Z goes to a Hide

I walked twice in a year, never mind two days. This doesn't happen every year, you know - though if Simon inspires me to take up orienteering, maybe I'll be trotting round the countryside inspiringly from May to November in future.

Thanks for your other suggestions, and I'll consider them all. I haven't yet, so can't comment.

Dilly decided to go and look at birds at Minsmere this morning, and asked if I'd like to go with her and the children. I rarely turn down an invitation as you surely know, so I keenly went along, bearing a walking stick in case my hip gave out.

A walking stick isn't for me, you know. I think I shall get one of those poles such as hikers use. I could look keen rather than pathetic and it would be at least as much use.

Anyway, we saw an extremely chubby deer - we thought it was a sheep until we inspected through binoculars, some shovelers (possibly shelducks, I'm not too good on ducks) and a mallard (I recognise mallards), some birds that were too far away to identify, a blackbird (a bit bemused at the group of people with their binoculars out looking at him, unless there was something else there that we didn't notice), several chaffinches and bluetits. It was not a vintage bird-watching expedition but we all got Healthily Exercised.

On the way home, Pugsley had a thorough tantrum, brought on through tiredness. In the end, we ignored him until he fell asleep.

Weeza and family are home from the in-laws, having had a good time. Phil's brother visited with all three children, the eldest of whom has Asperger's Syndrome, the middle of whom is profoundly autistic and the youngest, who we all hope has no such afflictions. The disability comes from the mother's side of the family, fortunately for children of Weeza and Phil. Anyway, it was not a relaxed day but went pretty well.

Zerlina had her first solid food on Christmas Eve and has been enjoying it, in tiny amounts. A teaspoon a day is about it. However, it served to bung up her system for 8 whole days. In the 9th day, her nappy was almost exploded off her. "From her ears down", said her father, who did the second nappy change. Nothing since - they have stopped the baby rice and are giving her vegetable purées - and Weeza is wondering if this will be the pattern and if she should arrange not to go out every 8 days. Or, even better, to arrange for Granny to babysit on those occasions.

Tomorrow, if I get around to it, I shall buy some wool and cast on. If I remember how. I think a long scarf might be the sum total of my efforts, but as long as I feel that sense of achievement...