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The cat came back! And other news
Dec. 29th, 2021 05:49 pmFirst, the most important news! Our little grey cat Fankil went missing back in April. Now we have him back!
Two weeks ago, I saw on a lost pet group on Facebook a post about a grey cat that had been haunting the workshop of a holiday complex about ten miles away. He had been caught and brought to the local animal rescue, which had pronounced him un-microchipped and feral. Fankil was microchipped, and not at all feral but microchips do fail, and he had been missing for many months, so we arranged to go and see the found cat anyway.
When we got there, the cat was in a pen with an enclosed kennel bit, jammed behind the bed. He peed himself in terror when the door opened and growled savagely at us. We thought surely this isn't our cat. His ears looked wrong, his eyes were a bit too yellow and we couldn't see the white hairs on his chest, and his feet were not plain purple but dotted with pink. He was the right size, colour and sex, but ten miles is a long walk for a cat.
But we went and sat with him for a bit, and he really warmed up to Pp — way more than he had to the rescue volunteer who had trapped him, or the guy who found him in the workshop and had been feeding him for weeks. It was hard to tell, but it really seemed like this cat knew Pp. And the rescue was very clear that with his behaviour, nobody else was likely to take this terrified stinky skinny cat home.
So we agreed to take him home for a few days. Worst case scenario: free cat!
But I really wasn't sure he was our cat, until Theo wandered up, sniffed and totally ignored him. Theo is pretty excitable around strange cats, and it was clear that he didn't consider this cat to fall into that group.
Since then, the cat has eaten a number of huge meals, has purred hugely, has come over for strokes and cuddles, and in fact has absolutely not behaved in any way like a scared feral cat, or even a cat in a new home. He behaves like a cat that IS home, and even his ears have changed shape now he's not trying to pretend he's invisible. And he DOES have a few white hairs on his chest. We just couldn't see them properly in the poor light. I haven't yet tried properly checking his feet, but I suspect the pink speckles might be scar tissue from the long walk.
We have him back!
What else happened? Oh yes, Christmas. We went down to stay with my mother for a few days. She had a cold (had tested negative for Covid a couple times before we went down and the cold was improving) so decided to mask up to contain the sniffles.
I got Pp a roman-style gladius as a present (I suspect the beautiful damascus steel leaf-shaped blade is not very authentic but it is very pretty). He was pleased, and importantly, nobody has yet been slain.
Those socks are on the radiator because we took the hounds out over Dartmoor on Christmas morning and it absolutely POURED on us and we became very very wet . It then continued to pour all day. Possibly wettest Christmas in years?
This is a postcard that my Mum received recently, via an ex-neighbour in Swansea. We moved away from Swansea when I was 13 — and the postcard wasn't even sent to Swansea. It was sent from London to my father at an address in Birkenhead, where they lived, I think, before they moved to Leicester, which is where they lived before Swansea.
It's post-marked 1966! I am torn between being amazed that it finally reached my Mum at all, and being amazed that it took so long to get there. Who 'Jackie' was has been lost in the mists of time.
Back to Pembrokeshire, and the hounds and the Christmas tree. I am thinking I may not make a Christmas decoration this year. I can't remember what I did with last year's tree, or whether I kept a bit to carve. I might have to start over with a chunk of this tree next year.
Random photo of a lurcher posing on the beach after we got back.
Oh!I forgot to say that on the way driving home from Devon on Boxing day, the exhaust fell off the Volvo. Or, at least, it sort of fell off and was bouncing on the road as we drove, and we looked at a large Volvo stuffed with Stuff and Dogs, and concluded that our chances of getting all that rescued on Boxing Day were slim, so we turned off the motorway and found a very pot-holey lane and drove on that, feeling rather like we were in an episode of Top Gear in till the exhaust actually fell off and could be wrapped in dog towels and shoved inside the car.)
After that the drive home was Very Loud, but at least it wasn't likely to slay a following driver on the motorway, which would have been an unfestive thing to do on a Boxing Day.
