Standing in our living room this morning with the November sun beaming down outside we decided, the five of us, that today would be a good day to be outdoors.
Hang on... the five of us? There's only four of us normally - the fifth was a small vole or shrew scuttling about by our feet.
On Monday while watching Spooks I had sensed that I was not alone but dismissed it as tension caused by watching the season finale. Scary things have happened before while I watched Spooks...
Our tiny visitor decided to pop out just as the picnic and wellies were packed and we were about to head out of the door. We've had a this before and learned that it would not go into a live trap. What we have to do is open the door and watch it leave which it did, eventually, after whizzing around the edge of the living room, taking a brief trip into the dining room and finally, heaving itself over the threshold.
We drove to West Dale beach which is the home of great driftwood. Today pickings were lean (we espied fellow beach combers lugging armfuls home ahead of us) but we managed a few armfuls of choice pieces.
 |
| Down the steps to the beach. |
 |
| A heart of stone. |
 |
| Skokholm island in the distance. |
 |
| Rows of toothy rocks. You wouldn't want to wreck your ship on these. |
 |
| The sun is hidden by growing clouds and the sea is showing its fury. |
 |
| Here comes the rain! |
Of course it rained at the point where we were furthest from the car. The wind drove it up the backs of our coats as we ran back ensuring we all had wet knickers when we reached dry safety. Brian, of course, had yet another armful of driftwood. Taking him to the beach is sometimes like taking a Labrador. He arrives back wet and panting with the biggest stick he can find.
Today's full tally of wildlife:
- One common shrew
- A barn owl
- Two buzzards
- One unidentified raptor
- Two oystercatchers
- A small bird that fluttered its wings and said 'peep peep' (sorry, there are gaps in my ornithological education.)
