Day 298 - Animal Control

new dog stuff

Difficult photo choice today...a horribly under-exposed snap of new dog stuff, or alternatively, a horribly over-exposed snap of new dog stuff.

I've gone with the horribly under-exposed version...and ignored the third option, that I didn't mention, which was to light the damn subject a bit better...and conveniently overlooked the fourth, which was to get the DSLR out and take a better photo.

Photo quality wasn't really the point, you see...the point being, of course, New Dog Stuff!

We have lots of old collars, leads, and one thing or another...but most of it hasn't been used for years, and smells of Jazz and Bluez, and is probably covered in cobwebs or stiffening with age in a crate in the loft...

So we nipped out to PetsAtHome to get some New Stuff for our New Dog...a new collar and lead (nice Red collar!), an extendible lead (which we'll need for a while), and a name tag (which he's legally obliged to wear).

Now that it's all confirmed, and we're collecting him tomorrow, I can share his name with you...he's not actually Batman - he's Robin!  

robin

I think that makes me Batman, probably - and makes Anna Batgirl!  That works - we've already got the tee-shirts and everything... ;-)

Anyway, I don't know how long the name Robin will last, but we'll go with it for a while...as the rehoming officer pointed out: everything is going to change for him - all he really has is his name.

So we'll try to resist giving him too many nicknames straight away...although the phrase red robin keeps flitting across my mind like...well, like a little red robin...that might become simply Red...maybe.

But maybe Robin will stick...we'll see.  I feel that his real name will emerge as we get to know him. 

I've installed a dog gate cordoning off the kitchen from the rest of the downstairs, in order to introduce him gradually and give the cats the option to escape should they venture in with him. 

Loz has already twigged that something is going on, and has been charging around, wide-eyed, and looking at us with an accusing glare...I'm sure she's reading our minds!

Before tomorrow night I'll move the gate to give Robin additional access to his bed...he has a choice between a brand new bed, only used once (by Loz the other night), and a stinky old dogged up bed that Jazz and Bluez used to use...it will be interesting to see which Robin prefers.

Right, I'm just burbling along, preoccupied and distracted by the imminence of Robin's arrival, so I'll sign off there.

Just one more night in a dogless house...

:-)

Day 296 - Teaser

home fire

A sudden turn in the weather, from mild and warm, to cold, windy, and wet, prompted us to light a first fire of this new Autumn...a milestone each year, symbolically bidding farewell to the warmer months, and welcoming the colder.

It was a truly impulsive decision...I hadn't even considered the possibility, until we were getting changed in a chilly bedroom after work...we should put a fire on, I thought...

We should put a fire on!

Once that seed was firmly planted, there was no getting away from it...and so I set about clearing out the grate, finding fire-lighters, kindling, logs and coal...

Everything was covered in cobwebs, which wasn't fun...for one thing, they just stick to everything...but more importantly, I feel bad about whichever poor little spider has just had his home demolished, and is possibly about to get set on fire...

Anyway, before long I'd dropped logs on the carpet, got cobwebs stuck to my sleeves and trousers, and had soot on my hands and probably my face too...but I also had a lovely fire burning in the grate!

It wasn't long before the crackling attracted the usual suspect...

ooohh yeeaahhhhh

Now all we need is Anna and a dog lounging by the fire with Loz, and we've got our full traditional Winter Mode on!

I find I'm quite looking forward to the darkening of the days, the lengthening of the nights, and the deepening of the cold over the next couple of months...

Winter is coming...and I'm quite excited at the prospect!

The changing of the seasons has also served to remind me that I'm on the home straight with my blog now...nearly 300 days done, more than 80% of the way through this epic journey we've been on...

It has been a fun and inspiring project, don't get me wrong...but I am tired and on some levels looking forward to a break.

But hold on a minute, sit yourself right back down there...

Don't go thinking it's all over bar the shouting...somewhat unbelievably, I still have a few things yet to say...can't remember what they are, of course...but if I do, I'll try to stay remembered long enough to get them blogged on here - it could happen!

In any event, there are all sorts of exciting times ahead, over the next 10 weeks, and I have a number of plans for the blog, before we're finished with this thing. 

So don't got sneaking off before the final chapter, huh?

