Viewing things differently

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He has been back again. I love to see him dancing on the lawn in circles and chasing the rabbits from our garden. The stoat with its little black ended tail and cute white bib seems to be everywhere. It is an interesting diversion as I sit in the sunroom to convalesce after my operation.

Another creature that I love watching is the blackbird as it searches for worms on our lawn then when it thinks no one is looking it flies up to feed its nestlings in the confer hedge. It all relieves the boredom whilst I regain my strength.

As if he knew (but he did not) a friend called by the other day. We had not seen him for many years. How welcome he was. We all sat out in the sun chatting about how life used to be.

“Nothing is the same after COVID.”

I have heard that so many times. Perhaps it is more difficult for some of us to pick up the threads of our earlier life. I have also noticed a lot of talk about the tablets we take, someone I know writes the cocktail on her wrist as a daily prompt. When I came home from hospital it was hard to know what to take and when, but a young friend, Sarah, said that I could use my health app (the one which counts your steps) on my mobile. I simply tapped in the name and strength of my tablets and when I have to swallow them. Then every day up pops a reminder at the right time, there is even a picture of what they look like.  A sign of the times.

Another sign of the times is that my friend has had solar panels installed and when it is sunny, she can see the electricity being generated. A lovely sunny day prompted her neighbours to rush out to their washing lines to peg out their washing, but Sarah put her washing in the tumble dryer and dried her clothes for free with the generated electricity. I always thought it was cheaper to hang washing out.

Suddenly I am alerted by the loud alarm call of the blackbird as he hovers and flaps around his nest in the conifer. He makes a hiccoughing noise and our hen, Speckles, joins in the alarm as if she has laid a surprise egg. The robin started its ticking alarm call and crashed into our sunroom window (but was well enough to fly away). It is then that I see the stoat running off with its head held high holding a baby blackbird in its mouth. I have changed my mind about stoats.

(Taken from my column in the Shropshire Star - Thursday)


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