Bottoms Up

I'm not sure how universal the expression "Bottoms Up" is but it's used frequently as a toast in the UK when pals are having a drink together.  The bottoms referred to are the bottoms of the glasses which have to be raised in order to pour the drink of choice into mouths.

Yesterday I was in the garden shed when I realised there was a fieldmouse in the shed too. Now I like mice but I prefer not to share my space with them because they make a terrible mess. Once when I came back from 6 months in NZ they had completely over-run the shed: there were hundreds of them. They had made nests in all the wellington boots with seed storage in the toes and lots of bedroom and breeding accommodation up the legs.  Even the bags of compressed peat had been hollowed out and were veritable warrens. Of course the entire contents of the shed had to be taken out and the place cleaned from top to bottom.  Since then I've taken steps to discourage them and have had no problems. However all the birdseed is a bit of a draw even though it's in large containers. The top of one large one was slightly off allowing access. I watched the mouse make its escape until it disappeared down behind one of the shelves. 

Then it turned into an ostrich.  Having made sure that it's head couldn't be seen it obviously failed to realise that it's rear end was far from hidden. So I'm afraid that I took advantage. As soon as I'd taken the photos I tickled it's read end and it disappeared with incredible speed out of the open door.

A Mouse

Carol came down for a blether later this afternoon and as we chatted over our tea and coffee in the kitchen I noticed a mouse run across the garden – in the open broad daylight.  Unusual.  I tracked it down and moved aside the overhanging foliage and there in a cleft was a baby mouse: I’m fairly certain it was not the one I had seen which had been quite a bit larger.  I managed a photo before it leapt a good six inches into the air and catapulted itself into the small bushes on the other side of where Carol had been standing before she’d managed to out-jump the mouse as it almost passed under her.

A Dead Mouse And Other Stories

Sitting as I am at the table in Helen's house with CJ and Helen both working away at their various tasks and with conversation on all sorts of things flowing at the same time I thought that I would show you some of the things that have amuse me over the last few days.

CJ's mouse died. RIP.

CJ's phones died. Long live the (new) phone

CJ is not interested in gadgets except insofar as they are necessary to life. Many years ago he got excited over a telephone in the office because it had six re-dial buttons! This is the first time since then that he has got excited over a phone: because it has large touch screen alphanumerics. Strange.

Big brother is watching you. Er, the terrestial one!

And a couple for Dave - in Exeter City Centre