In fact, you should sit and watch all the way through the fifteen minutes of credits (probably fifteen days in my case), in order to catch that last little teaser right at the end.

You know full well it won't have been worth it...it never is!

But this time, it might...mightn't it?

Best sit right there and see....

;-)

Day 266 - Clean Getaway

shiny

Continuing the increasingly excited Font preparation, today I cleaned the car inside and out...by which of course I mean I paid someone else to clean it inside and out, whilst I had a delicious sausage and egg baguette in the charming Fat Birds Cafe.

We have an 8 hour door to door journey to get there, in a car loaded to the gunnels with climbing gear, food, bouldering mats, gadgets and people, two of whom are pretty big...so it only seemed polite to make sure that the car is clean and tidy and pleasant...at least to start with!

Anna took hers too, as it's grubby from a full seasons bat-bothering, and we went to grab a coffee whilst we waited.  But the Fat Birds Cafe turned out to have far too tempting a menu, and the service was very friendly and attentive, so we ended up having a late breakfast...and very nice it was too!

Speaking of fat birds, as I was clearing the cars out prior to taking them for a valet, Anna came out to tell me that another swallow was stuck in the house.

can you help me out?

After chasing him around upstairs for a bit, I eventually cornered him in the main bedroom, and opened all the windows.  He seemed reluctant to fly low enough to get to the open window, which was perhaps due to our presence...

certainly, which way did you come in?

After a few minutes he seemed tired to the extent that he allowed me to approach very close to take a portrait of him...

yeah, funny guy...

We decided that maybe he was a little stressed, and left him to find his way out.

When I checked again an hour later, he was gone, presumably none the worse for wear.

I love all these little episodes of unexpected encounters with the local fauna...saving mice from the cats, helping birds to overcome their inability to understand windows, finding evidence of boar and badger and fox, and the endless supply of passing bird, mammal, insect and reptile life.

Living in the countryside is such an endless delight...

Please let me never live in a city again!

:-)

Day 235 - Our House

in the corner of our field

Since our garden was trashed by the cowboy contractors, this is a much better view of our house. 

It's the nearest one in this photo, hunkered down and hiding away behind the wild hawthorn hedgerow in the corner of the wheat field.

They harvested half of this field two nights ago...throughout the evening, until well after dark, the harvesting went on, and our little house sat there under a cloud of dust. 

For reasons unknown (presumably the weather?) they've not been back since, and the field remains half cut. 

We took the opportunity to wander along to the line of trees where Barney the Barn Owl used to live.  We were hoping for signs of him, although without any particular hope - we've not seen him this year. 

Whilst there I took this shot, which is the reverse of the Hole in the Hedgerow shot that has featured a few times in these pages...you can just make out the pale glint of my car through the hole on the horizontal mid-line of this photo, a fifth or so in from the right edge. 

Unfortunately, we couldn't get around to the side of the owl tree where the entrance holes are, as the ditch and surrounding undergrowth were too...well, overgrown!

We did find this brilliant little cave in the bottom of a tree though...

cosy cave

Something had managed to drag a load of hay in there, making a cosy little bed.  Badger is most likely, I suppose...or fox?  Maybe Muntjac deer, we've seen those along here in the past.

This may be a good place to site our trailcam, once they've been back and finished harvesting.

As we wandered back, a large passenger plane was taking a north westerly route, quite low in the sky:

northwestbound

This is highly unusual - the normal passenger flight path is North to South, and quite high...the military flightpath is East to West or vice versa.

As we watched, it banked steeply northwards...being so low and so large, it must have been heading to Birmingham Airport. 

Anyway, to finish off a somewhat rambling and fairly pointless post, I'll mention that we did Week 1, Day 2 of our 6 week 20 Pull-up Challenge this evening.

I had to do sets of 4, 3, 3, 4 and 5 pull-ups, with only 90 seconds rest between sets.  It sounds fairly straightforward, I suppose, but it was actually really hard.  The last two pull-ups in particular were really very hard, and I only just about got enough range of motion on the last one.  

I suppose that's how it should be - those are the ones that will convince my body that it needs to get stronger.  

The previous 17 pull-ups were all just setting up those last two!

:-)

Day 220 - Witches Brew

hide and sneak

Late last night, just after blogging, I found this little intruder, in full camouflage, storming the front door!

