Darned birds

Did anyone else do that RSPB bird count thing last weekend? It's my third year of doing it and I'm thinking of giving up. Those birds just won't let me show off. For the whole hour I saw only one thing that wasn't on the ordinary list, and that was only a Rook, and strictly speaking he was over the garden and not in it. And then, blow me down, the next day, as bold as brass, back comes my little female Blackcap, a bunch of Long-Tailed Tits and a Nuthatch. Blah!
And if anyone wonders if I am by now missing the town, the answer is yes. This is what I am missing:
*Boxes of tissues from Waitrose (my favourite, though knowing Waitrose they've proably been discontinued, they have a knack of doing that with things I like)
*Being able to walk into town to buy myself some tights from M&S, and come back for free on the bus. (yes, I can use my pass here but there are logistics like catching the bus back which I have failed to do three times so far)
*The Farmers Market. Yes they do have them round here but it's kind of complicated trying to remember which town has it which day.
*True Food Co-op. The only alternative here is buying stuff in enormous bulk, which I will try but don't relish.
So if any of you townies don't know about these good things, make the most of them while you can.

At The Weir

Snowdrops

Signs of spring at last, or rather winter losing it's grip for a mo. Saturday we went to The Weir, a NT place open for us to see snowdrops and the odd primrose appearing. Today I at last went for a walk, from Craven Arms to Halford and beyond and circling back. Very muddy underboot but I was so glad to at least begin to get out for some rambles again.
Last night I went to Film Club, a monthly group for seeing and discussing films of moral content. Not a lot of discussion after, but the film was better than I'd thought from reading the reviews. It was The Lives of Others, a German story set in the former eastern half, about a Stasi agent who develps a conscience.
In fact that's the third film I've seen in almost as many days, the others being The Duchess and A Prairie Home Companion. All good and quite different from each other. At the end of the week Mama Mia is showing in the village.
My new role as editor of village mag is getting under way. First hiccup is that I have to find a new print company. Second is that HoF has purchased a new publishing package that I have to get to grips with....

Overbuzzed

I must have a very low emotional buzz threshold. I find that a quiet and boring life is most conducive to sleeping well. Yesterday was busy. First the prayer meeting, then meeting up with the invited speaker for next month's planned gathering at one of our favourite eateries to share ideas, then to one of those boring white goods emporiums to reduce our list (help, did we choose aright?) and finally an evening visit to a couple with a chequered church history like all of us, who will help make music at said future event. And home to sleep, you would have thought. But no, move to another bed and do puzzles until the small hours until brain finally conked out. And today, that wrung out dish rag feeling.
So time for unchallenging things. Transferred birthdays to new calendar. Bizarre that with 26 family members and 365/6 days for them to be born on, I end up with five doubles, i.e. ten people who share a birthdate. And none in April, June or August. Future grandchildren, please note.
Generally though I don't like numbers. How good it is that Ireland doesn't use postcodes, just good old words for addresses. And oh for the simple days when telephone numbers consisted of a word plus three digits. I'm much more a word person, so it's time now that I had a go at this week's cryptic crossword in my Weekly Telegraph.

The Freeze Continues

Still cold here, minus temperatures with heating switching itself on in the night. The bird feeders are getting plenty of use, and we even have a female Blackcap visiting (and they have brown caps actually) and considering they are usually summer migrants, this is either a stopover or an immigrant. If only we could ask!

I checked on that free swimming for over 60's, but alas I have an address on the wrong side of the Celtic Curtain. Still it was only £1.70, so I went in and lasted all of 20 mins before becoming bored with trawling up and down the same stretch of water. It must have taken me just as long to get dressed again. It is all the dressing and undressing which puts me off the whole thing, but I felt quite virtuous for having been. Apparently if I go to the over 50's session I can have free tea and toast after! A good bribe.

I have counted my books on the past year's list. 64. Big Sister says that one book a week cannot be described as lazy, so I am only a little over that. Certainly one of the joys of being
retired for which I am very grateful.


HoF came with me tonight to the Book Group where we discussed 'The Boy in Striped Pyjamas', which seemed to have begun as a fable for adults but transmuted into a children's book, perhaps to increase its sales' pitch. Do read it if you can, but don't give it to a child under about thirteen. HoF was very brave being the only male and the event being held in the home of a renowned man hater! 'It isn't that I don't like men,' she said, 'but I do wish they'd shape up'. A certain GWN would have said Amen to that.

Our list of appliances is shortened by three, now we have purchased oven, hob and hood. Only five more to go.

Happy New Year

Last night we managed to stay awake until midnight, walked down the village listening to the church bells bringing in the New Year and feeling we were missing out on some company. We only met one person to give our Happy New Year to. Everyone else was tucked up inside their houses because of the freezing weather. Today (-2) we went for an afternoon drive to see what Jack Frost had been doing round about, and it was beautiful. Such silvery, lacy filigree work everywhere with muted shades of green and brown. Hot chocolate and a teacake by a pub's blazing fire to conclude.
HoF has worked out that we need eight new appliances for the kitchen and is researching like mad for the best models and trying to reconcile this with the best price. So if you have any recommendations for white goods (more inclined to be black or stainless steel these days) please let us know.
I've discovered another possible perk for the aged: free swimming for the over 60's. Tomorrow I will investigate and see what the snag is.