1 -
Woken by Sally around 7:40am again. Seems to be her
new routine wake me up time. . . uncomfortable overkill on the TV
news (EVERY channel!!) about the failing health of the pope.
There's something weird about all this saturation coverage -
almost like the news companies just can't wait for him to die!! .
. walked. Got talking to one of the lady dog walkers who 'thought
I should know as well'. Huh? Turned out her six year old black
labrador type dog called Drew (who Sally always tries to play
with (just to wind him up so it seems) but who always seems to be
in a bit of a bad mood and growls back at her as she bounces
around him) has been diagnosed with bone cancer and will only
live for a few more months!!!!! :o( . . . PCd music . . .
pottered in the garden for a while and decided it was high time
that potted Yucca (which has actually survived reasonably well
outside - although is gradually being eaten by snails) got thrown
away. It's a shame, but I'll not have it back in the house. It
hasn't been my friend since it poked me in the eye and almost
blinded me! Dragged the bin up the lane and cut up the Yucca and
got rid of it. Dumped the tub of remaining compost in on top of
my very full compost bin. Dragged the angle grinder out and cut
up one of the slightly broken spare bathroom roof tiles. Made two
little ramps to enable any trapped frogs to climb up the patio
steps back to the garden. :o) . . microwaved potatoes and
reheated under the grill lamb with gravy for lunch . . . napped .
. . Mum called with some good news. Her long broken cooker door
hinge had somehow happily been replaced by a guy she'd called in
- and the local handy man she's discovered had been back and had
mown her grass for her, for not 'that' much money. Cool. :o) . .
. walked late. As I was walking down the far side of the field, I
could hear the sounds of more rocks being hurled at the school
sports hall windows!! Grrrr. Quickly changed direction and headed
over to see who was doing it, but by the time I got there, I
could see no sign of anyone - only broken glass and rocks
littering the floor beneath more freshly smashed windows. :o( I
really don't know why the authorities bother replacing them. Must
surely be cheaper to the tax payer to fill them in and just have
the lights on? I wonder - when they build the new school, if they
are going to be intelligent about the design, and actively modify
the plans to make it more difficult for such vandalism to be
'successfully' committed? Those windows are only being smashed
like that because that hall is RIGHT next to the perimeter fence
and road. If the windows were on the other side of the building,
it wouldn't happen so often, if at all . . . touched base with BB
. . . TVd . . . all of a sudden there was the weirdest of
momentary power cuts! Somehow it affected the lights but nothing
else!?? Suddenly sat in the dark watching the TV. How is that
possible? Thankfully LB called asking if I'd also just had a
power cut - so I didn't get plunged into my usual worrying about
MY wiring! How easily we can all be caught up in believing in
hocus pocus nonsense - both of us wondered if the pope had maybe
just died! Thankfully he hadn't, or else I'd have had to have
rung the electric company, just to see if god was on the
graveyard shift, and to find out just exactly why that DID just
happen! :o[. . . sausage rolls and crisps before bed around 1am. pa2 - Woke around 7:15am . . .annadin and coffee in the garden, planning a nice day for Sally. . . out of the house walking in the sun by 7:45am and headed off on the long (painful!) walk down to Eastville Park and along the river Frome. Found a not quite empty 'baggie', and a lighter . a funny little dog running along loose with a jogger, took a liking to the stick I was carrying to throw for Sally. No matter how high I held it up or how carefully I hid it behind my back, no way was he gonna give up trying to get it! Sally tried her bluff of being all fierce and protective, but (because she's just a big softy really) once her bluff had failed, she just walked away and left us to battle it out!! Eventually the little dog ran off with Sally's stick, leaving me all covered in muddy paw prints!! Felt like I'd been mugged!!! lol :o) . . carried on up onto Purdown to sit for a while with a cigarette. Misty under the sun. On through Vassals and back via Fishponds. . .home around 11:15am. Fed the last of the roast lamb to Sally and then gave her the leg of lamb bone out on the patio. She made pretty short work of that! . . . cooked up four burgers and mushrooms for lunch. Took the risk and actually cooked up the mushrooms with a bit of the chopped up wild garlic from the garden! When was it I dug up some of that from the woods down by the river at Hanham and planted it around the pond? A year? Two years ago? Dunno quite how but it seems to have multiplied underground during the winter. Loads of little shoots have started to appear all around that side of the pond!! A VERY mild, hardly noticeable taste - but not bad. :o) . . . slept the rest of the day away until around 5:30pm and woke without food posioning. . . walked early around 6:15pm and sat for quite a while on the grass at the top of the field watching the sunset. When I finally got up to walk home I could hardly straighten up!!? Uh oh - seem to have put my back out a bit somehow!!?? . . . PS popped round with a DVD to watch - 'Alien Versus Predator'! Clever effects but utter nonsense. . . BB called . . . ate corned beef and mayo sandwiches. . .LB called briefly to say the pope had finally died! Well - don't take this the wrong way - but - good! At last! It was getting to be so horribly painful to see the poor guy in such bad health being wheeled out and propped up at various hospital and vatican windows by his followers and 'made' to try and say stuff and - be conscious! I swear at times it looked as though he was being poked with a stick from behind!! Have some peace at last! . . . touched base with BB before bed around 2am. pas
3 - Woke around 7:45am. Ouch - definitely got a bad back again! . . .walked and found 20p . . .PCd . . .Mum called to touch base . . dismantled the old wood frame and red velvet three seater sofa which has been crammed in behind me in the 'computer/bed room' for ages (and has been used by Sally as her napping bed) and managed to put it in pieces in the cupboard. Wow - really nice to have a little more room - and because it was in front of the window, it also makes the room much brighter. That settles it - that three piece is gonna have to go. Good grief - it must be WELL over twenty years old!!! In fact - I'm SO desperate to have less clutter around the place, I may well just dump it all off at some charity shop somewhere in the VERY near future. I think I 'may' do the same with that re-varnished pine table and chairs that is still cluttering up the other bedroom - don't think I can be bothered to have it all hanging around for ages while I try and advertise it for sale again. It's kinda worth 'paying' whatever money I could get for it, just to have it gone and some space back!! I think all the clutter of all these records and tapes around the place for SO long has kinda brought me down a bit - I'm definitely in the mood to try and clear it all up a little. Vacuumed layers of Sally hair and dust and tidied the PC room just a little. Put Sally's duvet cover and drying towels through the wash. . . touched base with Sis1 and told her I'd found her new camera guarantee card amongst all my stuff. She said she'd pop in tomorrow and pick it up . . . ate large corned beef, mayo, onion, cheese, lettuce and tomato sandwiches with two bags of crisps while watching a little of the grand prix . . . napped . . . walked . . . cleared up and vacuumed a little more . . . BB called . . . ate three defrosted sausage rolls with two bags of crisps . . .PCd records (trying to get a few done so I can return them to Sis1 when she calls in tomorrow) and a handful of cassettes until bed around 2:30am. pas
