What is something others do that sparks your admiration?
Folk wisdom suggests you don’t know someone until you live with them. This I understand as people can be pretty clever at hiding their true selves.
I’ve never been a good judge of character, often someone turning out quite differently than I had initially/momentarily thought/decided ( a lesson there for me about not being judgemental in the first place)
Having said that, there are things people do that sparks my admiration. In fact, there are lots of things, but to be generous of spirit, that is a truly fine quality to be admired and totally respected.
For such a huge animal lover, I’m pretty much starved of seeing them in the wild.
I’ll get a whiff of fox or hear about ‘those wretched badgers’ ( that gets my hackles up, of course!), and I’ll get an occasional glimpse of a Muntjac, It’s all very sad, really.
We were out just before sun up this morning and crossed paths with an escapee pheasant, wandering lost and alone without his family ( they would have all be slaughtered at the hands/guns of nobs, yesterday)
We didn’t see today, but sometimes a rabbit, sitting close to the road, oblivious to the traffic-clearly in the throes of Mixymotosis- another horror cooked up by Man. The cruelty/abuse of animals will never end.
I’m presently trying to befriend a crow that hangs around here sometimes, but they are remarkably skittish for such a large bird. Oh, talking of birds, there was a Red Kite out and about early this morning, too.
Squirrels, how can I forget those. They’re always around much to the annoyance of Patch.
*I’ve taken the title for today’s DP from an autobiography by Gerald Durrell. ( 1925~1995)
Gerald Durrell
And now I shall go and read what the others have to say about wildlife they get to see. I’m sure bloggers from other countries are going to have more interesting sightings -ooh. I wonder if anyone will mention brown bears? I love those!
I guess there are going to be some spectacular achievements and abilities revealed today in response to this DP. I look forward to reading those and being suitably impressed.
Mine? Well, there won’t be any loud applause coming my way as I reveal five things I’m fairly good at, but that’s fine.
What’s the best thing? Knowing I am giving Patch his best life. Without any conditions. Yes, if I had a squeak, he’d gut me like a fish, but hey ho.
I’m definitely good at never getting/ being bored. I can always find something to do if that’s what is called for. Also, I’ve got chilling off to an art.
Next? Umm, I enjoy a good sense of humour. I like funny. I love funny people and/or folk who make some effort to be upbeat. I had given up the Socials, but I have been lured back into TikTok recently. There are things there-animal antics, mostly, that do make me laugh out loud.
I guess this one sort of continues from the last. I’m good at not taking my life too seriously. What’s the point?
And lastly, but not leastly. Gratitude. I’m properly good at that. No, I’m I’m not an angel, and I do lust after ‘things’ or a lifestyle I’m unlikely to achieve. But importantly, I recognise I have what I need
No prizes are being handed out for guessing why the new supermoon making an appearance today (11.14pm GMT) is called the Cold Moon.
Natives of North America, these wonderful souls at one with nature gave names to the moons in a bid to track the seasons.
With the Winter Solstice approaching on the 21st, the sun will be at its lowest and the moon at its highest.
Did you know the moon’s orbit( Elliptical orbit) isn’t a perfect circle but slightly oval-shaped?
When I was little, Cowboy and Indian movies ( Westerns) were popular and often on TV. I remember vividly, I can’t have been very old, watching a part of one film where the Indians on horseback were circling a wagon train. Arrows were flying one way and bullets another. I distinctly remember thinking to myself that should I be part of that scenario, I would lay down and pretend to be dead- A little insight there into the mind of a child
What is one thing you would change about yourself?
It would be pretty cool to wake up tomorrow morning being multilingual. Arabic and Tamil (to start with) so I could surprise friends by being able to communicate in their mother tongue.
The texts of both are complicated so very complex my poor brain would not be able to cope with an influx of data of such magnitude. So, the verbal ability will be just fine. Thank you.
It was my birthday a little while back, and I got two amazing wearables.
One from a couple, close friends, I’ve known forever and the other from a very generous and kind employer from overseas,moons ago.
Me n Patch had a summer break in Cornwall. Said friends had generously given us use of The Sheppy. One of their Airbnb’s, a Shepherds Hut. We had a great time and of course this year it was as hot as. One day, we were shopping before ‘ladies who lunch’, lol. I had eyed and coveted a lovely winter cardigan in a little shop. It was more than I could afford, so I walked away from it. Only for it to turn up on my day. Surprise? Oh yes!
The other gift and also a favourite for this DP. A very beautiful Pashmina from an employer I had parted ways with twenty years ago. She remembers me every birthday and Christmas. I’m not sure this lovely lady imagined I’d wear it every night and every single morning whilst writing before I get out of bed ( Patch willing).
Better than letting it wait for a special occasion – I’m awake and breathing, a cause to celebrate anyway, methinks.
Tributes are flooding in from the literary world and beyond for the celebrated playwright, screenwriter, and former journalist, Sir Tom Stoppard. ( 1937~2025)
Critically compared to William Shakespeare and George Bernard Shaw, his writing for film, stage, radio, and television is legendary. Covering subjects including human rights, censorship, political freedom, and philosophical observations of human society.
Of him, Sir Lawrence Olivier once said –
” ….is a great glamouriser of thought”
About being a writer, Sir Tom said –
“You’re a writer. You write because you’re a writer. Even when you write about something, you have to think up something to write about just so you can keep writing”
What technology would you be better off without, why?
Okay, let’s get this out there- I’m still impressed with the landline. I mean, come on, who the flip thought that up? What I mean is how?
From what I can gather Alexander Graham Bell and his sidekick Watson get the credit, but it was Antonio Meucci, an Italian inventor who came up with the first telephone-like device, he couldn’t secure the patent in time, and Bell beat him to it in 1876. Nice!
Getting to today’s DP,its got to be the driverless car. Nah, don’t fancy that at all. By any stretch!
AI tells me….
‘Pilot programs for driverless taxi, private-hire, and bus services will launch in the UK. These will be the first opportunities for the public to book a ride in a self-driving vehicle via an app, though the rules for these early services are still being shaped.
Second half of 2027: This is the target for the full implementation of the UK’s Automated Vehicles Act, which could lead to a broader rollout of driverless vehicles on public roads.’ Yikes!!
So yes, landlines are pretty amazing in my simple mind, but so are 3D printers. 😯 How the…?
Do you or your family make any special dishes for the holidays?
WP, are you asking us this as today is Thanksgiving, or simply a coincidence? I’m a Brit, so that’s not something we celebrate, but to my blogging buddies from across The Pond, have yourselves a happy day!
Word is that turkeys were introduced into England in the 1520s – purchased from American Indian traders, by William Strickland, an English landowner, navigator, and explorer. Much to the delight of King Henry VIII ( a glutton, by all accounts), who is reckoned to be the first monarch to eat it at Christmas. Goose would probably have been an option along with peacock prior to this.
Turkeys were considered a status symbol for a very long time. Only being available to those of considerable wealth or location.
In the 1720s it is recorded 250,000 turkeys were walked from Norfolk to London to meet the festive demand ( One would think that the birds would have lost a considerable amount of weight on their journey?)
As farming increased, it spread to the middle classes partly thanks to Charles Dickens writing about a dinner in A Christmas Carol. ( published in 1843)
Due to mass production and refrigeration, the general population could finally afford to push the boat out and buy turkeys like the elite had done for donkeys years. How disappointed they must have been to find out after all that time the meat would be quite dry…and they realised they preferred goose, beef or a humble chicken any day?
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