Novels

Sponsor a Whale or Dolphin

On our way down through Scotland this year we called at the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Centre on the Moray Firth and adopted a bottlenose dolphin called Kesslet.

“Kesslet  was born in 1994, daughter of the late Kess (who sadly died in 1998) and little sister of “Friths Bro”. Kesslet was left motherless at the young age of 4, resulting in a bit of a tough upbringing – having to fend for herself at such a young age. And grow up she did, and what a fantastic dolphin! Ultra fast, incredible manoeuvrability and clever hunting tactics have made her into a formidable predator – she never, ever, misses a fish. After leading the carefree, somewhat precocious life of a single girl for ages she eventually gave birth to her first calf in September 2007." (Charlie Philips)

In the latest newsletter from Whale and Dolphin Conservation, Kesslet – a popular recipient of sponsorship – gets a mention.

This brilliant photo of Kesslet by Charlie Phillips is just one of many on the WDC website and I am most grateful for their kind permission to use it on my blog.

If you want to sponsor a whale or dolphin or even make a small donation please contact

http://uk.whales.org/

Endless Music

The lengthiest opera in the standard repertoire is Wagner’s ‘Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg’ (1868) which runs for 5 hours and 15 minutes.  I am not a great Wagner fan though I like some of the extracts from his operas such as ‘The Ride of the Valkyries’.  However, I am not sure I would go as far as John Ruskin did after hearing ‘Die Meistersinger’.  Ruskin was the leading English art critic of the Victorian era and also an art patron, draughtsman, water-colourist, a prominent social thinker and philanthropist.  In a letter in 1882 he wrote:-


"Of all the affected, sapless, soulless, beginningless, endless, topless, bottomless, topsy-turviest, scrabble-pipiest-tongs-and-boniest doggerel of sounds I ever endured the deadliness of, that eternity of nothing was the deadliest – as far as the sound went." 

Partner-who-loves-tea

Partner-who-loves-tea is talking (again) about starting a blog.  This would be a good first post for her!

More missing socks

This is where a lot of people think socks go!

But where do odd socks really go and why does my sock drawer look like this?

Maybe these are some of the answers…

He obviously forgot the advice he was given on the way in...

Along with all these others.

But some don't just hang around.

This enterprising salesman installs GPS in every sock....

And one for Mark!

A new basket

Recently the humans bought a new cat basket to add to the three the cats already have.  They do that, humans.  They treat cats to new things – just on a whim.  Annabel promptly commandeered it.  Oh look, if I stretch out I can nearly reach from one corner to another.

For days on end every attempt by Mac to evict her was repulsed by a few sharp claws and a hiss.  

This, notwithstanding Mac being a Superheavyweight and Annabel a mere Pinweight. Eventually Mac asserted his rights and while she was out of the room he investigated it.  She came back in but hadn’t the gall to just dive straight into it while he was sniffing that new (well almost) bedding smell.

Just my size, decided Mac.

But if I lie up here I can pounce when you move, thought Annabel. 

After half an hour he still hadn’t moved.

So she had to settle for creeping in with him and sharing.  Hopefully that is the way it will continue.

Bonsai

Partner-who-loves-tea and I often visit Gordale Nursery near Chester to pick up odd plants, garden supplies and so on.  Quite often we are fortunate enough to come across a display of some sort.  A couple of weekends ago it was the local Bonsai association putting on a display of their work.

I didn't have my camera with me.  ("Shame, Shame!!" I hear you cry).  But I did have my phone and nowadays all phones seem to have cameras in them  - 0r so I am told.  Having spent ten minutes playing with my phone I eventually got some sort of picture on its screen and by hitting bits of it I managed to hear a satisfying click noise which suggested the sound of a 1960s shutter.

After three of those, I contented myself with simply examining the specimens.  They were most impressive and these photos by no means do them justice.

If you want to learn more about growing trees in containers the Goddess Wiki has her usual comprehensive article.