesture the more pointless and annoying the question.
Nature watch - wheatear!
Male wheatear seen last night on the wall of old ruin where they were always seen last year.
Keep looking for hares but pony routine has changed with the lighter nights. Hares could be seen nearly every morning but they are not usually in that place 11 hours later.
Just rescued field vole from the cat's jaws.
Keep looking for hares but pony routine has changed with the lighter nights. Hares could be seen nearly every morning but they are not usually in that place 11 hours later.
Just rescued field vole from the cat's jaws.
Tuesday, 14 April 2009
Easter hols, tourist attractions and naturewatch
Easter all over. What a comedown having to return to work.
Took some Easter cakes on holiday and ate them in the gaps between huge breakfasts, tea shop visits and evening meals.
The weather was superb and it really makes all the difference to an Easter hol because when it's wintry at Easter it just feels all wrong.
Anywhere that is geared up to tourism -not that this particular area was - is always full of children doing Easter egg hunts. Are these new things or did they just not have them anywhere I was until about 10 years ago? Are they usually chocolate eggs that are hunted and if so, what happens when it's hot? They just melt I suppose.
Went to 2 churches and had the usual feeling that for their sake you hope they talk to you because you hope they are nice and welcoming to newcomers but you also hope it won't be you they choose to talk to because you would prefer to melt into the background.
Saw lovely scenery and some very attractive towns and villages.
Visited another old village church and saw it had a tortoise stove. Exciting because the tortoise stove is mentioned in a Christmas poem by I THINK John Betjeman. I actually like bits of the poem but felt left out of it at the beginning because I didn't know what a tortoise stove was and felt I ought to. Was it the shape of it or the make? Well now I know.
Tourist attractions. Well they're very useful when you have visitors and don't know where to take them, especially if they have children, but I often feel there are too many of them and they discourage people from thinking for themselves. Now they get called "The Something Experience". It's a word used to make a museum sound exciting and interactive when it isn't. These places are usually geared towards children, with boxes you put your hands inside to feel creepy things (no thanks) and chairs and tables of diminutive size with papers and crayons on them. And sometimes it just seems pointless. Say "The countryside experience". Well, it's all around. You don't need to go into a building to be told what it looks like outside. I don't think you need to go and follow a way-marked trail with numbers within the confines of an enclosed space. It's all there anyway, without the need for the false environment. National Trust houses are great because they're not geared towards children on the whole but they are now succumbing to the Easter Egg hunt. Also, increasingly, tribes of children run around castles shrieking and waving pieces of paper because they're doing some quiz and generally annoy the rest of us. (Why can't they just be brought up not to have things handed to them on a plate in some pretend world which makes them believe everything centres around them?) There just seems to be an assumption that you have to go to somewhere unreal to experience the real.
Nature watch - I'll only mention the things that are new since last nature watch:
swallows, house martins (maybe), sand martins, willow warbler, yellowhammer, chiffchaff, blackcap/garden warbler (only heard, didn't see), dead grass snake, cowslips, violets, stitchwort, wood anemones, 2 unknown flowers.
Not seen any of these at home yet except for the willow warbler which I heard in the village last night. Still not seen wheatears. Saw either swallows or house martins from office window. Too far away to say which.
Took some Easter cakes on holiday and ate them in the gaps between huge breakfasts, tea shop visits and evening meals.
The weather was superb and it really makes all the difference to an Easter hol because when it's wintry at Easter it just feels all wrong.
Anywhere that is geared up to tourism -not that this particular area was - is always full of children doing Easter egg hunts. Are these new things or did they just not have them anywhere I was until about 10 years ago? Are they usually chocolate eggs that are hunted and if so, what happens when it's hot? They just melt I suppose.
Went to 2 churches and had the usual feeling that for their sake you hope they talk to you because you hope they are nice and welcoming to newcomers but you also hope it won't be you they choose to talk to because you would prefer to melt into the background.
Saw lovely scenery and some very attractive towns and villages.
Visited another old village church and saw it had a tortoise stove. Exciting because the tortoise stove is mentioned in a Christmas poem by I THINK John Betjeman. I actually like bits of the poem but felt left out of it at the beginning because I didn't know what a tortoise stove was and felt I ought to. Was it the shape of it or the make? Well now I know.
