What Peter's been doing

Summer

2008-08-02T14:45:00.002+01:00

Summer seems to be here. I'm managing to get some bits of time away from work, although there are still a lot of things I have to be doing, and finally after a long wet start to the summer we are having some bits of sunshine. As well as days out in Wales (see the previous post) we've had a lot of local excursions, and Debbie's typical pose is this one: lurking in the summer undergrowth photographing birds!

I've also been doing decorating, and for the first time ever we're about to buy a carpet!

Holiday Days at Lake Vyrnwy

2008-08-02T13:56:00.003+01:00

Our new discovery this summer has been Lake Vyrnwy in mid Wales, and while I've been having a couple of weeks off work we've had a few days out there doing a bit of bird spotting, walking in the hills, and having cups of tea and ice cream at the country cafes.

One Fewer Fish, Two Further Fish

2008-07-19T07:26:00.004+01:00

19th July: We got two goldfish when we first moved into this house about 12 years ago,and Debbie has looked after them fantastically for all that time as they have gradually grown and we've gradually got them bigger and bigger tanks. They've never been sick at all... until just now: one of them has just died. The two of them always seemed to be good pals, and they swam around as a pair most of the time, so even though the remaining fish seems to be coping OK with his new-found independence, we are thinking that we'll be going and getting him a friend or two over the next few days...

20th July: Fearing that Bubbles might be missing his friend, who is now buried beneath our apple tree, we went out today and got him two new friends: Pacino and Shark. So we now have three goldfish. Bubbles seems very pleased to have company, and the two little newcomers seem very impressed with what is probably the biggest goldfish they've ever seen or imagined. Not that I think goldfish spend a lot of time imagining bigger goldfish. But who knows. Anyway, Pacino and Shark don't have to imagine any more: they have a big friend all of their own.

Debbie's Painting of Classic Punch

2008-07-07T18:59:00.002+01:00

Here's the painting that Debbie has been working on.

A bit of painting

2008-07-06T17:26:00.002+01:00

I used to do lots of painting and drawing but haven't done any for ages. Debbie has just got started back to work on one of her paintings and watching her inspired me to make time to have another go myself. I've never used one of those little stretched canvas blocks before, so I had a go with one of those. It's only tiny, but it was interesting to try it out. Also new to me is using acrylics instead of oils. Not terribly pleased with this first result, I have to say, but at least I've got the brushes out again. Watch this space. But don't hold your breath.

Open Day at "The Dogs Trust"

2008-07-06T16:51:00.004+01:00

We took Gus to the annual open day at the "Dogs Trust" at Roden, where we got him from. There were sunny intervals in between the thunderstorms, and as we strolled around eating chips and ice creams some of the people who used to look after Gus came up to say hello; they all remember him because he's such a distinctive character.

Last year Gus won a rosette in the show, but this year we were robbed: the judge's glasses must have fogged up in the rain! Debbie and Gus looked very splendid in the parade ring: Gus was wearing a natty "Dogs Trust" bandanna that we bought on the day. We also bought a year's supply of lemon cake and coffee-and-walnut cake from the Cake Stall, so it was a productive day all round.

Debbie took some really nice pictures of Gus: the one below is one of our favourites of him. As we've both got back into doing painting, perhaps Debbie will paint this as his official portrait!

Another excursion to the Wirral

2008-06-11T21:52:00.002+01:00

Took advantage of the nice weather to have a trip out to Parkgate, Thurstaston Heath and the West Kirby salt marshes. We spotted some new birds, discovered a new area for walking in, and found Gus a very smelly creek to fall into. The photo shows Debbie trying to catch a picture of an elusive little sedge warbler.

A day in The Lakes

2008-06-07T15:24:00.002+01:00

June is feeling a bit summery, so we picked up Debbie's Mum en route and had a quick run up the M6 for a day in the Lakes. We let Gus have a swim in Windermere, joined the throngs in Bowness for morning coffee and a bit of gift shopping, then drove over the Kirkstone Pass to have a late lunch and a stroll along the river at Pooley Bridge. The photo shows Rita, Debbie and Gus by Lake Windermere with the Langdale Pikes in the background.

Bluebells

2008-05-13T20:36:00.002+01:00

It's that time of year again... Spring has sprung, the bluebells are up, and I'm photographing paths through the woods again!

