Further visitors

We're packed & ready to go. I'm already beginning to think I should re-pack, take different clothes,  add this or that. 

Al, the gardener, came & mowed the lawn yesterday. He seemed to do more chatting than work, but I don't mind that. He's a mate as much as anything else & is concerned as to how the Fox will cope with the trip. He wished us well.

The boiler was serviced yesterday. The one good thing about that is that it means he won't be coming next week as he was supposed to be doing, so if we need a quiet week to recover from the trip, it should be possible. All we've got planned for next week is a visit to the hospital about the Fox's hearing. And I suppose the inevitable food shop.

I got distracted yesterday when a visitor came calling, a squirrel. It's quite fascinating watching the wave of movement going through its body as it scampers across the trellis, stopping for a quick look to check it's not missed anything on the bird table.

We have occasionally had a squirrel here before but not often, & only usually in the autumn. They come for the fruit on the trees. Down in the village, especially in the woods near the ancient church of St Peter, there always seem plenty but not so often up here.

Unfortunately it seems to be the grey ones that inhabit here, although they do seem to seem to have quite a bit of rustiness around their faces & rather tufty ears. Some interbreeding perhaps? 

Still they're fun & make me smile. They always seem so full of mischief, ingenuity & athleticism.