Steps, Twitch, a Mega moth and of course the cats.

I’m not convinced that our lazy cats killed this beauty but Nancy decided to claim it anyway and tried to stash it behind a sofa in the kitchen. Our bird experts in Scotland suggest this maybe an Eurasian Golden Oriole, if you know better do tell….

Maddie contemplates what the meaning of a staircase is without it’s stairs!

My west facing steps became stepless as the Dresden workforce pressed on with their chosen Barabrith holiday activity scheme.

Using a jigsaw to cut wood is not terribly dangerous but if you get it wrong things can go badly very quick and you end up losing your head.

A rare and wonderful sighting of Sanja engaged in hard graft and doing it in her own unique contortionist style! The wood we bought for the steps was I was told “impregnated” but subsequently it turned out that was only against bugs and so we needed to waterproof it.

Maddie and Phil, the Dresden duo, in action working out the measurements for drilling the holes for the new steps.

The dedicated pair worked late into the night to get enough steps done that we could climb them the next morning. They ended up working by the light of torches and headlamps!! Much appreciated craziness.

It didn’t take long for Nancy to show her approval of the new steps.

The Dresden duo put their considerable combined strength in to chopping up our pile of logs! And move even higher up the scale of “greatest guests” ranking once again!

Anyone thnking that Sid only shows me such affection should note , he’s not choosy!

Thanks to the collapse of the big apple tree branch and all the plum tree branches that split under the weight of their fruit we now have a lot of kindlings stored neatly in boxes ready to light our stoves without the need of firelighters.
Here is I, chief kindling creater, breaker of twigs, snapper of small branches……

Sanja takes a wheel barrow of combustable garden waste down to the bonfire which one day we will light! What a gal!

This is a box of plums we picked and only managed to eat a few of. It might make a good jigsaw puzzle image.

Sanja takes the Makita cordless electric strimmer for a spin and declares it to be “cool”. The large fallen branch behind her has been stripped of its branches and moved out of the way. I am wondering what to do with it.

Niece Twitch (she used to be called Imogen but I’ve renamed her) came for a long weekend (it always feels long when she’s around) and played some pool. They brought me a packet of Marmite covered cashews and they are probably the tastiest thing to ever come out of a packet! So however long the minutes seem when Twitch is around, she’s always welcome back at Barabrith (as long as she brings Marmite covered nuts!). Family is what it’s all about, innit?

This is a spot on the Meznica (The Mrežnica is a river in Karlovac County, Croatia. It is 63 kilometres long and its basin covers an area of 64 square kilometres. Mrežnica is considered special due to its large number of waterfalls, totalling 93). Twitch described it as her “new favourite place” , (though she’s been stuck in Bishops Stortford most of her life, so don’t assign too much weight to the comment). It is a lovely spot with water falls, clear water and loadsa fish. I was lying in practically the same spot as these two 15 minutes before and for 10 minutes I let the little fish nibble me and swim over me in a wondorous communion with nature. It was one of the most moving experiences I have had for a long time staring into the eyes of little fish as the took mini bites out of me!

Captured on camera my wild and rebellious niece sneaks past the sign saying “Danger do not enter” as she enters the Petrova Gora monument.

Twitch as you might remember is my favourite “panorama photo partner” and here she is with Lucas pulling off a good one at the Partizan Hospital. I like the way the long exposure a panorama photo needs has created a weird fairy like lighting effect.

This mega moth was flying around the house a week ago but when Sanja tried to capture it on pixels it flew away. This time it sat around completely oblivious to our presence.

Just in case you doubted the size of this moth here is my thumb and fingers to judge it by.

Nancy is a weird and wonderful cat, usually asleep on a sofa, often too spooked to stand still for long but occasionally as docile and cute as a baby panda! Just look at those paw positions!

I never get tired of taking photos of these kind of sunsets. I hope you don’t get tired of looking at them!