One of the things that made yesterday so dismal and depressing was the weather - heavy overcast from morning to night and wet and dank and cold. So it was with huge relief that once the day dawned today, it was with sunshine (and a bit of frost). That golden luminosity makes even the most challenging day seem better, and while today wasn't hugely challenging, some of yesterday's issues are still lurking.
The morning was devoted to dealing with a backlog of emails and phone calls, after lunch I had to honour my commitment to the Boys in the Country and go and feed them. They all appeared, were pleased to see me, and most were very hungry too - well cold weather and growing a good layer of thick underfur takes it out of a chap. Once they had munched their fill, we went and checked the enclosed garden - I had to sit on one of the chairs so they could all have a good love in with me for 10 minutes. Then washing up cat bowls in cold water, which is always a joy, before I went out to explore the other plots.
I always like to have a look to see what is going on in Badger Mansions, slap in the middle of the wild flower meadow. The damp soil made it so much easier to see their paw prints, including claw marks. There seemed to have been a bit of activity since the rain stopped.
I then walked round the edge of the meadow, accompanied by Clause who managed to raise a pheasant, but not catch it. That was much more interesting than me, so I was able to go the rest of the way without being shouted at in Cat. When I got to where the old log pile used to be, I found an excellent example of the disgusting Giant Killer Orange Slug that lives around here. We don't have any in the garden, but we have loads in the One Acre Wood. This one was about five inches long.
At this point, Clause decided I needed to be defended against the slug, so came back from pheasant bothering and stood around shouting at me. I felt it was time to leave.
Comments