We also had a Ferret, briefly

2008-04-30T20:46:00.005+01:00

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

2008-04-26T15:08:00.005+01:00

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

2008-04-06T08:56:00.003+01:00

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

2008-04-06T08:34:00.008+01:00

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

2008-04-05T17:57:00.002+01:00

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.

We have Siskins and Redpolls

2008-03-30T19:12:00.004+01:00

Since Debbie took up bird watching and put feeders with fancy birdseed up around the garden we've seen all sorts of new birds. Most of them I'd heard of but not necessarily had as garden pets before, like Goldfinches, but some are completely new to me, like Siskins and Redpolls. The picture here shows a seed-feeder covered in Siskins: they look like little yellow sparrows, and I think of them as garden canaries. We have about 20 of them at a time in our Magnolia tree. They seem to mix in happily with a few Goldfinches and this week for the first time there have been a couple of Redpolls in with them too! Debbie is putting up some pictures of them on her web page at: http://www.petergknight.com/debbie/birds.html

This Spring in the garden and local woods so far we've seen House Sparrows, Blackbirds, Collared Doves, Woodpigeons, Starlings, Goldfinches, Bullfinches, Redpolls, Siskins, Robins, Bluetits, Great Tits, Coal Tits, Long-tailed Tits, Green Woodpecker, Greater Spotted Woodpecker, Buzzard, Heron, Pheasants, Greenfinches, Rooks, Crows, Jackdaws, Magpies, Jays, Pied Wagtails, Treecreepers, Nuthatches, Kestrel...

Birdithology

2008-01-06T16:26:00.000Z

Debbie has become a bird watcher! It makes the local dog-walking more interesting: we saw a nuthatch, goldfinches, blue tits, great tits, coal tits, robins, song thrushes, starlings, crows, blackbirds, collared doves and wood pigeons in the park yesterday, and today we had a trip out to the coast and saw a redshank, oyster catchers, and a whole bunch of assorted other unidentifiable birds... we'll have to get the book out! Can anyone tell Debbie what these are? Is that a linnet or a twite or a garden warbler or what? And are those snow buntings? [PS: thanks to Dave Emley for the identification: they are snow buntings but that's a stonechat.]

Here are a couple of easier-to-recognise little birdles from Brereton country park, where we stopped off en-route to the Wirral today (a nuthatch and a robin, or I'm no birdologist at all!).

New Year 2008 - Ice Skating

2008-01-01T13:11:00.000Z

I've never been in 2008 before and I've never been ice skating before, so that's two firsts today! Liz and Roger asked us if we wanted to go ice skating at Trentham Gardens on New Year's morning, so that's what we we did. The picture on the left shows you what the rink looked like from the other side of the lake. It was fun. No fingers got sliced off, there was no blood on the ice, and there were moments (just brief ones) where everything was under control.

It was harder than roller skating. Liz was quite good; I managed to stay upright some of the time; Debbie put fear into the hearts of novice onlookers awaiting their turn. "Is it really that hard?" asked one trembling woman as Debbie worked her way around the railings. When she realised you could skate and dance at the same time, Debbie started to get the hang of it and by the time they threw us off the rink we were by no means the worst skaters in the place!

Gust would have loved it, but we didn't think they'd rent him skates so he missed out. For him the best things about this time of year are that he gets both of us at home most of the time, there are lots of walks, and we have big "Christmas" dinners five or six times over Christmas and New Year. I've made a concerted effort not to do any work (well, not much) over Christmas and to relax a bit. A little bit of woodwork and house reorganisation; a bit of reading; lots of time out with Gus and up at the yard with Meg. Here's a picture of me and Debbie out walking Gus.

Meg's bad foot now seems to be all better, but I had one of my worst ever trips to the dentist on 26th December, and I've now got a series of root canal appointments through the New Year period for the toothache that was causing problems over Christmas. Oh well; there go some more nerves that nobody will be able to get on again! Speaking of which, I've also now been referred to a neurology specialist about the hard-to-shift headaches that I've been getting, so finding out what a neurologist does will be another first for 2008!

