Touchdown at the Newest Bluestocking Inn. Pudding, cups of tea, the vegetable garden coming into its own, and gerbils beautiful gerbils all furry.

[DeanElderberry]

All females welcome for intelligent discourse and non-harmful comestibles.

It was supposed to be over us tomorrow at around 10.30, but the schedule has all changed and now I have no idea.
So if anyone knows what time it will be doing Leg 8 from St Mawgan to Exeter, I'd be very grateful.

Oh yes, there are many wonderful badger feeds.

Just catching up, firstly for @PastaAllaNorma , I’m sorry it’s not better news re your father.

Thank you, Errol, that's very kind.

According to a post on Facebook, departing (subject to weather) from RAF St Mawgan at 10:00am on the 16th of April, tomorrow, and due to approach Exeter from the south via Teignmouth, Dawlish, and Starcross.

The only live badger I’ve seen was a cub calmly sunning itself inside a pen (not intended for badgers!) at Caerlaverock WWT.

Ive never seen a fox in my neighbourhood but we quite often see hares.
Today I’ve seen quite a few rabbits, rather to my surprise. The Musée Rodin has rather lovely gardens which apparently used to be quite wild and the rabbits remained. Lilacs and roses in bloom!

Interesting about the chaffinches. Here in Argyll&Bute they are everywhere. I get several chaffinches every time I go outside.
What we don't have is magpies, they don't show up until Dunbarton or Stirling.

I was out dog walking years ago - probably when B&B consisted of Bolshy and Barky - and heard that unmistakable Spitfire hum. I looked out of the woods and there, flying quite low, was a Spitfire. I was much delighted.

I come from a family of engineers/ petrolheads/ pilots and got some of the genes.

Igneo:
What we don't have is magpies, they don't show up until Dunbarton or Stirling.
We have far too many of the buggers, pretty as they are.

It's very arable around here, but the range of wildlife is a lot better than the countryside-as-food-factory view from the car window might suggest.

I was able to go to the loo and do the crochet joining. I was waiting to see if it would get interesting.

Also the Walrus never has his camera on which I think is rude. But I read Let Them last week and I thought I don't know these people. I don't care what they think. I want to join my blanket together. Let them think I'm rude.

in my work zoom meetings, very few people ever had their cameras on - the screens were generally occupied with something more interesting than each others faces. I guess we’d begun from audio only conference calls so it seemed normal rather than in any way rude.

I haven't heard a magpie round here this year (and none of that panicked shrieking from the small birds) but I saw one today looking particularly green-and-white and very shiny.

Loads of chaffinches here, and bullfinches and goldfinches. Not many greenfinches, though Merlin heard some last year. I saw a dunnock today which was nice change from all the robins.

@PastaAllaNorma I am impressed that one of your hens lived to 11! We had three flocks over the years but never kept one longer than 4 years.

Now I'm really jealous - all that Nature AND a Spitfire!
The loveliest plane till the Concorde.

For all it's obvious faults, like winning the gold medal in more than one Olympic polluting event, Concorde was magic - I've seen a streetful of people stopping what they were doing and gazing in awe at it as it passed overhead, mesmerised.

I saw the last flight of three of them lining up over the Thames to fly into Heathrow and history.

I haven't been in the Bluey this evening because I've been watching one of the most amazing football matches - Bayern Munch v Real Madrid, quarter final of Champions League.

It had everything - RM scoring in the first minute [35 seconds!], then end-to-end play with a succession of stunning goals, a late sending off for RM, and then a goal in the last minute - until Bayern won 4-3 on the night, 6-4 on agg.
Euro footie as its finest.

Hedgey, I'm sorry you had that disagreement, it was nasty to be accused of overcharging, and of not doing enough, when the problem was that they clearly just didn't understand the arrangement. Unfair things like that leave a bad feeling, don't they?
Bar-gerbils - a very large whatever-it-is-that-Hedgey-wants, as quick as you can please!

Thanks marie

I saw a badger in my tiny garden once: I took its photograph but must have deleted it by mistake. There are several badgers in the garden of the large establishment next door so it must have wandered away.

Then, when I had the patio doors open last (?) summer, I looked up to see a fox in my living room. I stood up to take its picture but it shot away.

Yes, I do live quite close to a city centre. 😕

My granny used to have a big fat black and white cat, and I remember once she went out in the evening, when the light was failing, to bring in the washing, and saw him sitting by the line, and had a whole conversation with him, and it wasn't until she got back indoors that she saw Harry dozing away in his chair as usual, and realised she'd been stood there talking to a badger.

I also remember a cat we once had who was very antisocial and would chase any other cats who turned up in the garden, but there was a fox cub who would come by and they would play together. They were friends, like in Beatrix Potter. He was a ginger cat, and not very bright, so he may have thought they were related.

Sorry to read about your new-and-already-former clients, dear Hedgie. How strange.

I’m not sure I would have had the presence of mind to reply to them so quickly in the way that you did - you must have been quite taken aback.

Thanks @Chersfrozenface . Better get down to the coast soon then! I love a Spittie!

Do the Dream Gerbils visit men?

Because my sodding DH keeps waking me up between 5.15 and 5.45 every bloody morning by thrashing around like a beached whale, snorting, grunting, yanking the covers about etc.

And I can't get back to sleep because he twitches, thrashes, rolls over or messes about with the covers every 2 minutes for the next half an hour.

When I complain that I'm knackered, all I get is how knackered he is because he's sleeping so badly.

Spare room for him tonight.

That or a bloody cosh.

@FuzzyPuffling Spitfires.com is quoted as saying "..we will continue on to MOD St Athan on Wednesday and fly two sorties to RAF St Mawgan and Exeter on Thursday".

It definitely did land at St Athan yesterday and this is the route shown for today.

If your area is like mine there will be a group or groups on Facebook for the airfields/airports with posts on timings.

My beloved booboo boy has been doing that for the last ten days or so, with the bonus added extra of snuggling up against my face, shedding hair, and purring really loudly.

The charm wears off fast.

I’m of the opinion that separate bedrooms for sleeping are a very good idea if one or both of you snores, thrashes etc but whereas any reasonable DH should be persuadable on this, I doubt a cat can be convinced.

The charm wears off fast.
Doesn't it just!