Seemingly trivial things that cheer you up

Tashman

Seeing the numbers on the scales this morning start with 16 and not 17

fat daddy

waking up in the morning and realising you don't have any coffee .... but then realising that you are working from home today, so can roast a couple more batches in time for the weekend

Alex99

Garry H wrote:

I've also cycled past an ostrich

I had a Badger pop out of the hedgerow and run alongside me up the lane for five metres of so before darting back in. That was pretty good.

Also it was a genuine buzz seeing a wild pig with a litter of piglets in the woods near Symonds Yat.

Garry H

Alex99 wrote:

Garry H wrote:

I've also cycled past an ostrich

I had a Badger pop out of the hedgerow and run alongside me up the lane for five metres of so before darting back in. That was pretty good.

Also it was a genuine buzz seeing a wild pig with a litter of piglets in the woods near Symonds Yat.

I see loads of badgers on my commute. Usually lying dead at the side of the road with a shovel shaped indentation in their skulls...

secretsam

Pinno wrote:

Garry H wrote:

Did it kill the lamb?

No you silly fecker, I saved it. I thought that was obvious.

Lamb...mmm...mint sauce...

pinno

Talking of wildlife and BTW - I have never seen a live badger in the wild , I came across a Stoat and a crow having a run around each other today on my ride. Stoat wanted to cross the road but crow kept preventing him/her. I presume that the Stoat is more than capable of defending itself. I wonder of the crow was protecting a fledgeling? Do they have chicks this late in the year?

Made me smile though. I think the Stoat was happy as my passing drove the crow off and Mr/Mrs Stoat crossed the road behind me.

veronese68

Pinno wrote:

Talking of wildlife and BTW - I have never seen a live badger in the wild

Many years ago when I still lived at my folks' I saw a badger when walking home from the pub one night. Reasonably quiet road in Wimbledon, heard a snuffling sound and a badger popped out right in front on me. I stopped dead, more than a little surprised at this. It looked at me and then crossed the road and went up the hill across the way. Rather intrigued I decided to follow it. It had more road sense than me as it stayed on the pavement whilst I jogged alongside it in the road. I had to stop when it went into some bushes and down the side of some houses. The thing that struck me the most about it was just how clearly defined the lines on it's head were, really sharp cut off between the black and white.
A bit of the old Atkinson Morley hospital grounds near there has been designated as a nature reserve of some sort. So whilst the old hospital is all being redeveloped the woodland bit has to be preserved so hopefully there will be more of that kind of thing.

keef66

I'm always seeing badgers on my night rides round the quiet Suffolk lanes. Without doubt they are my favourite animal. They never seem at all bothered to see a cyclist bearing down on them; if they were about to cross the road they just keep on going; they just don't give a sh1t! (which probably accounts for the number which end up as roadkill)

Foxes too are a slightly rarer treat. And I once had a barn owl for company for a few metres; ghostly white in my headlight, and eerily silent!

It's the small herds of deer I encounter which sometimes concern me. Roe deer I suspect. They do get spooked if I happen upon them when they are crossing the road, then I have no idea which way they'll go. Anything the size of a small sideboard with antlers and pointy hooves gets a lot of respect :shock:

veronese68

ooh, a barn owl is a very cool spot. See lots of foxes, mangy urban foxes on the whole, and a lot of deer as I usually ride to work through Bushy Park. Once very nearly got collected by a large red deer stag, most terrifying thong that's happened in many years of cycling. It was chasing another stag off during the rut and they changed direction to cross the path I was on, I braked hard and as his cloven hooves hit the wet tarmac he skidded in front of me. So I had a huge angry thing with big pointy bits on it's head within a foot of my front wheel. Got to work and changed my underpants.
See loads of ring necked parakeets and quite a few green woodpeckers, hundreds of rabbits and countless idiots. Easily the highlight of my ride to work, especially on sunny days in the autumn and spring. Low sun and ground mist can be breathtaking in there.

keef66

I knew nothing about those parakeets till I found myself driving through a flock of them a while ago on the way out of Heathrow. Thought I must have ingested something hallucinogenic on the flight...