Tourist attractions. Well they're very useful when you have visitors and don't know where to take them, especially if they have children, but I often feel there are too many of them and they discourage people from thinking for themselves. Now they get called "The Something Experience". It's a word used to make a museum sound exciting and interactive when it isn't. These places are usually geared towards children, with boxes you put your hands inside to feel creepy things (no thanks) and chairs and tables of diminutive size with papers and crayons on them. And sometimes it just seems pointless. Say "The countryside experience". Well, it's all around. You don't need to go into a building to be told what it looks like outside. I don't think you need to go and follow a way-marked trail with numbers within the confines of an enclosed space. It's all there anyway, without the need for the false environment. National Trust houses are great because they're not geared towards children on the whole but they are now succumbing to the Easter Egg hunt. Also, increasingly, tribes of children run around castles shrieking and waving pieces of paper because they're doing some quiz and generally annoy the rest of us. (Why can't they just be brought up not to have things handed to them on a plate in some pretend world which makes them believe everything centres around them?) There just seems to be an assumption that you have to go to somewhere unreal to experience the real.
Nature watch - I'll only mention the things that are new since last nature watch:
swallows, house martins (maybe), sand martins, willow warbler, yellowhammer, chiffchaff, blackcap/garden warbler (only heard, didn't see), dead grass snake, cowslips, violets, stitchwort, wood anemones, 2 unknown flowers.
Not seen any of these at home yet except for the willow warbler which I heard in the village last night. Still not seen wheatears. Saw either swallows or house martins from office window. Too far away to say which.
Thursday, 9 April 2009
Easter cakes, hares and annoying questions
It isn't Easter yet, I know, but these things have to be made in readiness. I am no good with yeast so couldn't make hot cross buns. Here are some little nest cakes I made, little Singing Chickens by Foody.
Saw two hares haring round the fields this morning. I could almost have thought they were running faster than the ponies could canter. Taking into account their comparative size, they certainly were.
There won't be much posting for a few days as we are going away. "Anywhere nice?" people always ask. "No. nowhere nice. I only go to horrible places for my holidays." Well, honestly, what a stoopid question. I wouldn't go anywhere I didn't think was nice, would I?
Other annoying questions "How are you?" Funny how people stress the "you" as if they might oyherwise be asking you "How am I ?"And usually they don't want to know. They'll rush through a door breathing the inane question as they breeze by and won't wait for the answer anyway. I worked with somebody who said it every time she saw you during the day which could have been 20 times. I used to reply that there was no change from the last time.
People always ask when we go away "Oh, but what about the horses?" 2 growls here. 1:they are not horses, they are ponies. 2: what do they think? I would just leave them without making arrangements? Just open all the gates and let them wander the village and break into people's gardens? The same people never show the same concern about the cat.
The question "Where did you last see it?" when you've lost something. Well, if I knew that, I'd have looked there already and not found it. And if I haven't looked there it's because I don't know. Grrrr
Oh dear. Intolerant again. Complaining again. Just don't let it show and they'll never know. One day I might write a novel about an angry little character who will express all the complaints I have raised in this blog. That'll really get them out in the open and maybe then I will lay them to rest.
Somebody said the other week "Why would anyone ever want to have a blog? Publish your own diary on the internet? But how dull. There must be millions of 'My name is Prue. I'm married with three children. I am a teacher, my husband is an IT consultant. I went shopping today..blah blah blah.' " I didn't want to admit to her that I had a blog, but you can be selective and don't have to make it a real log of non-events. Say what you want to; don't what you don't. It's just a way of saying things you wouldn't otherwise get to say.
Anyway I've said enough today. Supposed to be working.
Will have my last little choccy egg from my stash today. Still managing to stay around the Z stone mark.
Tuesday, 7 April 2009
L'Aquila and Onna, litter, darned people and choccy eggs
Read about L'Aquila. It was formed of 99 villages so used to have 99 churches. Even now, the church bell (presumaby the cathedral one) is rung 99 times every night. It has a fountain with 99 spouts. It ha ssuffered lots of earthquakes. Poor Onna has fared worse but the reporters seem to be concentrating on the bigger place. I do wish they would all pronounce it correctly and consistently.