He seems to have red eyes, but I think that's an artefact of the camera flash...he is a Common Toad (Bufo bufo) and his eyes should be yellow to golden brown.

He's pictured here on the grotty, grimy concrete path that skirts the outside of our house...and isn't he well matched to it?!    I'm not sure if that's sand all over his head, but it's certainly enabled him to hide on the path very effectively...when I told Anna to come and look, she had no idea what I was gesticulating at, until I got in so close that he realised the game was up, and initiated a hasty retreat.

Little fat, warty thing...brilliant! 

I always used to have a toad living in the garden here, but I hadn't seen one for a few years now.  I'm really pleased that they're still here, although I'm concerned that he's been disturbed by The Cowboy Contractors, as they're now known.

I suppose the pedantic amongst you will be pointing out that these photo's are from last night, not today...well, yes, you're right. 

So continuing our Witches Brew Ingredients theme, here's another member of the creepy crawly genus for your viewing pleasure...

grade f9b+

I think he's just sitting there on this overhung arete (dodgy camera angles notwithstanding) in order to taunt me with his superior climbing skills. 

He's a Giant House Spider (Tegenaria duellica), and is nearly 3 inches from the tip of his highest leg to the tip of his lowest, in this photo. 

He lives in our lounge, normally behind a large wall hanging.  But lately he's built a little web down behind the floor light by the fireplace.  We're happy to have him here, in the hope that he'll take some of the annoying flies we've had in here lately.  

There is at least one beetle hiding away in here too, and sometimes when both the beetle and the spider are out patrolling in the evenings, they almost cross paths...and I find I have a strong sense of morbid curiosity about it...

Will they fight?  Are they competitors rather than predator and prey?  If they do fight, who would win?!   The beetle is chunkier and presumably heavier...but the house spider has good range, good speed and maybe a good bite?

What about Toad vs Spider vs Beetle?!

Hey, at least it's feasible that these creatures could meet up...unlike the usual Tiger vs Shark or Giant snake vs Dinosaur speculative match-ups...

Anyway, my money's on the toad...his weight advantage should outweigh his general blubberiness and lack of weapons.

Though I don't actually want to see them fight...

Why can't they all just get along?

Peace, little dudes!

Day 192 - International Swallow Rescue

bird on a wire

I'm on a roll with my challenges lately, even if I'm only half ticking or repeating them.

Today, as I was pottering around unpacking bags and stashing gear away after our weekend adventures, I noticed a little commotion in the lounge as I was passing.   All the animals seemed interested - the focus of their interest quickly became clear, when I found a swallow flying around the lounge!

Loz was on the arm of the sofa, looking for a chance to leap, and the bird was suitably panicked, flying round the room in desperation, whilst Jazz and Maisie watched with interest. 

My entering the room only served to panic the bird more, and push it towards the far windows, even though I tried to keep low to give it passage above my head...

It flew into the window by my desk, and dropped down onto the window sill.  I dashed over to open the window for it to escape, but somehow Loz beat me there...

I swear she has the reflexes of a cat!

Before I could intervene, Loz had the swallow in her mouth, and made to depart with her prize.   I blocked her exit, and hassled her into putting the little bird down, whereupon it immediately tried to fly away.  As Loz began to paw (claw!) at it, I grabbed her and pulled her away, and the swallow took to the air again. 

This time it flew into the opposite window, but with better anticipation, I just about caught Loz before she got there...holding her away (as she wriggled frustratedly), I opened the window and tried to nudge the swallow out.  

Unfortunately, it panicked and made a dash for the darkness and cover behind the curtains...and then dropped down behind the sofa before taking refuge in a dusty corner behind the bookcase.

I shooed all of the animals out, shut the door, opened all the windows, and cleared the furniture out of the way.   Once done, I took this quick photo (I had the wrong lens on, natch), as the bird had clearly decided its best bet at this point was to hunker down and hide where it was. 

As I was pondering how to tempt it out, Loz came back in through the open window, so I scooped her up and threw her out again.   Maisie discovered that the door had opened a couple of inches, so she snuck in too, and of course this prompted Jazz to follow on, to see what was happening.

