Everything Looks Better In The Sun!

Sunday was a fantastic day. After a week of leaving the house and then arriving home in the dark it was so good to see the sun and feel the warmth on my face. There was a stiff breeze blowing which cooled things down, but it was definitely a ‘glad to be alive’ day.

I wondered around the garden looking for photos for this blog, but it really is that time of year when the autumn colours are falling to the ground and the frost has bitten most things that are left standing. Those flowers and shrubs that are left are now being drowned by the rain.

But as much as the weather seems confused, it has been really good for storing apples. Not too cold that they freeze, but not too warm that they rot. I kept them outside in large garden bags and they lasted remarkably well. Very few apples have bruised. So the fact that we ran out of bottles for our apple juice a few weeks ago, with loads of apples still to crush, was no problem.

Our last session of major apple crushing left us with another 5 or 6 wheel-barrow loads collected but not crushed.  These were a mixture of Bramleys, Russets and an apple that we haven’t identified – which has been particularly productive this year. The volumes have been the heaviest ever, and the size of the fruit has been reasonably large. Opening the crown of the tree to access more sunlight has helped it to breath and ripen the apples better.

It is surprising how a crushed cooking apple is no longer too sharp. It must be the flesh that has the really strong taste because the juice we have got from the Bramleys tastes fantastic and needs no additions.

We spent most of Sunday crushing apples and by the end of the day we had a reasonable amount of juice bottled and pasteurised. The red / brown colour is wonderful with a cloudy texture that holds the flavour.

The Mice Seem To Hid Under The Trees In The Front Garden

As I write this blog, my better half is away with her family. The familiar sound of “I’ve brought you a present” echoes in the empty house.

Searching out Charlie, I found him presiding over the future of a field mouse. It moves like lightening but he is always ahead of it and pokes and prods it to keep it entertaining. I snatched him up with his brother and locked them in the bedroom away from the visitor.

This is the point where I usually get my better half to catch it. Partly, because she is more nimble than me, but mostly because I really can’t stand mice or rats or things that move that fast and can bite.

A mouse can be wonderfully elusive. It is so quick and mobile that it can hide behind a hair or under a stray leaf.

30 minutes later I am still chasing it around the room. Tired and frustrated I decide to re-enlist support from Charlie. He quickly finds the mouse and brings it back out of hiding. As luck would have it, the mouse ran into a cul-de-sac to escape his clutches which allowed me to block it with a pint glass. Now I had it trapped.

I removed the cat again from the battlefield and snared the mouse. As I carried it to the front door I was terrified it would jump out. Mice can jump pretty high and the glass was not big. But thankfully on this occasion it stayed put and it was soon running free outside.

I slumped back onto the chair, proud of my efforts. Before we lived here I would have run away at the sight of a mouse. Now I am able to at least rid our house of the unwanted creatures. What progress!

I'm Getting Better Really I am

A couple of weeks ago I published the first part of the diary of our injured cat, Tango. This is the rest of his diary …….

 Monday morning – five weeks ago

I woke up feeling thirsty.

As I surveyed my surroundings I realised that I was now in a small box with metal bars.

I could hear others around me but I could see no one. In the distance a distressed dog was calling to its human, but no one came running. In fact, the more it yelled, the quieter the response felt.

My back was hurting terribly and as I started to stand up, my legs gave way and I crumpled into a heap.

Next to me I could see a water bowl, a box for poo and some food.

"Who puts their food next to a box for poo?"

“What do you think I am?”

I tried to stand again and edge towards the space outside the box. Once again I tumbled, this time I fell into the water and knocked it all over my floor.

I lay there for what seemed like hours. I could again hear others moaning nearby somewhere in the dark.

At last a human dressed in blue opened the metal gate. She poked about and then lifted me out. 

As I floated on her arm I looked around.

Many others were also locked in boxes of their own. No one I recognised by sight, but the various wrappings and straight jackets indicated that they were all in a similar state of consciousness.

She dried the box and then put me back.

Tuesday / Wednesday – five weeks ago

This continued for many days. A bit of food, a poke and a prod, the odd sharp metal thing in my leg and then hours of lying there waiting for it to all happen again. In between, an out of box experience, looking at others who are being treated similarly.