4 - Woken by Sally around 8:15am. . .walked . . . PCd records all morning . . . did a few dish washing chores . . . cooked up two beefburgers, mushrooms with garlic and chips with two pieces of bread and butter for lunch around 1:30pm . . . left the PC on converting some 175 WAV tracks to MP3 as I lay next to it around 2:30pm and napped . . . woken by Sis1 calling in around 4:30pm, 'just' as the PC was finishing the last couple of tracks!! Coffee and chats. She's back on with her man friend, despite 'what he did'!! Returned a small handful of her records I'd borrowed and have finished 'absorbing' into my MP3 music collection. . . PCd . . .walked after the heavy showers. Found an unmarked CD-R covered in rain laying in the field. Wiped it down and popped it in a pocket to take home and see what may be on it . . . PCd and made sure the virus software was all safely up and running before trying out the CD-R I'd found over the field. Wow - turned out to be a 'data' disk full of WMA music files! Full albums by Eamon, Kelly Rowland, Beenie Man, Black Eyed Peas, Anastacia, Jennifer Lopez, Beyonce, Sean Paul, Evanesence, 50 Cent and a mixed bunch of others!! Hmmmm - so how do I convert (just some of those) WMA files over to MP3??. . . BB called to touch base . . .PCd/TVd . . . ate bowls of cornflakes before bed around midnight. pas
5 - Woken by Sally around 6:55am. :o( . . . walked . . .Oh good grief! Continuing, absolute saturation TV coverage of the death of the Pope and all that stuff. The TV channels seem to be insisting on raking over every little detail and doing meaningless live reports from anywhere anyone is showing an interest. Personally, I really don't understand it all at all. I can't see that he made any (positive) difference to anything in my life, AT ALL. There are still wars, needless deaths through hunger, disease, etc etc. Whatever he DID do, wasn't sufficient to motivate his followers to put an end to all that. Wasn't he more or less just the MD of a multi national multi million dollar 'business'? Why are people almost treating him like HE was a god? And now they are talking about making him a Saint? Blimey - sainthood comes pretty cheap these days don't it?!! No - I don't understand it at all. The older I get, and the more I have an understanding of how the world works, the more of a 'problem' I have with the orthodox religions and the people who use them to justify - umm - well - pretty much anything they want so it seems! . . . PCd this . . . I'm getting REALLY fed up with all the spam I'm getting through the site these days! Somehow they are now targeting my guestbook!!! EVERY single day I now have to log in and delete adverts for various drugs or on line poker sites from the bloody guestbook!! Grrrrr! Much more of this and I'm gonna delete the blasted thing!:o( . . .PCd music all day. Wasn't in the mood to bother messing around in the kitchen and somehow just skipped food! . . . walked. Stopped off at home for some money and then headed off in the direction of the kebab shop. Half way there before I remembered they are closed on Tuesdays. :o( Ended up walking aimlessly around the block before coming back home and eating the majority of a packet of biscuits in front of the PC - just to stop that 'shaking with lack of food' thing. . . BB called . . . eventually forced myself into the kitchen and knocked up some corned beef, cheese, mayo, onion, lettuce and tomato sandwiches . . . to bed around 11:45pm. Yep - I guess I was in a pretty grouchy mood today! pa
6 - Snoozed and then woken by Sally around 8:20am. BIG rain storm falling. . . walked in torrential rain and very glad when it was done and I was back home. As if to mock me, it very soon turned to prolonged sunny spells. . . balanced my accounts. Haven't done that for a while - took a bit of doing, but things are ok-ish! My on paper 'net worth', which has been steadily declining rather since I had the big bill for having the roof done, is kinda back up to the level it was in October of last year. Yeah - believe it or not, despite my 'modest' income, my 'insecurity over my future' and the fragility of my financial situation, demands that I still 'go without' and attempt to save some money each month (as I always have done)!!! It is these very savings which ensure I do not EVER qualify for ANY benefits or allowances or low income reduction in bills, etc etc. Actually - it's hard to shake off those Post Office years of analysing budgets etc. Can be quite an eye opener when you lay it all out in simple form.
The
fragility of my situation can be seen from a very few figures -
for anyone who likes simple spreadsheets!! In theory, I guess I
only have two bills over which I have no control or choice, the
water and the Council tax. All the rest I can 'attempt' to cut
down on or go without - heating, food, TV, etc, etc, etc. The
annual increase to my income (post office pension) is 'allegedly'
linked to inflation! I don't understand how, but magically so it
seems, any bill which increases (and they ALL are - TV, Electric,
Gas, etc.!) which I have absolutely no choice but to pay, somehow
isn't in the calculation for inflation!! So - I'm on a slippery
slope aren't I - mostly because of that outrageous council tax?
All those years of denying myself things and going without, so I
could save some money, is likely eventually gonnna be for nothing
- I'll have to use my savings to cover the increased
taxes/bills!!! It doesn't seem 'right'. Ok, ok - so I'm
incredibly lucky to have been given a pension - and really should
be out looking for work (aside from my 'personality' problems -
Sally dictates otherwise) - but - it still doesn't seem right
somehow. :o( . . . ate corned beef, mayo, cheese, etc sandwiches
with several bags of crisps for lunch, and then some chocolate. .
. BB called early . . . napped . . set the PC converting todays
batch of WAV files to MP3 and then walked - got caught out in
torrential rain yet again, but this time without my leggings on!
Soaked! :o( Think I have my own little rain cloud sat outside
waiting for me!! THAT'll teach me to have a 'rant' about religion
on my journal!! lol :o) (when I was a licenced radio amateur -
politics and religion were, wisely so I've learned, 'taboo'
subjects. That is always strangely somewhere in the back of my
mind when I type my journal. It DID come as some surprise that no
one 'had a go at me' about my 'religion comments' yesterday.
Maybe no one ever reads this! Oh well - 'I' do - sometimes. :o) )
. . .Mum called to touch base . . . BB called . .