On that Volvo the sunroof doesn't work, the driver's side window doesn't work, the drivers door is a different colour to the car, the passenger side has a big bash in it, the back bumper is semi-detached from the exhaust pothole operation, and the aircon needs regassing. And we bought it as an emergency replacement for 1500 quid about five years ago, hoping it would last a year. So I feel the moment has probably come to replace it. I just can't decide yet with what.
Unsurprising newsflash
Mar. 12th, 2017 05:22 pmIt is bloody nippy on top of Dartmoor on the twelfth of March.
I should have taken gloves!
Brrrr.
( Read more... )
I should have taken gloves!
Brrrr.
( Read more... )
A couple of days ago, we decided on a Dartmoor walk. We went, randomly, to Princetown, which is the town in the middle of Dartmoor with the monstrous prison. But it turned out that a very large number of the people of Devon had also gone to Princetown for a walk, and it was humming. Also, because Princetown is right in the middle, you can't just walk out in any direction onto the moor, you are corralled onto neatly-fenced footpaths. This was not what I had in mind, so we fled, and instead stopped randomly near Merrivale and headed for a convenient tor. This was a lot more pleasingly spacious.
( Read more... )
Then in the evening we went and saw the Rogue One film. I found it a bit boggling at first, with so many characters introduced so quickly, and had the sense that there were references flying past that I was missing, but in the end I warmed to it. Not sure how I'd have felt if I had not been spoilered for the ending though, so was ready for it. I think I would probably have liked Jyn Erso better if her story had been a little more different from Rey's, although perhaps that's being a bit picky. I took a great liking to the pilot, Bodhi for some reason. I think because he seemed so baffled and unviolent and generally 'wtf is doing on' and yet was still determined to do the right thing.
Today I did some carving while watching The Last Dragonslayer. I didn't have high expectations of it, but it was really watchable with lots of good lines. I loved the idea of a fantasy Kingdom of Herefordshire with fantasy supermarkets and fantasy electricity. And dragons, of course. And the dragon ecology idea where dragons are part of the ecology and you can't just wall them off into a reserve was brilliant.
Happy New Year all! I hope all you lot who have had bad years will have much better ones next year and that the people who have had good years will have more of them. It would be great to have a year where the bad things are all for bad people for a change.
( Read more... )
Then in the evening we went and saw the Rogue One film. I found it a bit boggling at first, with so many characters introduced so quickly, and had the sense that there were references flying past that I was missing, but in the end I warmed to it. Not sure how I'd have felt if I had not been spoilered for the ending though, so was ready for it. I think I would probably have liked Jyn Erso better if her story had been a little more different from Rey's, although perhaps that's being a bit picky. I took a great liking to the pilot, Bodhi for some reason. I think because he seemed so baffled and unviolent and generally 'wtf is doing on' and yet was still determined to do the right thing.
Today I did some carving while watching The Last Dragonslayer. I didn't have high expectations of it, but it was really watchable with lots of good lines. I loved the idea of a fantasy Kingdom of Herefordshire with fantasy supermarkets and fantasy electricity. And dragons, of course. And the dragon ecology idea where dragons are part of the ecology and you can't just wall them off into a reserve was brilliant.
Happy New Year all! I hope all you lot who have had bad years will have much better ones next year and that the people who have had good years will have more of them. It would be great to have a year where the bad things are all for bad people for a change.
Emptying my camera card
Jul. 18th, 2016 07:51 pmI ran out of space on my camera memory card at the beach yesterday. This is not necessarily a bad thing, since at the moment my camera is a bit crippled. I dropped it on the path and the view-screen bit cracked. It still works but it has a big starburst in one corner which does make it a bit hard to focus. I think it should be possible to remove the broken screen part of the device and replace it, but I haven't done anything about that yet. Anyway, I have almost cleared out my camera card and here are a few shots from it.
A couple of weeks ago we went up onto Dartmoor, intending to have a cream tea at the Two Bridges Hotel. But it was closed for a wedding. So instead we parked at Pork Hill and walked up Cox Tor with the hounds. Here is Pp when I made him look after all the hounds so I could take photos. I suspect Pp of being secretly pleased I dropped my camera so there will be fewer moments like this one :-D
( Read more... )
A couple of weeks ago we went up onto Dartmoor, intending to have a cream tea at the Two Bridges Hotel. But it was closed for a wedding. So instead we parked at Pork Hill and walked up Cox Tor with the hounds. Here is Pp when I made him look after all the hounds so I could take photos. I suspect Pp of being secretly pleased I dropped my camera so there will be fewer moments like this one :-D
( Read more... )
To Dartmoor, randomly.
