News from the back porch...

Getting settled in after our ten day trip to the British countryside.  In my mind's eye, I can still see all those narrow winding roads and the thatched-roof cottages surrounded by lovingly-tended gardens.

When we first walked up the stairs to the back porch, I noticed that the spider web was still there... the spider (a black and yellow one) had started it the day before we left for England. Not only was the web still there, but it's much larger than it was on the morning we left. The spider is also getting larger, feasting on flies and crickets and other bugs that keep getting stuck in that web. I've named the spider "Charlotte," of course.... which tells you I'm a fan of E.B. White's books.  I go up and down those porch steps all day long, and the spider web is not in my way so I'm leaving it just where it is. I'm sure the spider is pleased.... and I'm wondering just how big that spider will grow.  (If you don't find current entries in this blog, then you'll know I'm stuck in Charlotte's web.)

The porch is minus one cat..... the orange/white stray hasn't been on the porch since we got home. Wonder of wonders, there is a god.  That blasted cat was used to getting food late at night, every night, so without me being here, his orange/white tummy must have been empty and my guess is that he moved on to another property. Happy day indeed.  Both Gatsby and Mickey have been napping on the porch since we got home, instead of sleeping under the bushes and trying to avoid the orange cat. That blasted cat had been here for a year and a half, and in all that time, he never did learn proper manners. So I guess all my neighbors here were right... they told me a long time ago to quit feeding him and he would go away.  Lesson learned:  Do not feed a stray cat unless you want to make him part of your family.

It's been over 100 degrees since we've been home, and our friends tell us that it was way over 100 degrees for all the days we were gone.  During our stay in England, we were enjoying Spring-like weather with temperatures never going above 78 degrees. There were days that felt very cool to me, and I bought a very popular English-style scarf to wrap around my neck. I love that scarf.... hand-woven and colorful, and I know I will wear it a lot here during the cooler weather... which should come around late November.

Thanks to friend C, our house was sparkling and welcoming when we got home, and the cats were safe and happy, both inside and outside.  Staying in the quaint but small British Bed and Breakfast homes makes one appreciate our spacious rooms and large bathrooms.  Driving along the British countryside also makes one appreciate the wide roads here in the states.   However, the farmlands in England are pristine and neat, gorgeously planted and tended, with ancient stone walls surrounding the fields.  The British can teach us all a thing or two about having pride-of-place in one's surroundings.