.PCd messing around, had a 'night off', and just enjoyed
listening to music with the headphones on, until the early
hours!! Damn - that faulty headphone socket on the front of that
cheap PC case has given up the ghost already. I'm getting no
sound out of the right hand speaker when I'm not using the
headphones. :o( . . . ate bowls of cornflakes in front the TV
before bed. pas7 - Woken by Sally around 8am . . . walked . . . got inside the PC - disconnected the audio cable to the little front PCB, put the appropriate jumpers back on the main motherboard pins, and sadly reverted to NOT having a front headphone socket. :o( I REALLY should just buy and fit one myself to the speakers - and at the same time, make those stupid short leads longer. . . PCd records . . .used some of the 'waiting around between flipping sides' time and 'jacked up' my computer chair by an inch or so with a bunch of the rubber washers I'd rescued from the field, which had come from the builders yard. Had to laboriously 'drill' out each of the washer holes in the conservatory with the electric drill to get them to fit on the chair shaft. . . cooked and ate four small cheeseburgers for lunch . . . PCd more records . . .napped for a couple of hours or so and then woke with a bad, BAAAAAAD tooth ache! One of those loose ones the dentist said I should have had out, a while ago. Chewed annadins on and off for the rest of the day!! :o( . . . did dishwashing chores . . . walked and found 18p. Sally 'wallowed' in a muddy puddle just as we were on our way out of the field! Hosed and wiped her down out on the patio - could have done without THAT! :o( . . . touched base with BB . . . TVd whilst recording records. Ate biscuits and then a bag of crisps and three defrosted cold sausage rolls around midnight. Actually had great difficulty in eating with that nasty tooth and painful gum!!! . . TVd/recorded/ached until bed around 1:30am. paaaa
8 - Woken by Sally at 7:15am. REALLY bad toothache again - still - more. Hang on - my face is different!!!!!? Uh oh - I seem to have swollen up a bit where that tooth is hurting!! Crunched annadins and let the crunched up paste sit next to my bad tooth to anaesthetise it as best it could. . walked . . . recorded more of Sis1s records. . . having dismantled the old three seater sofa in the PC bedroom and stashed it out of the way in the cupboard, I've really rather enjoyed the extra space and less clutter. That settles it - that old three piece definitely has to go. Dismantled the two chairs and took the trouble to pencil on each of the pieces, which went where, to prevent confusion when someone puts it all back together. Hang on though - suddenly remembered that 'new' safety law about old furniture. How it has to be fire retardant - and if it isn't, second hand shops aren't allowed to sell it! That three piece has to be at least twenty years old (although because I've hardly ever sat on it, it's still in really good condition). . dug out the phone number of the 'cahrity' place I bought my kitchen table and asked about whether or not they'd be interested in having the settee and chairs. They confirmed my fears about the fire resistant foam, and said they wouldn't (no one would) be able to take it. :o( . Oh well - I've made my mind up it HAS to go - it's a tragic waste, but I'm just gonna dump it! Amazingly managed to squeeze the whole dismantled three piece, together with all the cushions into the back of the car! Sorted out a few things for a charity shop donation - some old car speakers, a carrier bag of the casettes I found over the field which I've already copied onto the PC (or rejected (gangster rap stuff) as not worth having), and the old SLR camera SH once gave me. . . Left Sally at home and drove to the Mangotsfield council tip and dumped the settee and chairs. WHAT a terrible waste! :o( . .stopped off in Staple Hill on the way home and dropped the stuff into a charity shop before having a look in each of the others. Bagged a long sleeved black sweat shirt for 50p :o) . . . detoured on the way home and stopped off at a nearby dentist that has been advertising as having vacancies. I'm not happy with my dentist - in fact I'm never happy with any dentist - so it really makes little difference to me who I see. Makes sense to see one as close to home as possible - the place I stopped is not far from my local dog walking field, and is only a ten minute walk away, rather than the drive down to my dentist at Hanham. Suprisingly, despite all that stuff constantly on the news about people not being able to find an NHS dentist to take them, I was immediately provided with the necessary forms to fill out, and was then able to make my first 'check up' appointment for next week! Cool. Sadly, ALL the dentists at the practice ARE of foreign origin, so I guess I still won't be able to understand them or engage in much of a conversation with any of them - the same as currently. Oh well - at least it'll be cool to be able to just walk over there. . hot on the heels of that 'success', I figured I may as well do the same with my doctor. Some years ago, the doctors surgery building closed, and a new building was opened up, twice as far away. Strangely, a new surgery then sprang up on the site of the old one - so, every time I walk or drive all the way down to see my doctor, I actually pass the closer doctors surgery (on the site where I used to attend) on the way! I've been putting up with this silliness for years because I was under the impression it was best to remain consistant and see the same doctor all the time and build upon the doctor patient 'relationship'. The recent nonsense, where I've found out it is no longer possible to actually make an appointment to see 'MY' doctor, together with (in my opinion) his refusal to take seriously the pain I'm in and joint problems I'm having (lets face it - surely there must be SOME blood test or some such to absolutely rule out arthritis, or in some way at least seriously attempt to definitively get to the bottom of why at the age of 44 I'm in CONSTANT neck/back/leg joint pain and having increasing difficulty in simply walking and navigating stairs!), has convinced me there is absolutely no point whatsoever in sticking with that same doctor. As long as whoever I see, is happy to continue to prescribe me my fluoxetine tablets for the forseeable future, for all the little help I ever seem to get when I need it, I may as well see absolutely anyone! High time I got on the books of that closer surgery (half as far to painfully walk!). Stopped off, asked a few questions, and eventually obtained the necessary forms to register there - although I think I may well delay and try and time it appropriately to fit in with my repeat fluoxetine prescription supplies. . drove to the pet store and bought Sally supplies. (15kg+2kg free sack of PAL complete for £17.95 and 36 tins of Winalot for £12.15) Also invested 69p in a small tub of fish food - in case the tadpoles in the pond needed it. . . haven't been eating enough potatoes of late - the whole little sack I've had laying around in the kitchen for ages is starting to sprout!! Can't stand waste so figured I may as well roast them all up and freeze them. Peeled potatoes - all of them - for ages!!!! Made a garlic and onion meatloaf out of some defrosted mince and then put the whole lot in the oven. Drank a glass of red wine while waiting for it all to cook . . .the tadpoles in the pond and 'nursery bucket' showed absolutely no interest in the fish food at all! . . . ate some meatloaf, a mountain of roast potatoes, peas and lashings of instant gravy for a huge feast. Stashed the rest of the roast potatoes in the freezer. . slept . . .uh huh - so - what is the 'latest' pain I'm experiencing???!!!! Oh jeeze - that feels very much like the site of my hernia operation!!???? Hmmm - think I'm going to keep my fingers crossed and just assume I've stretched or pulled something, moving that three piece settee to the tip. :o( . . . walked . . . BB called . . .listened to music . . . managed (with difficulty) to eat bowls of cornflakes, before bed after 1am. paaaasd
