We also had a Ferret, briefly

I often take a break from work in mid morning to go for a walk in the country with Debbie, looking at birds, playing with Gus, and getting some fresh air. On one of our walks this week, Debbie spotted a little ball of fur curled up in the grass at the side of the path: a Ferret! This is him in the picture.

It was very friendly but seemed to be puffing and panting. We phoned the RSPCA and they were very helpful, explaining that ferrets didn't live wild so it must have escaped or been dumped, and needed help. They arranged for a local vet to take it in, and we went off with our box to pick up Funky (the ferret). We dropped him off at the vet, and they phoned us later to say he was OK and they'd rehome him. We'd have had him ourselves except the vet thought he would probably not get on with the cats, and anyway we're not really ready for more pet introductions and new arrivals just yet.

I've never met a ferret before, though, and I was very impressed. We were also impressed with the RSPCA: they were very helpful and efficient. The vet (Friarswood) was also excellent, calling us back to let us know how how the Ferret was getting on after they'd checked him out. It turned out he had a respiratory infection, hence the puffing and panting, but the RSPCA paid to get him sorted out. It's a shame we couldn't keep him, but it looks as though Debbie can chalk up another furry little life to her rescue tally!

Meanwhile, back at home, Briefly the pigeon continues his convalescence and pre-flight training in the garage...

Phones, fruit trees and furniture

Adam would be proud of us: we bought TWO new phones this week; one for each of us to replace our sick old ones. We've leapt into the modern age with, for the first time, phones that are vaguely up to date so we can wap our 3G videocalls and sync our outlooks by infrared while photographing our SMSs. I'm actually quite pleased finally to have a phone that includes a real camera (sony cybershot) and can sync with my online calendar. Here's the very first picture it took... the inside of my office at Keele. In fact all the pictures in this particular episode of my blog were taken with the phone!


It's been a bit of a techno-buying month, as we also had to replace our sick old TV and now have a bigger, flatter blurrier one. Blurrier? Well, I reckon LCD flatscreens just lack the definition of a good old-fashioned CRT unless you go HD, which our TV is but our signal isn't, so, soft focus is the order of the day. Interestingly your brain adjusts very quickly and it looks great now. Like most things digital etc, they have the potential to be great but aren't always given the signal they need to achieve their potential. Look at most satellite channels for example: signal spread too thin so less definition than analogue. More channels and hidden extras cruising on the same signal, but consequently less signal for the basic picture. Or am I talking rubbish? Very likely. I seem to be doing that a lot lately. I'm still waiting for the results from my brain scan, which might explain whether I am indeed getting stupider, which seems to be the case.

Certainly my joinery and cabinet making skills have not improved. I built a beautiful set of shelves to go with our new TV and a fabulous bird table to let Debbie increase the feeding rate, but they're both a bit rubbish if you look closely... doesn't seem to bother the birds, though. Although, look even closer and you'll see there actually are no birds. Yet. Just you wait. Here, birdie. Here, birdie...

Speaking of birds, we have another sick pigeon in our garage. Whenever anyone we know finds a sick pigeon they give it to Debbie to look after. This one isn't going to get a name because Debbie is scared of getting attached. I call it "Briefly", because Debbie thinks it won't make it so we'll "have a pigeon, briefly". Debbie is calling it "'Tasha". But we're not giving it a name, honest.

We planted a couple of micro dwarf midget fruit trees in the garden today: an apple and a plum. We already have a cherry, so I guess it's now an orchard. I'm trying to sync the plums with the mobile, but the hammer seems blunt. And with Spring gurgling on I really out to get out there and mow that lawn...

Mechanics, vets and doctors

We've been making good use of a variety of medical services over the last few weeks. Debbie's van was due for it's MOT, and we were anticipating that it might have reached the end of its road. The helpful folks at Pool Street Garage managed to get it all fixed up and through its test for less than £400, though, so we're able to keep it! Gus the ugliest dog in the known universe had a bit of work done on on him, too: he cut his foot badly while out on a walk (students at Keele had left broken glass in the woods) and was whisked off to the emergency vets. He had to go under general anaesthetic to get his foot stitched, and was then all bandaged up and not allowed to have his walks for ages. He's still a bit lame 3 weeks later but at least he's back on his feet and looking a bit less sorry for himself now. Students: take your cans and bottles home with you! I had a little medical adventure of my own, too: I went in for a brain scan, which sounds quite exciting, but was actually rather dull (the scan, not my brain). They made me keep my eyes shut, so I didn't even see this doughnut that everyone had been going on about. I'd been looking forward to the doughnut bit, but they didn't even give me a sweetie for lying still! And they didn't even tell me if they found the brain.

Easter Hols

We've had a few days off over Easter, and done a few jobs like getting the van fixed, arranging for the garden fence to be replaced, and so on, and we also had Jack and Emily come to stay so we had a lot of playing of games and goings out to the pictures, for meals, to parks, etc.

We went to visit my Mom and George, and George gave us a remote controlled plane, which went down well with Jack and Em. Gus especially loved having the kiddies around, and is looking forward to them coming back later in the summer.

The weather was OK while Jack and Em were here, but the day after they left we woke up to snow! Gus didn't seem that interested, although I think it's the first time he's seen it since we had him.

It felt like Christmas this morning: cold and crisp and snowy, and as we were out early on a Sunday the world was deserted. Here are the views from our front room and kitchen windows this morning: it was a bit gloomy at 7am (the view of the front garden), but by 8am the sun was out and the goldfinches were having their breakfast. I've not seen goldfinches in the snow before!

No more Noisy, so more noise from Angry

One of our two cockatiels died this week. The one that died was called Noisy, because he used to be more articulate, but he wasn't actually as noisy as his pal, Angry, who is left behind. Angry was always the squawker, while Noisy was more of a sweet little talker. Now he's lost his pal, Angry is a bit anxious, and so noisier. We'll have to see how he settles down and then decide whether he's going to be OK or whether he'll need to get a friend: we don't plan to get a friend for him here otherwise we'll be permanently locked into having birds, which isn't our plan, so if he doesn't settle he might have to go and live with his Aunty Rita, who also has a solitary cockatiel. If they get on happily, that might be best for everybody... we'll see.