DON'T GET CRABBY

Tree killer!  I can see the silent accusation in next door’s eyes as I put the green wheelie bin out containing the latest batch of branches lopped off from the crab apple tree in our back garden. 

 

Getting rid of the evidence

Bird killer!  I can see the silent accusation in the black beady eyes of the fat pigeon perched on the dormer mourning the loss of tasty red crab apples on which it’s been gorging for weeks.

 

I'm starving

Bug killer!  Well of course I can’t see the silent accusation because their eyes are too small but I’m sure they’re giving me evils too at being deprived of a nice woody home. 

It pains me to reach for the tree saw but sadly, progress is progress and the tree must go to make way for the new rear extension that’s soon to extend out from the kitchen.  Can’t have tree roots invading the new soakaway or foundations now, can we?

 

Sorry tree - you've got to go

Bit by bit, the tree is dwindling as we dispose of it branch by branch in a bid to save going down the tip (how lazy!).  Eventually only the trunk will remain then a stump that’ll need to be dug out.  Not volunteering for that job….

 

Another chunk cut off

To make it up to our feathered and crawly friends, I’ve planned to plant a pear tree in the border in springtime but in the meantime, I hope they’ll find it in their hearts to forgive me chopping down this once lovely tree.

Bye, bye old friend

I'll miss your lovely blossoms

MUSEUM OF THE MOON

The moon is not made of cheese, is not home to the Clangers and a cow certainly didn’t jump over it but somehow it did fit inside a cathedral, a feat that even the Almighty may have found a bit of a headache to achieve.

 

Mooning in church

Suspended above the alter at Chichester Cathedral is Luke Jerram’s fantastic ‘moon’, a 7m ethereal sphere depicting earth’s moon.  It’s stunning!

 

It only just fits

Shadowy patches across the surface

As you walk round the moon, you can clearly see the craters and dark shadows that pockmark the surface.

 

Like a giant ball of Aero chocolate

Or cheese?

In reality you would only ever see these things either from space or perhaps with a super powerful telescope but here we are admiring this model moon as up close and personal as you can ever hope to get to the real thing.

 

It's truly stunning to see

View from the choir stalls

Museum of the Moon is at Chichester’s Cathedral for another few weeks – I’ve already booked a return visit.

One giant leap for mankind

PIMMS O'CLOCK AGAIN!

Bartender – make mine a double!  

I can’t afford to put my gas heating on but thanks to the Chancellor, I can now guzzle as much prosecco as I fancy thanks to new reduced booze taxes.  Of course, you’d be a sucker to believe that pubs will pass on these tax changes in the form of lower drink prices.  They’ll do what the petrol retailers do when the fuel levy is frozen and wholesale prices drop, keep the price at the pumps the same then pocket the difference.  Bottom’s up suckers! 

A few sherbets later, it’s time to turn our fuzzy thoughts again to the task of upcycling cocktail cabinets though I must confess that the cabinet’s contents are far more appealing than the article itself.  Hic!

Time to finish off this cabinet

Finding a supplier of clear Perspex cut to a specific size has been as difficult as finding a politician that doesn’t waffle or stumbling across a discarded winning Euro millions ticket on the pavement but as luck would have it, Ebay has once again come up trumps and pointed me to a company called DisplayPro. 

DisplayPro were quite happy to supply 2mm thick Perspex cut to whatever size I fancied for just under £13 (delivered) but then the technical science evaporated along with the cherry liqueur.  How do you figure out how much Perspex to buy to fit inside your door panel?  And this is where it’s all about as certain as a turn on ‘spin the bottle’.  

Repairing the door won't be easy

You’d think it would just be a case of whipping out a tape measure but with domed shaped doors manufactured closer to the start of the century than I was, it’s harder than you think to arrive at a precise measurement.  Imperial or metric measurements?  In the end, I just used a piece of paper slotted into the side grooves to determine the width and did my best with the length.  

How is the perspex panel going to fit in there?

Slotting fake glass into place is an art in itself.  As you can imagine, there’s not much give in either plastic or glass and 2mm is not really all that thick.  Too much pressure whilst easing the panel into the gap and there goes £13 down the drain.  Softly, softly catchy monkey.  The air was blue as the other half tried to gingerly position the Perspex in place whilst fending off a rather rambunctious tortoise at the same time.

 

Glass panel on door repaired

Stained and varnished batten stuck into position

Ta da!  Perspex in place, the missing decorative batten I made earlier is superglued into position on the door for the final finishing touch. 

 

Plenty of room for Southern Comfort

Wow, I can’t believe how smart our new upcycled cocktail cabinet looks.  It’s certainly added a nice retro touch to our derelict lounge.

Fits perfectly behind the door

Right, who’s up for some vodka shots?

HOGWATCH

Clocks go back, Covid cases rise, Christmas could be cancelled and no doubt there’s a mega Arctic blast coming just to add to the triple whammy that’s happy slapping us all the way to this year’s festive season.   Ugh!  Winter is coming and things are going to get ugly… 

But never mind eh.  Nothing puts a smile on your face quicker than hedgehogs.

 

One of our 'hoggy' visitors

Hedgehogs are so cute but extremely rare these days thanks to mankind’s wanton destruction of hedgerows and obsession with meticulously manicured gardens.  We’ve destroyed their habitats just to improve ours but quite frankly, in most cases I can’t really see that its much of an improvement. 

However, we’re hoping to redress the balance by making sure our resident hedgehog population doesn’t face the same bleak winter we will so welcome to ‘Hogwatch’, the neighbourhood’s answer to Blue Planet but on a shoestring budget. 

Almost every night, a hungry hoggy or two waddle through the flower borders to feast on a special porcelain platter filled with dried hedgehog food that we’ve left on the patio.

This is the smallest of our hedgehog visitors

So far, we’ve spotted at least 3 different visitors who appear completely unfazed by the spellbound audience watching their antics through the patio door.  Hogwatch is far better than the reality dross served up on TV and cheaper as no licence fee to pay.

 

Cute and very hungry

Lend us a camera, Sir David as my digital one is a bit pants when it comes to night photography.

 

Pictures taken through the patio doors

Just to assure all you readers out there – no hedgehogs were harmed in the taking of these very dark and grainy pictures.

That explains why the bird bowl is always empty

Middle sized hoggy with darker side streak

Fits perfectly into the bird bowl