Nice Weather For Ducks!

Or so I thought when I saw the dykes so thoroughly flooded. But then we realised that the banks where all the ducks, moorhens, coots and so on build their nests are under water. There were dozens if not hundreds of birds on these dykes a couple of weeks ago. Now you hardly see any - most of them seem to be wandering round on the fields now in little lost-looking groups.

So what is a pain in the neck for us can be catastrophic for some of our wildlife and it’s the same over most of the country.

We don’t have a hosepipe ban here. Lucky aren’t we.

Indy had put on 300 grams when we weighed him after his bath, but he may still have been a bit damp and retaining water. At least that’s what he said. He also claimed that the stress of being on a diet had made him gain weight.

I think he enjoyed having one of his beloved little people aiding and abetting in the ablutions.

As it’s a bank holiday weekend, spare a thought for the people who have to work. It used to be worthwhile working on a bank holiday. Triple time or double time and a day off in the loo – I mean in lieu. Then it was dropped to double time, then time and a half and now I understand that many places don’t pay anything above the usual rate which I think is downright mean.

We had a Frank Spencer moment this morning when the paint pad my beloved was painting the stairwell with flew off the end of the pole, bounced on the stair carpet and landed on the dining room floor. I was just glad it wasn’t him bouncing down the stairs.

He was using this ladder contraption that has a touch of the Heath Robinsons about it and seemed to wobble rather a lot. Frightening.

And on the subject of paint, I found out today that if someone – mentioning no names – drips emulsion onto my white paintwork and I then have to scrub it to remove it – the white comes off! So not as tough as gloss I’m afraid, but I still prefer it.

Happy Bank Holiday – keep warm! I’m off to take Indy for his paddle on the field.