under another sun

Owl day, white night Off to Lewes Garden centre this morning with Lorraine and a hangover to meet First Matie, as Katie had spotted during the week that there would be owls there. I am rather fond of owls. Met First Matie in the carpark and wandered inside the garden centre to find several people with owls, with reinforcements sitting on stumps. I approached a gentleman with a large Indian eagle owl. Before I knew it, I was sporting a leather glove and a large fierce looking owl with captivating orange eyes, and a tufted head. The owner made me touch the owls talons and the pads on its feet, and then the thickness of the glove. An enthusiastic gentleman, he explained that the owl could go through that leather as if it were butter, and could crush cat's heads. After a few minutes I handed it back with a certain relief. Lorraine, Kate and I all looked at owls and stroked them. Barn owls are particularly downy and lovely to the touch, but have no natural oils in their feathers, so whe...

A midsummer night's dream A foul night in the Twitten. The alley was full of crazy drunks between 2 and 4 in the morning, so I lay awake feeling galled. At last the noise abated and, as I was finally drifting to sleep, Calliope appeared in the bedroom with a live mouse. This she released and it sped under my bed, with my feline in hot pursuit. Lorraine carefully staying in bed, I danced about naked, until I found a yellow rubber glove in the bathroom and managed to seize the poor half dead thing. The mouse had a hot body, which made me feel sick. And at 4:30am I could think of nothing else to do other than hurl it from my window. It landed with a tiny thud. Now I have a mouse on my conscience. Didn't get out of bed until 1.00pm today, which is unheard of. However sleep has fixed the general wussiness I have been experiencing for the last couple of days. Tested the water of my aquarium using my water testing kit. Lorraine and I then walked back to her place, from where she drove...