Rutting red deer stags sound very scary indeed :shock:

veronese68

keef66 wrote:

Rutting red deer stags sound very scary indeed :shock:

One of the very few times I wished I had a Gopro.
Funny how many people don't believe the tales of parakeets in London, they are bloody noisy.

fat daddy

after roasting 250g of Papa New guinea; hearing the doorbell ring, going to the door and having the postman hand you Octobers packet of hasbeans #SSSSS - a Nicaraguan Finca Limoncillo pulpled natural yellow pacamara

whoop, espresso heaven ... now which machine to use

pinno

fat daddy wrote:

after roasting 250g of Papa New guinea; hearing the doorbell ring, going to the door and having the postman hand you Octobers packet of hasbeans #SSSSS - a Nicaraguan Finca Limoncillo pulpled natural yellow pacamara

whoop, espresso heaven ... now which machine to use

Coffee club?

keef66

fat daddy wrote:

after roasting 250g of Papa New guinea; hearing the doorbell ring, going to the door and having the postman hand you Octobers packet of hasbeans #SSSSS - a Nicaraguan Finca Limoncillo pulpled natural yellow pacamara

Didn't understand a syllable of that. Thought my eyes were acting up again!

Anonymous

One of my cats will wait until the alarm clock has gone off and sit on the bed for you to get up ( she wants feeding obviously ) but if you try to snooze she will lick your nose or paw your face so gently until you get up. Stopped me sleeping in a few times

Anonymous

Pinno wrote:

fat daddy wrote:

after roasting 250g of Papa New guinea; hearing the doorbell ring, going to the door and having the postman hand you Octobers packet of hasbeans #SSSSS - a Nicaraguan Finca Limoncillo pulpled natural yellow pacamara

whoop, espresso heaven ... now which machine to use

Coffee club?

Nah. Just really fancy cocaine

pinno

Maglia Rosa wrote:

Pinno wrote:

fat daddy wrote:

after roasting 250g of Papa New guinea; hearing the doorbell ring, going to the door and having the postman hand you Octobers packet of hasbeans #SSSSS - a Nicaraguan Finca Limoncillo pulpled natural yellow pacamara

whoop, espresso heaven ... now which machine to use

Coffee club?

Nah. Just really fancy cocaine

Here's one about Cats:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0ffwDYo00Q

bompington

Maglia Rosa wrote:

One of my cats will wait until the alarm clock has gone off and sit on the bed for you to get up ( she wants feeding obviously ) but if you try to snooze she will lick your nose or paw your face so gently until you get up. Stopped me sleeping in a few times

As a student in halls long ago, I was once woken by a cat licking my face. Never having had a cat myself, I was not exactly expecting this, and after more than 30 years the memory of the shock is pretty strong.
The cheering up bit?
I reflexively swiped it away. Right across the room. It hit the wall with a thud and a screech and disappeared out the window like lightning.
I don't think I've ever managed to get my heart rate up as high since then.

Anonymous

bompington wrote:

Maglia Rosa wrote:

One of my cats will wait until the alarm clock has gone off and sit on the bed for you to get up ( she wants feeding obviously ) but if you try to snooze she will lick your nose or paw your face so gently until you get up. Stopped me sleeping in a few times

As a student in halls long ago, I was once woken by a cat licking my face. Never having had a cat myself, I was not exactly expecting this, and after more than 30 years the memory of the shock is pretty strong.
The cheering up bit?
I reflexively swiped it away. Right across the room. It hit the wall with a thud and a screech and disappeared out the window like lightning.
I don't think I've ever managed to get my heart rate up as high since then.

What gets me is, what was on your face it felt so compelled to come in and lick off?

pinno

Maglia Rosa wrote:

bompington wrote:

Maglia Rosa wrote:

One of my cats will wait until the alarm clock has gone off and sit on the bed for you to get up ( she wants feeding obviously ) but if you try to snooze she will lick your nose or paw your face so gently until you get up. Stopped me sleeping in a few times

As a student in halls long ago, I was once woken by a cat licking my face. Never having had a cat myself, I was not exactly expecting this, and after more than 30 years the memory of the shock is pretty strong.
The cheering up bit?
I reflexively swiped it away. Right across the room. It hit the wall with a thud and a screech and disappeared out the window like lightning.
I don't think I've ever managed to get my heart rate up as high since then.

What gets me is, what was on your face it felt so compelled to come in and lick off?

