Tagsquirrel

3BT – I saw it too, turn on/turn off, ice crystals

1. A squirrel appears on the fence just a foot away from Boron. He stares at it without moving and it stares back for a moment before escaping into the tree. Boron turns around to look at me – his eyes are shining with excitement and we share a blink.

2. I hear music and John’s laughter from the other room. He’s discovered these marvellous things: http://www.instructables.com/id/The-Most-Useless-Machine/.

3. Our neighbour, fresh back from Banff, Canada, tells us about what it was like to breath ice crystals.

3BT – squirrel spiral, selfless attack, cake

(One from last night first)

0. I cleanse and moisturise my face before going to bed. When I look in the mirror, the cream has replaced the pallor of the day with healthy pink.

1. Two squirrels spin a spiral around the silver birch tree.

2. Considering it’s supposed to be a World of Warcraft, people are generally generous and considerate – helping each other out without being asking or without expecting reward.

3. The chocolate cake is deliciously rich and heavy. I have a second slice.

3BT – wildlife and silliness

1. The squirrel returns for another nut-fest – and brings three of its friends. All four of them run wildly around the balcony, up & down the steps, over the fencing and into the elderberry tree, picking up nuts on fly-bys. We watch through the window, as intrigued as the cats.

2. In the time I’m in the post office, the horses who live next-door-but-one to us travel from one side of their soggy field to the other. They’re near the fence as I walk past, almost as if they know I have treats for them. They crunch the carrot and I stroke their damp noses. My sleeve is confused for more carrots and gets investigated by wet lips. It smells faintly of horses for the rest of the day.

3. In the evening, I go to Bingley Little Theatre to watch a play. It’s not something I would ordinarily choose to go to see but Rosemary, the director, offered me a free ticket for the first night. “It’s very silly,” she assured me every time it was mentioned and she was right: it is very silly but good-silly. The audience is a little shy at first but by the second half, they’re laughing raucously.

3BT – only us, chicken soup, close up

1. John’s still ill so instead of a day of deep-cleaning at the old house (something we’ve been putting off for a while), we spend the day in front of the stove, watching cartoons with the cats draped around us. With the curtains closed, it feels like nothing outside of the room exists – just us five here, in the sleepy warmth.

2. John requests chicken soup for lunch. All the soups we eat on a regular basis are meat-free — I learned to love soup and how to make it well when I was vegetarian, so I’m less than comfortable making meaty ones — but the creamy chicken is a welcome novelty, pure comfort food.

3. We leave some nuts out on the kitchen window sill and one of the squirrels who lives in the nearby elderberry tree pops by for a snack. We watch in silent awe as it pulls away the papery skin from the peanut and nibbles. Just inches away through the glass, we examine its solid black eyes, its fluffy white belly and the dexterity of its claws.

One of our new neighbours came to say hello

From the first day in our new house.