Litter. They are talking of making it an offence for postmen to throw their red rubber bands on the ground. Well, poor postmen! I thought it was an offence to throw litter anyway,and look at all the other litter there is. Why pick on the postmen? I can't think they're deliberately throwing them; I think they are just dropping them and not bothering to pick them up. But what about smokers who throw fag butts on the ground and farmers who leave plastic bags to flap in the trees, children and others who throw fast food and drink cartons about, and what about really clamping down on dog mess? That's an offence but they get away with it every day. Hmph.
Darned people. Well, I am sick of clients. If you can't make sense of their contradictory remarks and do their complex 3-month job for them within 3 days they take it elsewhere. "Good riddance" I want to say but in this climate we can't afford business to be taken away from the firm. Another one is picking holes in everything I send her, as if she knew better! Why keep a dog and bark yourself? Why employ a solicitor and imply you will rely on her expertise, legal knowledge and training then go and pull the work to pieces and try to change the words to what you in your ignorance think they should be? A 3-word phrase can have a meaning that it takes pages to explain and she wants it to say something else! How dare she? I don't want to explain it to her because she will only demand further explanations and get into too much detail and then I will be out of my depth and anyway if she wants that much detail why doesn't she get qualified and do it herself? I am tempted to say "You draft it; I'll correct your draft" but I would only end up with the same fight on my hands, with her not wanting to change it. All I want to say is "Shut up. I'm right. Sign it and don't darken my door again." This is really stressing me out.
Galaxy eggs. You can still get the truffle filled ones but only as mini eggs in bags.
Litter. They are talking of making it an offence for postmen to throw their red rubber bands on the ground. Well, poor postmen! I thought it was an offence to throw litter anyway,and look at all the other litter there is. Why pick on the postmen? I can't think they're deliberately throwing them; I think they are just dropping them and not bothering to pick them up. But what about smokers who throw fag butts on the ground and farmers who leave plastic bags to flap in the trees, children and others who throw fast food and drink cartons about, and what about really clamping down on dog mess? That's an offence but they get away with it every day. Hmph.
Darned people. Well, I am sick of clients. If you can't make sense of their contradictory remarks and do their complex 3-month job for them within 3 days they take it elsewhere. "Good riddance" I want to say but in this climate we can't afford business to be taken away from the firm. Another one is picking holes in everything I send her, as if she knew better! Why keep a dog and bark yourself? Why employ a solicitor and imply you will rely on her expertise, legal knowledge and training then go and pull the work to pieces and try to change the words to what you in your ignorance think they should be? A 3-word phrase can have a meaning that it takes pages to explain and she wants it to say something else! How dare she? I don't want to explain it to her because she will only demand further explanations and get into too much detail and then I will be out of my depth and anyway if she wants that much detail why doesn't she get qualified and do it herself? I am tempted to say "You draft it; I'll correct your draft" but I would only end up with the same fight on my hands, with her not wanting to change it. All I want to say is "Shut up. I'm right. Sign it and don't darken my door again." This is really stressing me out.
Galaxy eggs. You can still get the truffle filled ones but only as mini eggs in bags.
Nature watch
THINK I saw my first swallow today! In the village they usually arrive mid month but this one was some miles away. Wish I could see another just to be sure.
Corrected yesterday's redstart to stonechat. Don't know why I put redstart when I knew it was a stonechat and wouldn't normally have seen a redstart in that place. Going doolally.
Still no wheatears.
Wood sorrel seen on Sunday.
Two hares seen in pony field. What looks like a patch of bare soil, but is redder than the soil and is there every day in much the same place is a hare. Today there were two. they were chasing each other and doing other antics which I would have needed binocs to see. Watched for a long time and felt very privileged getting to see them in their own little hare world.
Robin was in its usual place too, bowing and cocking its head. Again held a piece of suet out for it but it didn't perch on my hand. I could only wait about 2 minutes though.
