Thursday, 26 April 2012

Rain, birds and cigarettes


Back again after a bit of a gap cause by the lack of proper internet coverage.  The upshot of this is my original provider has been binned and I am now with another company.  Hopefully this new lot will be more reliable.

Latest from the hobbling hip lady.................no more hobble, no more sticks and she is scuttling around like a speed walker.  Absolutely amazing results in such a short time.  She has actually been fixed quicker than the conservatory, which, although up again has still to have the electrics, plastering and flooring done.

After the beautiful weather of March we have been plunged into days of never ending rain, wind and dark skies with the sun only appearing in the evening in time to produce a sunset.  Fat lot of good that is to anyone.  Various plans for the past three weekends have been totally scuppered, the National Trust tickets remain hidden away for use once it is dry enough to have a day out and winter waterproof jackets have made an enforced reappearance.  So long as this inclement weather vanishes in time for my forthcoming week away at the coast I will be happy.  There is still a hosepipe ban in this area as apparently we are in the grip of a drought.  I would like to invite the ministers in charge of water to visit my garden and see just how wet everything is.  Of course, should the various water companies bother to repair the leaks around the whole country (these lose us literally millions of gallons a month) then there would be no need for water restrictions, bills might actually go down and we would all be better off.  Admittedly we are in no way as badly off as many countries in foreign parts but the people there do not take water for granted and make sure every drop is carefully used, not left to run away in the safe fashion we seem to think is acceptable here.

The baby blackbirds in my garden popped out of their next a couple of weeks ago.  There are four very lively little feathery critters and they are amusing to watch literally establishing a pecking order within the sibling structure.  There appear to be three females and one male and I have had to break up fights between two of them on more than one occasion.  For such young birdies they have ferocious tempers and one will pin the other to the floor and start pulling at its feathers!  The male one is currently sporting a couple of long feathers sticking out at right angles but this has not stopped him from carrying on the altercation with his nest-mate.  Perhaps I should set my cat into the mix to liven things up a little and show them who really is the boss outside.

Several local supermarkets and petrol stations have recently been broken into and had their stock of cigarettes stolen.  Judging by the quantities involved the culprits cannot really claim they are ‘for personal use’ although I daresay this will be their plea when they are finally apprehended.  Of course if they engage a lawyer popular with the footballers and other so-called celebrities I am confident they will not only be acquitted of any involvement, but also be given their own television reality show.  As has been said before, there is no such thing as bad publicity.  Just ask Hugh Grant, John Terry, Wayne Rooney et al (allegedly and without prejudice of course).

Dream of the week feature................the house martins have returned early from their winter holidays and are very pleased to see me.  So much so in fact, that two attached themselves to each of my shoulders in epaulette fashion.  Once more, answers on a postcard please.


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