By Slanted Light

Not-birdwatching again yesterday...


I finally took my big camera out with me for a walk, hoping that I might come across some of the local wildlife again... and I did. *g* I've startled this deer into running away a few times now... and then we stand and watch each other for a little bit. I was a bit surprised to see her alone.

When I carried on down the track a bit I realised that her friend had just hung back for a while... ...and of course she too went bounding away! They're roe deer, I think, going by their rather distinctive bottoms - not quite sure about the evolutionary value of popping a bright white target right there, but hopefully it's working out for them! Roe deer are properly native to the British Isles, they've been here thousands of years...

When I looked up there were skeins of birds in flight... ...and looking down in the hedges there were sloes, more than I've ever seen before. I'm thinking of picking them and having a go at sloe gin... *g*

It's looking pretty wintry to me.

The deer hadn't gone too far, and I spotted them again on my way back.

And here is where I live - which I really am feeling quite lucky about in these days of "lockdown". ( Minor rant )

On the bright side, there's hope ahead with the vaccines being developed, and cross-fingers enough decent people in the world that they'll outweigh the others, although it does always seem to be quite the battle.

And Christmas is coming. *g*

Another work day today, and it's looking grey again - though not as grey as yesterday so far. The day before was intermittently better. I thought there might be another nice sunset, but there was a dragon and then a cloudbank, and the sun slipped quietly off...




This was the view from my office yesterday - and it's no so different today, although it's not raining right now. It turns out to be an excellent hide too - I've watched the farm cats wander sneakily in and out before spotting me and scarpering again, and this morning I watched a whole flock of tiny birds and blackbirds nip in for a bite to eat. They checked out all the pots, and nibbled delicately around them, and went looking among the gravel. One disappeared under the bottom ledge of the door to the point that I wondered if I'd just seen a mouse instead - but then it reappeared on the other side and nipped up to check out my dogwood instead. They nibbled their way across the grass (what there is of it!) - I wonder if there are berries there, from the tree that overhangs. They all flew off, but now and then they fly back in and up to that tree, and yesterday I watched a blackbird eat half a dozen of the bright red berries. I'm not really a birdwatcher, but I do like to see wildlife in general, so this is fun!

Although it really doesn't help me concentrate on work! Back to it...

I'm a day late now - this was yesterday! Tuesday, that is. *g* And I'm getting a kind of Christmas-y vibe from these two pics, for which I do apologise (since we've not had bonfire night yet...), it wasn't intentional! I think it's all that white paint looking like snow... It was the first time since covid that I went and sat in a pub - socially distanced, with a long hall open to the outside at either end and open doors leading off to the room we were in, but still - an enclosed space with people I didn't know! I thought about wearing my mask at first, but obviously you can't do that and drink coffee and talk effectively, so... well, it would be really really unlucky if I went into somewhere once and caught it then, right?

Anyway, the occasion was meeting up with LW, who I knew way way back when at Manchester Uni, when we started up Warped - the University of Manchester Science Fiction and Fantasy Society! And the cool thing about that? It's still going! Thirty-five years later (we counted - and gulped), our SF/F society is still going. *g* I think it might be the most long... longev... longevitous thing I've done in my life. You know - it lasted a long time. *g*

It was very cool to meet up with LW again (thank you for hooking us up, helenraven!) - I swear she looked the same, very much still her, and a couple of hours passed pretty quickly, catching up all those thirty-five (thirty-five!) years. She lives not too far away, and hopefully when all this covid stuff is sorted out we'll get together again. Amongst other things there's some metal detecting to be done at her place too... *g*

(In a bizarre twist, LW is a science fiction author, and I ordered one of her books from the local Waterstones a week or so ago, after a rec from Helen Raven. I phoned on Tuesday morning to see if it was in/expected/what's going on with book orders in lockdown, to be told that the distributor didn't have it in stock after all, and they couldn't say when it would be back again. Sigh, but okay... Only this morning (Wednesday) I had an email from Waterstones saying the book I'd ordered had arrived and I could go and pick it up at the branch. What?! How can it be out of stock and simultaneously being sent to the branch...? Did they send it and then report to me that it was out of stock cos actually I'd ordered the last one, so it wasn't there any more?! Anyway - at least I can read one of her books now! *g*)

Didn't I say I was going to post pics for October? And yet I went and automatically took some today, so... *g*

It's been a much more useful day too, so that was good. I ticked everything off yesterday's list, all ready to make a new list for tomorrow. Skyped with my brother's family first thing too - it's their first weekend out of lockdown (only 61 cases in Melbourne now) and W's birthday, and the Aussie equivalent of a Baker day at school (whatever they're called now - not Inset Days any more either, not teacher training... I do know...!) and it's Melbourne Cup Race Day on Tuesday, so it's a looo-ong first weekend out of lockdown for them too! And good weather forecast.