Ah... nearly Christmas

2007-12-22T16:58:00.000Z

Finally a few days off and starting to relax. Pottering about with Debbie and the animals. Playing facebook games and doing Christmassy things. I've finally found a facebook game that Debbie will play, and I'm writing this while waiting for her to make her move at "SmarterMind". It seems that Debbie has the smarter mind, as she keeps beating me. I blame my toothache. If that's not a good excuse I'll blame my backache or my headache. Or the medication. OK, OK, Debbie's just better at it than me!

Was very pleased to take delivery this week of the new Marina V CD that actually has my name printed in the acknowledgements (along with all the other fans who pre-ordered!) and two new books from my Folio Society membership: "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" and "The Art of War". They are both beautifully bound, and are books I've long wanted to read: especially the Wounded Knee. All I need now is the time to read them. No excuse over Christmas as I am going to try really really hard not to do any work. Well, not much. Well OK I'll deal with e-mail stuff and I'll think about next semester's new module but nothing apart from that.

I've had a couple of papers submitted in the last few weeks, and one published in the last month oir so, and a book proposal accepted this week, so the guilt factor is relatively low on the writing front. I could do with getting back down to work in the lab, and I am way overdue with some administrative chores, but they can wait till New Year. I think my health (mental and physical) needs me to relax for a few days, so if you want to picture me (I don't recommend it!) then picture me surrounded by Chritmas lights, books, animals, Debbie and the TV, making regular sorties out into the grey murk to walk dogs and muck out horses, and spending just a bit too long sitting at the laptop doing things like writing this blog!

November 2007

2007-11-18T13:07:00.000Z

I saw a nuthatch yesterday! First time I've ever seen one, as far as I know. It was at Brereton Country Park, near Holmes Chapel where we sometimes take Gus for a walk.

It's getting very wintry now, and while it was pleasant enough in the sunshine at Brereton yesterday, we're now huddled in front of the fire while it sleets outside!

What else have we been up to? Busy busy at work, as usual. I'm still playing chess on Facebook. I keep beating one of my former students and keep being beaten by another. I tend to beat the random strangers who occasionally challenge me because official ranking is kept artificially low by my frequent defeats by a player that the system doesn't realise is really much better than me. Strangers who then ask to play me because their official ranking is the same as mine then get a surprise when they play me, if their ranking really reflects their ability!

Playing Scrabble with Teresa on Facebook too. We seem quite evenly matched and have had some good close games!

Have been watching a lot of old Westerns, especially getting back into 1950s Westerns. Am excited because "The Crimson Pirate" is supposed to be coming out soon on DVD. Bought a copy of "The Gunfighter". Debbie bought be "Run Silent, Run Deep". I'm using my Burt Lancaster mug a lot for my afternoon cups of tea!

Randolph Scott and John Wayne

2007-11-07T19:45:00.000Z

I've been catching up on my old cowboy films. I finally watched the Glenn Ford / Van Heflin "3.10 to Yuma" today. I've only been meaning to see it for, I think, 31 years since I first heard of it! Yesterday I saw Randolph Scott's "The Tall T" and "Tall Man Riding". I think I'm going to go and get my video of "Hondo" now! If anyone has a video or a region-2 DVD of "Ride Lonesome" or "Comanche Station" please let me know!

Autumn colours

2007-11-03T15:37:00.001Z

Keele's looking spectacular: sunrises, sunsets and autumn leaves all doing particularly well! Here's a view from Top Farm looking past Keele Church into the sunrise at the start of November. The last month has been a busy work month, hence the limited inputs to this blog, but we're managing to keep on top of things.

Eddie Stobart Depot

2007-09-30T13:24:00.001+01:00

Since there weren't any Eddies at the Truckfest, we had a morning trip out a couple of weeks ago to the new Stobart depot at Appleton Thorne. Loads of Eddies, including service vehicles as well as lorries! It's only half an hour from home, and there is good dog-walking and coffee-stopping en route, so I suspect we may be going back!

I bought Debbie an eternity ring this month, too: it has diamonds and emeralds in it, which I thought would match Debbie's beautiful green and sparkly eyes. I realise now that Debbie's enthusiasm for the emeralds might in fact be because the green and white (emerald and diamond) also matches the Stobart livery!

