An occasional journal
wildlife
Out of the Door
Jun 3rd 2018
The cats went outside for the first time today.
Admin1 is reading The Vanishing Box by Elly Griffiths. Admin2 is reading A House of Knives by Willam Shaw.
Coffee of the day: Colombia Finca las Mercedes la Isla; rich and dark like the Sultan of Brunei.
We scored 11 on the GWQ, mostly through wild guesses.
Waiting at the Window
Jun 2nd 2018
The cats still have not been let outside. Tomorrow maybe.
Admin1 is reading Dead Silent by Mark Roberts. Admin2 is reading The Vanishing Box by Elly Griffiths.
Pigeon Post
May 20th 2018
This crazy bird perched on the weather station and went for a spin on the anemometer.
Admin1 is watching Doctor Who series 10 and reading The Zig Zag Girl by Elly Griffiths. Admin2 is reading The Stone Mattress by Margaret Atwood: fun stories about old people getting up to dirty tricks.
Cats’ Cradle
May 18th 2018
Meet Titan (big and bright orange) and Ganymede (pale and pretty). Titan was originally the forthcoming cat but he turned very shy while Ganymede came out of his shell and amused everybody with his entertaining acrobatics. Now they are both out and proud.
Admin2 is reading The American Lover by Rose Tremain.
Meet the New Cat (2 of 2)
Apr 26th 2018
Here’s the shy brother cat which has a slightly lighter coat and a less stripy tail. And here’s a rainbow.
Admin1 is reading The Dead Tracks by Tim Weaver. Admin2 is reading The Mechanical Devil by Kate Ellis.
Meet the New Cat (1 of 2)
Apr 24th 2018
We have had two lovely brother cats since Friday but they have spent the past few days in hiding, only venturing out in the dead of night. They are gradually becoming braver and this chap is quite friendly, but the other spends most of his time squeezed into an inaccessible corner behind the kitchen cupboards. Early days.
Admin1 is reading Holy Ceremony by Harri Nykänen. Admin2 is reading The Silver Pillow by Thomas M Disch.
Critter of the Day: Robin
Apr 22nd 2018
Cooling its claws in the pond waterfall.
Admin2 is reading The Beige Man by Helene Tursten.
We scored 10.5 on the GWQ. Thx Audrey.
Jay of the Day
Apr 10th 2018
Yay and Hooray! Admin2 has been stalking this bird unsuccessfully for ages but Admin1 photographed it through a rainy window on our most dismal April day ever (0.42kWh).
Admin1 is reading Silenced by Kristina Olsson. Admin2 is reading The Janus Stone by Elly Griffiths.
Critter of the Day: Female Blackbird
Mar 11th 2018
So not black.
Admin2 is reading The Happy Isles of Oceania by Paul Theroux.
We scored 10 on the GWQ.
A Charm of Goldfinches
Mar 4th 2018
Admin1 is reading The Lake by Lotte and Soren Hammer.
We scored 8.5 on the GWQ.
Black and White
Mar 3rd 2018
Blackbird and starling sheltering from the snow.
One snowy day in March, Admin2 is reading The Familiar 1: One Rainy Day in May by Mark Z Danielewski (hard to categorise, but a labour of love with masses of magical illustrations, typographical tricks and interleaved narratives, each in a different font, and an enormous number of volumes to follow).
Critter of the Day: Bullfinch
Feb 22nd 2018
Admin2 is reading A Long Way from Home by Peter Carey; three peculiar people go rally driving in Australia and have their lives changed in many ways.
Critter of the Day: The Other Tit
Feb 11th 2018
Admin2 is reading A Room Full of Bones by Elly Griffiths, fourth volume in a series about archaeology and criminology in Norfolk. Corpses and curses.
We scored 10 on the GWQ.
Critter of the Day: Tit
Feb 9th 2018
Admin2 is reading Fire Down Below by William Golding, the last volume of a thumping good trilogy about the physics and sociology of life aboard a clapped-out sailing ship during the Napoleonic wars.
Gold and Bull
Jan 29th 2018
Finches in the branches.
Admin1 is reading Chasm City by Alastair Reynolds.
RIP Phobos 2009-2018
Jan 18th 2018
Phobos was a big healthy lively and friendly cat until yesterday morning when his back legs suddenly stopped working. Today we took him for a lethal injection. No choice. Saddle thrombus is the worst; neither instantly struck down nor with a lingering illness that we could come to terms with, but his old self from the waist up and dead from the waist down and in agonising pain (until the vet gave him some excellent drugs). We will miss him so much.
Gulls Just Want to Have Fun
Jan 8th 2018
Admin1 is reading Cut Short by Leigh Russell, which was readable but had a worryingly negative attitude towards anyone who wasn’t middle class. And her detective is rather emotionally erratic … still, first novel so room for improvement.
Admin1 has been playing Grand Theft Auto 5 (thanks Gez & Dave!) on his new XBox (thanks Admin2!).
Critter of the Day: House Sparrow (?)
Jan 6th 2018
Admin1 is reading Black Day at the Bosphorus Cafe by MH Baylis, this one centred on the Kurdish, Greek and Turkish communities in Tottenham. Baylis’ three Tottenham-set detective novels were a great find, and really summoned up the area well … in particular the smells! Very big on odours, is Mr Baylis.
Admin2 is reading Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders, a haunting ghost story voiced by ghosts.
We scored 10.5 on the GWQ.
Critter of the Day: Squirrel
Jan 1st 2018
Stealing nuts!
2017 had average weather and average sunshine.
Admin1 is reading A Death at the Palace by MH Baylis — a well-written crime story evocatively set in Tottenham (the palace of the title is Alexandra), with an incongruously jolly cover. Admin2 is reading The Power by Naomi Alderman, which was electrifying.
Critter of the Day: Blackbird
Dec 17th 2017
Admin2 is reading Light in a Dark House by Jan Costin Wagner; a Finnish story with an open-ended finish.
We scored er um 6 on the GWQ.