2 male blackbirds seen squabbling in the garden.
Hubby heard chiffchaff in woods near town last week.
Corrected yesterday's redstart to stonechat. Don't know why I put redstart when I knew it was a stonechat and wouldn't normally have seen a redstart in that place. Going doolally.
Still no wheatears.
Wood sorrel seen on Sunday.
Two hares seen in pony field. What looks like a patch of bare soil, but is redder than the soil and is there every day in much the same place is a hare. Today there were two. they were chasing each other and doing other antics which I would have needed binocs to see. Watched for a long time and felt very privileged getting to see them in their own little hare world.
Robin was in its usual place too, bowing and cocking its head. Again held a piece of suet out for it but it didn't perch on my hand. I could only wait about 2 minutes though.
2 male blackbirds seen squabbling in the garden.
Hubby heard chiffchaff in woods near town last week.
Monday, 6 April 2009
Nature watch
Pond skaters on the little stream.
Stonechat seen on common. They aren't always migrants but since I haven't seen any for months I am assuming this one is.
Water avens in flower.
More lambs.
Another sighting of suspect but unconfirmed wheatear.
Cat caught robin! He caught it mid-air in the outbuildings but I chased him out to the garden and found him playing with robin on the lawn. Grabbed cat's scruff and robin, flat on its back on grass with wings spread out, turned over and flew off. What a relief. Was it "my" robin? No sign of robin this morning but there was one singing nearby. Hope mine is alright. It could have died afterwards of fright.
Stood for a while with food in my hand yesterday while it looked and looked, cocking its head and hopping to post, to wire etc. I had to go in the end. Anyway, it ha shad a chance to think about hand feeding. Will try again if it's still around.
Stonechat seen on common. They aren't always migrants but since I haven't seen any for months I am assuming this one is.
Water avens in flower.
More lambs.
Another sighting of suspect but unconfirmed wheatear.
Cat caught robin! He caught it mid-air in the outbuildings but I chased him out to the garden and found him playing with robin on the lawn. Grabbed cat's scruff and robin, flat on its back on grass with wings spread out, turned over and flew off. What a relief. Was it "my" robin? No sign of robin this morning but there was one singing nearby. Hope mine is alright. It could have died afterwards of fright.
Stood for a while with food in my hand yesterday while it looked and looked, cocking its head and hopping to post, to wire etc. I had to go in the end. Anyway, it ha shad a chance to think about hand feeding. Will try again if it's still around.
Earthquake in L'Aquila and mediaeval towns
How sad. It always seems much more tangible when it's somewhere in Europe. What a shame it was mainly in the mediaeval part but maybe more people would have been affected if it had been in a suburb.
I think the same thing happened in Assisi a few years ago but apparently it's all been restored. I hope the same can be done here.
We have booked a holiday in central Italy but far enough from L'Aquila so are not worried about whether to go ahead. Just hate to think of these lovely places getting destroyed. Reports are due in about the surrounding villages which were probably hit harder.
Italy is so fragile, prone to earthquakes and volcano eruptions.
Why is it that Britain has so few little mediaeval towns but Italy is full of them, and so is France but maybe to a lesser degree. I used to think it was because we had the war, but so did they. Is it our planning policy? There was a lot of demolishing here in the ?? was it the 60's? So-called improvements. Even our towns which are mediaeval really lack the character of the continental ones. There is always some visible ugliness and they are all blighted by the same chain shops, same frontages, same precincts even down to the style of paving, same litter, wide streets which have replaced the narrow alleys through archways for reasons of motor traffic flow, so ours all have a distinctly modern feel.
I think the same thing happened in Assisi a few years ago but apparently it's all been restored. I hope the same can be done here.
We have booked a holiday in central Italy but far enough from L'Aquila so are not worried about whether to go ahead. Just hate to think of these lovely places getting destroyed. Reports are due in about the surrounding villages which were probably hit harder.
Italy is so fragile, prone to earthquakes and volcano eruptions.