TruckFest, September 2007

2007-09-16T13:40:00.000+01:00

No Eddie Stobart display for Debbie this year, but we took Gus along to see TruckFest NorthWest at Haydock: lots of painted-up lorries, overpriced junk-food, noisy displays, fairground rides, overflowing portaloos... what more could you ask for on a Sunday morning? We enjoyed looking around for a couple of hours: sitting in the sunshine with coffee and chips watching the crowds, seeing all the truckers polishing their chrome and buffing their bumpers, letting people pat Gus and marvel at his unprecedented ugliness. The whole thing is shockingly overpriced and almost everything you can buy is a total rip-off, but it's a bit of fun and, even though there were no Eddies for Debbie to sit in this year, we had a good time. And Gus found and ate about 17 squashed discarded burgers, so he enjoyed himself too.

Dog Agility!

2007-09-08T15:02:00.001+01:00

As part of Gus's "life of Reilly" programme, we splashed out on a set of Dog Agility toys for him: hurdles for him to hurdle, a hoop for him to go flying through (haven't tried the flames yet) and a tunnel for him to squirm through like a furry rocket-powered worm. He thinks it's brilliant. But then, Gus thinks everything is brilliant. That's part of his doggie charm. He's a bit like the dog on the Sky TV dog-and-duck advert. "That's brilliant. What is it?"

So, with little bits of dog-treat to coax him through the early stages before he got the hang of it, Debbie set him up at the start of his track, and... he got the hang of it straight away!

Over the hurdles, through the hoop. Through the hoop, over the hurdles. Anything to follow that little bit of dog-treat! Debbie had tried to get into the local dog agility class, but the people there were so rubbish they couldn't even return a phone call. So, taking matters into our own hands we now have a little dog agility school of our own. I'm just wondering, once Debbie has Gus trained, how long will it be before she works her way down the hierarchy to me. Then the cats.

We haven't tried him with the tunnel yet, but I am confident that he will think that's brilliant, too. Watch out for the doggie Olympics on the telly: Gus and Debbie may be there!

A big box of new books!

2007-09-08T14:25:00.000+01:00

Debbie and I returned from an enjoyable Saturday morning of horses, dogs, cafe breakfasts and shopping to find that the postman - or more likely a small team of strong postmen with a forklift delivery van - had left an enormous, and enormously heavy, cardboard crate on our doorstep. Although the morning's shopping included some delicious-looking scones and 3 big sacks of dog-agility equipment, the unpacking of that load was put on hold as the mighty box was hauled into the living room and carefully cut open. Inside the box, under the protective flaps, beneath the enveloping bubble-wrap: books! Mostly, in fact, one enormous book: the Times Atlas. It is, by far, the biggest book I own. Or have ever owned. It may be the biggest book I will ever own. I am very pleased with it. I don't think that I could have brought myself to pay the £150 that is printed on the back of it's protective sleeve-box, but that's only because I am so mean. I don't doubt that the book is indeed worth that amount, especially to somebody who likes to look at maps as much as I do! In fact, perhaps, thinking about it, I would have paid for it if I had to. I actually got my copy for, er, nothing. It was a "free gift" as part of my Folio Society subscription deal. Also in the delivery today were three other books, each in its own protective sleeve-box, and a note that two further books that I ordered are not yet printed and will be delivered in due course.

It is always exciting getting deliveries by post, but somehow with books, especially when you get several delivered at once, the prospect is much more delightfully drawn out than with the delivery of, say, a gadget or a toy. The gadget or toy can be unpacked and in full service within moments, and often you can have seen everything that it can do within half an hour. Sure, you can look forward to doing it some more, but the discovery phase is over and it is only the continued use phase that lies ahead. By contrast, with a book, all of the discovery continues to lie ahead even after everything is unpacked and played with. There is still the reading. Every page could hold a new delight, and you won't know until you read your way slowly, gradually, through the pile of books exactly what those delights will turn out to be. Indeed, often one reading is not enough: you know that several readings, perhaps over many years, will gradually release drop by drop the pleasure of this new purchase. In the case of a reference book like an Atlas or an Encyclopaedia this pleasure of anticipation is in addition to the knowledge that you have also acquired a valuable tool, rather like a good power-drill that you know you can get out of the cupboard when the need arises. With my new Atlas, and a small winch, I am confident that I will be well placed to know what's where for the foreseeable future.