Pashley

Just as we were wondering what we could possibly blog about today, or more to the point how we could possibly make a story out of Mr B turning F's 'old lady bike' upside down on the front balcony, a racket erupted across the road and we raced out to see that the pair of crows had trapped the lone seagull in a cage consisting of the balcony and railings of the old taverna.

After the pigeon chasing episode, we had developed some affection for gull.  

Affection?  Is that overstating it?  We certainly had sympathy for his predicament today.  What had he (she) done to upset the crows that badly? 

It is probably a silly question.  We know how much our Havant crows hated the marauding seagull gangs, and the devious arrangements they hatched for luring gulls into an attack trap.  These crows are probably similarly programmed : gulls are a threat, pigeons are not.

So there we have it - today's entertainment.

The bike?  Oh that has been locked up on the back balcony ever since we moved here.  It got moved into our second floor apartment on an escalator thing that delivered all our belongings over the balcony railings at the front;  including this bike that weighs nearly as much as a Chieftain tank (and is built to similar specifications)!

I like the bike.  It has its own double stand (like the motorbikes had) so it is stable for climbing onto.  It has a seat big enough for me to sit on; not one of those silly things shaped like a greyhound's face.  It has a carrier and panniers on the back, and F assures me it would have a basket on the front but the bracket for that was broken when she acquired it (second-, third- or more, hand).  I like it because it doesn't move and I can use it for a raised vantage point for cat-watching from the aft balcony.  

As it is usually covered, I can also hide under the covers where I am really difficult for a human to reach if I think they are going to 'treat' me for something.

Now Mr B has moved it, cleaned it, pumped up the tyres, removed the broken brake lever (maybe to get a replacement), polished the bell and made it go from thunk-clunk to ring-ding, and fitted back a couple of bits that might have been knocked off in the move.

I'm starting to have a bad feeling about all this activity on this bike.  I'm really hoping that as it only has three gears (and one of those doesn't work), that F will decide it is too much like hard work on all our hills.... and it will return to the aft balcony for the balance of our stay here.  She has got her skinny bike to ride, she doesn't need my bike as well.  In any event I have no idea how they are going to get it downstairs - she can't pick it up and it won't fit in the lift.

Maybe they are just planning to park it on the balcony and hang pot plants on it.

Pashley - for the curious