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Uncertain times

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  I heard someone say that she will not leave her bedroom window open because of what might come in at night. She did not mean a burglar. She meant creatures., she kept her window tight shut just in case any creepy crawly came into the house. Well, there are lots of them flying around at night. We have a light box to trap moths and, in the mornings, we can see what has flown into the container and hidden. Last night we had three elephant hawk moths. It is a luminous hairy moth with shocking pink markings on a gold background. It is not a bit like an elephant, but its caterpillar does look like an elephant’s trunk. It eats willow herb and the chrysalis hides in the soil all winter and must have just emerged as this beautiful adult. I have not waited all winter for my doctor’s appointment, but it seems so long ago since I booked it. Online you have to write what your appointment is for but now the original complaint has diminished and another is in its place. The dilemma is, do I rin
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Green fair

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We have made a big mistake. Last week we were having trouble with a heron who would not keep away from our fishpond. We put three nets over, in the end, and gradually the heron lost interest. But then we had a near disaster. There have been two woodpeckers in our garden. All day I could hear their sharp ‘kick’ noise over the woodland as they bounced in the air from tree to tree, like trapeze artists. Then yesterday morning there was a little pile of woodpecker feathers on the path near the pond. A predator had been, probably a cat. We felt lucky this time as the woodpecker had escaped and only lost some of its tail. But that was not the worst of it. This morning we found one of the woodpeckers trapped in the net over the pond. And it was our fault. To save our fish from the heron, we had inadvertantly put the woodpecker’s life at risk. It was calling and had a very frightened look in his eye. Mr T carefully disentangled its feet from the net and it flew away safely with an angry lo
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'Flaming June'

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  At last, I went to meet a friend without wearing a mask. Mind you we sat at a table for our coffee outside, so I felt safe, and we talked face to real face for hours. It was all quite a landmark for me although I know a lot of you will not find this as remarkable as I did. But there was a disappointment in this triumph. You see, I have just realised that I look better wearing a mask than I do without one. My eyes show a few laughter lines but if my wear my mask then I have presented as respectable. But when I remove my mask, I look a lot older. Things have dropped, on my face I mean, below my eyes. Gravity has taken its toll. Features like my chin and jowls have sagged and my cheeks have creased. I might stick to the mask for a bit longer. No one would think it strange just that I am more vulnerable and being careful! Mr T and I went for a café lunch yesterday. The first time in over two years. I was so excited by this new experience that I had two coffees at the beginning. Ham s
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It's Not A Boy! Chapter 20, The Road Ahead - Part 3

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Will I ever succeed on life's journey?
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When will it stop?

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  There is a dark shadow over our garden. A creature, looking as if it has flown in from the set of Jurassic Park, landed on our Shropshire damson tree. The thin branches were quivering up and down whilst the bird flapping its huge dark wings, balanced, and stumbled unsteadily. It was a heron who is very interested in our ornamental pond where fifteen bright fish have lived minding their own business undisturbed for years. The fish have become quite tame. They seem to hear our footsteps and come up to feed on the floating pellets we give them. Our fat hen follows and if she is lucky she pecks at some fish food. But this was not a normal time and the next thing we saw was the heron paddling in the pond making huge stabs with its dagger-like beak. A harmless goldfish, that had lived with us for ten years, was stabbed. It was not eaten but it died of its wounds all the same. At dusk and in the pouring rain Mr T ran out and threw a net over the pond. In the morning the heron was stan
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Good news and bad news

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  The good news is that our monthly electricity bill has gone down. Since a man came to read our meter last week, I have had an email to say we are not using as much electricity as they thought. We have been reading our meter every month and I recorded online, but perhaps they didn’t believe me. The bad news is that the spotted flycatcher has not returned. I saw him about two weeks ago, using the back of our garden chair as a perch, he flew up to his old nest, from last year, in my climbing rose. Then he disappeared. I wondered if he had gone to find a mate or perhaps our climbing rose was just not good enough this year. I keep watching but the back of the chair is empty. We have no swallows nesting in our little cow shed and now no spotted flycatchers in the rose. To be sure of seeing some birds we have been to a nature reserve just over the border near Welshpool. There is a large lake made from a gravel pit when the bypass was created and here, we have watched swans, cormorants,
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It's Not A Boy! Chapter 20, The Road Ahead - Part 2

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I failed at Primary school. what would happen now?
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