Tuesday

I cannot believe it is Hump Day tomorrow. It feels as though it should be at least Thursday! And how long until the next holiday weekend? The good news is that we're planning to see the new baby on the weekend - he's very cute (according to the reports) and all the family, including first-born M, are doing well. Mum offered to keep the baby when they visited her the other day, and M gave a resounding "no"! It can't be easy to have a new baby in the family when you're only two. But at least the new one won't be wanting to share her toys for a while.

It was freezing when I drove out of Latimers this morning although, oddly, Lars' thermometer suggested it was the same as when we drove home last night. Not possible. Unless it had frozen in place!

The moon continues to confound me. Yesterday as I drove out, it was hanging large in the sky to the East, fairly bright even though it was just the crescent of the nearly New Moon. To its right was a bright planet, and above and slightly to the left, another one, in exactly the right intensity configuration in the dawn sky to make me want to pull over to the side of the road and marvel at it and the glory of nature. This morning ... the Moon was nowhere to be seen!

Tink, obviously knowing my plan to let her out this morning under her own recognizance to see if she would come back in in a timely fashion, didn't want to go out at all! She waited in bed (on the couch) for me to come to her, do the shot, and then she "assumed the position" and went back to sleep. We'll try again tomorrow.

Also on the cat front, Maggie visited S in the room this morning. She (Maggie) seems to be seeking proximity at the moment which is good because we worry that she's a bit of a loner and may be missing M more than the others.

The four dogs, J, one of the little ones and S were all on the lane when I drove down this afternoon. They were talking to L who was in feeding Holly and Dolly. Those dogs, while a little more road-aware, do worry me in case one of them forgets and strays back into the road as we're passing. Not taking any chances, J scooped up and held the little one as I went past.

Those Plovers seemed to have decided that the Holly and Dolly paddock wasn't their best choice because there was no sign of them today. It is amazing though how much bird life is around Latimers at the moment - lots of ducks, and geese too (based on the leavings along the lane), the usual ibis (what is the plural of ibis?) and then some more, and some large-ibis-like-in-size birds but with black wings! Pearl does encourage them out of Hermes paddock when reminded but otherwise she’s very happy to let them be.

We took a trip into the Big House this evening to run another errand for M and while we were there we had dinner - which was going to be at Spinners but the line was too long and we didn't have our Black Card friend with us to help us jump into the other queue - and we didn't want to risk getting caught using "the Card" and having it confiscated - especially since we still have another run to do with it. So we ate at Bite and that was okay but next time we might go somewhere where the salad hasn't been in the fridge too long.

Pearl was sitting in the driveway waiting for us when we arrived home. She and Maggie were the only ones still outside - hopefully they were admiring the stars because they are magnificent this evening. The others were inside in their usual positions, waiting for the television to be turned on and to cuddle up to S. It didn't take long for Pearl and Maggie to take up their positions as well and even though it was only 7:30, we went straight into lockdown. Tink did a couple of laps of the establishment later in the evening but seemed content to be inside ... even though naughty Austar didn't quite catch the ending of the Masterchef episode S had set to record and we were all left wondering how the latest immunity challenge resolved.