We Had A Sort Of Busy Day,

I did not drop Diana off at work,

as I was waiting in for Neil to call around to change the batteries in the fire detector in flat 2, the owners had given me the keys to let Neil in, as I typed out the blog one of the foxes called by for a drink, one of the flat owners keeps this bucket filled with water for them, meanwhile before Diana left for work she was busy upstairs, we had a trip to the council tip planned for Wednesday, I had my old computer and screen to dump, upstairs we had accumulated so much stuff that we just did not use any more, like all of the bits and pieces we had when we had a beach hut at Bournemouth many years ago, it was all taking up space and gather dust, and besides, we had lots of new junk to put upstairs, after that Diana left for work,

in the afternoon Neil the engineer called in and changed the batteries, but the new ones were dud! 

so back upstairs and another set fitted and all was well, 

the photo with the 2 faults was the low battery and the fact that the upper panel was open, 

both panels now reset, 

so now a green light on the board as normal, after my evening meal there was not much on the television so a film from Film 4,

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, it was a fantasy sort of film, so many times I expected Harry Potter to walk in, demons and magic everywhere, just past the halfway stage I would not say I had lost the will to live, but I was getting perilously close, so I gave it up and settled down with a Midsomer Murder until the time to pick Diana up from work, then feet up for A Touch of Frost before we were both off to bed.

First Thing,

looking out of the window, 

by the water bucket for them, one of the foxes was having a few ZZZZZ's, but most strangely instead of curling into a ball to keep warm, 

he was stretched out, just too hot by far, 

and like many people in the heat, just could not get comfortable, 

then a visit from the fire alarm company, our in flat sensor had arrived and was changed in no time, the engineer went to reset the alarm, 

only to find there was a second problem, a low battery warning in flat 2, 

the good news was that there were no other problems, so he will pop back today to replace the batteries, after my evening meal it was a WWII film, as there was not much on the normal channels this evening, so,

The Enemy Below, it was, a game of mouse and cat between a submarine and a destroyer set in the Second World War, after which I popped out to pick up Diana from work, arriving home, feet up for a Midsomer Murder before we were both off to bed.

A Lazy Sunday,

has raced around again,

at lunch time a sherry and a read, 

for our starters a crayfish tail salad, 

tuck in!

on to our main course, roast beef, with lashings of gravy for Diana,

sans gravy for myself, 'Cheers!',

and old favorite from my childhood days for dessert, 

tinned sliced peaches and ice cream, next time to settled down for our afternoon film,

The Guns of Navarone, great film with the often asked question, was The Guns of Navarone a true story? as it happens, despite the backdrop of the 1943 Dodecanese campaign, the overall events of The Guns of Navarone are largely fictional, if anyone reading is a fan of Bottom, the film has a mention of it at Christmas, when the gang are playing charades, after which we had a evening snack and followed that with 2 episodes of Midsomer Murders back to back, after which Diana was off to bed, for myself a helping of Bangers & Cash before I too was off to bed.

First Thing,

3 of the foxes arrived, 

on our sunburnt dry lawn, 

this cub has really black paws, they all share one other distinguishing feature, all of the tips of their tails are black, the family that live near the entrance of the park all have white tips to their tails, in the afternoon I carried on looking at of all things dart frog videos, I know that orchids and certainly fish sell for huge amounts of money, but I was surprised when I saw this video about a box of frogs, that was worth a staggering $65,000!

how amazing is that? there is no denying the enthusiasm of the people involved, the video showcases how captive breeding has successfully stopped the illegal collecting of wild specimens, as it is now no longer viable to collect in the wild as the captive bred price is so low,

 

which brought me nicely up to my evening read and sherry, 

time for my evening meal, for tonight Diana had left me a huge crayfish tail salad, 'Cheers!', after which it was feet up for this evening's film,

Robin Hood, which was watchable but I and not sure that the producers really took note of the life of Richard the Lionheart, but there it is, after which Diana arrived home, so we started to watch the 2025 version of,

Dracula: A Love Tale, as it is newly out I will not comment on it, I will just say we both enjoyed the film immensely, after which we were both off to bed.