9 - Woken by Sally at 7:15am. Tried to snooze on but she insisted with little whines, and had me up by 7:40am. Dunno what the hell is going on with this tooth. That side of my jaw is really quite swollen (that side of my face reminds me of how Dad looked on the steroids - 'moon face'), but somehow it doesn't seem to be as painful as yesterday - more kinda numb!? Oh well - I'll settle for numb - beats hurts like hell :o( Gotta try and hold out till my dentist appointment. . . blimey - it's colder than it should be! Ice on the puddles over the field! . . . recorded records to the PC while doing a little housework and laundry. Sunny spells enough to get some laundry washed, out on the line, and back in dried, all in one go. . Mum called . . watched a little of the Charles/Camilla royal wedding on the TV as I PCd records. VERY low key affair - about as close to a 'private do' as is possible for them to have I think. Good grief - some people in the modest crowds were booing as they arrived at the registry office. Outrageous! Why on earth should anyone care that he's apparantly the 'head of the church' and she's divorced, and she can't be queen, and all that irrelevant nonsense? They make each other happy. They should have got together years ago and not been forced along different paths by the out of touch 'establishment'. Bloody good luck to them I say. Be happy. . .ate slightly warmed meatloaf and lettuce sandwiches for a mid afternoon lunch. . . napped until woken by Mum calling to say she'd bought her first CD - a Ray Charles special with lots of famous guests apparantly - including Johnny Mathis!! Oh what joy. !!!!!!!!!. . . more PCing/MP3ing/record splitting . . . walked late. Stopped for £2.10 sausage and chips on the way home, to get quick and easy food out of the way. . PS popped round for chats and coffee and biscuits. YET again, awful trash on EVERY channel on the TV!! I seem to be watching the TV, less and less these days as a result of these AWFUL schedules. Ended up with the living room PC and stereo on, listening to music most off the evening. Sorry neighbours! . . touched base with BB before bed around 1am. paaas
10 - Woken by Sally around 7:45am. . . walked . . . bashed on with MP3ing Sis1s record collection, absolutely determined to break the back of it today. Yayyy - at last - finished doing her records by around 2pm . . celebrated with a glass of Sainsburys own, cheap red wine and then a plate of microwaved meatloaf, roast potatoes, boiled frozen mixed vegetables and gravy . . . napped, unusually heavily dream laden, until around 7pm!!! (dreamed I'd finally managed to get hold of a second hand replacement for my worn out combat jacket in some store or other, but upon checking the pockets, I'd found a bunch of money and had decided to keep (steal!!) it. Like a fool, I'd mentioned it to someone and now the rumor was circulating and it was surely only a matter of time before the store owner got to hear of it, and I would then be in big trouble!!). . . walked. Entering the field with Sally, the sounds of more breaking glass and smashing of stuff greeted me from the builders yard. Ugggh. :o( Wandered straight over to the new opening in the security fence and watched, amazed, as cans of paint, pieces of equipment and 'till rolls' like streamers came flying through and out of the upper storey windows and went crashing into the littered yard below. For goodness sake!! I couldn't help myself - I phoned the local police number on my mobile and reported it - again! (What is it with the people in those posh new flats that live right opposite - that they can somehow ignore all that noise and mayhem right on their doorstep like that?!) As I made my report, I attempted to keep out of sight and hung around in the field not far from the break in the fence, in such a position that I had a pretty good view of the building, the yard, AND the street out front. No way would anyone get out of there without me seeing them. There was the sound of more smashing of glass and yet more 'stuff' came flying out of the windows as I was finishing my call. I attempted to do a video of stuff flying out of windows on my new camera, but am still not fully familiar with it, and I messed up and missed the action. In the distance I could hear approaching police sirens! Surely not - that can't possibly be for here, surely? Blimey - it WAS!! Somewhere, somehow - it almost seems as though the police have developed a different attitude towards things happening around here - they seem to be taking things more seriously. I strongly suspect, it's as a result of that bad publicity that was in the papers about the gangs of fighting youths outside the school a while ago. Just politics I guess, but so long as things are improved (even most likely just temporarily), I'm not complaining! . . remarkably quickly a police car was pulled up round the front of the builders yard. One of the policemen rushed round the building and saw me and called out. I motioned with my finger to my lips for him to be quiet because the perpetrators were DEFINITELY still inside. I told him what I'd witnessed. Other police cars had arrived and the officers all pretty much spaced themselves out around the building so there would be no escape. I pointed out the hole in the security fence and a bunch of them managed to squeeze through and with batons drawn, entered the derelict building from different entrances. There was a bit of banging and crashing from inside and a rather anxious wait on my part - but then eventually they all emerged and said there was no one inside!!! WHAT???!!!!! No way!! They were trained to 'clear buildings' - there WAS no one inside - and there was too much broken glass to consider sending a dog in! Bloody hell - I felt SUCH a FOOOOOL!!!! I apologised and apologised. They were very good natured about it and said it was ok. .I just couldn't believe they'd managed to get out without me seeing from where I was stood! They must have made their escape, through a small (child sized) gap under the entrance gates on the far side of the building, quite literally seconds before the police car had pulled up there. I just couldn't believe it!! How had I missed them? . . The police in the builders yard decided to do a quick search of the rest of the premises, before eventually all returning and squeezing back out through the gap in the fence. One of them (Australian accent I think he had?!) was all upset that he'd got paint on his shoes and uniform trousers. I apologised some more. :o( . . eventually they all left the scene of my 'false alarm'. SO convinced was I, that I couldn't have missed anyone sneaking out of that building, I actually ended up sitting on one of the boulders at the edge of the field smoking cigarettes for ages and keeping watch, just in case someone eventually emerged. No one did. Oh well - just goes to show what they say doesn' it? You can NEVER completely rely on an eye witness statement (even when it is your own eyes!!)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sobering lesson. :o( . . . got home to find a plastic freezer bag hanging out of the letterbox containing some muffins!? Guess I must have missed LB poping down!? . . touched base with BB . . touched base with LB and thanked her for the muffins. I told her they were nice. They were not - except to Sally! . . .PCd. Oh dear - I guess it was only a matter of time before I ended up having a serious go at it! Played around with a few different music tracks, actually using 'Sound Recorder' to sample bits and pieces and knock up a whole new, admittedly repetative, version. Silly - fiddley - doesn't take much skill! Can't understand why people who play at doing that, (DJ so and so's 'mix') have become as successful as the REAL talent who create the music in the first place. Played with 'sampling' noises until around 4am!! pasd
11 - Woken by Sally around 8am. . . thank goodness - my aching tooth/gum/face seems to be settling down a bit. I wonder if I maybe just got a piece of crisp stuck down between my loose tooth and gum? . . . walked and found 10p. Kids are back at school after their holiday - or at least 'some' of them are. Loads of groups of them all over the place playing truant! There was also a sad looking kid on his own playing truant, hanging around near the 'mine shaft' emergency fencing for quite a time. If I had to put money on it, I'd say he was likely playing truant because he was the victim of bullying - dunno why, he just looked that way. :o( . . . damn! I haven't finished doing Sis1's records after all - I overlooked a boxed set - got three more to do! :o( . . . was just about to sit and do some of my journal when I received an ominous brown envelope through the letterbox. Oh no!!!!!!!!!! OH NOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was a letter from the Avon and Somerset Crown Prosecution Service, Witness Care Unit!!!!!!!
