"Why *do* I bother?" I said, aloud, as I drove home today from Newport Pagnell, in the pouring rain, this lunchtime. Good question! But why am I saying it?
Well, as I drove along Marsh Drive, in Great Linford, taking the missus home from her swimming session in Newport Pagnell, (the road is a quiet, almost country-lane type of road, with a country park one side, and the edge of Great Linford village on the other); a young woman with 4 children in tow, was waiting to cross from the village side to the park. She wasn't really watching her children - albeit that they were all standing at the kerb, (looking suspiciously like they all might just run across the road, possibly in front of an oncoming motorist), and with the eldest, about 5, on her little bike, itching to get across the road to continue her cycle ride, and her younger siblings impatiently squabbling whilst standing at the roadside... ...
And the woman? (mother / child-minder???) ... ...
She could have been on another planet, for all the control she was displaying of the children, or the attention she was giving to crossing the road!
So why was she not in command of her tribe?
Oh, she was prattling away on her mobile phone whilst trying to hold a brolly up against the rain, and push a pushchair! Totally oblivious to what the kids were doing, or for that matter, whether there was any traffic to be aware of as they waited to cross the road. Yap, yap, bunny, bunny... laugh, laugh, yap-yap, laugh ... ...
All this I saw and took in, as I drove up the road towards them. So, being the kind, generous, big-hearted type that I am, I slowed to a halt, wound down the window, and beckoned them to cross (it was safe - there was no other oncoming vehicle in sight).
The eldest child saw and understood my hand-wave (i.e. "you can cross now"), and cycled over the road, followed by the [still squabbling] siblings... and this woman pushing the pushchair... still gabbling away on her mobile, and (here's the bit that really got to me) never stopped yakking, never looked at me, and *never* even gestured a wave of thanks!!! Grrrrr!!!
Hence: "why do I bother?" ... ... ... But then again, as my dear old Dutch. put it to me a moment later, "because you're a nice, kind, husband!" ... ... ... Aaah ... innat nice?! :-)
Monday 10 August 2015
Tuesday 12 May 2015
Screech! Howl! Wossat?! What time is it? 3am...
3 am is not my best time of night!
In fact, though I'm a morning person, and quite happy to rise at 7am, the "early hours" of the morning are for 'Zees', NOT jumping out of bed at the sound of our puddytat being attacked!
As many of you know, (via my Facebook page) we have a beautiful, small, loving, timid, little puddytat, 'Jem', (short for Jemima, her given name by the Milton Keynes & District Cats Protection where she came from) - who is quite happy to wander around our front or back garden during the day time, but rarely goes out in the dark; but for her convenience, we've a cat-flap let into the back door.
However, last night, at 3am, the bruiser-tom from 2-doors up entered via said cat-flap, and having got as far as the lounge, was sussed by our Jem, whereupon an almighty cat fight ensued! ... Except 'Bruiser-Tom' didn't expect Jem to put up such a crackin' good counter attack, repelling the intruder with the most ghastly of screeches and, no doubt, paws-n-claws flying! (Pure speculation on my part, but the morning showed how that dratted tom-cat had exited the kitchen, through the cat-flap, SO fast, he's broken the flap hinge off and burst the cat-flap frame screws out from the back door!
Of course, at 3am, when awoken with a Banshee-like screech, yowls, and the sounds of a mighty cat fight, I just jumped out of bed and shot into the dining room and kitchen, switching on every light as I went through - and blinking hard against the light! - to find our Jem with the bushiest of tails, but not a scratch on her, guarding the hole where the cat-flap had been!
I've installed a 9mm 'Kalashnikov' sub-machine gun pointing through the cat flap, and on CCTV/PIR alert now... Jem says, "Make my day, punk!" (Joke! Seriously, I *do not* do cruelty to animals... even 'orrid bruiser-toms!)
In fact, though I'm a morning person, and quite happy to rise at 7am, the "early hours" of the morning are for 'Zees', NOT jumping out of bed at the sound of our puddytat being attacked!
As many of you know, (via my Facebook page) we have a beautiful, small, loving, timid, little puddytat, 'Jem', (short for Jemima, her given name by the Milton Keynes & District Cats Protection where she came from) - who is quite happy to wander around our front or back garden during the day time, but rarely goes out in the dark; but for her convenience, we've a cat-flap let into the back door.
However, last night, at 3am, the bruiser-tom from 2-doors up entered via said cat-flap, and having got as far as the lounge, was sussed by our Jem, whereupon an almighty cat fight ensued! ... Except 'Bruiser-Tom' didn't expect Jem to put up such a crackin' good counter attack, repelling the intruder with the most ghastly of screeches and, no doubt, paws-n-claws flying! (Pure speculation on my part, but the morning showed how that dratted tom-cat had exited the kitchen, through the cat-flap, SO fast, he's broken the flap hinge off and burst the cat-flap frame screws out from the back door!
Of course, at 3am, when awoken with a Banshee-like screech, yowls, and the sounds of a mighty cat fight, I just jumped out of bed and shot into the dining room and kitchen, switching on every light as I went through - and blinking hard against the light! - to find our Jem with the bushiest of tails, but not a scratch on her, guarding the hole where the cat-flap had been!
