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Wind and Hot Air

90 mph gales and flurries of hail-stones encouraged me to curl up with the book I’m reading now, which is about a gang of feral cats who live in a forest shared with three other gangs. Ok, they’re children’s books and I’m old enough to be reading them to kids of my own (not that I have any, if you discount the furry four-footed sort). But who cares? They’re fun! The author, Erin Hunter, is the pen name of two writers who have a website at: http://www.warriorcats.com/ which is a cuuuuuuuute website!!!!

For reasons known only to herself, Emily has lifted all of her toys from the toy box and carried them to the patio doors in the other room. At the moment, she’s busily trying to make a nest of toys and curtain.

So what’s new, hmm? Our lawns had their first mow of the year – which only highlighted the poor state of the front lawns. On either side of the path, there are two half-moons of lawn. These have become clogged with moss which has killed off most of the grass. I suspect it might be easier to simply dig them over and start afresh with new grass seed! The storm has flattened nearly all my daffodils. I’d been planning to take a photo of the daffs poking through the round shrub (of uncertain species) by the front door but now that idea will have to wait till next year. It serves me right for procrastinating! My excuse is that I was waiting for the right light.

Richard recently bought a little record player which fits onto a modern music system without the fuss of having to buy extra amplifiers or other electronic gadgets. This one just plugs in. So he’s been up in the attic, battling with cobwebs and crumbling insulation to fish out various records which he hasn’t already got on CD. It wasn’t so long ago that we decided to store them up there to save space! Now half of them are back in his den again….

Mostly, I’ve been busy with my writing – but I don’t want to bore you all with minutiae about that!

Have any of you watched the new series of Castaway? Personally I shall happily cast it away. Think Big Brother (yawn!!!) set on a New Zealand island - or in other words, one long round of petty griping and petulant squabbles. I won't be watching any more.

Now, the first Castaway was a quite different kettle of fish; though even then the programme editing focussed too heavily on conflict when it was obvious that a lot of other, constructive things had been happening around the Hebridean island of Taransay. Here, a group of disparate individuals, couples and their children lived on a remote island for a year, creating a community, living off the land, building their own homes, learning how to live together etc. It was something I would have loved to have been involved with just for the experience. I wish they'd do a 'What Are They Doing Now' programme, to hear how they feel about the experience now, seven years later.
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