walked.
Rounding a corner on the way home, there was a small fire, just
happily burning away in the middle of the pavement!!!!???? (There
are times, walking around this place, when I have to pause to
examine my own sanity - because I can hardly believe what I'm
seeing! My website and journal have all become something of a
part of that. Kinda like - I need to 'share' some of the things I
experience, complete with photos to PROVE it 'actually' happened
- because I can hardly believe how mad my world has become.)
Strangely I couldn't see any kids around. Because of this and
other things I've witnissed in the vicinity (like that car that
was smashed up with building blocks - that was right opposite
where the fire was - the owner has recently bought a similar
replacement vehicle - already been 'keyed'.), I strongly suspect
some increasingly delinquent kid, lives in one of the nearby
houses or flats. It seemed appropriate to try and put the fire
out, rather than leave it unattended and perhaps allowed to
spread to the nearby wheelie bins. Turned out to be one of those
stupid designer aluminium fold up scooter things that were all
the rage a little while ago. Wow - those tiny nylon wheels sure
are combustable - big time!! The tiny little wheel had melted all
over the pavement into something like a two feet square patch of
molten goo, and it was THAT which was all aflame! Had a test go
at stomping on some of it. Bit dodgy - but 'do-able'. Stomped and
stomped and kicked the burning wheel around a bit until all the
flames had gone out and then carried on home to examine the
damage to my shoes. Yep - definitely knocked a few months of use
out of the slightly melted soles of those Doc Martins shoes!! :o(
Turned out that Sally also had 'splashes' of molten nylon stuck
on her fur!!!!!!!! Jeeze - what an idiot I am!!! Thankfully she's
ok. She's a brilliant dog - takes all such nonsense in her stride
- more than I do! Brilliant dog. :o) . . . PCd this . . . BB
called . . .had to have a break from the PC to go and drink some
more. Think I massively overdid the salt on that chicken earlier.
Checked her all over and groomed Sally and removed all traces of
the molten nylon from her fur! . . . sat in the garden briefly. .
. PCd more of this. . .wow - I really HAVE overdone the salt
intake today!! Can't stop drinking - and every time I go down to
make a cup of coffee, I end up having a mug of water first as
well. Considering my lifestyle, heavy smoking, poor diet,
lifetime of anxiety, etc, etc. - it absolutely amazes me I
haven't had a heart attack 'yet' - really!!!! . . . couldn't be
bothered with food and just ate a large number of biscuits with
coffee before bed around 1am. pas
Heyyyy - at last - some (coal board?) workmen were
parked up in the field, had moved the safety fencing, and were
showing an interest in the depression and 'my' hole. Couldn't
resist walking over and having a word and making sure they knew
exactly where 'my' hole had appeared, and how the 'depression'
they seemed more concerned about, hadn't really altered for
years. Carried on walking Sally around the field like usual but
couldn't resist walking back up to watch the workmen digging and
reveal whatever it was they were going to reveal. Yeah - I'm
pretty sad - I need to get a life - but there IS just something
about a hole isn't there - you just GOTTA look into it! They'd
pretty soon excavated with their JCB where I'd said I'd found
'my' hole, and thankfully DID uncover something (see - I didn't
make it up - just like I'd described - a stone arch with a void
beneath!) - what I think they called a 'drift'. An opening going
down into the ground which was perhaps once an air shaft into the
mine.
. . I'd mentioned to the workmen the old dog walker
who'd told me he could recall excavations there in the past, and
who'd said there was a large metal cover over the top of the old
mine shaft, which was presumeably under where the depression was.
He eventually appeared in the field so I suggested they should go
and have a word with him, to get it 'from the horses mouth' -
which they did. One of the workmen must have drawn the short
straw that morning and ended up getting into the hole to have a
look!!! Dangerous stuff, although I must confess, if they'd let
me, I would have jumped at the chance of getting down there and
having a look in too. (What WAS that beeping electrical device
one of them was carrying? Gas monitor perhaps?) They were clearly
used to much bigger and more dramatic stuff, and seemed to
quickly conclude that the little bit of subsidence that had
revealed the small hole, was of little concern. Just needed back
filling. 
Quite some responsibility, making such decisions I
guess. Get it wrong, peoples lives could end up being put at
risk!! . . They turned their attention to the nearby depression
and started digging. They dug and dug - and actually dug down as
far as the reach of the machine, which was quite some depth, but
apart from removing a few bits of buried rusty angle iron, they
found nothing! (that was NOT the site of the top of the mine
shaft!) A bit of a disappointment I thought - but kinda confirmed
what I'd said about that depression having been there for years
and wasn't doing anything. Intriguing nonetheless - just exactly
why WAS that depression there, if there was nothing beneath it?
Strange. The JCB driver soon started work on filling it all back
in and packing it down. Actually felt a bit sorry for him - he'd
been working pretty hard with that machine for ages, while
everyone else just stood around looking into the holes he'd dug!