I've installed a 9mm 'Kalashnikov' sub-machine gun pointing through the cat flap, and on CCTV/PIR alert now... Jem says, "Make my day, punk!" (Joke! Seriously, I *do not* do cruelty to animals... even 'orrid bruiser-toms!)
Sunday 1 March 2015
The First Day of Spring 2015
It's Sunday, the 1st of March, St David's Day, and, meteorologically, the First Day of Spring!
Well, first thing this morning... that is 8am... (come on... it is Sunday, after all!)... it was lovely and sunny; a clear, breezy, mild morning, here in Great Linford. The writer seriously thought about having his breakfast in the Summerhouse, but after spending 10 minutes in the garden, clearing out pussycat's dirt box, feeding the birds, and just generally praising God for a beautiful morning, he felt the keenness of that breeze; which, even as he stood there, was developing into a strong, chilly, wind!
By the time the missus and I were ship-shape and ready to go to church, this beautiful, sunny, morning had turned into a dull grey sky, with even greyer clouds scudding along, dark and ominous, and depositing a touch of drizzle as we motored to church. "April showers." said she, as the windscreen suddenly got spattered as if someone had turned on a hose. "You always say that." I replied, "How can it be 'April showers' in March?"
Stupid boy, you just opened the door to your wife's wealth of memories of growing up on the farm, down in Kent, and all the country folklore she learned at her mother's knee, out in the fields. "The weather doesn't know it's still only March." she replied, sage-like. "Of course April showers can start in March ... and finish in May... You know, they're the showers that suddenly descend from an otherwise bright, sunny, sky. Quick, blustery, downpours, or gentle sprinklings from a fluffy white cloud. And that's what we've got this morning, April showers! Look: over towards the West, there's still enough blue to make a sailor a pair of trousers." she said, remembering the age-old weather idiom about patches of blue sky shining through developing rain clouds. Blue being the colour of sailor's trousers long ago; and having sufficient 'blue' to patch, let alone make, a sailor's trousers, gave a really positive outlook on the weather one was experiencing! The more 'blue' the better it must be getting, that is, the showers lessening, and soon the sun would be out again!
However, showers apart, other signs that "Spring has sprung!" can be seen along the centre verges of the dual carriageways here in MK - they're festooned with gorgeous yellow Crocus; and Daffodils are evident, too, by their long green leaves, now several inches tall above the grass. From the look of them, it seems it won't be long before we see their flaring, golden 'trumpets', truly announcing the best, and finest, season of them all - Springtime!
In our garden we've Bluebells and Crocus pushing through the dark winter earth of the borders, and dozens of the miniature Daffodils beginning to show under the Bay Tree, and a bunch of Sweet Violets are already in bloom under the Hawthorn tree. On the grass border along the roadside, are slender mauve Crocus, always only a few, spread across a square yard of grass, but there every Spring to cheer me as I walk to the car. Swelling buds on the Hazel and Crab Apple trees; the Cherry and the Silver Birch, along the border by our car parking places, and all these flowering plants pushing their way into the sunny mornings, how can I not agree with my lovely wife when she rightly says, "April showers [which can occur even in March!] bring forth Spring flowers!" Happy 1st Day of Spring, dear readers!
Well, first thing this morning... that is 8am... (come on... it is Sunday, after all!)... it was lovely and sunny; a clear, breezy, mild morning, here in Great Linford. The writer seriously thought about having his breakfast in the Summerhouse, but after spending 10 minutes in the garden, clearing out pussycat's dirt box, feeding the birds, and just generally praising God for a beautiful morning, he felt the keenness of that breeze; which, even as he stood there, was developing into a strong, chilly, wind!
By the time the missus and I were ship-shape and ready to go to church, this beautiful, sunny, morning had turned into a dull grey sky, with even greyer clouds scudding along, dark and ominous, and depositing a touch of drizzle as we motored to church. "April showers." said she, as the windscreen suddenly got spattered as if someone had turned on a hose. "You always say that." I replied, "How can it be 'April showers' in March?"
Stupid boy, you just opened the door to your wife's wealth of memories of growing up on the farm, down in Kent, and all the country folklore she learned at her mother's knee, out in the fields. "The weather doesn't know it's still only March." she replied, sage-like. "Of course April showers can start in March ... and finish in May... You know, they're the showers that suddenly descend from an otherwise bright, sunny, sky. Quick, blustery, downpours, or gentle sprinklings from a fluffy white cloud. And that's what we've got this morning, April showers! Look: over towards the West, there's still enough blue to make a sailor a pair of trousers." she said, remembering the age-old weather idiom about patches of blue sky shining through developing rain clouds. Blue being the colour of sailor's trousers long ago; and having sufficient 'blue' to patch, let alone make, a sailor's trousers, gave a really positive outlook on the weather one was experiencing! The more 'blue' the better it must be getting, that is, the showers lessening, and soon the sun would be out again!
