I've had a wonderful day - almost. The weather's been brilliant for the third consecutive day: full sun, no wind and even some October warmth.
It started with good news from a friend who'd managed to solve some issues and whose life was back on an even keel. Shortly after I had a visit from a boiler engineer about 30 minutes after I'd rung to say my central heating boiler was having problems. He'd solved the problem before I'd opened the door to say 'hello' (my boiler's outside). Coffee and lunch and a crossword with Gaz at The Woodlands (always a great way to spend a few hours). An afternoon in the garden clearing things and finishing the last bit of painting I'd overlooked. The joiners came to do some work on the conservatory.
The icing on the cake came in an email from a friend this evening. Another issue on the way to a solution. The details don't matter to anyone else but it made me as happy a person as a very happy person can be to get a message.
So I decided to read some blogs and post a few pics. Then a comment on my blog Such Cynicism in One So Young by Adrian made me think of an incident this afternoon - and I knew he was correct. His comment included the sentence "You could post a picture from paradise and the following day a dead rat...which would get the most response?"
The last few days have been like paradise up here:
The last few days have been like paradise up here:
Yesterday - Waiting for a wave
This is a third of the way through October - the sea is COLD!
Today the sea was like glass and it's still cold but we're a hardy lot up here.
And then came the bit about the rat - well, actually the mouse. I'll spare you a picture. Firstly before there are any animal rights activists condemning me let me say that I love mice (as a child I kept mice - I could tell you tales of daring do by Spudge and Cornelius - and rats) but I don't like them taking over my garden shed as they did one year when I didn't take preventative action. So I put down traps - nice modern quick and efficient mice killers. And every time I empty them I'm a bit sad. However today has given me a real problem. One of the mice didn't approach the peanut butter bait with his mouth but obviously tried to scoop some up with a paw - I've seen them do that - and the trap closed without breaking his neck and killing him instantly. And I realised that deep down I'm just a big softie. I hate to see suffering in any creature. So now I have a dilemma.
Thank you for all your support recently - feeling better, the world is not shaking so much, the sun is shining and summer is on the way, which makes everything feel more bearable.
ReplyDeleteGlad you have had lots of other good news too :)
fi
A hardy lot you surely are! But up to handling a mouse? Don't tell me it is still stuck in the trap!
ReplyDeleteOh, and by the way, the photos of the beach and surrounds are lovely!
ReplyDeleteGlad you had some good news for a change, and sunny weather as well! :) That must low tide, right? Still fascinated by how different your view looks in different kinds of light and weather.
ReplyDeleteOh Oh. Once I had a mouse that was caught by the nose... It made me heave. I had to let it go. It was caught in the same trap a day later...Properly this time, thank goodness.
ReplyDeleteI've got it on me this week the sea should be within a degree of it's August peak temperature it's coldest in late march and warmest in August.
ReplyDeleteStill cool at eleven or twelve degrees. Numb is numb. It doesn't come in bits a bit like death or pregnancy.
The word verification is gruff.
Fi: I'm so glad that things are getting a bit more bearable for you. It's been hard just watching what you've been going through so actually going through it must have been almost unbearable.
ReplyDeletePauline: No I don't have any problems holding a mouse - I drowned it because that was the most humane thing I could do because it was too badly injured to free - I just don't like causing creatures suffering (some humans I can think of excepted).
Monica: Thanks it was a pretty good day by and large.
Katherine: Thank goodness such events are rare. At least its final end was swift. Perhaps its nose was so sore that it came back to commit suicide. Sorry. I wish, sometimes, that I didn't have these bizarre thoughts.
Adrian: Yes. I have swum in the sea off the west coast of Lewis in October when the Gulf Stream has 'warmed' it up to about 12 deg. Still a tad chilly!