Monday 4 November 2013

About Meeces and things



Meece

Four wood mice have been re-located to a strip of woodland half a mile away.  I’m sure they’ll be much happier there. So far there have been two adults and two young mice. They are not house mice and we don’t want them in our larder, thank you. 


It wouldn’t be quite so bad if they cleaned up after themselves.


I wonder how many more will need re-locating before we get rid of them?  There is at least one. I know that because we caught another one on Thursday night – a lighter medium-sized one. But when we came to empty the trap in the same woodland place the trap was empty.  I suspect it had flipped the door open somehow whilst still in the kitchen waiting for its little car ride.   Clever little bugger.  I wonder if she’s clever enough not to get caught again?  Perhaps her parents had taught her about traps…


And when will I find the access point?  Perhaps I should put a pool of paint in the cupboard and look for the little footprints outside…

And Storms

Not that looking for paint outside would be much use in this weather it would wash away in no time.  We only had a minor upheaval when the storm passed through the other day but on Saturday night we had even worse winds and rain.  On Sunday we had a tremendous hailstorm.  And now it’s just back to rain and wind …  Oh well, we had a good summer so we can’t complain.  Actually we can.  That’s the great thing about the weather, we can moan about it whatever it does.

Coffee, and more about Mice

After doing the weekly shop on Friday Partner-who-loves-tea and I called into Linghams (now Linghams bookshop but a ‘Toast’ café) for a coffee and a crossword.  Toast is serious about coffee; serving award-winning Ipanema - a Brazilian medium roasted100% Arabica bean.  They are also serious about providing abnormal and uncomfortable seating.  Or perhaps it’s my rear end that is abnormal.

On the way back to the car we went into a charity shop and this caught my eye – I couldn’t resist buying it.



A Brief Holiday – Day 2; Part 2

On the Wednesday afternoon (16th October 2013) we went from Bath to Glastonbury in Somerset where we were staying the night.  On the way we stopped for a coffee in Wells.

Jo reckons this guy hasn’t heard about the Government’s campaign against obesity.


The streets of Wells have these gullies with running water.  A great idea for getting rid of the surplus water but also a good idea for tripping unsuspecting tourists…


I’m not sure what breed this chap is but I love him.


One of the gateways into Wells Cathedral grounds.
 

And another gateway.


This National Trust shop has a spectacular display of flowers.


A George VI wall letter box.  I think the oblong to the right was once the site of a stamp machine.


And so on to Glastonbury where we were stopping the night.  This is the Tor, seen from the car as we approached the town.


This Chinese take-away is the subject of a long story.   


We asked in the hotel what eating facilities there were around.  The ones described didn’t sound that attractive.  So then we asked about takeaways.  We were told there were plenty in the town centre which was only a ten minute walk away.  So off we set, licking our lips, with a view to getting a Chinese to eat in our room.

There was a time when we might have managed the distance in fifteen minutes (assuming we had jogged at cross country running pace).  It was downhill for the first half mile, uphill for the next mile and there may have been a flat bit around somewhere.  After a hard day enjoying ourselves this was totally knackering.  The prospect of the last bit of uphill on the return journey had us totally breathless. We studied the menu, ordered the food and then ordered a taxi!!  The taxi fare was the best spent £4.00 of the holiday.  We were thoroughly consoled by the food which was excellent.  Even thinking about it makes me hungry again…

Tomorrow we will explore Glastonbury, again… This time getting to the town centre in the car.  

11 comments:

  1. According to google maps it's only 0.8 miles to the centre from the travelodge - it estimates that it would take 15 minutes. I wonder if you took the long route accidentally?

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    1. There were roadworks blocking off one road (not a road but an entry from the by-pass) and the Chinese was at the very top of High Street (about 1.5 miles by Google Maps). I did that before blogging and was amazed at how short a distance it was. It seemed an awful lot longer but even at Google maps pace it was 25 minutes.

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  2. Perhaps Toast's seating is uncomfortable for a reason -- to encourage people to move on so more customers can come in. Although that hardly seems friendly and welcoming, i understand some establishments are run that way in some places.

    Those watercourses in the streets would be difficult for a newcomer to remember to navigate for a while.

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  3. If only you still had Ivy living with you, I guess she would have dealt with the mice problem rather efficiently.

    The pictures of the cathedral gateways and the National Trust shop are beautiful indeed!

    Didn't you mind having the scent of Chinese takeaway in the same room where you were sleeping?

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    Replies
    1. Fortunately (in this case) I have no sense of smell and nothing, I mean nothing, will stop Jo from sleeping!!

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  4. I think you're very wise to take a taxi back to the hotel. The older I get, the more I appreciate that these amenities are there to be used. And I love your mouse essay, though I can't say I'd be crazy about having a mouse in the house, however complimentary Beatrix Potter was. But I love the fuzzy little dog. I'll bet he'd keep those miserable meeces at bay! xoxo

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  5. Another wonderful post. Those Beatrix Potter mice are too cute... I do understand that when finding the real thing in your own larder, "cute" is probably not the first word that comes to mind, though! Enjoyed the photos from your trip... Checked my photo album again, and yes, I did visit both Wells and Glastonbury too back in 1971! I have a very similar photo of the Glastonbury Tor seen from a distance. And one of Wells Cathedral too.

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    Replies
    1. We are still at the stage of finding the mice cute, despite the problems. If we don't manage to stop up the hole or relocate the particular family that is visiting we might change our mind.

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  6. Beatrix Potter! Author of Peter Rabbit. My dear old grandmother used to read me that story, and I still have the book. Good stuff.

    One thing I've always wanted to do in Jolly Old was go to a pub where people brought their dogs with them. We don't have that option in The Colonies, and for my money if we did we'd have a lot less violence. There's nothing like a real nice dog to quiet the temper and restore a man's cheerfulness.

    Maybe bicycling instead of walking. I used to be able to do that when I lived in Wisconsin. I'd bicycle to a Chinese place and get my dinner to go, then ride back home. It was a long ride, but it was nice. And I couldn't have walked it.

    Like the pix and the dialogue. Keep up the good vacation.

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  7. Many years ago we had a problem with field mice. We tried everything -- and then we got a cat! That was the first of a series of cats which today continues with Scruffy. As much as I love cats, I also have a passion for dogs, so your photo of the beautiful, fluffy dog. But you have some great photos, including the one outside the National Trust Gift Shop, which is beautiful also. As for your walk into the town, I think I would have gone hungry.

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  8. Thank goodness both you and PWLT know when the journey is not for the swift.....good call on the taxi!!!
    I hope you find the meeces entrance soon so you can get rid of them once and for all.

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