Shooing them all out again, I used a short bamboo cane to nudge the bird out of its corner, at which point it gave me another brief, poorly lit photo-opp, as it landed on the Kinect:

bird on (x)box

It was covered in cobwebs at this point, but seemed in reasonable shape...there were no obvious signs of injury, and it could clearly still fly. 

Sneaking in closer, to try for a better photo, the swallow spooked again, and took off once more...this time, after a couple of near misses, it found the opening in the window and flew off into the great outdoors, a little shaken up no doubt, but still alive and flying...with a smidgeon of luck it should be ok to resume its life on the wing.

So I (literally) rescued a swallow from the jaws of a dangerous predator...that's at least two ticks for my rescue an animal challenge, after the successful rescue mission a few weeks ago.

Maybe I can offset this extra challenge point against some of my recent half-ticks?

Mi juego, mis reglas, I reckon!

B-)

Day 156 - Busman's Holiday

three come along at once

Today is the first actual holiday day of my...erm...holiday?!

The point is, it's my first day of not working on a day on which I would normally be working...is that any clearer?  If not, it probably won't help when I mention that I was working all day today...

Am I confusing you?  I'm a little fuzzy myself, to be honest!

You see, this is what happens when you work on your holidays...everything goes a smidgeon off-kilter!

The thing is, my bro' has a booming business importing furniture, and I'm using a couple of days of my leave to go and sort a bunch of his PC's out...I usually do a few odds and ends for him now and then.

Of course with his business booming, I'm sure he could afford to pay an actual professional to do the work - but he's a cool brother and he knows I can use the spare cash, so he always gives me the option of doing the work if I want to, and have time.

As Anna and I had just decided that I should stay with Jazz rather than go to Florida, I had a load of time booked off with no plans, so it seemed inevitable...and I was very happy to do it for him, of course...right up until the point where I had to get up on my first Monday morning off from my proper job, and go to work!

Should've thought that one through, planned it a little better! 

Still, Jools is off to Mallorca in a couple of days and it would be useful to get this done before then, so I shall work through the evening tonight and tomorrow and get all these laptops that I brought home with me sorted out. 

As I was sitting here writing this, and working on one of the laptops, and doing a few other bits and bobs (why yes, I can multitask, thank you!), there came an insistent, demanding miaow from behind me.

I turned around to find that Jazz and Loz had joined forces in the hope that their combined psychic nagging powers might be enough to jolt me into action...

Apparently, it worked, as I've now realised that it's feeding time at the zoo, and the menagerie are getting rowdy...

I'd best get on...more exciting tales tomorrow!

I bet you can't wait, eh?

:-/

Day 151 - Every Time

you go away....

You take a piece of me with you...

We are a lonely household this evening.

It's funny, because Anna is often out bat bothering in the evenings at this time of year...but this time, she won't be back in a few hours...

Anna has gone to Florida for a fortnight with her family (and I'm sure they're all going to have a fabulous time).  

I was due to go with them, except for poor old Jazz.  I couldn't bring myself to leave him in a strange place with strange people, or in fact anywhere with anyone.  He's become quite frail in the 6 months since his brother, my boy Bluez, passed on.   He's lame, to some degree, in at least three of his legs, which makes it difficult for him to work out which one to limp on. 

He's on three kinds of medication for the arthritis and whatever other pain he's suffering.  

Jazz can no longer go for a walk every day, although he is still keen...especially when the weather is nice like it was today. 

But he needs close care and careful consideration of his condition from day to day.  I couldn't burden anyone else with the responsibility of trying to keep him comfortable and happy, especially when it's much easier for me than for anyone else (save Anna, natch). 

As I've stayed with him, I'm sure he'll be fine - he'll be able to follow his usual routine (very important) and the weather is perfect for him.   Sure enough, in the last few days he's seemed better than he has for some time...he is a little more alert, and has a bit more energy.

So I will spend most of the next couple of weeks at home with Jazz (although I have a list of chores as long as your arm...ho hum).   

Anyway, the photo above is Anna leaving this evening, to collect our friend 'Stina, before heading up to her folks for the night, and flying off to the yew ess of ay in the morning...and we're all missing her already. 

Be safe, babe, and have a good time...remember to pass on that message from me to the dolphins...it has to be delivered in person, by hand...

