In which I take a photo every day that I'm 50, and post it here on this blog, with a bit of related blurb.
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| ...me duck |
They say that a lot around Leicestershire way, where I used to live.
Eyup, me duck!
It just seemed like a long winded way of saying "Hi!"...but generally I found it to be sweet and affectionate.
All that said, they weren't talking about this sort of duck at all...
This is a Mallard, a female. She's been hanging around a bit, with her mate, for a few weeks now.
Mostly, they've been on the little pond over the road, but on several occasions recently, I've seen them on the verge over on our side of the main road...and when I got home this evening and pulled off the main road, here she was, wandering along looking a little confused and alone.
I'm quite concerned...our landlords in their (utter lack of any kind of) wisdom (whatsoever), have employed a local farm building company to replace the septic tank and drain system at our property...it's a long and very painful story that I won't inflict on you...
The long and short of it is that today they started in earnest, and they've completely destroyed large chunks of hedgerow and general wilderness, alongside the stream. The amount of damage they've done in a day has to be seen to be believed...
Anyway I'm concerned that me' duck's mate has somehow become a victim of the hurricane that apparently passed through whilst we were at work today...
Here's another photo for no reason other than that I was experimenting with cropping and framing, and saved it:
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| walks like a duck |
I'm too angry to talk about the havoc outside, so I'll just leave it there...
I will of course let you know if the drake shows up again...
Fingers crossed!
:-/
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| who picked the paper? |
The realisation that your offspring are older than you were when they were born makes for a sobering moment...
My lovely daughter Kim is 26 today, and I'm still 50...she's catching me up!
She's more than half my age for the first time...that's weird and scary...I could be a grandpa!
No...that makes no sense...does not compute...LALALALA NOT LISTENING LALALA...
Moving on swiftly...deploy diversionary tactics...
As I was saying, Kim and partner Roob are in the final throes of purchasing their first house. It's the usual stressful nightmare, some of the details of which can be found on Roob's blog, Escaping the Grind. There's some amazing stuff about how cheaply they're managing to furnish the house too. Impressive what you can do if you have the drive and motivation.
Kim was out with her mum tonight, so we're heading on over tomorrow evening for dinner. In the meantime I thought I'd tease Kim a little with this photo of her card and pressies, which are really cool - I got her a...
haha you didn't think I'd fall for that one, did you?!
Seriously though, they are cool, and I did get her....damn, stop making me do that!
Back on topic, I got this card because it's quite pink and glamorous, which Kim often is too...check out how colourful she looked when we went canoeing on the Wye River last summer:
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| eyup me'duck |
Ok perhaps not so glamorous in this shot, but we had been canoeing through a deluge for a couple of hours, and conditions really weren't conducive to glam.
I think she's really cool, although I'm her dad, so I guess there's a hint of bias there...maybe she's not cool at all?! I'm not sure I can be objective...but then cool is subjective, surely? So I must be right.
My daughter is way cool!
(can't think where she gets it from...)
;-)
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| green grow the rushes-oh |
I spent most of today waiting to see if the weather would dry up long enough to mow the lawns.
It didn't, which I'm somewhat conflicted about...on the one hand, yay, I didn't have to mow the lawns! On the other, damn, those lawns still need mowing!
The venerable JazzyB is on a new drug regime for his ongoing lameness...he's now on Metacam, an NSAID (like ibuprofen), Tramadol, an opioid analgesic, and Symmetrel, which is a drug used to treat Influenza and Parkinsons Disease, but can be used in dogs to increase the effectiveness of other painkillers.
So far he's doing ok, and this evening he isn't limping much, considering he's been out for a walk today (which is encouraging...).
We went to see Frankie, who was lying down in his field, somewhat worryingly. When he saw me, he struggled to his feet and started to hobble over. I jumped over the fence and went to meet him, to save him walking all the way to me.
I gave him a couple of apples and a bit of a fuss, but then left him fairly quickly, to save him following me.
Later on, I phoned the shepherd (whose sheep were in with Frankie the other day), and he said the horse was his, and he hadn't noticed anything when he'd been there earlier, or through the week! Clearly, he doesn't pay attention.
When I asked the horse's name, he said "the kids call him Toffee", which I thought was a curious response (not to mention a bit of a rubbish name). He'll always be Frankie (or occasionally Ol' Blue Eyes) to me.
I explained that the horse appears to have laminitis, and probably needs to be stabled and treated. I'm not sure how seriously he took it - he said that the farrier was due to visit next week...to which I thought, well that won't be soon enough, and he needs to see a vet!
Anyway he said he was going up there shortly and would take a look, so we'll see what happens. I'll try to check on Frankie again tomorrow.
Following that, we wandered over to this little artificial pond, which is only about 30-40m from our house. It's referred to as a canal on some old maps, and I guess this is strictly true, as it's straight and narrow, and man made.
The pond always looks lovely at this time of year, and as far as my blog goes, it's another reminder of the gorgeous verdant green I seem to surround myself with in the Spring.
There are a pair of mallards that seem to be in residence. I've seen them a few times in recent weeks, and you can spot them at the far end of the pond in this photo (click on it to view it full size, on a PC at least - smartphone users will have to make the best of their teeny screen).
Having said that, as we were leaving in the car earlier this evening (heading to the local pub), we saw the pair of them wandering down our lane...I've not seen them do that before.
Anyway, our new camera hasn't arrived yet (although, frustratingly, one of the lenses has) , so this is a standard smartphone photo.
Speaking of which, Anna is getting a new (work) smartphone on Monday, a Samsung Galaxy S5, which apparently is capable of recording 4K video!!!
Can't wait to give that a trial run...although first I have to get over feeling peeved that she has a phone two generations newer than mine, when I love my funky gadgets, and she really couldn't give a toss...
That shit ain't right!
Hmph...
}:-\
