Sunday October 7th 2018

Writing the daily blog entries in 2013 and 2014, this photograph of my Sunday volunteering at the National Trust property of Tyntesfield would never have happened.  I'm sure there will be more National Trust entries over the next 12 months, but this image came to me as I finished my shift at 4.30pm... 23 new memberships across the team today, which is great given the targer was 18. A busy day and some excellent conversations with visitors to this Gothic Mansion. I love it.

Saturday October 6th 2018

There is a certain hedonistic pleasure in wandering downstairs in a semi-state of awaken, only to find the milk is on the doorstep for the morning cup of tea. We've been getting bottled milk for a few months now and it's just perfect for us. No last minute trips to buy milk because we have run out;  every Saturday, Tuesday and Thursday in the wee small hours, bottles of full fat organic milk arrive, as if by magic. It is the simple things which I enjoy.

Friday October 5th 2018

And Relax!  Mop-tank-gate is over and all is well. Coming down this morning, no leaks, tank working well and more importantly the 6 fish all survived over night. But last night developed into a very stressful evening. After coming home from work we set to. New tank quickly set up (it has multi coloured LED lights, including 'thunderstorm mode' for reasons I'm not sure about), but it was the right size. Tank filled and run for two hours to flush and clean it. Water emptied, then refilled it, added the gravel and plants from the old tank, in readiness for the fish. 

It was at this refilling point I looked at two strange leaves on the carpet... they were not leaves but two of the platies which had jumped out of the mop bucket. How long they'd been there I didn't know but probably a few minutes. Scooping the first one up, it wriggled into life. Quickly back into the bucket, it swam off. The second much bigger fish didn't wriggle but I popped it in the bucket anyway and it lifelessly sank to the bottom. 

An hour later on transferring all the fish into the new tank, that bigger platy (the upper one in the image on the left) halfheartedly swam away and disappeared. I thought "well we did our best". The remaining five fish including the goofy bronze cory's which we've had for over five years all took to the new tank as if nothing had happened and within minutes were exploring their new home, now with everything they were used to hastily installed. 

It was heartening then to come down this morning and all six fish are bobbling about as if nothing had happened, including that lucky escape onto the carpet big platy. Tough animals I'd say.

Thursday October 4th 2018

Slightly stressful start to my day. Emerging for the daily visit to the breakfast trough I chanced on a flood from out the back of the fish tank. A flood where there had been none the day before. Carpet sodden and fish waving flags of surrender as the level slowly dropped. All this caught my eye. I'd not even had my toast! So a mad dash to decant our piscatorial chums unceremoniously into a (luckily brand new and therefore uncontaminated) mop bucket. Oxygen pump installed, a plant and a rock cave for them to hide in. It's all we could do. I went to work, fingers crossed they'd survive. Julie went to Maidenhead Aquatics to buy a new tank. Will they survive 'mop-tank-gate'? 

Wednesday October 3rd 2018

This is wierd. It is funny how the mind plays tricks. I was convinced today was the 5th anniversary of the great motorway debacle where I sat motionless on the M5 near Clevedon for over three hours.  I even said this to Julie as I left home.

It was already on my mind (after having had a most pleasant and easy journey into Bristol to get to work) as I ground to a halt and remained stationary for 15 minutes on arriving at the Clifton Suspension Bridge for reasons I can not account for. Anyway it made me slightly late for work and as I sat there in the sunshine, the deja vu propelled me back to the same problem 5 years earlier on a different road but while commuting. 

Or so I thought. The anniversary was actually yesterday October 2nd. Oh well, near enough, and my commuting problems are a recurring issue...

https://365-2-50.blogspot.com/2013/10/october-2nd-2013.html

Tuesday October 2nd 2018

We have sparrows in the garden. Not just a few, but a whole host of sparrows. They also nest in the roof space above our heads. And I love them. We have two feeders in the fir tree at the bottom of the garden and regular as clockwork, 40 or 50 sparrows descend at around 8am at the moment to feed. The noise and activity is breathtaking. Once fed, they'll be off being noisily disruptive in the fields behind the house until at tea time they return once again to the feeders. It's a morning ritual for me, cup of tea and watch the bird activity without, before work.

Monday October 1st 2018

My office door. Somewhat a fitting start to the rekindled blog rising Phoenix like out of the ashes of 5 years. I'm just back from a two week holiday and the first image on this new year long process is my office door at the BBC in Bristol. I left the NHU in 2015 after the department was closed and now work across the carpark in Network Radio (principally Radio 4). Nature follows me and everything you need to know about returning to work after a break and what I do.