Thursday 15 October 2020

Challenge accepted








Greetings all, I hope this finds you chipper and enjoying the chilly autumn days. Photos from the wetlands place, which is looking beautiful. I took the biggest boy for a few hours to see what migrant birds were passing. We walked down to the river, past old World War II pillboxes (small concrete guard houses from where people could watch for invasion via the river).

They had sunk into the landscape a little and were covered in moss and sprouting grass in places. I aimed for a complicated metaphor about how horrendous it must have been when they were built and it was all new and terrifying and no-one knew what was coming and how scared people must have been, but I got lost along the way somewhere and it fell a bit short so we just sat overlooking the river and a field of cows and ate our sandwiches instead. 

The dog and I have been exploring a new park area that the local housebuilders have created. Our little town is being heavily built around, farmland disappearing at a shocking rate and thousands of newbuild homes appearing. The park must have been a planning requirement. It's quite nice and they've made a bit of an effort to encourage wildlife. There are also wooden sculptures about the place. Bert was horrified to trot round the corner and come face to face with a life-sized fox. He stopped and stared at it for ages, daring it to move, then skirted round it at top speed. He really has to summon up his courage for things these days.

Although I am still avoiding most of the main news, with just a cursory glance at the headlines once a day, the littlest boy likes to keep me updated on the important stuff via The Week Junior, a cracking news magazine for children. Honestly, it is so much better than the other news. Did you know for example, a rat has been awarded a gold medal for bravery for detecting landmines in Cambodia? He sniffs them out, but is light enough not to trigger them. 

And someone has reached a speed of 43 miles per hour in a wheelie bin, which is a new world record. We are feeling inspired in this house, I can tell you. Just waiting for bin day then there'll be no stopping us.

10 comments:

  1. I think you're way better off learning what the powers that be decide is appropriate news for children. This adulting is rough business. We just filled out our ballot for the presidential election here in the USA. We're driving it up to the post office in a few minutes. Please cross your fingers that we are able to remove the orange menace from our White House. 4 more years of his malfeasance could ruin us forever. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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  2. Excellent post and photos. Darling Bertie and his courage. Maybe he needs a medal like the lion in The Wizard of Oz? Talking of medals, I had heard about Magawa the mine detecting rat. We saw pictures of him wearing his medal attached to his harness and were crossing our fingers that it didn't tip him over the weight threshold! The bin speed record is a new one to me though. I'm intrigued how they did it - was it downhill? I bet if I tied ours to the back of the car R could beat 43mph! Worth a go don't you think?! Enjoy the weekend. xx

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    1. Got to be. That record is there for the taking. CJ xx

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  3. I had heard about the rat....girl-child showed me a photo of him with his medal around his neck. I thought that was quite brilliant. The speed of modern wheelie bins is something to give one pause....i wonder if there are rules about designing racing bins....

    Poor Bert...no need to be embarrassed...Emma-dog's eyesight is going and she frequently is terrified by menacing blades of grass. xo

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  4. Lovely post and pictures. I don't blame Bert for being cautious, and as for doing that sort of speed in a wheelie bin! Like you I avoid most of the main news and just scan the headlines.
    Take care. xx

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  5. Sounds like my kind of news :). Beautiful peaceful photos. Our Brent Geese returned a few days ago; always lovely to see them back. Have a happy weekend. B x

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  6. House building has been crazy around Wakefield too. They've almost built an attached small town. I wonder how schools and doctors etc will cope with the rising population. At one time we were separated for Wakefield by green belt- not any more. Ruby was spooked by a brush head the other day!

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  7. Foxes are devious creatures Jack the dog tells me. It is not surprising then that Bertie is suspicious. I get mildly anxious when I drive faster than 30 mph in the car, imagine me in a racing wheelie bin!! That reminds me of the mad construction my brother once raced down a hill. It was essentially a wooden crate on wheels although he called it a racing car. It was all the more terrifying because he is (and was then) disabled and not all that mobile. No brakes of course. I am sad that we stopped our This Week Junior subscription. My youngsters are just not interested enough and it was only me reading the magazine. I've been thinking of maybe getting the grown-up version but that would probably miss fun facts such as sniffer rats and racing wheelie bins. Have a lovely week xx

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  8. I much prefer your version of the news,

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