Must have been something fishy.

seanoconn

keef66 wrote:

I knew nothing about those parakeets till I found myself driving through a flock of them a while ago on the way out of Heathrow. Thought I must have ingested something hallucinogenic on the flight...

Rutting red deer stags sound very scary indeed :shock:

The romantic story behind the rise of the parakeets is that they were imported to Shepperton studios for the filming of The Afican Queen in 1951, escaped into the wild and spread along the river.

pinno

seanoconn wrote:

keef66 wrote:

I knew nothing about those parakeets till I found myself driving through a flock of them a while ago on the way out of Heathrow. Thought I must have ingested something hallucinogenic on the flight...

Rutting red deer stags sound very scary indeed :shock:

The romantic story behind the rise of the parakeets is that they were imported to Shepperton studios for the filming of The Afican Queen in 1951, escaped into the wild and spread along the river.

Funny you should know that Seano :roll: Casanova Womble. Whatever next?

Garry H

Pinno wrote:

Talking of wildlife and BTW - I have never seen a live badger in the wild , I came across a Stoat and a crow having a run around each other today on my ride. Stoat wanted to cross the road but crow kept preventing him/her. I presume that the Stoat is more than capable of defending itself. I wonder of the crow was protecting a fledgeling? Do they have chicks this late in the year?

Made me smile though. I think the Stoat was happy as my passing drove the crow off and Mr/Mrs Stoat crossed the road behind me.

I first read that as a stoat and a cow!

pinno

Garry H wrote:

Pinno wrote:

Talking of wildlife and BTW - I have never seen a live badger in the wild , I came across a Stoat and a crow having a run around each other today on my ride. Stoat wanted to cross the road but crow kept preventing him/her. I presume that the Stoat is more than capable of defending itself. I wonder of the crow was protecting a fledgeling? Do they have chicks this late in the year?

Made me smile though. I think the Stoat was happy as my passing drove the crow off and Mr/Mrs Stoat crossed the road behind me.

I first read that as a stoat and a cow!

I now know your heritage, so that doesn't surprise me.

Garry H

I once saw a woman taking a stoat type thing (possibly a pinemartin) for a walk. It was on a lead. This was in Midlothian.

Thick Mike

seanoconn wrote:

keef66 wrote:

I knew nothing about those parakeets till I found myself driving through a flock of them a while ago on the way out of Heathrow. Thought I must have ingested something hallucinogenic on the flight...

Rutting red deer stags sound very scary indeed :shock:

The romantic story behind the rise of the parakeets is that they were imported to Shepperton studios for the filming of The Afican Queen in 1951, escaped into the wild and spread along the river.

Another is that they once belonged to Jimi Hendrix and he released them to fly free.

Both fanciful claptrap though!

pinno

Thick Mike wrote:

seanoconn wrote:

keef66 wrote:

I knew nothing about those parakeets till I found myself driving through a flock of them a while ago on the way out of Heathrow. Thought I must have ingested something hallucinogenic on the flight...

Rutting red deer stags sound very scary indeed :shock:

The romantic story behind the rise of the parakeets is that they were imported to Shepperton studios for the filming of The Afican Queen in 1951, escaped into the wild and spread along the river.

Another is that they once belonged to Jimi Hendrix and he released them to fly free.

Both fanciful claptrap though!

If there's any 'fanciful claptrap' going around, it usually emanates from Seano.

Garry H wrote:

I once saw a woman taking a stoat type thing (possibly a pinemartin) for a walk. It was on a lead. This was in Midlothian.

Now if that was in Lanarkshire - say Wishaw for example, then I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest.

orraloon

After the 1st cold of the season with coughing, spluttering and general whining attached kyboshes the planned bike ride in the sun today [ref Trivial etc etc that annoy thread], having the 1st beef in beer / carbonade flamande of the season, made with St Bernardus Abt 12 no less. Things are on the up.

pinno

Getting the right nasal excavation pressure right whilst partaking in velocipedal activites.

secretsam

Veronese68 wrote:

ooh, a barn owl is a very cool spot.

LOL first time I ever saw an owl was at a football match. Evening game, about to kick off, crowd of 16k or so. Suddenly an owl flies along over the pitch at the same height as the floodlights (on the front of the stand). Cue 16k people (and the players) looking up and going "F**k me, an owl!"

(Bristol City vs Stockport, BTW - mid 90s, think it ended 1-1)