Tuesday 20 May 2008

Workin' on the Night Shift...

Topsy turvey at the moment as Dad has to do a couple of night shifts, so we're working through the night and trying to sleep in the daytime. That's a joke - it's not easy to sleep with that amount of builder noise going on, especially now they've started on the foundations of the "Home for the Bewildered" right out behind us so there are, as we see when we wake up at 4.30 pm, no less than 5 big diggers within 100m of the house, plus a lorry craning a big gen-set onto it's bed.

No matter. It does mean Dad is around and (a bit) awake during the daylight hours, so we benefit from some nice walks. Today's was to Challock Forest where the bluebells are all but over. The chestnut and beech are in full leaf, the bracken is 2-3 feet high and unfurling fast, and the bluebells are green seed heads with just a few powder-blue bells left intact.

Talking of walking - a small dog can fill even a simple walk with drama. Take the footpath round the back of those houses on the North side of town, leading to the allotments. To Dad, Meg and the H it is a straight path from A to B, with occasional interesting grass tufts worth a sniff at either side (M and H, not so much Dad).

I can make it a veritable adventure playground and obstacle course. The fences either side are not that good, so every few yards I can scoot right, through a hole and onto someone's back garden - there are cats to chase and bark at, there are occasional children looking over back fences as we pass, which take me by surprise, so they deserve a bark too. Those cats occasionally stroll across the path 50 yards ahead, necessitating a headlong dash along the path and back. Squirrels chatter from the trees above. Dogs and dog walkers to meet and greet too. A girl is exhausted time she gets to the allotments!

Deefer.

No comments: