The Last Straw.

smart

It’s been a long time since I allowed myself a rant about litter in the neighbourhood, so please indulge an old man’s moan.

The daily accumulation of drinks cans, fast food containers, surgical masks and cigarette ends does not lessen, though the place looks better for a few days when a litter picker has been round. Now, though, we have the departing students’ summer spectacular of fly-tipping. The city council have removed a stack of black bags dumped opposite our house, but three times I have filled our bins – glass recycling and general waste – with rubbish dumped outside our home. Food waste attracts those sharp-billed chancers, the herring gulls, who spread pizza crusts and more across the street for the foxes and rats to enjoy. I would rather clear up before that happens, but I’d rather not have to clear it up at all.

Back to the regular round. Good to see one student landlord has tidied the pavement outside one of his houses. The rubbish in my bag accumulates fast, until it gets too heavy for the catch on the carrying ring and drops out. Time for me to stop, straighten my back, and come home and complain.

Love where you live!

On looking inside the window.

The other day we spotted this damselfly on a loosely woven blanket by the window. The colours did not make for a good photograph, but black and white enhanced it all, especially the veins of the wings.

I wonder if the creature came from our pond? We soon opened the window and gently sent her on her way to snap up a few mosquitoes. It was encouraging to see a big dragonfly this morning as well, but too high for a photo unless we get a drone!

On looking out of the window.

By © Francis C. Franklin /Attribution: © Francis C. Franklin / CC-BY-SA-3.0

We were taking a break from work at the Glebe garden, indoors because the weather was unseasonably cold. My friend looked out to see two blue tits on the bird feeder. Suddenly there was a flurry of activity between the feeder and the nearby elder, now in full leaf and bloom. There was a family of blue tits! Were they from the nesting box in our garden, or maybe from Peter’s box on the balcony across the river?

No chance of any sort of a photo from that distance, but here is a glorious image from Francis C. Franklin, via Wikipedia. Let’s hope the fledglings soon learn about the predatory cat that has begun to frequent the garden. Maybe the cold morning kept it indoors, or the noise of power tools and hammers from next door.

Thanks to my sharp-eyed friend for a special moment!