. . That was apparantly gonna be pretty much that. With no sign
of any serious shaft collapse, they were gonna get some rubble to
fill 'my' hole and leave it at that. . I'd been in that field in
a hint of drizzle for a couple of hours - I was freezing and my
back was aching loads. Time to go. Oh well - that's my excitement
for the day over and done with. . . passing a bunch of truanting
school kids hiding behind a wall near the school gates, I was
asked the time. I told them and then half joked that it was 'time
for school'! I couldn't resist engaging in a VERY
non-confrontational conversation with them - I explained I was
just interested - I just wanted to 'know'. How was it possible
they were all there playing truant? Don't the teachers keep a
register? Haven't I seen on the news that parents of truanting
kids can now be fined? Don't they let their parents know they
skip classes? Etc. etc. The 'good natured'-ish replies confirmed
that there IS an electronic register done by the teachers, but
'the teachers in there are dumb' and it's easy to get around
that! Untrue bravado perhaps, but one of those kids was said not
have attended certain classes for months!!! . . whatever the
truth behind all that, it confirmed my suspicions from what I
have observed over the years. There is DEFINITELY a problem in
that school - a problem with its 'management'! I even surfed a
while ago and had a look on line at the school 'league tables'.
NOT a pretty picture!! . . Found 2p and a rather useful small
drill-bit on the way home. Absolutely frozen! Put the heating on
and drank hot coffee. Yayyy - 2 x £50 PSB wins in the mail. :o)
. . . PCd this . . .ate reheated meatloaf, mayo and lettuce
sandwiches with two bags of cheese and onion crisps for lunch . .
. napped (more or less through the ansaphone taking a call) until
around 5pm. More heavy dreaming!! (dreamed
I'd found a Post Office Rem unit pouch with bundles of cash in
it, hidden in a phone box. In the dream I apparantly decided to
keep (steal!!) the money, so I sorted through it all, took the
money and left the rest behind!!!???)
Weird how the mind works. Tempting to see these recent dreams as
my mind dealing with guilt over having had those people arrested,
'looting' stuff from the builders yard! Despite being essentially
honest - I have to accept (especially after having been exposed
to all the illegality that goes on in the neighbourhood) that if
I ever DID come across an unattended big pile of cash, it would
be an awful dilema - I really would be sorely tempted to keep it
- although if I did, my conscience would torture me severely for
the rest of my days!! Don't think I could face that. Must be
something in that meatloaf!?? . . returned BBs call and touched
base . . . PCd a little more or this. Hang on - that isn't
right!!!!!!! I was about to type about the Witness Care Unit
letter I'd received when I realised the offence date wasn't
right!!!!!????? It says she has pleaded not guilty to handling
stolen goods on 11/3/05.
I witnessed all that stuff on 
I wandered over
towards the hedge and spotted one kid just outside one of the
holes in the security fence (there are now at least two along
that side of the field). He was attempting to burst a small black
fire extinguisher by smashing it repeatedly against the metalwork
of the fence!! Can't they go bang?!!!! Jeeze! Figured I'd 'mess
with their heads' (if there is anything IN them!) and 'persuade
them to leave' by taking some photos. One of them saw me - raised
the alarm - and they all ran off around one of the buildings out
of sight further into the yard. Immediately they began running,
in a clearly 'practiced' way, they were pulling up their hoods
and shirts to hide their faces!!! Blimey - I never learned to
instinctively do 'that' when I was a kid!!!! Proper little yobs!.
. I sat on one of the boulders at the edge of the field for my
cigarette, and ended up talking to some other dog owners. As we
talked, I could see the yobs emerging from yet another big gap in
the builders yard fencing (security of that site is an absolute
joke), further up the road. They arrogantly all wandered up the
road and right past where I was sitting chatting, all staring and
making 'comments'. I soon headed home as usual but had to walk up
the road in the direction of the group of yobs up ahead. They
started shouting abuse, called me a paedophile, and jeering and
one even started lowering the back of his trousers and baring his
ass at me!!!! :o( I honestly DID attempt to ignore all that, but
eventually I DID slightly alter my route home and walked in their
direction - which saw them all run off again - before
re-appearing some distance behind me as I walked. I had a pretty
good idea that at least some of them lived in the street just
down the road, which I had to pass to return home. I decided to
stop on that corner, roll a cigarette and stand there and smoke
it. Aside from winding THEM up being between them and their
homes, - I absolutely did NOT want them to see me going into MY
house just then!!! There was a bit of a stand off, with each of
us looking at the other from different ends of the street, but
eventually I finished my cigarette and managed to quickly walk
the last little bit and get in home without them seeing where.
WHAT on earth am I turning in to?!!! The trouble is, it's just
lots of tiny little things over a long period of time that kinda
grinds you down. That woman in the news (a respectable middle
aged teacher I think she was?) who was recently jailed for firing
an air gun 'in the direction of' HER local yobs - well - I feel
SO sorry for her. NO WAY should she have been given a custodial
sentence. Punished, certainly - some sort of mental health
'counselling', oh yes - but a custodial
sentence? No. No way! I can only guess, that those who make such
decisions - the magistrates and judges etc, are lucky enough (£)
to have absolutely NO knowledge of what it's like to live/be
trapped in such an area, having to face the constant
barrage of destruction, hassle, and abuse from such
'unstoppable/untouchable' yobs - on a daily basis. It WILL change
you - it WILL fill you with frustration and despair - it WILL
make you do completely out of character 'crazy' things. And what
happens - the 'helpless victim' who has finally cracked under the
pressure, is the one who is locked up!!! T'ain't right what's
going on. The meek shall inherit s**t! :o( . . . PCd a bit of
this . . . BB called . . .TVd . . . ate bowls of cornflakes . . .
BB called. . . to bed around midnight. pas
On the
way back up towards the exit of the field, the bunch of yobs were
once again hanging around near the builders yard fence. I ignored
them and headed for my usual boulder (when the seat by the swings
is occupied) to sit and smoke my cigarette. As I sat there, the
kids suddenly all pulled their hoods back up and started running
off across the field and away, looking back at me!!? Weird. Hang
on - oh NO!!!!!!!!! Something was on fire!!! (actually, I'm
absolutely amazed that someone hasn't torched the builders yard
buildings long before now. If I was a 'yob' - I'd feel obliged to
have done so by now! In fact - now - it would really help out the
demolition company, and save them having to remove that huge
bonfire like pile of combustable junk - aha, that'll be why they
haven't. They couldn't possibly do anything that would be useful
to anyone could they!!) I sauntered over to look down the slope -
aha, some temporary wire fencing has been put up to block the
holes in the fence - that's why they weren't in there. What they
HAD done was set fire to the undergrowth along the fence there!!
