A Flying Fox?

I am fed up with the snow, it has stubbornly refused to go away and we have had ominous warnings of more snow for the weekend. Each morning this week I have paused on my early morning trip to the bathroom to look out of the landing window to check on the snow situation. The window looks across the flat roof of the utility and the garage towards our neighbour's garage and the side of their house. The snow has remained deep and undisturbed except for the tracks left on the surface of the snow by a passing bird. However today was different something had got on to the roof and walked from the front to the back. 

At first I assumed it must have been a cat, but when I thought more about it I was sure that the tracks were made by something a bit bigger and heavier than a cat. I took a closer look at the prints and having checked on the internet I realised that they were not feline prints, a fox had walked across our roof! It seems that the trellis and climbing rose near the utility room window make a perfect ladder. I didn't know that foxes could climb but there are plenty of clips on YouTube which prove that foxes are very determined and if they need to climb to get to their desired destination they will do so. 

Fox on the Run

I am lucky that I see foxes fairly frequently in the area where I live. We are in the town but there are allotments and parks close by and there have been foxes around here for as long as I can remember. I had never seen a fox near my work place until yesterday. It was daylight but as I pulled out of the car park and drove towards the road a young fox crossed in front of me. It had come from the the Starbucks drive-throu (without observing the one way signs) and when it had crossed in front of me it cut through some undergrowth. It then skirted behind a couple of my colleagues who were chatting near their cars without them even noticing it! I lost sight of it after that but it really cheered me up to see it. I know that they kill indiscriminately if they get into a hen house or the like, but I can't help thinking that they add something to our lives too.

An Early Start 26.05.07

The demands of GCSE and A Level exams have restricted our holiday in Cornwall to one week this year, so I was determined that we should make the most of our time. I have never enjoyed the ‘pleasures’ of a packed motorway and Bristol is always a black spot as it seem to be the cone storage capital of UK. I decided that we would get everything ready on the Friday, go to bed early and then set off at 2am on Saturday morning.

Everything went more or less according to plan apart from a bit of procrastinating from Robbie in the morning. Believe it or not he had to ring control to check on the progress of his ‘empties’ at 2am! He wanted us to leave a bit later as he calculated that we would then have a chance of seeing one of his trains as we went along the motorway. He got his wish, as we didn’t set out until 3.15 am and I did indeed see a train as we travelled down the motorway, but Robbie (who intended to stay awake to keep an eye on me) was ‘Z’ing by the time we passed Oxford and he dozed all the way to Cornwall, so he missed it. He said it was the wrong train anyway. I also saw a fox cross the whole motorway, but everyone else was asleep and missed it. We had an excellent journey; we arrived at Padstow just after 8am having made one comfort stop on the way. That gave us plenty of time to explore all the shops and to enjoy brunch at one of our favourite restaurants.

Robbie and I headed for the little bookshop that we love, he was very restrained and only bought one book, but I bought two, A Pictorial Survey of Great Western Branch Lines and A Portrait of the Atlantic Coast Express. I was dragged away by Laura and Emily; they had been checking out the designer shops and wanted to ‘show me’ what they had found. They jointly purchased an Animal handbag which they intend to share, but both have their eyes on other clothing as well. Maybe we should have stayed at home! Sam bought a decision dice and a gruesome pen that defies description, but he has his sights on greater things too!

We got to the caravan by mid afternoon, it has been upgraded since last year and it is absolutely beautiful. By the time we were all installed and tidied up and the shopping had been fetched and packed away, I was exhausted. I went bed before Dr Who, leaving the ‘boys’ to enjoy the flat screen LCD TV.

PJ Problems Again!

Well, Robbie threatened to do it yesterday and he actually did the deed today - he wore his shorts. In order to let me adjust gradually he wore his most sober pair, but it seemed a bit strange to see his very white legs on public display after all these months. Believe it or not he managed to tear his other pair of PJ's this morning, he was so cross with himself about it. He tore his other pair a while ago and he has only recently replaced them. When he told me how much they cost I could hardly believe it, they must be stitched with gold. He says they are not as good as the previous pair, so this time he want's to get the replacement pair from Gap. I always thought that stood for 'Gay and Proud' - but whatever floats his boat!

Megan has rolled and is polluting the atmosphere with the pervasive aroma of fox. Since she idolises Robbie, he can have the pleasure of showering her. This usually results in a clean dog, a devastated bathroom and a drenched and very dirty person.

Emily went away for the weekend to Gateshead with the County Youth Concert Band to take part in the National Concert Band Festival - and they got the gold award! Emily said Gateshead seemed a bit grim, but she liked what she saw of Durham.

Robbie has been playing with his latest toy - his usb turntable. He is delighted with it and has been busily adding to his i-tunes play list. He is woefully ignorant about certain types of music, I can't believe that he muddled Lonnie Donnigan up with Val Doonican! And before anyone criticises my taste in music, I must point out that a certain Mr B absolutely had to have The Funky Gibbon by the Goodies in his collection.

Haunted 08.02.07

We have the oddest problem at home. It has become so bad that I think we are being haunted - by a smell. No, I'm not talking about the pungent smell of fox after Megan has rolled in her favourite brand of poo, actually she prefers tortoise poo, but that is seasonal. The smell in question is an unmistakable odour of curry that occurs in our hall close to the radiator and the lounge door frame. Some days it is hardly noticeable, but on other days it overwhelming.

I have ruled out all sorts of possible causes, there is no spilled food and we don't eat curry anyway, there is no smell in the carpet and there is no odour creeping under the front door from outside - I have never smelled curry outside so that is not likely. Sam assures me that it is not caused by one of his practical jokes, there is no smell coming from inside the radiator and I have even delved into Robbie's briefcase in case something was festering in there. It seems there is no rational explanation, so we have to consider more bizarre possibilities. Maybe it is a case for Mulder and Scully! Perhaps we have a curry eating ghost in the hall - unlikely I know, but I can't think of anything else! I can't imagine why a self respecting ghost would loiter in the hall when he or she could be relaxing in the lounge watching TV.

This has been going on for months with no solution. It drives me mad because I hate the smell of curry - as Robbie has found to his cost. I can't bear strong smells especially garlic and curry, I don't like onion either, he can eat whatever he likes as long as he doesn't come near me. He isn't too fond of the sofa, so he tends to avoid smelly food most of the time. He used to try to fool me by eating mints, but I have a nose like a bloodhound and he soon realised that I am not easily fooled.

I guess we have to learn to live with our 'ghostly' smell, unless anyone has any suggestions to resolve the problem?