Tigger's Wee-Blog

For some reason I'm unable to get comments to publish on other blogs. Blogger glitch of some kind perhaps.... Why are these things never universal? Some suffer, most don't get affected. We are into our third nor'west storm in two weeks. Chinook. It gets wearing. Equinoxial gales? Super El Niño? Scully is on a 3-day sleepover while her family is away at some rubgy event for her older human sister. She's missing her humum but rather keen on the sheepskin I have let her occupy while the wind has us trapped indoors. The build moved on a bit this week... ...and this morning to roofers came out in driving rain to measure up. The plywood shell is 'bracing' (stops racking; diagonal movement of the wooden frames), and will be covered by an outer cladding in due course. Shallots and garlic have pushed up from the earth in the veg garden Tiny fungi bloomed on the track last week - like a blaze of dessicated coconut dashed about Each new exciting fungus only seems to last...

1471

Tewkesbury is a beautiful smallish town on the western edge of England - where the longest of England's 5 rivers named Avon (Shakespeare's Avon) meets the mighty Severn. (Avon means 'river' by the way.) For centuries Tewkesbury was an inland port, and during England's canal building age (1812 in this case) the navigable Severn got connected to the navigable Avon at Stratford by canal. Why did I choose Tewkesbury? I first heard of Tewkesbury in 2007 when it hit the news as the victim of devastating flooding. Then a couple of years ago I stumbled on the website for the Tewkesbury Medieval Festival. Okay I missed 2023 but my leave is booked for middle of July next year.....I might even work on a suitable costume.... The inspiration for their festival is the 1471 Battle of Tewkesbury , a decisive battle in the Wars of the Roses (another history lesson for Mr B). Here is what Tewkesbury looks like on a normal Sunday in Autumn 2023: (apologies but I took 100s of photos...

Visit

We are on a brief visit to Ashburton - to find some kitchen cupboard 'furniture' (fancy sliding basket things we want to reuse). That meant moving dozens of boxes around. Again. However we found enough to satisfy the kitchen fitters. Poor Fergus has gone blind (diabetes). Although closely monitored and injected with his insulin daily he lost his sight virtually overnight (4-5 days it seemed). He has however adapted well and can negotiate most of the environment by smell, sound and sensations of proximity. Anyone accompanying him talks a steady stream. He is thin but seems happy and is more active than he had been while vets struggled to diagnose him - quite remarkable. Imagine going blind overnight in mid-life. The best bit is seeing him pick up a prey scent in an area he knows is unencumbered with tripping hazards - he runs back and forth following the trail, the hunting instinct hasn't dimmed. The workshop surrounds, with all its surrounding junk, i...

Verjus

'I was only away two hours and look at the mess you've made! You can't be left unsupervised.' Ooo er. Surveyed the scene: 'Fair point.' Rampant grapevine from the neighbour's side of the adjoining garages had been threatening to engulf the lot. Since Old Mike passed away the new owner has done nothing about the state of the 'garden'. The Egyptian Strawberry tree between their shed and garage has grown so large it has blocked the gap through which the back of the garden was accessible. The tree provided an escape route for the grape vine which now tumbles down from great height and spreads its tendrils into two neighbouring properties swallowing fences, sheds, our garage,.... (And, just to pile on the insult, the inaccessible back garden had become a roof high, gutter blocking, tangle of brambles.) Mr B had gone house clearing and I was standing about home, hands in pockets, looking for some trouble to get into. The grapevine on the garage roof jus...

Calling in the Aliens

Mr B dusted off his sextant. (He must be seriously out of things to do in lockdown.) Every cloudless day, as the sun reaches for the 'yard arm' he can be found on our balcony lining up a sight on the sun and the piece of horizon immediately below it. I'm in the office supervising F when I hear the shout: 'get that *** ship out of the way'. What does he think I'm going to be able to do about it? Call in the aliens to beam it up? He has done a couple of months of these noon sights now and fairly conclusively established that our balcony hasn't moved anywhere - and we are stuck here right along with it. At least we know exactly when the sun has passed over the yardarm. Not that it's not doing them any good, they are both on their 'dry February' (because if you are going to have a dry month, it makes sense to pick the shortest one). The sun is getting higher in the sky each day and I am having to chase it across the balcony - my winter sunning...