Tag: funny

August 6th – He’s been keeping a low profile this last couple of weeks, the King of Kings Hill. But today, I spotted him. Asleep in a shady under-hedge, he was dozing in his usual bit of garden and resolutely ignoring the world around him.

As is usually the case.

He’s so old is Sam the cat that I’m surprised at his re-emergence every new spring, and seeing this elderly, toothless but otherwise very well presented lad having a really good summer makes me happy every time I see him.

What more could an old fellow want than to pass his days napping, dreaming of kittenhood and being soothed by the warm sun and noises of the neighbourhood he rules around hm?

Long may he reign. Sweet dreams, Sam old lad. Sweet dreams.

August 5th – Boater dogs are always the best.

This one, so determinedly drinking from the canal y Silver Street bridge in Brownhills that I couldn’t distract it, was a lovely animal belonging to nearby narrow boaters. He seems to enjoy running along the towpaths while his boss is  piloting the boat.

I saw them later in Walsall Wood and boy, that dog can run!

June 29th – A dayride from Macclesfield back home, via the Trentabank, the Roaches, Royal Cottage, Morridge, Longnor, Hurdlow, the High Peak Trail, Carsington, Holland, Hatton, ALrewas, Whitemoor Haye, Weeford and Shenstone, totalling 121 miles. 

I really am back in the saddle this season, thanks to the excellent weather, and a bit of determination.

Find out more at this post on my main blog.

June 22nd – It was a great ride for the animals, clearly enjoying the sun and warmth. The heron population is booming on the Birmingham canals at the moment, and their comical antics are a joy, as were the cackling ducks in the heart of the city. 

I just loved the disdain visible on the face of the snoozing embankment cat whose nap I so clearly wrecked.

I love canal riding on a warm evening.

June 17th – Obvious cat is obvious.

This puss with high hopes and lofty ambitions was hunting by the canal at Rugeley – a roosting mallard had been spotted in the grass with her ducklings, and the story unfolded. Not a great hunter, no ducks were harmed in the making of this post and indeed, they seemed to be mocking the cat in the end.

The cat’s facial expressions are wonderful, particularly in the second image ‘Just a doin’ ma thang, nothin to see here’

Better luck next time puss.

June 13th – One of the more fascinating things about the commonly derided and scorned Canada goes is their propensity to social support between families.

On the way home from work this evening, four adults (one dallying out of shot) and two broods of goslings numbering a dizzying total of 12 youngsters in two distinct stages of growth indicated that two families were hanging out together and probably sharing childminding and security duties.

Can’t think of any other wild birds that do this.

Lovely to see, and I got hissed at in quadrophonic!

May 29th – Sam, the elderly king of Kings Hill is still out in his favourite patch of communal garden nearly everyday.

Following the rains of the day before, the grass was clearly still a bit damp, so this black and withe, toothless old lad was en repose on the garden wall, and watching me carefully.

But only with the one eye.

May 24th – It’s not often you see a proud swan momma doing the Hokey Cokey to entertain her cygnets, but it’s a longstanding tradition, in my head.

This wonderful sight of the mother watching over young, sleepy hatchlings was at Stubbers Green, mid-morning, and an absolute joy to the heart.

This pic was taken from the road, and the nest’s proximity to the traffic is my only worry.

May 23rd – Sam, the elderly puss that puts the king in Kings Hill, Darlaston, has been enjoying the spring.

Clearly in his dotage, I rarely see Sam actually doing anything – but often dozing. I didn’t see him once during the winter, presumably he prefers the indoor warmth of his nearby home, but come the summer and he sleeps around the flats complex where he lives.

Every day I’ve passed for the last week, he’s been asleep in the dappled shade of a tree in the morning, and in the afternoon, enjoying the warmth of the sun-heated wall nearby in the evening cool.

Despite his age and total lack of teeth, he has a fine set of whiskers and a great sheen to his coat and I know that his human loves him very much.

Seeing this lad out and sleeping every spring really makes me happy.