Don't Time Fly

The Anniversary and The Birthday

18th July 2013. That means that two years ago, to the day, I retired. Never has a decision been so right for one individual. Ok, so I've never worked harder than I have in the last two years, but it sure seems worth it now.

Today we are deliberating on The Next Move, sorting out the possibles. Strangely, when you are picking daisies in the field of all possibilities, while it may seem straightforward, not all daisies are created equal, they all have pros and cons, costs and considerations. We're just trying to organise a posy we can afford. We do actually have a couple of events that we must organise around, which poses (posy's) problems of timing, itinerary and connections.

Still at Jenny's in Brighton enjoying their gracious hospitality. Jenny has two interesting animals and a birthday. Tango the cat is a rescue cat. The cat that no one wanted because of his rugged individuality as a scratch-you-if-he-feels-like-it character. Jenny of course said I'll have him. He has settled quite a bit under Jenny's love and understanding and not to mention her cheerful acceptance of scratch and bite marks. He knows where home and the love is but retains his right to be an outdoor Bear Grylls adventure survival cat which includes eating mice and moths and storing the live mice for later under Jenny's pillow.

No urban fox gets in here on my watch.

The other animal in Jenny's collection is Speedy the tortoise. An interesting animal of unknown sexuality until he/she reaches seven years old. They live to 100 years old if they don't eat cat food and 50 years old if they do.

Speedy has a penchant for cat food and will paddle his way through it if given half a chance. Keeping cat food out of his way is not a problem for many months a year as he is hibernating, very low maintenance. Right now with this record breaking British heatwave, he is positively frisky doing multiple circuits of the property boundary and chomping into strawberries and other selected greenery he comes across. He is an interesting creature in his own reptilian way and has an enormous fan base amongst Jenny's friends.

 fresh strawberry from the garden

Steps no obstacle for Speedy

Jenny had her official birthday today as distinct from her party last weekend. After joining her reading a deluge of cards and watching her disappear in a foam of wrapping paper, Anne and I walked over to Louisa and Keith's. We took advantage of this great weather spell that Britain is having and joined them for a delicious dinner outside.

Dinner at Louisa and Keith's

Meanwhile the heatwave continues and thousands will die while newspaper editors have their way.