Conkers

This is a post about a Horse Chestnut Tree and things that fall off it and there is a reason for this post.

I was having trouble getting inspired today.

I took Fizz up to the Badger cam and collected another card, put some more bait down. There were some lovely videos of the animals, I am very fond of wild animals but I didn’t really want to do another Badger post just yet. A Pheasant spent two hours in front of my camera (at first I was a bit peeved but as I watched the videos I started to like him, we might yet have pheasant for supper). There has been a development. The farmer who rents the fields has put sheep in there. That could make leaving my camera in that spot untenable. Sheep could just trigger the camera constantly and the batteries will die before nightfall (We will have a hundred and twenty vids of sheep) but I have left it there today, maybe there will be some interaction between Badger/Fox/Sheep in the night, I love interaction.

I had three interesting interactions with Humans today. The first was with Margaret, Fizz’s owner. The local shops don’t sell balls for Fizz to play with and I have been struggling with supply. I decided to order her some from the internet. 50 used tennis balls £25. Now some dog owners don’t like their dogs to play with tennis balls. They used to use lead in the dye for them and they are pressurised with nitrogen (They don’t use lead any more and nitrogen is harmless and part of the air that we breathe), before I lumbered myself with fifty tennis balls I just thought that I should check that she didn’t mind Fizz playing with them. Margaret said that was fine and she would give me something toward them when she had some change and I told her not to worry about that.

When I got back from walking Fizz today there was an envelope for me with £25 and I dig it. It has nothing to do with money, she owns a farm, land and house and can easily afford it, I had already afforded it and didn’t expect anything in return. Margaret was just saying thank you. I get it. I accepted the gift graciously and felt the love.

I met a fellow sitting on a stool outside of a small terraced house. It was a beautiful sunny evening and he was looking intently at a book in his lap and he was singing. He had a wonderful rich voice but was singing quite quietly and so I stood and listened for a while. I wasn’t sure that he had noticed me but after a bit he looked up and smiled and said, “Hello, I am singing.”

Finally I met a fellow beside a busy road, picking stuff off trees. “Hello,” I said, “What are you doing?” He told me that his wife had sent him out to collect conkers. I showed him where there were some better trees. That was my inspiration. I spent some time looking at this tree before deciding to photograph it.

I think that it is a beautiful tree, you decide.

 

A lot of love passed by today and I got conkers.