However, showers apart, other signs that "Spring has sprung!" can be seen along the centre verges of the dual carriageways here in MK - they're festooned with gorgeous yellow Crocus; and Daffodils are evident, too, by their long green leaves, now several inches tall above the grass. From the look of them, it seems it won't be long before we see their flaring, golden 'trumpets', truly announcing the best, and finest, season of them all - Springtime!
In our garden we've Bluebells and Crocus pushing through the dark winter earth of the borders, and dozens of the miniature Daffodils beginning to show under the Bay Tree, and a bunch of Sweet Violets are already in bloom under the Hawthorn tree. On the grass border along the roadside, are slender mauve Crocus, always only a few, spread across a square yard of grass, but there every Spring to cheer me as I walk to the car. Swelling buds on the Hazel and Crab Apple trees; the Cherry and the Silver Birch, along the border by our car parking places, and all these flowering plants pushing their way into the sunny mornings, how can I not agree with my lovely wife when she rightly says, "April showers [which can occur even in March!] bring forth Spring flowers!" Happy 1st Day of Spring, dear readers!
Tuesday 17 February 2015
The New Pussycat on the Block
Seems I'm not that good at blogging, as it's been nearly a year since my previous post. And in that post - just after our handsome cat, "Peeps", unexpectedly died, I posed the question of whether we would ever want to have another pussycat? After all, whenever a truly-loved pet dies, it is always hard to believe you could ever have another; because, surely, the one just passed away was the best ever, and no other could hold a candle to it...
Watch this space, I'd written. And indeed, 6 months later - last September - our friend Julie, who volunteers with MK Cats Protection, told us about a gorgeous little tortoiseshell 'puddytat' which MKCP had just rescued. She showed us a photo of her - Jemima, they'd called her, and said she was presently in quarantine whilst she weaned her 3 kittens! Poor little mite was only about a year old, and already a 'mummy'!
Well, the photo of 'Jemima' helped us decide to arrange a visit to the MKCP foster-carer, looking after Jemima until she was re-homed. Once seen, we were smitten! She's only a tiny little cat, and even now, 5 months after we adopted her, she still looks more like a kitten than an adult cat which has had kittens! MK Cats Protection organised a vet to neuter and vaccinate Jemima before we adopted her, and once we took her on, we registered her at our veterinary practice, had her 'chipped', and bought pet-health insurance.
'Jemima' came to live with us on 5th September 2014 and very quickly made herself at home! We decided that 'Jemima' was a bit of long name to have to call out every evening if she went 'walkabout', so we shortened it to 'Jem' - and she soon got used to her 'new' name. But we didn't have to worry about her wandering off down the road, or, (worse,) going over the back fence and through the copse to the main road, just 50 yards behind our bungalow... She's only ever once been over the back fence, and only ever once gone out of the front garden! She really is a home-loving pussycat, and gets all the fun and exercise she needs racing about our home, or back garden, chasing birds and squirrels! And she's such a playful little thing! She loves nothing more than tossing a ball-point pen or a pencil around the floor; and has lots of fun chasing her furry balls, or "killing" her furry rat. And after a good chase-about, her equal next pleasure is to stretch out, lengthwise, down Ann's lap or down between my legs, as we sit in our reclining chairs.
So 'Peeps' remains a beloved pet, but 'Jem' has taken her place as our treasured, and much-loved pussycat, and we trust we'll have her energetic and lively character for many years to come!
Watch this space, I'd written. And indeed, 6 months later - last September - our friend Julie, who volunteers with MK Cats Protection, told us about a gorgeous little tortoiseshell 'puddytat' which MKCP had just rescued. She showed us a photo of her - Jemima, they'd called her, and said she was presently in quarantine whilst she weaned her 3 kittens! Poor little mite was only about a year old, and already a 'mummy'!
Well, the photo of 'Jemima' helped us decide to arrange a visit to the MKCP foster-carer, looking after Jemima until she was re-homed. Once seen, we were smitten! She's only a tiny little cat, and even now, 5 months after we adopted her, she still looks more like a kitten than an adult cat which has had kittens! MK Cats Protection organised a vet to neuter and vaccinate Jemima before we adopted her, and once we took her on, we registered her at our veterinary practice, had her 'chipped', and bought pet-health insurance.
'Jemima' came to live with us on 5th September 2014 and very quickly made herself at home! We decided that 'Jemima' was a bit of long name to have to call out every evening if she went 'walkabout', so we shortened it to 'Jem' - and she soon got used to her 'new' name. But we didn't have to worry about her wandering off down the road, or, (worse,) going over the back fence and through the copse to the main road, just 50 yards behind our bungalow... She's only ever once been over the back fence, and only ever once gone out of the front garden! She really is a home-loving pussycat, and gets all the fun and exercise she needs racing about our home, or back garden, chasing birds and squirrels! And she's such a playful little thing! She loves nothing more than tossing a ball-point pen or a pencil around the floor; and has lots of fun chasing her furry balls, or "killing" her furry rat. And after a good chase-about, her equal next pleasure is to stretch out, lengthwise, down Ann's lap or down between my legs, as we sit in our reclining chairs.
So 'Peeps' remains a beloved pet, but 'Jem' has taken her place as our treasured, and much-loved pussycat, and we trust we'll have her energetic and lively character for many years to come!
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