The Gerbil World Cup at the Bluestocking!

[Magpiecomplex]

New thread.

No pushing at the back, please, we have plenty of scones and kilts for everyone.

Kitty, I have been thinking about your blanket - I think I might need to make a dog version. I haven't done any crochet in a while, too busy knitting socks.

And Pasta, the elderflowers are almost over here. I've been drinking cordial for a few weeks now. I'm going to bully DH into getting another freezer, so that I can freeze some. I've given the sullkers fish, blood and bone, but I think I just need to dig in a lot of manure in the autumn.

Sweet peas flowering, and buds on the dahlias. Half the pumpkin plants sulking, other half happy.

In the past week or ten days, some of the wheat has acquired a slight golden haze when the sun shines on it, over the usual bluey-green. If you look closely, you notice that the ears are changing colour, fading to a grey-blue-green with a faint tinge of beige, and some of the leaves have dried at the tip, so it must be the sun bouncing off the dry tips and the ripening ears that gives it that effect.

The barley, which was going golden round the edges early last week, is now golden right across the field, though the stalks are green and the heads have only dropped halfway. It's looking good - unlike the seared-off field on the way into town. According to the farmer, he's never seen such long roots on barley as he's had this year, the plant reaching deep into the soil for moisture.

I think this is my favourite time of year - long warm days, lots of flowers, busy birds and the odd fantastic thunderstorm.

We’re in Cheltenham for a couple of days, warm and quite humid but forecast for home is rain. We went to Slimbridge WWT yesterday, so although not quite the range of wild birds Pasta encountered at Bempton, we did see some beauties - including quite a few cranes, which I believe were bred at slimbridge, reintroduced to the Somerset levels but which have found their own way back up the Severn estuary.
Planning on Sudely Castle and Chedworth Roman Villa today.

Kitty, I have been thinking about your blanket - I think I might need to make a dog version. I haven't done any crochet in a while, too busy knitting socks.

On the original pattern, all the cats match.

I’m not good at that, however much I count, & if I’d frogged every time something didn’t look right it would take forever - so I go for variety! That’s the closest thing I have to a tip.

I had to do a quick dash into town, and on return found a corpse that probably explains the hitherto inexplicable activity.

It's a shrew, a shrew, A BAD WICKED SHREW, help us hunt the shrew, help us kill the bad wicked SHREW, look at the

SHREW!

To compensate for Deano's wildly exciting shrew-corpse, here is some summery prettiness from last week - I meant to upload it then, and never got round to it, last week was a bit busy.

It's some sort of legume, sown last year in an SFI scheme and now distributing itself aong the field margins. It's so pretty that I might wait for the seeds and chuck a few around the garden.

It’s a vetch, tufted I think. I have it growing through all of my beds where it climbs up everything else. It gets up to around 2m on an arch that also has honeysuckle, passion flower and perennial sweet peas. Most of the solitary bees just love vetch.

The prospect of the Scotland vs Morocco game is disastrous for productivity.

The mascot has only just arrived. The inflatable banana is plotting revenge. Gallop has discovered stairs while wearing roller skates. Gazette is issuing press releases at a rate that suggests she may be inventing news. Gusto has expanded security operations to include several flowerpots.

And now Scotland are playing Morocco. At eleven o’clock tonight. The timing is catastrophic.

By mid-afternoon the entire tournament has entered a state of anticipatory distraction. Scotland currently sit at the top of the standings and Morocco have already established a reputation for being annoyingly competent. The match is important. Everyone agrees on this. Nobody agrees on why.

Predictions appear everywhere. Granite finds one attached to the standings. Gadget finds three attached to her office door. One particularly ambitious forecast involves seventeen goals, a weather incident and a ceremonial llama. The source remains anonymous.

By four o’clock, several gerbils have begun discussing team selection despite having absolutely no influence over it. Small tactical groups form around tables. Arrows are drawn. Counter-arrows are added. Counter-counter-arrows soon cover entire sheets of paper.

Glyph declares that victory will depend upon “controlling the important bits.” Nobody asks which bits.

Meanwhile Glory has enthusiastically embraced her role as mascot. She poses for photographs beside both Scottish and Moroccan flags before accidentally creating rumours that she supports both teams simultaneously. The resulting diplomatic situation requires Gazette to issue two clarifications and one explanatory diagram. The inflatable banana seizes the opportunity and publicly endorses Scotland. This proves controversial.

By early evening, supporters of Morocco have begun displaying banners insisting that sporting equipment should remain politically neutral. The banana refuses to comment.

As darkness falls, the atmosphere becomes increasingly electric. The giant screen has been prepared. Snacks have been assembled. Seats have been claimed with a determination normally associated with territorial disputes. Even Gallop has finally removed her roller skates. This is widely regarded as a sign that the occasion is serious.

By ten-thirty almost every gerbil in the stadium is ready. By ten forty-five nobody is capable of discussing anything else. By ten fifty-five silence begins to spread.

The screen glows. The flags stir. The mascot waits. The banana waits. The entire Gerbil World Cup waits.

Scotland versus Morocco is about to begin. And everyone is absolutely certain they know what is going to happen.