“Well I don't know what you think I am, but I feel like I am being experimented on. What is it I am supposed to have done?”

“And what are you doing to the others?”

“When will I know that it is all over?”

“Where is my brother and the grassy garden I normally sniff around in?”

I smell funny and I can't be bothered to clean myself if I am to be kept here any longer.

If I knew what the animal protection league was, I think now is the time to call them. No one should be locked in a box, no matter how ill they feel.

Friday – five weeks ago

And then just as I had finally gotten comfortable, I was fished out of the box and carted off to a large machine.

The machine looked frightening and I don't remember what happened next, because someone gave me a sleeping drug.

So now, I am locked in a box, poked and prodded regularly, fished in and out, paraded in front of the other inmates, fed to several big machines and drugged so I won't remember.

Three weeks ago

This went on for days or even weeks I don't really remember, the drug filled haze messed with my mind.

I seem to recall the big fat human holding me at times and peering into my eyes with that hairy grin. Then the scrawny one peered into my box, looking at me with that look of pity.

And then one day it happened.

I was just lying there debating on whether I should try to spill my water again, or poo on my food, when another blue clad human thrust me into a new outfit. This outfit was so uncomfortable it made my feet ache and crushed my body.

“That's it”, I thought. "No more mister nice guy". I will lay down and not move again until they take this off.

But then the scrawny human came and took me away from that place. She bundled me into a box and carted me out into a metal box on wheels.

Just as I started to suggest she took off the new outfit, she locked me in a metal box inside my own home.

My brother strolled by, looking at me as if we had never met. He hissed at me. "How rude!", I thought.

"Hey - you idiot, it's me!"

He walked on by ignoring my pleas.

Now the routine continued, but this time in my own home. The embarrassment of it, in front of my own brother.

"Well if you think I am going to try walking in this outfit, dream on". And come to think of it, I don't seem able to walk anyway. I can shuffle on my front legs, but me back legs are like jelly. If you would just let me out, I would be able to sort myself out.

A few days later and I had learned to stand and totter forwards in my suit. I had even managed to have a poo without emptying it into my food.

That was a challenge because the poo dish was barely large enough for my bum, but I managed all the same.

Then I managed to stagger around the room and down the hall. A bit more each day. Until one day I was assessed.

Two weeks ago

In recognition of my achievements they removed my suit.

I felt like I could walk on air - well wobble on air anyway.

I was even allowed out of my box.

But as much as I pad around, my legs aren't what they used to be, and a trip down the hall usually involves bouncing off all the walls and the floor.

I am starting to believe it is not worth the effort. I am not allowed out any more, and it is so boring in this place.

And so I wander, up and down, and round and round looking for the opening. A way out, a chink in the windows, a door not quite closed.

This week

As much as I have searched, they have all been closed. I can watch from the windows and see my brother ghosting past, as if to say, "look at me!" But no one will help me escape.

I hope the fat human is not reading this, but if anyone is passing by - I am in the house at the bottom of the lane, with the large trees and the pond - you know the place.

“Please let me out!”

And while you're here, tell me what I have to do to get these legs working properly as they seem to have permanently gone to jelly, and my famous spring is eluding me.

As much as I jump, it don't really take off and the side of an object is always rather hard and unforgiving when you hit it head on.

(P.s. I've written this article under duress. My paws were forced and I wasn't even paid for it)

To be continued …….

You cannot fail to be aware that the battle for the Ashes has just begun in Australia. Even if you don’t like cricket, the news is full of it. It is the hardest to call series for some time. The quality of the teams are not as high as previously, with only one or two players of real class.

The link below is always the first record that comes to mind when the cricket starts. It’s a track from another time when the world was ruled by the fabulous West Indies teams of the 70’s and 80’s. It’s pretty sad that the region has lost its production line of fast bowlers and great batsmen. The preoccupation with Football and American sports has taken over and young men no longer aspire to be cricketers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fI2FC36lXXQ

We also had the women’s cricket Ashes in the last few weeks. In the past this would never have been news, but it too had good coverage. A true sign that women’s sport is being recognised more and more.

Have a great weekend!

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