Not applicable in the Cheerful News thread

General Discussion
70

Shocked almost out of my wits a few moments ago by a very large bang on the door window, 1 foot from my ear. Bird strike. I rushed outside as I always do because Jules, if he gets there first, is not kind to injured animals.

2 metres away on the step, the lifeless form of a male Blackbird. I knew from the violence of the collision that there was no hope but picked it up gently just in case. After a little water and a rest out of reach they have recovered before and flown away. Not this one, still warm but no beating heart, one eye closed, neck broken.

Well out of reach now I will drop it over the fence soon into dense growth where Natureā€™s undertakers will do the rest tonight.

71

3rd in a row here, fingers crossed. :roll_eyes: :rofl:

As I am well known never to chuck anything away, almost, I had a brilliant idea to find life number 4 for the old non-working chest freezer I relieved a local plumber of around 25 years ago. Obviously no charge.

Life no. 1 was as a storage for a glut of apples and potatoes sold to me in my ignorance by a door to door van man. :roll_eyes:

Life no. 2 was placed upright without lid in the shade of the forest, filled with water during the canicule of 2003, so that I could sit in it, relax/read in comfort with a G & T on a shelf fixed to a tree. :joy:

Life no. 3 was as a general storage unit just outside the back door. Amongst other things it contained a bowl where I put all the remnant pieces of soap for later recovery as big bars again. :wink:
Before I could work out how to do the job when it was full, my lovely old boy Boss, the Rottweiler, ate them all over a period of time. :astonished: But he was a very clean dog, inside and out. :rofl:

So to Life no. 4
I recently started reversing our cars into the garden as front wheel drives, weight of engine over drive, on steep unstable ground, much easier to get in without wheel spin resulting in tyre wear and even more ground made unstable. :grinning:
Only problem, my current Beauceron, Jules, liked to sit in the back of the car which has a rear facing cage from where he can survey any movement outside the gate. :neutral_face:

So, brilliant idea, how about moving the freezer to a commanding spot with a comfy blanket inside, his very own sentry box? I got it cleaned out and trundled it to a position to load onto the barrow, realised that this was going to be difficult because it is heavy, the motor might need removing and everything round that was rusted up. So had a little think.

Sitting in the cage at the back of the Partner was fine, protected from the weather by the raised tailgate. But sitting in a SW facing kennel with no ā€˜porchā€™ for protection from the wind and rain which always comes from that direction, he would be soaked and so would the blanket.

So it sits now, trundled back into position , still waiting for Life no.4. And Jules has to face me instead. :roll_eyes:

And that is why it is here, and not in the Cheerful News thread. :rofl:

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72

@David_Spardo
Go on letā€™s have another 3

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73

No, I wonā€™t waste a single oneā€¦oh bugger. :rage:

74

Moved from cheerful news threadā€¦.as in our area of France pheasants are not breeding in nature. The hunters buy them in cages from pretty intensive breeders, release them, and promptly shoot them.

We often come across them when walking and they run toward us expecting to be fed.

I there might be some areas of France that are like Gluouscetershire, where they breed everywhere. But Iā€™ve not seen them.

Sorry to burst your bubble.

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75

Thanks - itā€™s another reason to be wary!

76

So awful to shoot them :cry::cry::cry:

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77

I agree, when I think of all the times that I have, within the bounds of safety, slowed or avoided them on the road.
They are such daft birds. They linger at the side of the road and, on detecting a car, run, but in the wrong direction. :roll_eyes:
They arenā€™t alone though, one night in the forest with the wagon, a badger suddenly rushed into my path from the side. He had time to clear me though, but instead turned away and tried to outrun me. The bump as he failed was sickening.
A Jay once did the same thing when I was in the Berlingo, flew across from the right, then turned right instead of continuing to safety. I didnā€™t realise that we had hit it till we stopped at a service area and there it was, wedged arse first into the grill with his head reaching forward just like the bowsprit on a sailing ship.
I never take pleasure in the death of animals, even if I have no part in their demise, but this dead bird did give his life to the benefit of art.

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78

I had a kookaburra hit my windshield once. Scared the crap out of me, I was a young driver on a bad dirt road. He slid up the windscreen and wedged in the sunvisor our old Ford Fairlane had. I stopped, he slid down with a thump (they are a big, solid bird). Amazingly he wonkily stood up tottered a minute or 2 and flew off. Phew! Going slower on a dirt road probably saved him!

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79

Coming from Gloucestershire, I can tell you that the Clunysois and Charolais are not, unfortunately, overrun with pheasants.

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80

Haha, agreed. I grew up on the Wilts / Gloucestershire border (not far from Cirencester and Tetbury, if you know that part) and they were everywhereā€¦ Beautiful birds but bloody stupid beyond belief.

81

We used to live near Minchinhampton and got our birds either straight from a shoot near Horsley or from the butcher in Old Common in Nailsworth.

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82

And I lived between Cirencester and Bibury, and worked in Stonehouse. I love Gloucestershire :heart:

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83

Nightmare memories of Stonehouse stationā€¦.seemed to end up stuck there at night in the rain waiting for connecting trains that never arrived.

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84

I seemed to develop neurological issues in Mrach this year during my covid infection - sciatica, muscle twitches, random pains in hands and wrists - all of which had been mildly present occasionally before, but had become more intense. The sciatica hasnā€™t gone away, and is now accompanied by muscle cramps in my legs that left me limping this morning when I got up.

Donā€™t need sympathy, but sometimes itā€™s necessary to grumble in public. :wink:

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85

Have you tried doing a piriform stretch before you get out of bed?

86

I donā€™t know what that is but I did decide to try yoga a while back and already had a thin camping mat so rolled it out and turned on You Tube.

First thing to do was sit crosslegged. Hadnā€™t done that since infant school so immediately rolled over onto my back. :astonished:

But I discovered that you didnā€™t really need to sit like that, any more than you need a leotard (thatā€™s a kind of a late lion I think :thinking:) so I just stand and do the shoulder rotations, head/neck rotations and trunk at the waist rotations and it is surprising how first thing in the morning just a few minutes of that does wonders for old bones and joints. :joy:

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87

Like David, Iā€™ve no idea what that is. TBH stretching is a problem for me, often a trigger of cramp - stretching by leaning on something to allow me to stretch muscles using gravity is OK, but stretching using muscular tension can end in tears.

Due for a face to face appointment with the doctor on 20th. Iā€™m trying to manage things until then.

88

I get leg cramps and magnesium seems to help a lot

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89

I am Gloucestershire born and bred, strong in the arm and thick in the head. One day my ashes will end up on the hill fort near Old Sodbury

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