October » 2008 » kestrel

welcome, Ron and Henry

Posted 31 October 2008 By mac and has 16 comments.

We went to visit our local animal sanctuary yesterday – the house is entirely too quiet and empty, and we thought we could give a loving home to a kitten or two. They said they were crowded out with kittens, but I think we are a mega fail in their view …

we went to church

Posted 30 October 2008 By mac and has no comments yet.

Show of Hands
Originally uploaded by ramtops

Not much could have lifted my spirits last night, to be honest, but perlmonger and I dragged our weary bones to the car, and drove the 50 miles to Marlborough to see Show of Hands performing at St Marys Church in Marlborough, part of their Spires and Beams tour.

And I’m very glad we did. With the almost ever present Miranda Sykes, Phil and Steve served up a beautiful set of acoustic music, much of which they played while wandering around the church.

Community singing took place for Roots, Country Life (a slowed down version that didn’t work so well for me), Cousin Jack etc. Phil played a blinder on his fiddle as always, Miranda did a solo with a guitar (!), and there was a new song, at least new to me – Canterbury Tales. Steve’s voice was struggling, though – cold weather, maybe, it was reasonably brisk in the church.

This was a great venue for the band, and they had really nice lighting too. I enjoyed it hugely, and felt much much better for going, Next up they’re doing a Standing Room Only set of gigs in pubs ~~near Wells~~. We have tickets for the Bristol one in December – can’t wait.

tagged: out, show of hands

and she’s gone

Posted 28 October 2008 By mac and has 20 comments.

At 23:13. A small convulsion, and she was gone.

Good hunting, my Aliss – a very mad cat. You’ll be much missed.

p.s. Thanks for all comments to my previous post – LJ hasn’t actually notified me of any of them.

tagged: aliss, cats

waiting …

By mac and has 13 comments.

Aliss (in icon) hasn’t been well – I haven’t posted here, but I did put it on the catblog.

I took her back to Vim the Vet on Wednesday of last week. She hadn’t put any weight on, and he was a bit concerned, so he gave her an anabolic steroid shot to kick start her and said he’d see her in a month.

She’s been eating like a horse, but got thinner and thinner. perlmonger and I resolved that we would give her food she liked, keep her warm and comfortable, and give her lots of love and fuss. She didn’t get meatier, but she has been bright-eyed, and happy to see us, and sat on laps in the evening, apart from scoffing huge quantities of expensive little tins of fud.

Until lunchtime today, when she didn’t want her waffer thin chicken. Then didn’t want her Highlife Tuna or her Gourmet Selection prawn and tuna. She’s given up, I think – she’s lying oh her side by the sofa, and we’re just waiting for the end. If she makes it through the night, I’ll be amazed, and I’ll call the vet for a home visit in the morning if need be.

We are not putting her through what Bada went through in her last days. So we’re not going to see Jeremy Hardy tonight – we’re keeping vigil with our Aliss.

tagged: aliss, cats, sad

Sarah Palin

By mac and has 2 comments.

India Knight, in today’s Times

“my theory about the American public’s initial burst of enthusiasm for the vice-presidential candidate hinged on the fact that she looks like a porn star in some scenario involving a library, the unclasping of hair and the removal of glasses”

She’s right, you know …

Oh, and $22,800 for her makeup artist, for a fortnight.

tagged: clippings

fish and broccoli pie

Posted 24 October 2008 By mac and has no comments yet.

A while back when we were in Costco, we were offered a sample of hot smoked trout. It was delicious; like sheep, we bought a bag, and I wrapped each fillet separately and put it in the freezer. I completely forgot about it until I was trying to make space for the mega chicken cookout last weekend, and then I made a mental note.

Thankfully, I managed to retain this note long enough to think about the fish when I needed to use up the broccoli, and this is what I did …

compost for the garden?

Posted 22 October 2008 By mac and has no comments yet.

I just answered the door, and found a chap standing there.

Without bothering with any niceties such as a “good morning”, he said:

“Compost for the garden?”

I tried desperately to parse this, but eventually had to ask if he was buying or selling. Selling, of course. I wasn’t terribly impressed with his dog running loose around the garden, either.

p.s. No, thanks – we have plenty of compost already. In our compost heap at the end of the garden, which is affectionately known as Modo. The compost heap, not the garden.

tagged: home