recalling how Pearl yawned at a passing hamster in an attempt to look ferocious

hamster visible in tube above right ....

Revitalising my Inner Porch

It all gets very complicated .CatCalls: Etched glass and a bespoke door ? Not only does a pitch pine ( bespoke )door have to be measured for , but the design for the glass has to be selected , the glass itself chosen ( reproduction or traditional ) , then apart from the door and its panels there are all the surrounding bits of glass which I had planned on keeping plain ( away with all that bubbly stuff , away ! ) , but as Bryan points out helpfully ( albeit confusingly ) a fine line exists between keeping it simple and looking like one simply can't be bothered . And frankly , since not being bothered is one of my main areas for self improvement , as identified in my imaginary self -coaching-for-life-skills-mastered-whilst-dropping-off-to-sleep-and-why-bother-paying-fees-for-an-echt-coach Bryan probably has a point there ....
So I acknowldege that I am open to persuasion and D lets it be known that he has been sitting now for more than five minutes which is three minutes longer than his limit in a stained glass studio/workshop and on our way we go leaving Bryan to his devices .
But I digress and that was then and this is now and today and Bryan is here measuring up and showing me designs and D is on the road and Alice is sighing her heart out after an exhausting morning chasing Rocky on the beach and watching the swimsuitboys running in and out of the surf and the crashing waves .

And we are excitingly close and there is a wonderful Charles Rennie Mackintosh design with tulips in muted colours , and talk of brass knobs and tear drop escutcheons and I see it all coming together . And wonder of wonders , a proper old fashioned lock with key . For some reason the thought of a new door , with new keys is quite an amazing one ....the smell of the wood at Easter when it will arrive mingling with the smell of Simnel cake and chocolate .

Boys in the North Sea ... look no wet suits !

Click to enlarge to see the boys in the water ....

Alice on a real high from early until we got out this morning . Usually she is to drag from the sofa if her post breakfast snooze is not complete but she was wild today . The sea was crashing and banging and a couple of lads seemed to have caught the same bug and were running to the shoreline all stripped off and oblivious to the thermometer reading of 4degrees .

Hell is other pigs

New graffiti seen amongst other ( very rude ) graffiti , the shack on King Edwards Bay at first light .

Enlarge for detail .

Did the earth move for you ?

Joan asked me , did the earth move for me , referring to last night's earthquake , the biggest in twenty five years , experienced here apparently at around 1 am . The short answer is no . In fact I had no idea about the thing until I found a text on my phone as I sat at my pc at the office and my sister told me that her son who is at Uni in Liverpool had been woken together with his friends by the earthquake . I texted back . Yeah right , in his dreams , thinking it was the usual alcohol induced fantasy .......But then as I read the text out to Tracy she confirmed that she had actually been woken by her bed shaking , and it started to dawn on me that nothing of that nature would register here . We sleep on a water bed and what with four cats changing places , diving on and off , squabbling and jostling for the best / warmest spot , D sneezing repeatedly ( allergy to the cats ? ) , and my good self adding to the mix with my constant sleep talking and commenting , and general insomniac tossing and turning once 4 am is past , we are rocked like a fishing boat heading for the Farne Islands in high winds whatever is going on beyond the bedroom . When one cat changes position far left , this creates waves throughout the bed... we all move ......when one person climbs out we all sink .....

Just as I read Joan'c comment adding that a friend's parrot ( in Peterborough , I think ) had gone mad , my sister e mailed to say she had heard on the radio that a Peterborough parrot had fallen off its perch . Could it be the same parrot I ask myself . I will await Joan's further comment the next time she visits the blog .....

I have experienced an earthquake twice before , once whilst staying in Germany after finsihing A levels and on another occasion whilst working in Uganda . Both were unmemorable events , with a few things sliding off shelves , and a bit of a rocking feeling going on .
But George and his friends in Liverpool thought a lorry had crashed into the side of their student flat , or a bomb had gone off .
I'm now regretting that I slept through it or if I didn't , I put it down to one of our usual nocturnal rumblings rather than anything out of the ordinary .

Me Nervous ?

Nah ! Look at my teeth ......

Swans and Geese at Bolam Lake Northumberland

Windy walk this afternoon .

The wind makes Alice nervous and she glances repeatedly from side to side like Private Somebody or Other ( Marbles Moment ) from Dad's Army played by Ian Lavender .

Equally tall and skinny and usually with a piece of greenery sticking out of his hat , just so like Alice out on a walk on new territory . She glances round , checks on D and me , licks her lips as if her mouth is dry and if approached by anything bigger than a squirrel presses herself between us until the Danger is safely passed .

On "her" beach of course its a different story . She 's full of herself , assuming there are no boxer dogs about , and charges at anything and everything , full of gusto and sometimes rushing at little teddy bear type dogs as if there was no tomorrow , rolling them over and pushing them around . Most of them love her and like to chase her , snapping at her ankles until she gets too rough .

But bring out that wind and put her in a different field and she's a different animal .

What is that man's name ...?