I hesitated with my phone in my hand and watched for a little
while, because it kept threatening to burn itself out and there
really wasn't much of anything in any direction that was in
jeopardy. Someone WAS also watching from the gable end window of
the flats opposite. It DID occur to me that it probably looked as
though I had maybe set the fire - with me just stood there taking
photos of it!! In fact - I bet every time they look out of their
window, they see that same weird dog walking guy, who always
seems to be 'making up' a reason to call the emergency
services!!!!!!!!!!!! The fire kept flaring up and wasn't far from
whatever that cable was - to hell with it - I dialled 999 and
asked for the fire brigade and made the report - but DID make
sure they knew, it could well have gone out by the time they got
there. I think the call handler mentioned someone had already
called it in. A fire engine very soon turned up, reeled out a
little hose and quickly dealt with it. I exchanged a joking word
or two with one of the firemen and explained some kids had set
the fire. "Oh but they're just misunderstood!" he said
- with a hardly noticeable wry smile. Yeah - he understood. . .
so - things 'crossed a line' tonight - I reckon it was ME who was
the 'catalyst' for those events occuring! Those kids did that for
'MY benefit' (like the kid throwing down his litter yesterday!)!!
So - I've somehow ended up being the CAUSE of yobish
behaviour!!??? I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do about that.
:o( . . .Sally (perhaps remembering stomped on splashing molten
nylon the other day) sought safety from the fire in a nearby deep
muddy puddle and had a damn good wallow while my back was turned
making the phone call! :o( Lots of hosing and towelling out on
the patio again . . . PCd this feeling sick and tired of it all.
Is that why people have kids? So that by the time they reach the
end of their lives, their kids have made sure that being finally
released from this world, is not an entirely unwelcome
prospect?!!!! :o[ . . BB called . . .PCd this - and then not . .
.ate tuna sandwiches . . . TVd. pas
I'd missed all the excitement really. By the time
Sally and I got there and joined the crowds of onlookers from far
and wide,(weird almost 'party' atmosphere) it was all pretty much
over. Grabbed a bunch of panoramic photos - 'just for the
record'. Four fire engines in total!! Aside from everything else
- musta cost the tax payer a fortune! :o( Rumor has it that the
warehouse was chosen by the arsonists, because it contained some
cylinders of gas (although if true, they did NOT explode)!!!! All
I could see from round the other side in the field when walking
Sally, was a bunch of smoke as the firemen damped down, and a
large burned hole in one of the asbestos roofs. I trust that
burning asbestos wasn't 'too' much of a health hazard to all the
onlookers who breathed it in - me included!!!!!!!! :o( . . .
eventually returned home feeling rather despairing (although just
a little pleased I'd not been over there when it all happened -
again!) and turned to the red wine. . .picked up the phone to
call BB and found an ansaphone call from PS, hours earlier,
saying 'tonight?'. Ooops. Called PS back and said yes. . .
touched base with BB . . .PS popped round for chats, TV and
biscuits. . .ate four sausage rolls and two bags of crisps . . .
TVd with biscuits . . .PCd until early. Finally got round to
checking up on tadpole stuff on line and figured what I'm doing
with the lettuce, 'should' be ok. pasd
. . the fillings were deeply unpleasant, with much
biting of the poor mans rubbery fingers as I choked and gasped to
swallow my 'smoking related unpleasantness'. I really AM a
brilliant advert, to warn against the evils of smoking. :o( He
was very patient with me. The actual extraction was SO painless
and 'easy', in comparison to the last one I had out down in the
dental hospital, I was amazed and full of praise - even if I
didn't convey it very well, spitting blood as I was! . .
Eventually he turned his attention to the left hand side. A
couple of really nasty injections. A clean around my other teeth
as that took effect. A good 'yank' on the tooth, only to find me
almost airborne out of the chair - or was it pushed through the
floor? - it still hurt like hell! A couple more jabs and then
eventually (owwwwaaa) that one too was laying in his tray! . .
all done. 'See you in six months'. Blimey. EXCELLENT. . . back
out to reception and managed enough bloody mumbling to pay the
£52.44 owing and then be told that they would automatically
write to me a few weeks before my appointment was due, in six
months. Wow, wow, and I think, definitely wow. I'm glad I changed
dentists. :o) . all done and back out spitting blood on the grass
of the field on the way home, within 45 minutes . . . touched
base with Mum . . . TVd/PCd feeling a bit 'eeeww'. Eventually
recovered enough to dare a coffee - and smoke (which the dentist
expressly said I should not, for the rest of today!) around
11:20am!! . . . felt a bit iffy - eventually had to lay down and
then slept until around 5pm!! . . .woke in a bunch of pain from
the left side of my mouth - and still spitting blood! . . .
recorded another record while TVing . . .eventually crunched and
sucked an annadin tablet with a cup of coffee . . . PCd some of
this . . .walked. Found a penny and a cheap, gold effect earring.
Cold but a sunny end to the day, with a pleasant atmosphere made
by plenty of people out in the field playing ball and walking
dogs and such. Walked round and then sat on 'my boulder' for a
cigarette. Oww no-wwwa - not again! A noisy ropey looking
'suspicious' car pulled up next to the builders yard security
fence in the distance. Heavy frontal, nearside damage - and a
blowing exhaust. The driver left his passenger in the car, got
out and sauntered straight back down to the security gates, lay
on the floor and squeezed through, before disappearing off into
the yard! Ugggh. Shall I call the police?Is it really actually
worth bothering? It's getting ridiculous - me calling them up all
the time!! . another dog walker guy I've not seen for a while
turned up and stopped for a chat. Quite a long one, but I wasn't
really listening to him and was still debating whether or not to
make the call. I even told him what was going on and we kinda
discussed it a bit, but I don't think it would ever have occurred
to him to call them (which seemed a bit weird to me!?). . the
driver of the car had been gone in that yard for ages - and the
dog walkers eyesight was a bit better than mine and he was able
to confirm I was right about the registration number. Damn it - I
just HAD to call it in! More because of the clearly unroadworthy
state of the car, than anything else. It WAS tempting to just
wait and see exactly what the hell was left worth looting from
that yard - and maybe sneak a picture of it 'leaving', just for
the - um - 'laugh'??! . . I made the call and carried on smoking
and chatting - and anxiously watching the car out of the corner
of my eye. Within around ten minutes (which of course seemed like
an age) the first police car arrived and pulled straight in
behind the car. Turned out it had two
female occupants - both put into and questioned in the back seat
of the car by the male officer. The female officer (another oh SO
young looking 'slip of a lass') headed off, on her own, through
the gap in the gates and into the builders yard!! I have MUCH
respect for these people. . 
