Busy week.......

It's been a busy week for me with work and other activities. A research project I've been working on since April is coming to a close, so deadlines to meet and loose ends to tie up, as well as my other regular work.

Sadly Charlie Boy made a successful bid for freedom on Monday evening and hasn't been seen since :-( He certainly didn't seem happy indoors, although we had made a little progress. But he still wouldn't let me within a yard of him without hissing and growling. He spent all day curled up in a box, but got quite lively at night. He was possibly spotted hunting in the links (sand dunes between the road and the shore) later that night, but to be honest there are a number of grey and white cats with similar markings so it could have been another cat. I have been trying to see if I could spot him around the barns and byres near the house - there are lots of mice there plus plenty of hay to curl up in. But given he didn't want to be particularly friendly when in the house, I'm not convinced he will appear if I call. However he may associate me with food and put in an appearance if he gets really hungry - or he may move in up at Ethel's where she has a colony of outdoor cats. I've asked for her to look out for an extra one - he may be missing the company of cats, preferring them to humans. Who can blame him!

In the past I've tamed some feral cats that took up residence in the barn, when they got really hungry. They would scavenge for the scraps I put out for the hens and so I was able to feed them and eventually befriend them so I could at least get them rehomed. At the time I had Fitzi-cat who got very angry and stressed if there were other cats around, and of course the feral cats would come and sit on the window sills tormenting him! Hence needing to rehome them. However Button seems to have either avoided the current roaming cats or at least learned how to deal with them, so if Charlie Boy wants to live in the barn hopefully that will work out OK.

My new toy arrived this week - an iTouch. It's like an iPod (mp3 player) but stores photos as well as music, and I can connect to the internet using wi-fi access so I will be able to access email and the web when travelling. At the moment I'm using it to watch TV on the internet in bed to catch up on programmes missed, also "listen-again" for radio programmes! It's so light, and slim, and intuitive. I'm a PC person but I could easily be converted to Apple!

Another piece of computer equipment arrived this week - an external hard drive of 1 terrabytes. That 980 odd gigabytes........ like the billions of pounds we owe as a country, I can't get my head around 1 TERRAbyte........ I remember when 1.4 megabyte floppy disks came out and we were all thrilled at how much data we could store on them! And no I don't even have 1 tb of data to back up - but, well, I'm sure I can find some! You know what it's like, however big your cupboards - you end up stuffing them full of "stuff". But it has to be said - I'm clearly not as enthusiastic about this piece of equipment as my iTouch, as it's still in it's cellophane box awaiting investigation.........

Tuesday I had lunch with friends at Julia's. We were discussing "craft" projects and I said I didn't "do" craft. Then they were talking about making felt out of woollen jumpers and I asked how they did that. "Put a pure wool jumper in the washing machine at too hot a wash cycle and it'll come out as felt" HEY! I've done that! Several times - with expensive jumpers - yes they said the more expensive (purer) the wool the better. So - I do craft after all!! Tee Hee!

I also picked up a picture I'd bought at the Pier Arts Centre from their Christmas exhibition. It's still wrapped up until I can get it hung on the wall. It's called "Windy Day" - hmmmmm well I didn't need to buy a picture of that this week! It's been blowing a gale for several days now....... but I liked the picture anyway.

As I say, very windy this week. I was due to go over to town on Friday but got down to the pier and with the wind direction and the tide it looked just too horrible to contemplate such a journey. Actually I don't mind the short rough sea crossing, it's the getting on and off the boat that scares me - when the boat is bouncing around and you have to judge when to step on. Mick said they had cancelled Becky going over to school. I thought, well the boys are going so maybe it's not that bad. Then I realised "the boys" are both around 6 feet tall and really I ought to equate myself with Becky aged 6 rather than two tall teenagers! So I decided to stay home instead. Mick offered to collect my "messages" (groceries) from the cargo boat as he would be down at the pier at lunchtime and I'm glad I took him up on that offer. Apparently the pier was awash with spray and waves breaking over the pier.

Slightly less windy this morning but still very bracing - I've just been out to feed the hens and given Charlie Boy another yell. Seemingly these hens respond to whatever one yells eg "Here Chookies", or "Charlie" or "Puss, puss, puss"....... canny hens - they know it all means food......