This confidence has never previously been justified.

https://myrtlelion.substack.com/p/anticipation

And in other news, FWS have won again!

Men are not allowed in women’s prisons.

https://forwomen.scot/19/06/2026/fws-v-scottish-ministers-iii-the-judgment/

The inflatable banana is plotting revenge.

One of my favorite lines so far! 😄

Yep, I thought it was a vetch. This year's legume is a lot less pretty...

Oh, excellent!
Well done FWS.

Bar gerbil, the paddling pool of virgin mojito please. And a trough of crushed ice for my feet, with mint if you have any spare.

My great-grandmother had a cow-creamer, @SionnachRuadh.

Excellent news about FWS and Scottish prisons. Thank you for alerting me, @MyrtleLion.

Busy day?

Hot and intensely tedious. I got guilt tripped into doing something I didn't need to do, and ended up spending all sodding day there.

Batshit Update

I took B&B to the waterside so they could swim this afternoon (all I have to do is chuck tennis balls and water dummies, depending on what I've brought). Brains has getting into the water nailed: she jumps if it's a steep drop-off, or bounds through the shallows if it's a slope.

Batshit... Batshit still struggles with the getting in. She's a very good swimmer, but getting in is... tricky. And don't laugh at me!

There's a bit where the bank is shored up with enormous blocks. Where they end, there's a gap (where the bank slopes down steeply) and then the bank is pretty much a right angle. Brains jumped off umpteen times, for a dummy thrown to ever-increasing distances, and then I decided that it really was time to give Batshit a go.

I threw a nice bright orange dummy, not too far. Batshit looked it at. She ran along the bank, then ran the other way, along the blocks, which were a few inches under water, as I encouraged her to get in. Then she trotted back up the blocks. She didn't appear to twig that when the water is more-or-less clear, you can see through it, and trotted right off the end with a very thorough splash. She floundered about and rather than coming out at the slope, clambered out up the bank. In fairness, even Brains doesn't like the slope - the mud must be nasty between the paws, or something.

Still, hats off to Her Gormlessness. She went back to the end of the blocks, and launched herself off the end with enormous caution - this front paw... or maybe my other front paw... or perhaps the first one again...and then... my other front paw and-then-the-rest-of-me-very-fast-before-my-head-goes-under... and got the dummy. And clambered out up the bank again.

Brains, meanwhile, was doing her nut (she is capable of waiting very politely, butI was holding her collar, to be on the safe side). ME ME ME ME ME! I can go and get it - I could have got it four times by now!

I know, Brains, I know. But it's only fair to give everyone a turn.
Really? Even when everyone includes an absolute airhead?
Yes.

Hm. That didn't go down well.
The next time Batshit had a go, Brains dashed over as she got out of the water and nicked the dummy.
MY GO! NOW! Ignore Airhead. Come onnnnnnnn!

I can imagine the emojis if she could only text:
Batshit! 🙄🙄🙄🙄 😣😣😡🙄

Yoo-hoo! 👋👋Apologies for the long absence. I had a wonderful family weekend in London at the end of May for my belated 80th celebration, then I came home and real life took over with a vengeance. I've given up hope of catching up on the two threads I've missed, but will try to keep pace from now on. A large pot of tea and some bara brith, please, gerbils.

I had a bit of a shock today - we were in John Lewis, and I complimented a young lady on her dress, and she said she loves vintage 70s fashion. I moved up to senior school in the mid-70s - I am vintage! 😮😮😮

And why not? ‘Vintage’ implies a certain age but also having stood the test of time.

I like that, @ErrolTheDragon - you are my favourite dragon!

Has anyone given the gerbils bagpipes, ahead of tonight’s match? Or are we of the opinion that a Scottish gentleman is one who can play the bagpipes - but doesn’t!? 😂😂😂

Grr, grr and thrice grr…

Yesterday we learned that a three year old boy was attacked in a crocodile enclosure at a zoo fairly close to me.

Earlier today the BBC reported that the zoo owner’s wife jumped into the enclosure to rescue him.

The local news outlet says that a zookeeper, Tracey Johnson, reportedly rescued him.
“A zoo owner has been hailed a hero …”
”Tracey - who owns the zoo with husband Andy Johnson, 56 - …”

I had a very nice day. Studely Castle and its gardens are as charming as ever and I was pleased to find they still have some of their elephants, though not the whole herd. Chedworth Roman Villa has been further excavated and is better developed since we were there last and was enhanced by a good audio guide and a very knowledgeable volunteer. Apart from the archaeology (a mosaic which has been dated to the 5th or possibly 6th century AD changes the assumptions about how long Romano-British culture persisted) she also pointed out a couple of descendants of pure Roman heritage - fine plump Roman snails.

I tried to post a photo of some of the elephants but it was too big. This link is similar.
https://c8.alamy.com/comp/2XKAP3X/sudeley-castle-wood-carving-of-elephant-and-calf-cotswolds-england-2XKAP3X.jpg

I read that a disturbed man had actually thrown the child into the crocodile enclosure and the child is in hospital quite badly injured.

For all those with hot weather, would you like to swap? We've had this for 5 days now. 😟