Tag Archives: parakeets

The Sons of Apathy

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I did 300 words on a mythical motorcycle gang earlier today, based on this one. We would, I decided pass our time hanging round on electric mobility scooters annoying teenagers and lecturing the police on how young they look when chastised for geriatric anti-social behaviour. Then I started to wonder if I really could start such a group and go round raising funds for local charities. I often have such ideas. They usually come to nothing, and this will be one of those doomed ideas. I no longer have the energy to do such things. Blame LA, it was one of her comments that started my train of thought. Anyway, by the time I’d finished, I realised I had better things to write about. That really sums me up doesn’t it? I was going to write about “The Sons of Apathy” but I couldn’t be bothered.

Meanwhile, I had the provisional acceptance confirmed (after a discussion of the correct spelling of Breughel). That’s the correct one for all the family apart from Pieter Breugel the Elder, who dropped the “h” in 1559. As this was the man I was writing about, it meant I was wrong, or even worse, sloppy with my research.

The eighth and final editor replied today. I have been trying to get one of my haibun into his magazine since I started writing haibun. It’s probably six or seven years – time flies. I wrote to him to make up the numbers and didn’t expect much, but he has finally accepted one! Not only that, it is one that has been submitted to something like five other editors. Admittedly it’s been tightened up over the years, but it just goes to show the value of persistence and the way that different editors view submissions. So, the final figures for January – nine submissions, eight acceptances. It’s a good start but it’s obviously too good to last.

Finally, we had long-tailed tits in the garden this afternoon and as the light faded the parakeets flew over to their roost in the country park. One day, I hope, one will drop in for a snack.

 

 

The Cormorant Tree

Pain, Plans and Parakeets

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January Afternoon – Country Park

I got up this morning noted the condition of my joints, flexed a bit, groaned and then went back to sleep. It seemed the logical thing to do. It was just after 8.00 when I finally thrust my head out from beneath the duvet like a disgruntled tortoise and blinked. At least, I noted, my eyelids weren’t hurting. This was a start.

Unfortunately, it was destined to be a day of aches and pains. Some days are like that.

It was also a day of phone calls. One was from a man who told me that my telephone SIM card was going to be blocked in two days unless . . .

I’m not actually sure what he was going to ask me to do as I stopped him there and told him I would talk to him in two days as I wasn’t going to speak to anyone ringing up out of the blue as there are a lot of fraudsters about. He didn’t protest, so he is either a poor scammer, or he is from the phone company and they are going to cut me off. Time will tell.

Robin

Then I had a call to organise the delivery of my new supply of anti-arthritis injections. I have mixed feelings about them. I don’t like injections, but I really don’t like the regime of ten pills once a week. They are tiny and fiddly, they taste horrible and they often upset my stomach. I also have to order them every month and this doesn’t leave much room for error when ordering.

Later, I had a call from rheumatology asking if the delivery company had rung.

Bird report – nothing new. We refilled the feeder and adjusted the arm that gives the squirrel a foothold. It has not tried anything yet, though I have no doubt it will be back with a cunning plan.

Julia and my sister went for a walk in the country park this afternoon. They are just back, reporting seeing parakeets on one of the feeders near the bird hide. I wonder if I can tempt them down here . . .

Header Photo is from Julia’s walk.

Parakeets and the Pareto Principle

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Before you ask, this isn’t a new scientific concept – the two things are linked only in my head. Sorry if you are a mathematical ornithologist, but this isn’t the exciting breakthrough you were hoping for.

Tuesday morning dawned in a foggy fashion and we headed off through heavy morning traffic to a retail park on the other side of town with Hobbycraft as our target. Half an hour later, and £40 lighter, we were back in the car.

Now that Halloween is over our next big thing is Christmas. We will make Christmas cards two weeks before Christmas and have Christmas dinner the week before. A range of design and build skills will be on show, ranging from excellent to dreadful and there will be endless rows about who gets the best stuff to work with, and that’s just the volunteers. The members of the group behave slightly better, though two of them do base their design work on the Pareto Principle –  trying to stick 80% of the decorations to their 20% of the cards. We’re working out a method of rationing for this year.

It will be a lesson in cooperation, and maybe even an exercise in maths if we organise it properly.

On a different subject we had a phone call while we were on the way here – we have someone else interested in joining the regular group. He’s coming tomorrow to see how he gets on with the rest of the group and if he likes us. I’m hoping he will as he adds a new dimension to the group, having developed dementia as an adult rather than being born with learning difficulties. He has a practical background so I’m hoping we will be able to get the nest box plan going again.

Finally, when we arrived the parakeet was in one of the trees behind the kitchen. It’s the third time we’ve seen it perching there and the fourth time we’ve seen it in total. We couldn’t get a photograph and couldn’t pick up the colour because the sun was behind it but it did look and sound very much like the ring-necked parakeets we saw when one of the kids was playing rugby in Middlesex. It was a surreal day to say the least – parakeets flying over, aircraft landing at Heathrow and the after-match meal cooked on barbecues under the trees at the edge of the field. I imagine that ours is an escapee rather than a visitor from down south. I hope so because they are they are a nuisance when you get too many of them, as Esher Rugby Club found out.