After Anna had gone, I set about mowing the lawns, which have gone wild in only a few days...

Once that was finished, I went to my PC to start blogging...and to my surprise, found a swallow fluttering about the lounge, mildly panicked!

I managed to grab a couple of blurry photo's before herding him out of the front door:

not a swift :-(

I'm looking forward to some great new additions to this blog's growing collection of animal pictures, once Anna gets to the 'Glades and the Keys.

But in the meantime, this was a nice bonus catch!

:-)

Day 90 - Unstructured

fire-taming

amorphous: adj...without definite shape, character

Busy day today, so it got to mid evening before I realised I hadn't got a photo.  

D'oh.

You'd think I'd have got used to it by now, eh?

I had fun trying to get Maisie to sit in a hat, for a cool Cat in the Hat shot, but although I sort of managed it (no mean feat!), the lighting was rubbish...too bright and over-exposed with flash, too dim and blurred without.

catinahat

  
So I fell back to alternative cat photo's when I found Loz fire-taming (like fire worshipping, only intimidating the fire into subservience with an icy stare) in the lounge. 

But now I'm confusing you by talking about Maisie beneath a picture of Loz, and Loz under a picture of Maisie. 

Are you following?

Do you remember those Annoying Opposites I was telling you about the other day?  Well this isn't one of those, this is just me organising my post badly (maybe because I had a bottle of cider (or maybe because I had another bottle of cider)).

Structure is important for a variety of reasons.  It brings order and coherence to the post.

You present an idea or two, expand on them, then make some kind of point, or at least draw to a conclusion.

Even now, I'm struggling to resist the urge to make the post flow.  

And I don't know why...some time in the last few minutes, I've decided that this will be a post about doing it all badly.  But I always want to make each sentence follow the last.

Maybe I'll just stop at some point.

Just not quite yet. 

Oh, ok, now.

Day 89 - Pea Souper

no snow

Haha, did I catch all you foodies out with that title?!  :-p

Over the course of this blog, one of the emerging patterns is the Weather, Climate and Other Natural Phenomena series.

I've brought you morning and night (and night)...

I gave you sunrise and I gave you sunset (and sunset)...

Whether cold, chilly, warm or hot, I've shown you blue skies, grey skies and blue and grey skies...

Through wind, rain, flood, more wind and more flood, and even a rainbow, I've donated my time and effort to bring you this pointless blog.

You're welcome.  :-)

But it doesn't stop there, oh no...today I bring you...

Fog!

Still no snow though...I fear we might get to the end of my 50th year (ok my 51st year, I know, I know...) without seeing any snow at all.

Cool!!  I wonder how often that happens - that you go a whole year, birthday to birthday, predominantly in the UK, and you never see snow...not often, I'd wager...

That's quite a short post, but it took me bleedin' ages doing all those links!

You'd better just get clicking...by this time tomorrow I want to see a clear bump in my stats, please...

Get to it, people!  ;-)

Day 85 - Beautiful English Day

windy, see?

Remember around 76 days ago, when I supremely failed to take a photo of the wind?  Well, today I found a way!

I wandered out into the garden this afternoon to look for interesting photo-fodder, and was immediately confronted with the sight of bed sheets flapping about in the breeze.

Perfect!

It is a lovely Spring day out there, albeit still an unnervingly early Spring.  Today, I heard that Spring is four weeks early this year - after last year, when all the seasons seemed around six weeks late. 

Still, just because the climate has changed, well, that doesn't mean, you know, climate change, does it?   Course not.  Duh.

Even if it is unseasonably early (do you see what I did there?), it's nice to see the daffodils starting to flower, and other late Winter/early Spring flowers are showing too. 

Don't ask me what they all are, I'm not a flower person...

Ok, there are some yellow ones and some purple ones, and maybe some yellow and purple ones.  

And some white ones...snowdrops, I reckon.  

Anyway, back to the point (if there ever is such a thing in my blog posts), the breeze is westerly, and not particularly cold, and with the blue skies and fresh green grass, it really is a beautiful English day to match yesterday's hermoso día Español.

Day 47 - Happy House

genealogy shmenealogy

I've been keeping this in reserve for quite some time now...it's one of my backups for a day when I don't manage to get any photo's...and as it turns out, today is that day!

