Don't you just love those instructions translated into English by well-meaning manufacturers, who not only don't speak English, but don't even use our alphabet?
Here's a little gadget I picked up at a stall on Keswick market. Looks like it might come in quite handy - a little LED lamp that holds on to your head with elastic, leaving your hands free. Just as well it's easy enough to figure out how to work it without instructions, though.
Let's see now.... How do we fit the battery?
BATTERY REPLACEMENT
- 2 Twist off the shot's direction
- 2x Cr2032 3V Lithium Batteries [Yeah! This bit makes sense!] auording to cubic use. [huh?]
- Please remove the batteries when it will be enlightened.
Right. I think I've got that. I think. Now what?
FLASHING MODE [ooh this sounds fun]
- Tw'st off the "on"'s direction
- Can testing the shot' salfitude
Lower down we find,
Turforwation of product, which of course is something I really needed to know.
I was pleased to see on the front, though, a label saying,
DREAMING OF THE OUTDOORS" which I thought was rather sweet, and they sign off with,
Had a wonderful time. the chinese manufacturing!
Now, how many Western manufacturers (assuming there are any left) send you on your way with such a pleasant sentiment?
Took the dogs for a quick dash down to the river early this afternoon, but got slightly delayed by Chris phoning - I kept expecting the signal to disappear, so I walked more slowly. (No, I realise this doesn't make very much logical sense, but there you are, that's how it happened.)
Amazingly, we still had a signal by the time I reached the field at the bottom, beyond Roseghyll. It's quite interesting trying to carry on a telephone conversation while (a) taking photos and (b) attempting to throw sticks in the river for your dogs without (c) dropping your phone in the water or (d) getting your camera wet. I'm surprised I didn't throw the phone for the dogs to retrieve while taking photos with the stick and talking to the camera.
At one point Pace found a small plank, which she insisted I threw for her. It was so heavy it went whizzing off downstream rather fast, and Pace almost went with it. Visions of Baby Roo flitted through my memory.
Above - Pace finds a plank
COWS
Last week, it was cows. The cows think they own the field. Well, I suppose they do spend more time there than we do, but still....
You go down to the water's edge to throw sticks for your dogs, get the dogs nice and wet, and then, when you're ready to go, you find the field, previously apparently empty, now contains a herd of curious Fresians, staring languidly down at you.
I don't mind cows. They're slow and harmless, and the worst thing they do is create mud and shite in the places I want to walk. Other than that, they're just fine. And they've got rather nice eyes, too. Ghyll, however, isn't fond of cows, and gets somewhat spooked by their silent gazing. So he barks at them, rather loudly, until they shrug their shoulders in an impenetrable bovine way and wander off.
Above - the cows who think they own the field.
Last night I went out in the garden after dark to get something from the car. The Security light went on, and I looked across the cobbles. There was Aineko, out in the middle, crunching something. At first I thought it was a bird, but as I got nearer I realised it had fur. Oh. My little cat had killed a small rabbit and was in the process of eating it, head first.
Right. OK. I can handle this.
So I sort of slunk away back to the house and left her to get on with it.
Above - could it have been this one?
Rabbits are a pain in the bottom around here. They eat everything we try to grow in the veg garden, and dig holes. They're a bloody nuisance. They are also incredibly cute. It's very hard to reconcile these feelings. I remind myself that cats are predators, and rabbits are prey, and this is the way things are supposed to be. Rabbits are not an endangered species. They don't behave like the ones in Watership Down. It's perfectly OK and fine for Aineko to eat them, and I should be proud of her.
I suppose I am, sort of. Just don't make me watch her do it.
I went out later and found a few furry bits. Most of it was gone.