Why is it that Britain has so few little mediaeval towns but Italy is full of them, and so is France but maybe to a lesser degree. I used to think it was because we had the war, but so did they. Is it our planning policy? There was a lot of demolishing here in the ?? was it the 60's? So-called improvements. Even our towns which are mediaeval really lack the character of the continental ones. There is always some visible ugliness and they are all blighted by the same chain shops, same frontages, same precincts even down to the style of paving, same litter, wide streets which have replaced the narrow alleys through archways for reasons of motor traffic flow, so ours all have a distinctly modern feel.
Friday, 3 April 2009
Small eggs located
A local shop has Creme eggs, Smarties eggs, Mars and Aero! Bought a Smarties one but they've changed it to being hollow with little Smarties inside. Very nice with appealing rattling noise but I was looking forward to the sticky stuff inside that they had 2 years ago when I last had one. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Lovely choc. Good riddance, diet!
Wednesday, 1 April 2009
Nature watch
THINK I saw a wheatear. It was silhouetted so I couldn't see for certain but it was the same shape as and in the same place as the wheatears of previous years.
Two chaffinches seen pairing.
Two insects joined together on my washing yesterday.
Met two neighbours who thought they had heard a green woodpecker and were going out to look for it.
Robin returned today after two days of not appearing. Ponies eating far less hay now. I bring it back - or most of it - every day. When I stop the hay feeding I will stop the robin feeding. It's a sign that their natural food supply is increasing. So if I'm going to try to get the robin to eat from my hand it's probably this weekend or never.
Local lambs very much in evidence now.
Two chaffinches seen pairing.
Two insects joined together on my washing yesterday.
Met two neighbours who thought they had heard a green woodpecker and were going out to look for it.
Robin returned today after two days of not appearing. Ponies eating far less hay now. I bring it back - or most of it - every day. When I stop the hay feeding I will stop the robin feeding. It's a sign that their natural food supply is increasing. So if I'm going to try to get the robin to eat from my hand it's probably this weekend or never.
Local lambs very much in evidence now.
Nature watch
Suspect pine marten seen late on Saturday night.Or was it? Seems a bit too unlikely and I didn't get a good look but the size tells me it couldn't have been anything else.
Barn owl seen another night so the cat is not eating quite all the voles then.
Woodpecker heard on Sunday afternoon again, probably the usual great spotted. Heard from the back of my pony - back to much missed riding now that rehearsals are over.
Where are the wheatears? Swallows should be here in another 2 weeks or so, and others with them.
Robin appeared today but too late to get his food before the magpies. I stood guard for a while but ran out of time. Magpies don't dare to get close enough to eat while I'm there. but the robin will.
Thing that looks like a mangled toad skin with toady innard goo is gradually drying up on the fence post. It looks as though a bird decided toady wasnot to its taste after all and dropped it out of the sky. Or ate what it wanted on the fence post and left the rest.
In mid rural France last summer I kept seeing animal droppings which were made upalmost entirely of fruit stones,nearly always cherries but also plums. Fromthe size of them I thought the animals must be badgers. I read that badgers do gorge on fruit but that they have hidden latrines. So what animal would gorge on massive quantities of fruit and let the droppings fall where they may? I emailed a wildlife website but nobody ever got back to me.
Barn owl seen another night so the cat is not eating quite all the voles then.
Woodpecker heard on Sunday afternoon again, probably the usual great spotted. Heard from the back of my pony - back to much missed riding now that rehearsals are over.
Where are the wheatears? Swallows should be here in another 2 weeks or so, and others with them.
Robin appeared today but too late to get his food before the magpies. I stood guard for a while but ran out of time. Magpies don't dare to get close enough to eat while I'm there. but the robin will.
Thing that looks like a mangled toad skin with toady innard goo is gradually drying up on the fence post. It looks as though a bird decided toady wasnot to its taste after all and dropped it out of the sky. Or ate what it wanted on the fence post and left the rest.
In mid rural France last summer I kept seeing animal droppings which were made upalmost entirely of fruit stones,nearly always cherries but also plums. Fromthe size of them I thought the animals must be badgers. I read that badgers do gorge on fruit but that they have hidden latrines. So what animal would gorge on massive quantities of fruit and let the droppings fall where they may? I emailed a wildlife website but nobody ever got back to me.
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