May. 2nd, 2016 08:41 pmDespite the terrible weather promised inevitably by a British Bank Holiday, I had agreed to meet my mother at Two Bridges. To Two Bridges we went, therefore, and were greeted, to the joy of the hounds, by the return of blue skies. And Rosie got some left-over scone while we were drinking tea at the Two Bridges hotel, which pleased her.
I keep forgetting how close Dartmoor is. I must make the effort to drive the extra 10 minutes or so more often.
( Read more... )
I keep forgetting how close Dartmoor is. I must make the effort to drive the extra 10 minutes or so more often.
( Read more... )
After a stressful week (stupid work things), I woke up early and saw the valley full of mist and Dartmoor all golden on the horizon.
(Must get onto cutting the hedge, I couldn't find a spot where the view was uninterrupted by twigs. Also, note to self, it would have been worth taking the time to put one of the old lenses on rather than using the jack-of-all-trades autofocus lens. Still. )
Open Studios
Sep. 5th, 2015 08:01 pmWe have this local Open Studio event running just now, where local artists all open their studios (or houses!) to visitors and you can go and see all their latest work. So today my mother and I went out to visit some of them.
My favorite work that we saw was by Sophy White who paints using paints that she makes herself from earth, which gives the paintings a really interesting textured appearance, almost as if they were made from terracotta. I can't see the deerhound lurcher that I specially liked in her online gallery, but here are a couple of her beautiful horse paintings. The second one I think we saw hanging, although I'm not sure it looked quite like that - possibly she has made another version or done more work since this photo, or maybe it's just the light.
( Read more... )
We also saw some fascinating glass sculptures inspired by Dutch Elm disease and some lovely landscapes at another gallery. My mother has commissioned a tiny sea-scape from one of the other artists we visited.
My favorite work that we saw was by Sophy White who paints using paints that she makes herself from earth, which gives the paintings a really interesting textured appearance, almost as if they were made from terracotta. I can't see the deerhound lurcher that I specially liked in her online gallery, but here are a couple of her beautiful horse paintings. The second one I think we saw hanging, although I'm not sure it looked quite like that - possibly she has made another version or done more work since this photo, or maybe it's just the light.
( Read more... )
We also saw some fascinating glass sculptures inspired by Dutch Elm disease and some lovely landscapes at another gallery. My mother has commissioned a tiny sea-scape from one of the other artists we visited.
The Shaft II
Sep. 6th, 2013 11:22 pmWell, the environmental person from the Dartmoor National park has been to see my Mum's sagging driveway, and appears not greatly concerned, which is good. A helpful geophysicist has offered to come with ground-penetrating radar and take a squizz at it too, which should be interesting (and much less dramatic than digging a Giant Hole to see if there is a Giant Hole underneath).
I looked in the Heritage Gateway website to find out what records there were of the shafts (see, fanfic DOES teach useful skills!) and I found that the record for the nearest documented shaft, Taylor's shaft, was empty, so I emailled to find out what the record said. Not only did they send me a copy of what the record should have said, but they also sent me this lovely map. My mum's house is roughly on the red dot. Look at all the mining bits! Tragically, it didn't say how deep Taylor's Shaft was, although the Internet thinks it was 720 feet deep!
The records only go back to 1820ish, and this mine, Devon Friendship (doesn't that sound cuddly?) goes back to at least 1740, so there could still be something undocumented under her house. But we hope if there is, it's a small, undaunting spring or something rather than a Giant Mining Hole.
I looked in the Heritage Gateway website to find out what records there were of the shafts (see, fanfic DOES teach useful skills!) and I found that the record for the nearest documented shaft, Taylor's shaft, was empty, so I emailled to find out what the record said. Not only did they send me a copy of what the record should have said, but they also sent me this lovely map. My mum's house is roughly on the red dot. Look at all the mining bits! Tragically, it didn't say how deep Taylor's Shaft was, although the Internet thinks it was 720 feet deep!
