Of pets and families

2 June

Not feeling all that up to anything right now, just a tad shaky for some reason. Maybe an early morning phone call has caused it? Whatever, we have things to do and can’t be left for later.

Kile is here and everything changes as usual; there’ll be no writing done over the next few days that’s for sure. We tried watching The Two Towers yesterday evening but the hassle we had to get it work properly was really crazy, there was no sound track. We ejected it and reinserted it several times but still no good. So I tried a different DVD and that one worked fine. So I stopped that one and tried Towers again, and blow me, it worked fine. Technology eh??? I don’t remember that happening with VHS, but the picture quality wasn’t anywhere near as good. Of course Bluetooth is available, but at a price we are not willing to buy into.

I’m still surprised that pet shops are selling primates to the general public. Whatever makes anyone want to have a chimp in their living room with I just don’t know. In the 60’s there was a fashion for buying big cats as house cats. By ‘big cat’ I mean coughers, leopards and so on. Before long the fashion changed and out went the cats, and in some time I do mean out. I’m sure that is where some of the stories of big cats appearing in various places thought the country. Unless they have been breeding I think they have all died out now.

Just lately we have been watching the Animal Planet show Monkey World, that’s what has kicked this line of thought off. And guess what? Right now as well as watching telly and typing this, I can hear Maxi cheeping away across the room. And yet, no matter how pretty they are, these birds are a regarded as a pest in their home country of Australia. Maxi was bred here in the UK of course, but we should always remember that all of our pets originally came from wild animals. It shouldn’t surprise us that every so often these animals turn back to their natural behaviour. Luckily it’s not very often.

We decided when we first got Maxi that we would let be free flying bird within the living room. So right now he is sat and chatting away right by one of the doors of his cage. We have opened two of the four doors to allow him to fly out as and when he wants to. When he does fly it’s nor to far, just a couple of times around the room and then back to his cage. If we had to rehome him or he died, we would miss a lot now, even if we’ve only had him only two weeks.

We have a nephew living in Ipswich. Well, Jan has just taken a phone call from our son Tom who now lives in Ulster. Anyway, it seems that Tom has got in touch with his cousin somehow and he’s pleased about it. I can’t remember when they last met each other though, it’s got to be in the late 80’s early 90’s. That was our last weekend down there when we went to a 18^th birthday party of a one of a number of nieces we have down there. I’m not even sure that they would recognise each other either if they did meet.

We also have two nieces who live in South Whales somewhere, and guess what, not only have we ever met them, we don’t even know what their names are. Their dad was my Uncle Stan, who married fairly late in life. He lived in the family house right up till when he died. Anyway, his wife got stuck in and began redecorating the house. Out went everything, like to two large oil paintings and the old organ, the large bookcase with my uncle Ron’s books in it that he didn’t have room for them in his flat in Oxford. In came new furniture and fittings. OK, the house needed sorting out after years of being the home of two bachelor brothers. What caused the upset was that she never once asked if any of the family wanted any of the stuff she got rid of. And so now all us cousins on the Clark side have two cousins we know nothing off.

Today’s photo will not be here today simply because we upgrade our Virgin modem to one that is supposed to a much faster upload speed, well, it's not as fast now as it was before the upgrade. Actually, it won't lad at all now, so apologies for no photo.

  

Boss to his new secretary: "I need you to file these papers for me."
Secretary: Wouldn't it be easier to just trim with scissors?"