The yawn of the devil!

Last weekend we had a family get-together, and we played host to fifteen of our close family. I decided that rather than go out, we would provide a venue and the food and get everyone to congregate at our house.

The plan was to see them all on the Saturday and then one family, who lived furthest away, would stay over with us and go home on Sunday.

The plan ran like clockwork and an enjoyable day was had by all, except the cats.

Our cats do not do visitors!

It is not that they are not friendly, they certainly are. But they are used to a very quiet house in which they wander around and suit themselves. So when fifteen people turned up and three of them made a lot of noise, the cats ran for cover.

Gradually during the day, one of them became brave and made his way back into the noisy room. But the other one hid all day and all evening, out in the rain somewhere in the bushes.

That cat did not forget this fact.

The next morning after going to bed after midnight I was awoken by the noise of flapping. As I came to my senses I realised this was not a good sound.

Jumping out of bed I stumbled over the cats just in time to see the pigeon they had brought in to see me, breathing its last breath.

“Oh, my god”, I thought, “imagine if the two children asleep in the next room had been woken up by that!”. Their parents would never forgive me.

I had obviously been tired because the cats had performed their ritual slaughter for some time and the room was full of feathers. So much so that it was difficult to see whether that was the only casualty.

I moved about picking up the feathers and the carcass. There was only one victim, thank heavens. By the time I finished there was no sign it had ever been there.

After about 10 minutes I left the room and walked into the hallway, ready to put the evidence in the bin. Now the true picture became clear. My room was the last place they had been, but they had not started there.

The hallway was also full of feathers. And just to cap it off there was a mouse sitting on the tiles complete except for its head – which was nowhere to be seen.

And now there was a distant sound of children in the room down the corridor ….

I rushed into the kitchen and offloaded the first carcass.

Grabbing the kitchen roll and the tile cloth I dashed about picking up the debris and cleaning as I went. It took me about 10 minutes to clean properly.

Just as I picked up the last bit of evidence, a face appeared at the end of the hall and then a voice boomed – “he’s up!”.

At this point I wondered whether they had already seen the carnage. I quickly discovered that this was not the case and all was well in the world of this young seven-year-old.

I had just made it.

The cats walked out of the bedroom with a look as if to say, “just remember us next time!”

Frog spawn

Last week we had stalkers in the garden and couples playing piggy-back on the patio. The frogs had awoken from their winter slumber and were on the march.

After a week of treading carefully, and walking around with a torch to avoid standing on anything, we have finally been rewarded.

After much thrashing about, the females have laid many eggs in the pond and the males have fertilised them. We now have thousands of little dots waiting to grow.

Each year that we have been here there has been thousands of eggs laid. Some years those eggs have done well and we have had a plague of frogs, and other years the frost has come and the harvest has been severely impacted. In fact last year we saw relatively few after this happened.

Let’s hope this year the weather stays mild. We are now in March so it is reasonably likely.

Following last week’s feeling of excitement from the new spring growth and the various pictures of snow drops and crocuses, this week we’ve seen the launch of our primroses and primulas.

Only a few to start with but they are all different. The environment in our garden is exceptional for growing these plants and within a few weeks we will be inundated with them.

Below you will see the first few specimens.

New addition

Ok – so we don’t have the variety of last week, but we do have a few nice hellebores. We have planted some in the last couple of years and they seem to be doing well enough, to add more this spring. The picture opposite is our latest addition.

Our large indoor phallic symbol is coming to its crescendo. The huge flowers that have filled the hall are slowly starting to turn past their best and it won’t be long before the healthy green growth will shrink back into the bulb, retaining the goodness and leaving behind a withered end.

It has been beautiful.

The final picture of it in all its beauty is below.

New Album

On Wednesday we went to see Mike and the Mechanics at the Colston Hall in Bristol. They have been doing the rounds for many years and Mike Rutherford was one part of the original Genesis band. On Wednesday he demonstrated why he is so popular with a set that included all the hits plus some Genesis and Roachford mixed in.

See the link for their most well known track.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGDA0Hecw1k

The new album, out next week, sounds excellent and is worth a listen if you get the chance. Roachford has collaborated for the first time on this album and has added something different.

If they come to a venue near you, we highly recommend them. Considering my wife usually hates Genesis that is quite a feat.

Apparently, we had some good news at the start of the year!

Bristol has been named the fourth best city to visit in the world by the Rough Guides. What an honour!

Before we expect huge numbers of tourists to arrive, and go out and invest in a money making tourist scheme, bear in mind that third best was Nairobi in Kenya. If you have ever been to Nairobi then this really doesn’t reflect well on Bristol.

And finally ….

As the beginning of March arrives it is a good time to see hares. Brown hares are mostly found in open countryside, grassland and farmland, and so are widespread across Wiltshire.

A stronghold is Wiltshire Wildlife Trust's Blakehill Nature Reserve, near Cricklade, a former RAF airfield and now the site of one of the UK's largest hay meadow restoration projects. Other good places to see them are on Salisbury Plain and the Marlborough Downs.

Have a great weekend!

Hare he is again!

This week I have a few questions on hares. The answers will be sent out tomorrow.

1. The brown hare is Britain’s fastest land mammal, how fast can it run?

2. How many hares are there estimated to be in the UK?

3. It was also once believed that, if a pregnant woman saw a hare, her child would have which physical condition?

4. The phrase ‘mad as a March hare’ is derived from what?.

5. What is the name for a male hare? What is a female called?

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