Anyone who clicks to make this bigger is a fool.And Lo, internet acolytes, there was a new Washing Basket of Unhappiness, purchased from the great Blue and Yellow Warehouse of Doom. It is either full of dirty clothes, which is no good, as I have to wash them, or full of clean wet ones, which is also no good as I have to hang them up. It can also be full of clean dry clothes, the final phase, which, depending on the content, can also be no good if it contains loads of socks to pair up, or, if it is 'big' things, good, as Mrs L does all the ironing round here.
My life revolves around the washing basket, not birds, as some of you may have supposed. To say I was heartbroken when the old one broke (of over-use) is perhaps a little strong, but I persevered with it for as long as possible, until finally, on my return from Shetland, and struggling under a veritable mountain of dirty birding clobber, the handle snapped off and its time had finally come. "Hard Plastics", the container said, so in it went as I shed a tear, not for the loss of my constant companion these last few years, but due to fact that I now had to go to Ikea.
In case you had not guessed, birding in Wanstead is dull beyond belief. Initially of course it was all mega, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Green Woodpeckers and so on, but the excitement is dying down, or rather, has died completely, and I find myself in need of a Bluetail or similar. A flock of about eighty Redwings flew over the garden this afternoon, easily the biggest flock I've had, yet I could muster no enthusiasm for them. Does this happen to everyone who goes to Shetland or Scilly to feast on rare birds?My life revolves around the washing basket, not birds, as some of you may have supposed. To say I was heartbroken when the old one broke (of over-use) is perhaps a little strong, but I persevered with it for as long as possible, until finally, on my return from Shetland, and struggling under a veritable mountain of dirty birding clobber, the handle snapped off and its time had finally come. "Hard Plastics", the container said, so in it went as I shed a tear, not for the loss of my constant companion these last few years, but due to fact that I now had to go to Ikea.
I think I need a holiday.
I am probably the only reader who enjoys the housekeeping posts as much as the bird posts. A new washing basket isn't quite as good as an obscure redpoll... but something on the order of the pink brush might be.
ReplyDeleteHi Jonathan - yes, I think a lot of birders coming off Shetland go through something similar, readjusting back to the "normality" of their patch! Still, I think I'd rather still get a buzz from connecting with "dross" like barred warblers and yellow broweds, which if I lived on Shetland, I might get fed up with? "Oh, its just another barred warbler, where's the mega?" type scenario. I do miss the pies though - can't get them here for love nor money!
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