Meanwhile, here on the grim side of the world... last night I listened to owls that I could hear through my bathroom vent, and this morning I listened to birds through it. This evening I nipped out to measure something in the shed, and a bat swooped down.

Carpark leaves are still doing their thing.

But there's definitely a more wintry vibe around too!

Brilliant berries against the stone... ...and the village starting to look cosy as night began to settle itself in...

Oh yeah - and I was writing my nephew a birthday letter, when I realised that instead of writing "and wash our hands alot" I'd written "and wash our lads alot"... Now was that the autocorrect trying to perk me up a bit, or am I trying to tell me something...? *g*

The worst thing about Job 2 is that it doesn't come with weekends - it's just one long slog until it's done. And this time it's followed immediately by Job 2.5, which is the same. It's going to be December before I get a weekend again - waah!

In the meantime, I went for a walk slightly earlier today - it was still light!

Farmcat. Autumn farmcat. And I have no idea what the second pic is, but I kind of like it!

Kitchen sink view...

Halloween village

Big winter sky

Today was a bit of an odd one - I was waiting for the Job 2 go-ahead, which didn't arrive, so sort of filling in time trying to be useful, but not feeling as if I was accomplishing much. So I went out to find a place I've been meaning to find for ages - a local wood, apparently centred around a dozen round barrows (I thought there was only supposed to be one - going to have to go back and find them all now. A dozen - wow!) there's a standing stone on top of one of the mounds, though that's probably 17th century. And the Fosse Way, a Roman road, runs straight along the edge of the wood (and was what I drove on to get there). Nice idea, but I could hear all the cars whizzing by as I wandered the wood, so probably more atmospheric back in actual Roman times! Of course you can see Glastonbury Tor from the edge of the woods. *g*



No berries on the holly here, which surprised me after that amazing bush the other week.

This last pic is from when I was out foodsaving later - Halloween has come to the village! *g*

Things picked up after the walk too - I finally remembered to drop off a tool that my movers had left, weeks ago, then I headed for the DIY store and bought some loft boards and some bits of wood to lift them off the insulation, and nipped into the supermarket next door too. Home, got the ladder out, and hefted the boards up. Turned out there was only one patch without wires laid all around, so I could only use one of the two boards I'd bought, but I got that set up, and then piled on the boxes from packing that I'd been storing in my car, and also my Christmas boxes (it's not time yet, no matter what the shops have got out! Not that I haven't been musing on a certain Pros challenge and card exchange and things like that... *g*)

Then it was dinner, and off out foodsaving - and I came home to find my Yuletide assignment in my inbox (that's going to be interesting... *g*) and also Job 2 had got back to me at last! So a couple of tasks there, and now I'm all set to carry on with it tomorrow after all.

So - it was sort of one of those days that went from nothing to lots of quite good somethings! Hope you had a happy Monday!

Wet outside today, but I was back in meetings, so didn't mind too much!

We finished early enough for me to nip out before dark though - last time for a few months too, as the clocks go back tonight.

Had a wee wander around Frome (and might have stepped into the stationery shop... *g*), then grabbed a couple of essentials, and home again. And now it's that time of day again... Goodnight!

Roadworks and having to find diversions around isn't all bad...

Those aren't rabbits in the second pic - they're deer! Deer in the field! *g*

I wasn't taking any chances with the second wave looming, and decided to book a hair appointment while I could - to my surprise L was free within the week, and today was the day.

I drove out past the autumn fields, and over to Glastonbury where Samhain was already in full swing!

Thought I'd fallen into Diagon Alley, but this is Gauntlet Alley... *g*

And here's the gorgeous view from yet another carpark... ...all the way up to St Michael's Tower on Glastonbury Tor!

And then it was home to try and catch up on work... until 2.45am... *headdesk* With very short hair. *g*