I felt it appropriate
(although unfortunately 'higher profile') to hook Sally back up
on the lead, walk past the car down the street, and take up a
smoking position closer to and in view of much of the yard. Two
more police cars turned up and officers thankfully joined the
policewoman in the yard - and they then started a search of the
nearest derelict building. Dunno why, but that 'thing they do',
when they 'flick' open their extending batons - it kinda gets the
hair on the back of my neck up. Something along the lines of -
yeah - they mean business - this is REAL - bloody use them if you
have to - and - well - maybe even sometimes when ya don't!! . .
they found no one and pretty soon emerged from the gates. I
crossed over the road (trying to be invisible - but oh so
uncomfortably not!) and quickly told the policewoman that it was
me who'd made the call - it was the driver of the car they had up
the road, who I was unable to give a description of, who was the
one who'd gone into the yard under the gate, and I'd not seen him
emerge. At this I bid her goodbye and left them to it - whatever
'it' was on this occasion I'll never know! Oh dear - that
policeman who was with the people in the car - I seem to be on
nodding waving terms with him whenever I pass!! . . tried to
figure some stuff out - like do those policemen think of me 'that
bloody weird busy body nuisance with the dog again!' - or do they
kinda understand why I call stuff in (and why other people
don't?). Could it even be, that having that builders yard 'going
on like this every night', is kinda acting like 'honey to a bee'
to the yobs, and is helping them catch (or at least get
intelligence on) habitual criminals who do other more serious
stuff elsewhere? Dunno. I feel pretty bad about ME calling them
all the time!! It's bad enough as it is - what I am NOT looking
forward to, is the time in the future when there is actually a
building site there, with all the equipment and supplies and
stuff. The theives'll be queuing up in the street!!! Traffic
chaos - gridlock for miles!!! :o[ . . . fed Sally the rest of LBs
left overs, despite the 'possible' risk. . .PCd this . . .
returned Mums ansaphone call . . . touched base briefly with BB .
. . PCd this . . . eventually 'had' to have some food. Managed to
eat a bowl of oxtail soup with four pieces of bread and butter. .
. to bed around 12:30am. paaa??s
Oh no! OHHHH NO!!!!!!! The front of my house has
been pelted with eggs!! All dried on - must have been some time
last night I guess. (Some bloody guard dog Sally is!) . . .I
absolutely CANNOT comprehend what goes through these peoples
minds. SO outraged with me were they, for my objecting to their
ignoring the law and just rampaging around doing whatever they
please, that they went out of their way to go to a shop, buy half
a dozen eggs, figure out which house was mine in the dark of the
night and then throw all the eggs at the house! I just can't
grasp what that is! . . . walked in the drizzle - frankly in
f*****g misery. :o( Found 3p . . .dragged the step ladder out of
the understairs cupboard, collected together various sponges and
scrubbing brushes and a bowl of hot soapy water, and spent much
of the next hour scrubbing dried-on egg off walls and windows out
in the garden. :o( . . .PCd a bit of this on the living room PC
while the other PC carried on recording records. I think I need
to press on with this and get these records returned to LB as
soon as possible - I'm not sure I can guarantee their safety in
my house anymore! I need to return Sis1s real quick too. . They
know where I live - I don't know who 'they' are or where they
live. Every sound, every voice in the street, every car door,
every moped that goes by, every time I leave the house
'unattended' (known to be twice a day of course) - there's no
escaping it is there? So - I seem to have managed to engineer
myself my very own little piece of hell to live in don't I. :o( .
. .felt too up tight (ALL day!!) to eat. Finished off the last
couple of bananas. Moved some stuff around in the front bedroom
- guess I'll be sleeping back in there from now on - if I can
sleep at all between leaping to the window to peer out every five
minutes, day and night! :'o( . . . very unpleasant day of extreme
'uptightness', with full on 'stress response' going on ALL day!
Upset stomach, sweaty armpits, headachey, shortness of breath -
blimey - my physical response to a little stress seems to have
gotten much worse than it ever was!! Shocked me rather. :o( . .
attempted to nap but couldn't . . .sat around up tight,
frequently looking out of windows . . . walked . . . still no
appetite but I guess I must eat, so put an 'Iceland Frozen Foods'
pizza in the oven with a little extra cheese. They've changed
their pizzas somehow - definitely not as good! :o( . . . touched
base with BB . . . ate pizza . . .TVd but ended up watching it
with the sound down so low it was hardly audible - and then found
myself frequently muting it and peering out of the windows at the
sliughtest noise from outside. Can't recall any of what I
watched. On one occasion peering out of a darkened window with
Sally - we saw a scrawny fox happily trotting up the road. Cool.
Glad there are still some around - despite the wheely bins having
deprived them of much of their food source. I guess around here,
there is always SO much litter and discarded takeaways, they
still manage to find enough to just barely survive. . . exhausted
to bed around midnight. pa
Woken by Sally . . . walked and found a lighter . .
. PCd music all morning again. . . ate tuna, onion and mayo
sandwiches with two bags of crisps for lunch . . . napped for
several hours until around 5:30pm . . .set a casette recording on
the PC and then walked. Kinda quiet out after the wind and rain
of the last couple of days - 'almost' pleasant to sit on my rock
and smoke a couple of cigarettes and watch the dogs running and
kids playing in the field . . .fed LBs cats and rabbits. Usual
disgusting heartbreaking mess! :o( . . . sat in the garden
briefly with a glass of red wine . . . BB called . . . ate tuna,
onion, mayo and (past its best going limp) lettuce sandwiches
with crisps. Threw a few more leaves of the lettuce in the pond
for the tadpoles - although it seems to be mostly the water
snails that benefit from that the most. Never mind - 'so far' the
tadpoles are giving life a damn good go, in both the pond and my
bucket nursery. Keep wanting to empty the (rather more crowded
than I'd intended!!) bucket nursery back into the main pond, to
alleviate my weighty feelings of responsibility for their
wellbeing! No sign of any legs as yet (no tadpoles in my pond
have EVER yet survived to the 'got legs' stage for some unknown
(dragonfly larvae?) reason) so I'm gonna try and resist for a
while longer yet. Do tadpoles sink or float when they die? The
first sign of any death in that bucket, and they all go straight
back in the pond to take their natural chances. . . PCd/TVd until
exhausted to bed. pasd