At last!

Here we are, nearly four o'clock in the afternoon, and I'm only just posting.  I would have done so about ten minutes ago but Tony rang to offer me a lift to Lions tonight.  OK, so we didn't stay chatting - there will be time for that later - but any incoming call cuts off my internet connection for several minutes afterwards.  It never used to and I think it probably went on for some time before I noticed it.  My ISP is, apparently, known to be just about the least reliable as far as connections go.  But it's cheap, and internet connectivity is not exactly vital.  Or, rather, reliably continuous internet connectivity is not vital.  So I put up with it, especially as it means I pay for almost no phone calls - even to international destinations.

I was way behind schedule (we pronounce that shed you'll, not than sked Yule) anyway.  I had several things to do that had been hanging around for some time and they were becoming increasingly urgent.  So, I wrote a little list and, hey presto!, all but two of the jobs are done and dusted.

"Walk the dog" was not one of the jobs I listed, it being so much a matter of routine.  Anyway, walk the dog I did and this afternoon we headed for 39 Acres and the Roman Camp.  I was astonished to see quite a sizeable flock of swallows.  I don't recall ever having seen swallows here in mid October; I would have expected them to have gone a fortnight or so ago.  And there is - or was a couple of days ago - a pair of warblers in the garden.  I know that there are a few warblers that stay here over the winter, but I didn't think chiffchaffs and willow warblers were among them.  This pair is one or the other - but I can't tell the two breeds apart except by their song - and they aren't singing at this time of the year.