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Hello Elle,

No, I have not been similarly blessed! Our weather deteriorated
from Sunday lunchtime (well yesterday in fact) and we lost 10 to 12 C
in the space of 5 hours - Now that, I do not take to kindly!
It has been miserable, windy and cold(in comparison)

Thus I got a 'sniffle' just because I was too lazy to change clothes
early evening yesterday. But I am getting better already - just
sneezed a lot all morning.

My British friends from Luxembourg were over Tuesday till Friday
after market, so we had a nice time together. They were lucky
with the weather.

Hope you are well, and Hello to you too Rusty - hope you had
a nice week-end

PS - The first baby owl hatched in early hours today - it is ever
so tiny! Difficult to see it as Mum is most keeping it warm while
she incubates the other 6 eggs

Hello, Elle!
Yes, you have an excellent transport system in London.
Lucky folk!
I have not watched X Factor.
I prefer the variety acts to the singing.
I like "proper" singers, not the caterwauling variety!
Have you seen this from last year?

"Lassie has a visitor!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cRVuh_S0vc

Hello, Pigale!
Good to hear from you!
Thibaud Pinot is going well in the Giro.
Long way to go yet, and he usually performs well in the third week.

Hi, Rusty!
I had looked in on Lassie earlier in the day, and had actually seen Laddie there, too, for once.
They were sharing a fish.
What an inquisitive little squirrel!
I have never seen a red squirrel "live" ........only in pictures.
All ours are grey , although we sometimes get an albino one in the park.
"Our" two grey squirrels come regularly knocking on the kitchen window for their nuts.
They are very tame and will take them from our fingers.
I wonder will we have Thames Water here tomorrow to repair some holes?



Hello, Pigale!
I am sorry about your sniffle.
I hope it soon clears up.
These abrupt weather changes do not help...it is difficult to acclimatise oneself !
It is good you had a good time with your friends - a pity though that it was so short a duration.
I saw the baby barn owl - Goodness, how tiny it is!
Mum kept pushing it back underneath her!

Hello, Elle!
It is only reds we see around here.
This is a nice wee film about a red squirrel sanctuary.
It is about a mile and a half away from me, all uphill!
Ken explains all about it!

https://scottishsquirrels.org.uk/news/article/the-muirhead-red-squirrel-sanctuary-dundee/

Hopefully the Thames Water lads will turn up.
Have you tea and biscuits in?

Good morning, Rusty!
A lovely day here.
Nice and fresh.
A very enjoyable walk.
Thank you for the info about the red squirrels.
I shall look at it over a cup of coffee very shortly.
Grrrh! I have just been on the phone for over half an hour talking to Thames Water!
Two workmen turned up at 8.58am....then spent the next fifty minutes talking on their mobile phones.........
I tried asking them if there was a problem....... but they did not appear to speak English!
They then got in their cabs and ...er.....drove off!
Their supervisor at Thames Water confirmed that they were scheduled to do the job today.......but he doesn't know where they are either !
But he admits there is a language communication problem......
Curiouser and curiouser.....
I definitely need that (very strong) coffee!

Good morning, Elle.
Fine day here!
Thames Water don't appear to be on the ball!
Maybe the two lads will return.
Maybe there is a sound reason for them not to do what you expected them to?
I would have thought someone at the nerve centre of Thames Water would be able to contact the workers?

Hi, Rusty!
Well, not to worry.......the very nice man that I spoke to at Thames Water has sent in the Cavalry!
Two replacement workmen have now arrived, and are busily working on the pathway, with a view to filling in the holes, removing the excess earth, and laying the groundwork for some one else to come later to add the final surface.
I have just been out to offer refreshments.
No one seems to know where the previous two have gone!
But the chap to whom I spoke on the phone said that photos had been sent in of the initial ground work supposedly "finished" ????
( I wonder how often they pull that scam?)

Hello, Elle!
Looks like you were sent chancers by Thames Water.
They were possibly sub-contracted to do the work, and were not actually employees of Thames Water?
But, things seem to be progressing now.

Hi, Rusty!
I am exhausted!
You would need to be here to understand just how utterly ridiculous all this has been!
The two man replacement team was brilliant, nice and friendly , very polite, ......filled in the holes, re - laid the earth, took away all surplus soil etc., leaving it all clean and tidy for the re- laying of the shingle path.
Two more men appeared ...they had come to lay down the shingle....
They half completed the path , up to one of the gates, then said they were not required to do the remainder.........and went!
I have since spoken to the TW office , who - to give them their due - apologised profusely, and are going to send out yet another team to complete the job!
They may come today........or possibly tomorrow.......
I may leave home in the meantime!
Whilst I was holding on to be transferred from department to department , I finished the crossword!
A nice one today!