My life is so frantic at the moment, I seem to need around 20 hours to just about squeeze through all the demands of each day.   

I'm not complaining, mind.   Life is like this sometimes, it's all part of the roller coaster ride that we're on.    And it is just a ride, of course... ;-)

Bonus points for anyone who spots that reference.

Anyway, the point is, this is a brilliant work of art that my daughter Kim (Pin Snot) made for me.

The tree is cut out of a single piece of card and set on a raised bed.   Kim (Pin) designed it, cut it out and framed it, with some assistance from partner Roob (I dunno, erm...Noob?), as I understand. 

It really is beautifully designed and made, and it really does mean a lot to me.

Of course it's a lovely reminder of the happy little household we had here for a few short years.

But in some ways, it's a sad reminder too...the hole Bluez left in our lives looms large, still...   

However, the grief I still feel so keenly for Bluez isn't something wrong, to be hidden away or repressed.   

It's a reflection of how strong was my affection for him - it hurts so because I loved him so.

So I indulge the grief a little, embrace it even, as a valid expression of Who I Am.

After all, it is ultimately a simple expression of love, and thus to be nurtured.  And I'm not advocating wallowing in it...just;

...express it...let it out...move along with life...rinse and repeat...

It's a gentle and cathartic little cycle that deals with the loss honestly, and openly, and genuinely.

So...I digress...but isn't that the point?

The lovely Family Tree that Pin made for me sets me off on a little emotional journey, as all great art should do.   When I look at it, I am invariably filled with a sense of gratitude at how lucky I am to have both a happy house of lovely (and loved) souls, and a lovely (and loved) daughter who can produce something so beautiful as to remind me of the happy house of lovely, loved souls I have!

(that sentence holds together logically, I'm telling you...does too...)  :-p

So thanks Pin, if I loved it half as much as I love you twice as much as, then I'd love it twice as much as I love you half as much as, twice.

(not sure about that one, if I'm honest...) :-D

Day 41 - Strat Me Up

he, she or it?

Crazy day at work today...you wouldn't even believe me if I explained...so I won't bother, if you don't mind. 

It did leave me short of a photo though, and whilst pondering this, I realised that I haven't really talked much about music on my blog.   Given how significant music has been in my life, this seems a travesty, so I'm here to correct that.

It's fortunate that I'm a more competent musician than photographer.   Well, not for you, as you're looking at a picture of mine, not listening to my music...sorry 'bout that. 

But whilst I couldn't get a decent photo of this guitar, due to my bumbling amateurishness, this is, in fact, a fantastic work of art (I mean the instrument, not the image).

This is my #1 guitar.  It's a Fender Stratocaster Plus Deluxe, made in the US in around 1993.   I bought it new, just as I was getting serious about playing the guitar.   It cost around £750 and is probably worth around the same now...not that I'd ever sell it.

It's been my faithful companion ever since the day I got it, over 20 years ago.   And it's as good today as it was then, if not better for being well played in.

I keep saying it, and that feels a little wrong.  Traditionally, it would be a she (check out the curves)...that doesn't feel quite right either - but it's closer than it.   

She does feel organic to me, a living thing, not merely a dumb, lifeless object.   Maybe if you heard her sing, you would be convinced...

She hasn't been out for a good few years now, but I'm hoping to take her out next week and show her a good time.

I've got a jam session lined up with my brother and a friend from work.   We're going to have to take it in turns on bass, and we're hopefully just going to bash out some raw, noisy blues, with a hint of rock and funk thrown in.  

At least, that's my agenda!  We've not all played together before so we don't really have a plan...other than that both the other guitarist and I are into the blues, so that will underscore most of what we do.   

If we gel and it's fun then we may try to put something more organised together, but for the moment, it's just for a good time making some noise with other people. 

Making communal music is an amazing thing.  It's one of those whole is greater than the sum of the parts things...it can be absolutely magical, other-worldly.   And musicians feel flow in a similar way that athletes or sports-people do.

If you can close off your conscious mind and succumb to the vibe, you can reach a state where you simply relax and allow the music to flow through you into the world.   Time slows and stops, your mind ceases to verbalise, and you are truly in the moment. 

