A welcome visitor

I just looked out of the kitchen window, or rather the window in the kitchen door, admiring our many avian visitors, scurrying around our lawns. It had finally stopped raining & clearly the worms must have been near the surface.

Just then something caught my eye nearer the house. There, around the raised bed with the prostrate rosemary, was another small bird. At first I thought it must be a sparrow - I didn’t have my glasses on & I’m rather short-sighted – though it seemed rather small for a sparrow. Then I recognised his unmistakable erect tail. It was a wren.

It’s years since I last saw a wren. There was one here in our garden when we first moved in. However, that was over 16 years ago now & we haven’t seen a wren for the last ten years at least.

I always associate the wren with the farthing. I’m of an age to still remember them in circulation. They were withdrawn in 1960. I always thought wrens looked such charming creatures with their pert little tail.

Having found us, & having found this uncemented wall with its rosemary trailing down, I do hope the wren continues to visit. Certainly the wall seems to attract plenty of insects who like to make their homes in the gaps between the stones. The wall is often covered with cobwebs, so there should be plenty of good food for a little wren.

News - Yankee & personal

The news today is full of Trump’s triumph. There’s no getting away from it. Last night I lay in bed trying to get to sleep. I had the radio on. The more confident the pundits were that Clinton would win the more I feared they were wrong. It would be another Brexit miscalculation on their part.

I have to confess I’ve not envied the Americans their choice. Neither candidate truly appealed. However, for me, there was a point when I could see why they should want to vote Trump.

I listened to some of the live debates on World Radio – you can tell I’ve not been sleeping well of late. Trump pointed out that in his businesses he’d always got buildings put up on time & without extra costs. Anyone who can achieve that, clearly can organise something, despite the loud-mouthed buffoon he was putting on show in the presidential campaign. Ultimately you want someone who can get things done, regardless of their personality.

Now we have to see what sort of president he will be. Something different probably if nothing else. My consolation is that the US system of government will probably be able to curb his wildest excesses.

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Monday saw us in Lancaster for the first of our hospital trips. This was for my annual check-up for pancreatitis. That went well & they have decided to discharge me, although they may make the occasional telephone call just to check I’m still OK & will keep an eye on my bloods. They reckon the chances of cancer from this cause have now reduced to almost the level it was before my pancreatitis attack. That’s one less trip to the hospital.

The appointment was for 6pm. We set off just before 5pm as usually the traffic at that time is horrific. We sailed through. Yes there were people returning home at the end of their day’s work but no heavies & no traffic jams. As we passed Greyhound Bridge, where usually at this time there is a long virtually-at-a-standstill traffic jam, the cars were flowing freely. The only hold-ups were at traffic lights. We were at the hospital within 20 minutes rather than our usual hour. Fortunately the café at the hospital was open & we had a quick cup of coffee/hot chocolate to fill in the time & to thaw out on an absolutely freezing evening.

Afterwards we decided to dine out. We tried the nearest pub/hotel, the Toll House Inn. We found this place when I went for my pre-op injection. We had an hour to fill in between the injection & the scan so we’d gone for a drink & a spot of lunch.

The food was good. We both decided on the same things. Mixed wild mushrooms on toasted brioche, followed by veal escalopes with a beautiful creamy crayfish sauce. We may go there again some time.

The new Bay Gateway certainly seems to be doing its job. Travel into Lancaster is certainly more pleasant. We may even consider going in just for the fun of it, rather than avoid Lancaster as much as possible as we have done for years. We’ll really be convinced if the journey goes as well when we tackle our second hospital trip later this week. That will be at 9am, well & truly in rush hour.

Starry Night

As you will know I love doing my jigsaws. I find them very therapeutic.  By focusing my mind on something else, they distract me, allowing the pain in my knees or my psyche to ease. They also just give me something to do without having to stand & increase the level of pain in so doing.

Anyhow, the jigsaw I’m doing at the moment is another art one. I do love doing these as I find I learn something about the artist & the painting in the process. You have to concentrate on so much of the detail to complete the jigsaw, you discover things you would have overlooked just looking at the picture. Or maybe it’s just that you spend so much time looking at the picture to complete a 1000 piece jigsaw.

The jigsaw I’m doing at the moment is Vincent Van Gogh’s “The Starry Night.”

Above all I’m being struck by that swirl of light that divides the land from the sky. It’s the sheer energy of it. It feels as though it must have been painted by a man possessed. Possessed by what I’m not sure beyond the need to get the paint on the canvas. So far I find it disturbing but not as depressing as I’ve found some of his other artworks.

I’m also struck by the thought that one of these days we ought to visit around Arles. It’s not a part of France we’ve been to yet. Maybe next year, who knows.

I’m also reminded of a French restaurant in Kendal, Déjà Vu, we frequented a few times in the past. Last time we were in Kendal it had moved to larger premises. I hope it still maintains the same high standard of French cuisine. Its business card had an image of Van Gogh’s “Café Terrace at Night”. It seemed appropriate as the old restaurant was on a quiet corner site. It always seemed to be very dark when we visited it.