First Thing,

drop Diana off at work at 03.45AM.,

later in the morning expand my knowledge of poison arrow or dart frogs, and who better to ask than Michael? whose passion is the very same frogs, 

in his frog room, if I can call it that, there are so many terrariums, both small, 

and large, 

and lots in-between!

each with a bromeliad, 

which is almost de rigueur for dart frogs, 

and here are just a couple of the species he keeps, 

some absolutely stunning, 

here plastic tubs with the frogs food in, wingless fruit flies, every dart frog keeper has pots like these culturing the flies, which are then dusted with mineral powder before feeding to the frogs, we endlessly chatted about the frogs, I came away with so much more understanding of them than I had first thing this morning, a big "Thank You" to Michael for giving me so much of his time, arriving home I was just putting the kettle on when Diana arrived home, as she had a early 04.00AM start she decided to grab a few ZZZZZ's until later in the afternoon, meanwhile,

Mark Spark (great name for an electrician), called by to put a plug under the sink for a RO water softener, which of course meant heaving out the washing machine and everything under the sink,

after he left it was time for my read and sherry and evening meal, I often mention a item in Private Eye called 'Number Crunching' here are a couple,  

and of course the people mentioned and figures quoted are all 100% true, 

for our starter, the dressed crab we bought at Polhill,

fingers for the claw,

for our main course a chicken Kiev for Diana, 

and a huge pork chop for myself, 

'Cheers!', after which it was feet up for a Touch of Frost, then our film for the evening, a bit of a scary dairy one, 

The Last Voyage of the Demeter, from the blurb:

'Based on a single chapter, the Captain's Log, from Bram Stoker's classic 1897 novel "Dracula", the story is set aboard the Russian schooner Demeter, which was chartered to carry private cargo - 24 unmarked wooden crates - from Carpathia to London. The film will detail the strange events that befell the doomed crew as they attempt to survive the ocean voyage, stalked each night by a terrifying presence on board the ship. When it finally arrived near Whitby Harbour, it was derelict. There was no trace of the crew'.

we both thoroughly enjoyed the film, it making us both jump! after which we were off to bed.

It Was Diana's Day Off,

so first thing we were out, 

to Polhill Garden Center, 

a regular place we go to, not too far for a drive, and a opportunity to buy a few things we do not normally see elsewhere, 

first breakfast, 

you guessed it,

a plate of cockles, 

then a first for us here, way in the distance a red kite, I did not have a long lens with me, the photograph above straight out of the camera, so I cropped the image when we returned home, 

and played with it a tad, absolutely terrible, but there it is, I should have brought a long lens with me! inside we picked up a few things, delicious almond macaroons, this the only place we can buy them, also some of their saveloy sausages, Sainsburys do in fact sell them, but they are not as nice as the ones here, we also bought some fruit cake and some fresh Kent fruit and vegetables, apples, plums, sweetcorn and garden peas, 

I took it all to the car, Diana snapping me as I returned,

we passed the main entrance,

and ended up in the restaurant, 

a bacon bun for myself, a breakfast bun for Diana,

both of us had a latte coffee, 

and of course a cake for Diana, the bill came to £22.00, 

then out into the plants, 

Diana has a new favorite flower,

dahlias, 

she said they were all so nice, 

if we had a garden it would be full of them, 

for myself, 

I took a few close ups of the bees,

and a few groups of flowers, 

and a few individual ones, 

so full of colour, 

back into the car, a drive through country roads, 

and into a country lane, 

arriving here, 

Tatsfield Aquatics, 

I was particularly interested in the reptile/amphibian section, then home, later in the afternoon Mark from Mark Sparks arrived, we are going at some time going to have a water softener, or I should say a RO unit fitted, our water here is so hard you can almost cut it! so a look at where it is to go so that a plug socket can be fitted under the sink where the unit will go, he will be back with all of the bits he needs tomorrow to complete the job, after he left a delicious evening meal of saveloys, curly cut chips and gherkins, it was then feet up for a double helping of Deadly 60, both of them about Namibia, where I hope to be in October, a few things there I hope I do not tread on or stumble into! after which a double helping of A Touch of Frost, as Diana has a 04.00AM start tomorrow she was off to bed, for myself one from Have I Got A Bit More News For You before I too was off to bed.