Not quite up with the lark, but by CFZ standards ‘as near as dammit’ - and it was not raining! Mr. Sunshine did not exactly have his bonnet on either – more of a fetching so’wester just in case – but at least the rhythmic dripping has ceased.
Before anything else can be done, all the mouths around the CFZ menagerie have to be fed. Our new inmate (well mine really) is Ichabod Grimm, the rescued jackdaw. He has been hand-reared, since falling down a chimney in February, by Beth – who runs an animal rescue centre by herself not far from here. Every morning and evening you will find me in his aviary feeding him delicacies by hand as he ruffles his wings and squawks at me for more. His favourite at the moment is a banquet of mealworms – I am amazed as to quite how many of the wriggly little things he can down in one sitting!
But that has absolutely nothing to do with the Weird Weekend.
Neither has the fact that we are still sending out the latest Animals & Men! Is this bad organisation on our part – to be producing both an issue of Exotic Pets and the aforesaid magazine so close to the weekend in question? Probably, but that is a condundrum that you will have to approach Jon about!
Stocks of books arrived today, so the space in the dining room is fast beginning to shrink – add to that the bags of t-shirts - duly counted and neatly folded - and we nearly have a market stall in the making. Almost a true cottage-garden industry, apart from the fact that it is in the house rather than out!
David managed to mow the lawn today and the roses have all been pruned and I am happy to report that, after Olivia’s boyfriend, Robert, and Graham’s work at the weekend, the marquee is still standing majestically in place. However, this year we have been prudent and are not adding the side panels until the last possible moment to avoid the possibility of them being blown too much and torn again like they were last year, due to the high winds. Olivia, Robert, David, Ross and I had the task of repairing the tabs on the roof and panels last weekend, and we are all determined not to have to go through that again next year!
The ‘to-do’ list was getting shorter, but I added two more items today, so that ruined that – d’oh. But as long as the items being shopped for today are successfully purchased it will mean that a good few other things will disappear on the twice-daily check tonight. Hurrah! (until some bright spark thinks of something else that is).
Corinna Downes spent much of her life as a headmaster's secretary and full time mother, bringing up her two daughters. Then she met the director of the Centre for Fortean Zoology, and her world was never the same again.
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