After her appalling behaviour yesterday morning with the catnip, Nibbles decided to entertain us at aperitif hour, showing us a very convoluted route onto the outdoor table. She then struck various poses, including her favourite knowing stare.
She also showed us her trump impersonation as she looked in totally the wrong direction when the chickens started to do something really loud and silly by the raspberry canes.
As I escorted her through the front door later in the evening, I thought the swallows/martins were awfully loud and close. I looked up just as one swooped towards the house and disappeared in the shadows. We used to get swifts in the eaves, but Poirot ate all the offspring when they got to interesting size (just ready to fledge and leave the nest), and then when the façade was repointed, their nesting site was blocked up. There is a possible gap for the swallows/martins, but if they go through it, Zola at least will find the nest very quickly, so I hoped it wasn't where I thought.
Now apologies for the grainy quality of the image, but a bit of zooming with the camera focus on the phone and I found where they were. I don't think this is tenable, so I can't see us having little swallows/martins fledging this year, in fact I expect to find eggs on the steps to the cellar pretty soon, but while they are there it is lovely to see them.
Having braved the excitements of Leclerc at Chinon on Wednesday, it was my turn to need a supermarket shop today, and our Super U really doesn't fail to disappoint. You would think we were at the start of lockdown, there were so many gaps in the aisles - none of the cream that Poirot likes (yes, this is an emergency), no Whiskas for older cats (still), very little by way of loo paper (fortunately didn't need it), very little beer, NO tonic water, no adult size espadrilles, no hand sanitiser as you went in, no mention of when trollies are disinfected, no surgical spirit to be had, but 7 euros for a smallish bottle of hand sanitizer, and only two bits of Cheddar. Very poor show all in all. Mind you it is a bank holiday weekend just starting here and the weather forecast is fab, but that shouldn't affect many of the missing items.
Anyway, the good news is that with a couple of colleagues, I've won a new work contract for six weeks, so there is a bottle of sparkling in the fridge to celebrate. I don't think it is confidential to say that I will be looking at funding activity in the Romney Marsh area - it's just a shame I won't be able to do a site visit within the timeframe of the project.
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