Why the grass is green

I couldn't believe how long it's been since I posted. We were in Britain for a couple of weeks visiting Frances, Mike and Sophia and then hiking the Cumbria Way. We attended a choral workshop and a rehearsal of Amabile, the girls choir Frances accompanies. We had a great time with FMS and enjoyed the choral events too.

The Cumbria Way was actually quite well marked. Some of the information we read suggested otherwise. We did take a few scenic detours but they were of very short duration. We had quite a bit of rain, but hey, this is England and the Lake District so what else do you expect? The scenery was wonderful, so different in colour than what we're used to. I had no idea how remote some of the places on the walk are. When I think of Britain I think of big cities and we saw very little of those.

We hopped on a bus and then a couple of trains immediately after we got off the plane deciding that we'd rather just stay up and travel than book a night in London. We did spend a night in London on the way back but since the train was late getting in we only saw the bit from the train station to the hotel. We walked to supper and back that night which doesn't count as seeing London. If we want to do that we'll have to plan a trip and stay in London.

As Richard says, perhaps we're just country mice at heart. We found the people in the small towns very friendly and some of the people we encountered in London were too. The cab driver who took us to the hotel was very cordial. Some of the other folks in the hotel and the restaurant gave us the feeling that they were in a big hurry and just wanted us to get out of their faces. People in general seemed to be in more of a hurry in London.

We may speak the same language in Canada as they do in Britain but the two cultures are entirely different from what we could tell. For instance, there is nothing at all in North America like the English pubs. Based on our limited experience we've decided that pubs are always nice and warm. There always seems to be a fireplace going. We were very grateful for the warmth of the Red Lion the first day when we were wet and had been tromping through farm yards. The publican told us there was an outside tap where we could rinse off our boots and, boy, did they need it!

Dogs are allowed in the pubs as are children. In the small village pubs where we ate there was always at least one dog tucked under a table and more often than not, there were two or three. You tend to forget they are there until one of them takes it into it's mind to bark at another one.

We watched one family group with a dog and were amused by the mother of the young people who seemed to own the dog. When none of the family was looking at her, she was feeding the dog 'chips' under the table. Labs seemed to be the popular breed. We certainly didn't see any small dogs.

We saw lots and lots of sheep. At first whenever we saw a black animal in the distance we both went on the alert, being used to hiking in bear country. We told one of the people at the B&B where we stayed about it and he had a good laugh. Some things are just automatic, such as looking the wrong way when crossing streets.

Frances told us that pedestrians in Britain don't have a lot of rights but that they can cross the street anywhere if there's no traffic. We never did get the hang of it. By the end of our stay we were utterly paranoid and would dash across the street as quickly as we could. Although the language is different in Europe we felt less anxiety about getting around because they drive on the same side of the road as we do. Many times when someone was going to drive us somewhere we went round to the wrong side of the car. It gives one pause about cycling in Britain.

Our rain gear got a good work out and we stayed fairly comfortable. The main problem was that we couldn't dry our boots. Mine especially are really gross. They got mildew in them and they've been banished to the garage until I can take some rubbing alcohol to them. I've tried other remedies that I found on the net and they still stink. Today at Costco I bought a four pack of rubbing alcohol and I'm hoping that I'll be able to get them back into wearable condition again. They were brand new for this trip and they performed wonderfully, not a single blister.

We have many pictures and had many adventures but I'll leave it at this for now.

Slow progress

The budgies are coming around. We've had them for nine months now and lately they have both started climbing onto our hands when we feed them millet. Manx is the braver of the two when it comes to fingers. Tonight he stood with both feet on my finger while he ate his millet and then after he'd had enough he stood with one foot on my finger for so long that I had to move my hand so I could put them to bed.

They are a long way from stepping up on command the way Bailey does, but they are also a long way from flying everywhere in a panic whenever we put our hands into the cage.

There is another change too. If a bird is frightened it won't close its eyes while you're looking at it. One of the first games we started to play with them is what we call 'Blink.' Richard or I will look at the bird and then close our eyes briefly and then look the bird in the eye again. When the bird closes his eyes even briefly we tell him what a good bird he is. Now either of the budgies will initiate the game and they keep their eyes closed for longer and longer periods. Manx had his eyes closed for so long tonight that I wondered if he was going to go to sleep with his foot on my finger.

Sometimes it's hard to be patient because I want very much to be able to have them out of the cage and sitting on my shoulder. They can't be rushed. Because they are small and their main defense it to flee when they're scared we just have to take it slowly and keep building up their trust. We haven't gone about the taming process in exactly the way the experts suggest. Maybe once they are comfortable out of the cage we can start doing some other training with them. As the old proverb says, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." We're definitely on the taming journey.

Just another day in paradise

I used to say that at school and mean it ironically. Today I'm being perfectly serious. I had a wonderful day, rode my bike downtown and, having kicked myself for not taking a camera on Monday when I rode, I took a camera today. Even though the purpose of the excursion was other than photographic, I enjoyed being able to take my time on the way home and shoot some pics. I've also decided that when you have a camera it gives you a great excuse to stop half way up nasty little hills. I took full advantage of that today.

On a random note, I think Angus the budgie has a wonderful way of cleaning his cage. When there are too many feathers in it he simply sits on the perch and flaps his wings as hard as he can causing all the feathers on the bottom of the cage to lift off and fly to the outside where they become the staff's problem to clean up. It's not only cats that have staff. I'm convinced that birds do too.

I played around with some cartooning last night and had quite a bit of fun. (no pictures of that) It's easy when someone shows you step-by-step how to do it. Also the skill of looking for shapes will carry over into other kinds of drawing.

Today I used my Blackberry to send a message that I enjoyed very much. A former colleague emailed me and, among other things, asked how I was enjoying retirement. I was able to tell him that I was sitting on a bench in the sunshine with my bike beside me overlooking the city. When I got the email I was taking a picture of some thistles that had gone to seed. It's a tough life.