I think that pursuit of this state is fundamentally what drives me, musically.  This is why I don't play the guitar at home on my own any more.   I need other people in order to flow...without them it's almost impossible, it seems pointless, and I lose all motivation.

I now can sometimes get a similar state when moving over rock outdoors (particularly when soloing)...hence my avid pursuit of climbing adventures, since my musical options dried up.

Making music as a group is a far richer experience than playing alone, much more engaging and satisfying.

I have some plans to try to bring a hint of this experience to those who wouldn't ordinarily get the chance (which is most everyone).   I'm developing this idea for group music sessions for non musicians, that take the form of a party where you have fun and make some music (and get drunk, if you like) under the direction of an experienced musician (me).

No, it's nothing like karaoke, before you ask...and nobody has to sing, and nobody has to do anything on their own.

However, if you are reading this, then you are hereby cordially invited to an early experiment of this idea, round at Chez Balogne and the spAnna's, sometime in the next couple of months.

You will, of course, have to let me know who you are, though...

Or just turn up...mi casa su casa...

S'all good.

Day 32 - Zebra Stripes

dream of a pot

I've just realised (as I wrote the title for this entry) that this is officially Month Two of my 12 month blog series.   I made it through the first month without missing a day!!  

I'm really pleased about this fact, but I don't really know why.   The blog has no particular direction or purpose.   It was just supposed to be a series of random photographs...but I clearly hadn't thought it through. 

I hadn't planned the mechanics of it further than a vague thought of "I'll keep the pics on a blog".   

I've never been that interested in blogs and had certainly never written one before.

However, I use google products a lot, and I thought they had a blog tool.  After a quick search...so they have.   Ok, where to start?

Create a blog...great, now

Give it a name...oh, erm, 501aday?  No that's taken..ah, ok 5Oh1aday...

Now pick a theme...black and orange, that works nicely...

Create a post...Title?   Oh, ok I'll give it a title.

Load the pic...Caption?  Ah, erm I dunno, some witty comment.

Now enter your text...oh, I have to write something?  Erm blurt...

So there I was having to put a load of extra stuff around the photo...and having a natural tendency to the verbose (when writing at least), before long I found myself producing fairly long posts daily.  

It's been fascinating, and I've enjoyed it immensely.  I often start writing with no plan, and see what comes out, and so I'm always surprised by the thoughts and ideas that emerge.

The blog has brought colour and depth to my life in a novel way...the diversity of the photos, the writing - and by extension, how it reflects me and my life - makes me feel both grateful and humble, in equally large measure.

I hadn't fully realised how I have such interesting, stimulating (and in some cases adorable) people, animals, environments, and interests around me, all the time.   

It has helped to bolster the feeling that by turning away from the corporate world, and deliberately choosing a quieter, more local (albeit poorer) lifestyle, I have not "thrown it all away".

Rather, I have embraced a more natural way of being, in a more natural world, and this stimulates my curiosity and my mind, and drives me into adventures of many kinds - such as this blog, and many of the mini adventures and episodes it documents. 

And it's not even climbing season yet!

Once the days grow a bit longer, it'll be time to get on with all the other ambitions from my 50 List.   There'll be much more scope for good photo's and fun stories once that all ramps up. 

Which brings me neatly back to today's picture (I bet you thought I'd forgotten, didn't you?).  

A few years ago my bro' gave us a Money Pot like this.  The idea is that you can put money in but not take it out until it's full.   It's a way of putting a fund together for some specific purpose (or whatever you want, of course). 

This is our 3rd in 3 years, which we've just started.  It's got zebra stripes, I like it!

Our strategy is to put all £2 coins and £5 notes that we have, into it.  

The first one had £670 in it when we broke it open!   This became our Climbing Gear Fund, and we used it to buy much of the equipment we needed in order to start climbing outdoors.

Or at least, it funded the first £670 of it! ;-)

The 2nd, which we broke open on my birthday a month ago, contained £530.   This has become my 50th Adventuring Fund, and will help towards any costs incurred whilst pursuing all the other stuff I randomly decided I'd do this year.

Given that this blog has turned into about 20 times the amount of work that I anticipated (having not really anticipated any), maybe I've been a little ambitious with the rest of my list?

Time will tell, but I'm up for it...I reckon it's all doable.

Just you watch...  

;-)