This time for real

T seems quite safe to predict that Enzo’s first cup match with City, this coming Thursday at home, will be a breeze. The one home game after that, against Sunderland, won’t be easy based on what happened to Arsenal (it did not win easily).

Today we went past the stadium a couple of times to feed the birds as it truly felt like summer. After half an hour a toddler started chasing and scaring them (at least her mother objected to it).

It is probably the hottest day in the remainder of this year. Several hours this morning were spent gardening in preparing for ‘true’ autumn.

Winter will be a breeze. We hope all our fish will survive it.

This man’s dad is dead.

did not need a reminder that the name Roy is for very old people and very seldom given to men younger than myself.

I did – in my lifetime – meet Roys younger than me, but they’re not much younger and they are very are.

Roy Burnham has passed on, but not before seeing his son winning high honours and before enough scandals render him another “former PM”.

Time to come back

passed by the Depot twice today and it looks like the gardening work at the front end or entrance is more or less finished (sans the fencing).

I hope the birds will return there. They used to hang around there and we fed them there before the work on the new coffee shop and garden began. Now the birds have apparently migrated elsewhere.

For the birds, this garden will be vastly better than the gravel that used to be there. At one point we saw a crow eating a dead pigeon there.

Derby ongoing

‘ve just published Part 181 of a long series about what we went through. I gave some background information for uninitiated readers.

In my experience, the bullying tactics have involved throwing disinformation our way; or a variant: throw some baits our way, see if we eat them.

This is a pattern of attacks on media in the UK (and elsewhere), so we need to do something about this whole phenomenon.

Don’t capitulate, fight back.

Consider the SLAPP industry in the UK. We’ll need see which one gets fish (business of SLAPP), then study the fish and talk about it. We’ll see what triggers the SLAPP companies, then focus more on that. We’ll get warmer and closer to their “skeletons in the closet” over time.

I reckon I can spent another decade dealing with this problem.

They know the face!

HE other day or about a week ago in Mayfield we tested the birds to see if they can recognise us and distinguish us (from the crowds passing by). Some birds did. When they see us – and they do in fact know the faces – they know food has arrived. No mnemonic like clapping necessary anymore.

One bird then follows the other. A flock forms.

Birds are smart.

So far, so good

t has been nearly 24 hours for the new arrivals and they seem to be coping OK. I spent many hours working on them yesterday, checking their condition every 10 minutes or so until going to sleep. Time-consuming? For sure. Even gave me a physical headache. But the first few hours or days are critical, I wanted to be sure the creatures all get along and, if not, intervene before it’s too late.

Learned from experience…

I don’t expect this week to be busy anyway. Many things have calmed down, people go back to work, and this coming week/days/weekend there are many fans walking past the streets here to concerts, including the very weird fans of Melanie Martinez. The music scene has gotten truly bizarre.

had a very productive day today, especially all the “fish tank” stuff. At one point we discussed the options available to us, then I left home just in time to reach the pet store at 9AM (when it opens). I spent a long time looking at all the animals and could see the people who ran the shop really love animals. One was hugging the lizard while cleaning its cage; the lizard would not let go when he came to the fish section to help and advise me. They also checked things on a computer system to give me expert advice when I asked questions.

There used to be a pet store (another multi-floor shop) closer to us, but it shut down not long after COVID-19. Their fish section was a lot smaller and they kept some fish in very tiny containers (maybe 2 litres per fish), which looked and felt cruel.