The weather has turned nasty this week, more so in the north of England where they are suffering floods People have been evacuated from their homes, to be temporarily relocated, for their own safety. It’s awful but truly amazing to watch the footage on television – cars almost submerged, a telephone box in the middle of a newly created lake and an old man in a canoe…bet he’s pleased he started that hobby when he did!I have never seen so much rain – it really is bucketing it down! Not so bad down here in Gosport but wet all the same. I am not completely disheartened by this damp week and quite enjoying looking out the half door, watching the vertical rain pound the grass – I wonder for a minute what chaos is happening in the ant world? It’s nice to watch rain without the chilling winds that would accompany it down south. Another bonus are the thunderstorms which are, almost soil your pants scary…but fantastic!
It’s Wednesday and there’s a small break in the weather so what better thing to do than…. catching up on washing! (I’m a cheap-skate and will avoid using the tumble drier as much as possible…got down to the last pair of knickers once – slightly worrying as I wouldn’t be brave enough to go GI Jane I don’t think) I know it’s sad but we weren’t planning on going out with the weather as is anyway (except for the property management supplement that only comes out on Wednesday’s!*)
After piles of washing and some house work I decided to take a well earned break and after making a cup of tea, grabbed a home baked cookie (God I’m sounding like a proper bloody housewife…need to get to school or work again soon I think!) sat on the front door step and enjoyed the sun that had timed a break in the clouds to fit in perfectly with my tea break…how lovely J
I sat daydreaming, while taking in the sun and greenery, when I noticed my little ant friends…they had survived the downpour. Well some of them had – I have to admit there wasn’t quite the usual swam that cover the step. I shared a few crumbs of biscuit and continued daydreaming…now about the ants. Wondering if they would accept my offering and what they would look like with a whole crumb on their backs? Before any ant carrying activity occurred I was disturbed by a scratching sound on the opposite side of the, half collapsing, fence.
My attention was now fully on this noise and a hole it appeared to be heading for in the fence. No sooner did it reach the spot and a grey hairy face appeared, then a long grey body…my heart skipped two beats as my legs were ready to propel me backwards into the house, of course my initial thought was it’s a rat and in broad daylight too cheeky little bugger! It wasn’t until the bushy tailed followed did some recognition follow, but I still had the fright and flight instinct on. (Memory serves you never fight a rat…or is that you never corner a rat, either way just stay away from them!)
After leaping onto the fig tree, down onto the lawn, three bounds across the grass and scampering back up the fence did I my brain finally confirm it was in fact a grey squirrel He scrambled through the bushes and sat for a minute on top of the fence. Before I could yell quietly (yes…yelling quietly is quite an art and I’m not a master at this yet, but will work on it) to the girls to see their first squirrel…not rat…squirrel it was gone, over the wall. My heart almost back a regular beat, legs a little wobbly and breathing much slower, did I sit and consider what I had just experienced…my first squirrel since moving here…fantastic!
*For those who haven’t been cultured yet this is a 20+page newspaper supplement that is filled with houses for sale and to let. This is only my second week of this paper, but I love day dreaming, circling the lovely little rural cottages, while trying to ignore the £300,000+ price tag that accompanies them. I mainly use it though to source out our next home. This has proved useful in many respects, as I am now fairly familiar with the whole Hampshire are so would know what town I was lost in but no idea how to get out.