The records only go back to 1820ish, and this mine, Devon Friendship (doesn't that sound cuddly?) goes back to at least 1740, so there could still be something undocumented under her house. But we hope if there is, it's a small, undaunting spring or something rather than a Giant Mining Hole.
Brythen and I are off to an introductory Treibball class this evening on Dartmoor. It is supposed to be a herding game for dogs, using balls rather than sheep.
I have a suspicion that I shall arrive and find we are in a class of border collies...
I just hope he stays awake. If he gets everything wrong, but stays awake, at least everyone will know he's trying.
I have a suspicion that I shall arrive and find we are in a class of border collies...
I just hope he stays awake. If he gets everything wrong, but stays awake, at least everyone will know he's trying.
Things I Did on My Holidays
Oct. 21st, 2012 11:07 pmI went on holiday to the Spinward Marches, with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
chainmailmaiden, king_pellinor, ladyofastolat and pwibethran (trying, not entirely successfully, to escape his LJ username) under the somewhat capricious and diversionary supervision of philmophlegm, while eating heroic quantities of cake, and drinking surprising amounts of... well everything really, including a bottle of Advocaat and a bottle of Amarula Cream (otherwise known as Elephant Juice).
We found a spaceship of strange design, cleared out the corpses, redecorated it and sorted out the dodgy plumbing. Then, once we had addressed the important issue of en-suite toilets,
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Minor pet upsets of the week :
( Read more... )
chainmailmaiden, king_pellinor, ladyofastolat and pwibethran (trying, not entirely successfully, to escape his LJ username) under the somewhat capricious and diversionary supervision of philmophlegm, while eating heroic quantities of cake, and drinking surprising amounts of... well everything really, including a bottle of Advocaat and a bottle of Amarula Cream (otherwise known as Elephant Juice). We found a spaceship of strange design, cleared out the corpses, redecorated it and sorted out the dodgy plumbing. Then, once we had addressed the important issue of en-suite toilets,
( Read more... )
Minor pet upsets of the week :
( Read more... )
Unlovely but interesting?
Jun. 27th, 2011 12:14 amTen years ago, there were quite a few of these old garages scattered across East Cornwall and West Devon, looking as though they'd fallen into a timewarp in about 1970 and fallen out again in 2000, rather battered and tired, but essentially still working. I wish I'd photographed them then. Most of them have now been tidied away into history by soaring petrol prices and the rising demand for land, but this one, Down's Garage in Mary Tavy is still (for now) standing, if not exactly thriving.
I think it looks interesting, if not beautiful. When I saw this ancient and rather grimy tractor puffing up to it, I screeched my car to a halt and took a photo. I didn't have time to fiddle with settings so the lighting could be better, but still. Bigger versions if you click...
I think it looks interesting, if not beautiful. When I saw this ancient and rather grimy tractor puffing up to it, I screeched my car to a halt and took a photo. I didn't have time to fiddle with settings so the lighting could be better, but still. Bigger versions if you click...
( Read more... )
Along the Meavy
Jan. 16th, 2011 02:58 pmWe intended to go to the beach today, but the weather was so grim we gave up on that idea, and decided to go for a river valley walk instead. I picked the Meavy (one of the smaller tributaries of the Plym) largelyat random, and because we hadn't been that way before. We parked at Clearbrook and set out across a moorland that was looking distinctly singed.
( Read on for damp January photos and a picture of me as a muppet. )
( Read on for damp January photos and a picture of me as a muppet. )
Evening on Dartmoor
Oct. 2nd, 2008 10:19 pmThis evening I went and gave Trish a lift - she is doing a John o Groats to Lands End sponsored walk. She has a camper van, but her support driver has had to go home so she needed someone to drive her back to pick up the van at the end of the day's walk (otherwise she has been walking back to the van at the end of the day - effectively walking the whole way twice!)
She insisted on coming for a walk with me and the hounds afterwards despite having done 11 miles already that day. There was the most amazing evening light on the moor:
( see the photos )
She insisted on coming for a walk with me and the hounds afterwards despite having done 11 miles already that day. There was the most amazing evening light on the moor:
( see the photos )
