Saturday 28th June 2014

Tuesday.

And on the sixth day of the holiday, the weather was rather inclement. In fact the weather changed Monday evening, as the clouds thickened and the heaven opened. It cleared again pretty quickly, but the rain caused evening mists rise for the forest and the lake, obscuring the mountains in the distance.

At first the day was just cloudy, the mountains then disappeared from view, and then the rain began. Sadly, we had chosen that moment to walk to the shop on the site, so after buying a bottle of milk, we stood in the doorway as the rain hammered down. It eased a little, and so we made a dash for it, or as much of a dash as it can be with us struggling up the hill to the cabin.



The rain continued to fall, so we put the radio on and waited. And waited. I cooked pasta for lunch, and still the rain continued to fall outside. We listened to more radio. And then there was a bang. A bird had flown into the closed window and now lay stunned on the stoop. I picked it up and cradled it for a while, it looked stunned, and I did not think it would make it.



In time it recovered, and I was able to guess it was a Blue Tit fledgling, and soon it began chirping for its parents. It perked u some more, but still did not want to fly. As more rain threatened, I worried if it got cold then it might not survive, so I went to ick it u, and off it flew, as if nothing had ever been wrong.



Late in the afternoon, the skies cleared some and so Jools and I went for a walk, heading to the red squirrel hide, hoping to see some red action. When we reached the hide, I don’t know what we expected, but what we did see were numerous feeders, and birds everywhere; Chaffinches, Siskins, Nuthatches, Wagtails, Pipits, and there were squirrels. Red ones too! In time two of them came closer and climbed the bird feeders and stole peanuts. I got shots, but in the gloom of the wood, not many came out, but still, red squirrels!



Back at the cabin, we got ready for England’s last game, a dead rubber as we were already out and Costa Rica were already through. In the end it was a poor game, England were bereft of ideas and skill, and so the game ended in a tame 0-0 draw, so securing our first point of the world cup. Now we go home. In the other game, Suarez bit another layer, and now seems certain to miss the rest of the competition, despite his team knocking Italy out.