Holiday round-up

24th — saw a neat grey Beetle with plates L33T VW.

25th — Karen took a tumble, sustained a messy scalp wound, and spent hours in casualty, instead of going to the in-laws for lunch. So I picked up the enhancement request for CTClib that had been sitting for 6 months and started coding.

26th — had enough of the pond heater tripping the circuit after a few minutes (leaking nastily to earth according to a meter check. Do they all assume a non-RCD supply?) and deployed bubble-wrap covering instead.

27th — snow, but the bubble wrap did the job.

Apart from that, lots of coding, and the first DVD of Planetes, which captures some of the spirit of the manga, but insists on adding office-work sit-com bits too; and the incredibly silly-but-fun Kung-fu Hustle…

Like, “Season's Greetings”, man

So what's been happening?

Well, we now have new foundations and footings instead of a conservatory and part of the garden. The weather was mild and dry yesterday, so I did cycle to work, denim jacket over T-shirt, and bare feet in sandals, discovering that cycling doesn't keep feet warm the way that walking does. And, homeward bound into the only bit of sunshine for the day, that the 10 rolling miles or so to work are a bit more wear and tear on the posterior than the six flat ones into town (again).

And it was still mild enough to be T-shirt weather when headed into town for a little bit of greengrocery (and brunch) today; too warm for the heavier jacket I'd put on to cycle in.

So, another years survived at work; and even a bit more enthusiasm for hobby coding.

Hedgehog's dilemma

Where the conservatory and patio were is now a set of trenches that were filled with concrete this afternoon, and the near half of the garden is full of bricks, rubble, paving-slabs, and bits of conservatory; and there is a skip and piles of bricks on the drive. Oh, and we can't actually get to the back yard except by climbing out the garage window and slipping between piles of stuff.

First thing this morning, Jemima, the tortie, insisted on going out in the just about getting light pre-dawn and was sniffing around in the trenches (about 4' deep), for quite a long while before heading off down the garden. Then I saw why — there was a hedgehog had fallen in and gotten trapped.

So I had to get out to the greenhouse for gloves and overalls, climb into the trench, and try and corner it. At least it turns spiky by curling up into a ball (unlike cats); so I could pick it up and lift it out, then carry it down to the end of the garden.

So now I have gloves that will attract the cats, being well doused in hedgehog piss.

Funny old weather

A fortnight ago, we were having hard frosts, and the ground was frozen, with parts of the garden staying white all day — and I was wrestling the unwanted holly-tree out of the ground, sliding in a thin film of mud on the icy ground.

Today, out in the garden, it was T-shirt weather. And the apple trees are barely beginning to acknowledge the changing of the seasons.

Bramley apple tree