An occasional journal
wildlife
Critter of the Day: Squirrel
Jan 2nd 2020
This cheeky animal is eating next door’s birdseed.
Admin1 is rereading Spook Street by Mick Herron and Admin2 is reading Dan Leno & the Limehouse Golem by Peter Ackroyd: music halls and murders.
Fox News
Dec 24th 2019
This creature has been lazing beside our pond for a couple of days but we assumed it was one of the numerous ginger cats that hang around our garden, until alerted by our neighbours — whose Christmas card features … a fox. Only today we were having a boring conversation about the lack of wild garden animals compared to London.
Admin1 is reading For the Missing by Lina Bengtsdotter (Nordic Noir featuring the most annoying detective in Sweden … stiff competition there) and Admin2 is reading Remembrance Day by Henry Porter.
God Jul everybody!
Critters
Nov 15th 2019
Today we went to Lusaka National Park to see ‘white rhino, giraffe, eland, hartebeest, zebra, sable, kudu, blue wildebeest, waterbuck, black lechwe, impala, puku, bushbuck, reedbuck, warthog, pangolin, and axis deers’. We saw:
a lizard
a chongololo
a dragonfly
and absolutely nothing bigger than a pigeon.
Back home we saw some particularly horrible but harmless hunting spiders
Admin1 is reading The Bourne Ultimatum by Robert Ludlum. Admin2 is reading The Tin Heart Gold Mine by Ruth Hartley. Meh.
Some Things We Saw on Our Travels
Nov 6th 2019
A herd of wild elephants
A radioactive HOT spring
A handsome warthog
and lots of animals and birds around a watering hole
Admin2 is reading Green Hills of Africa by Ernest Hemingway: a man’s quest to bag a kudu, as below.
Elusive Butterfly (not)
Sep 17th 2019
Red admirals are everywhere.
Admin2 is reading Confessions by Kanae Minato, more repercussions of a murder, this time commited by schoolchildren.
Coffee of the day: Burundi Sangira: super fruity, yumms!
Robin
Sep 13th 2019
Admin1 is reading The Return of the Incredible Exploding Man by Dave Hutchinson and Admin2 is reading Reconstruction by Mick Herron (thx Admin1).
Up a Plum Tree
Aug 25th 2019
We caught this cheeky rat high up in the branches scoffing our fruit.
Our hottest August day so far: 34.5 °C, enlivened with music from the reggae concert nearby and fun with the paddling pool and bubble machine. Admin1 is reading Lies Sleeping by Ben Aaronovitch. We scored 12 on the GWQ, though half a point was given for an alternative answer.
Critter of the Day: Peacock
Aug 15th 2019
Well a peacock butterfly anyway.
Admin1 is rereading The Birdwatcher by William Shaw.
Tits Hanging Out
Aug 11th 2019
The long-tailed tits are back, and this time they have brought the blue tits with them.
We scored 11 on the GWQ, thanks to Dave’s knowledge of balls.
Critters of the Day: Long-tailed Tits
Aug 5th 2019
We have never knowingly seen these cute fluffy birds before, but today a gang of them arrived at our bird feeder. Here’s a single individual:
Admin1 is reading A House of Knives by William Shaw. Admin2 is reading Smoke and Whispers by Mick Herron. We scored 11 on the GWQ.
Critter of the Day: Comma
Jul 29th 2019
Polygonia c-album, the proofreader’s butterfly.
Admin1 is reading Smoke and Whispers and Admin2 is reading The Last Voice You Hear, both by Mick Herron.
Critter of the Day: Triceratops
Jul 27th 2019
Monstrous creature roaming around Merrion Centre, part of the Jurassic Trail apparently.
Today has been our darkest July day ever: 468 watts, a maximum temperature of 17.4°C and 12mm of rain. A week of extremes indeed: raging winds, exceptional sunshine, thunder and lightning, hottest day and warmest night ever and least sunny July day all in six days.
Admin2 is reading The Vinyl Detective: Flip Back by Andrew Cartmel. We scored 8.5 on the GWQ.
Critter of the Day: Cabbage white
Jul 20th 2019
Pieris brassicae
Its eggs, its baby and the damage done
and how it begins
Admin1 is reading Big Sky by Kate Atkinson.
We scored 10 on the GWQ.
Critter of the Day: Red Admiral
Jul 1st 2019
First this year.
June 2019 was our second least sunny June (200.302kWh), the wettest month since September 2017 (93.9mm) and the coldest June since 2012 (averaging 21.6°C).
Admin2 is reading Murder in the Crooked House by Soji Shimada; a 350-page logic problem.
Critters of the Day: Ladybirds
Jun 15th 2019
The ladies are a bit blurred because they wouldn’t stop twerking.
Today is St Swithun’s Day. According the legend the next forty days will be wet and gloomy. Already we have had more rain this month than in any month since March 2018, and we’re only halfway through.
Admin2 has been reading Keep Your Friends Close by June Taylor, a melodramatic crime novel set in Leeds and full of misdirection and implausible coincidences.
RIP Titan
May 29th 2019
We called him Titan because we thought he was going to be big but he was tiny and died of gut trouble before he was two years old. We will miss his calm nature, friendliness and lovely soft fur xxx
White on White
Apr 30th 2019
A small white butterfly on a wild garlic flower.
Admin2 is reading Spaceman of Bohemia by Jaroslav Kalfar; adventures of a bouncing Czech.
Blue on Blue
Apr 29th 2019
Spot the butterfly on the bluebell.
We scored 8 on the GWQ with remote help from Dave.
I’ll Bee with You in Apple Blossom Time
Apr 23rd 2019
Admin1 is reading Dark Fire by CJ Sansom. Admin2 is reading The Other Wife by Michael Robotham. We rewatched Line of Duty series 4.