Stupid cockerel

I'm sat here at my AirBNB on a Monday morning not working again because there is ANOTHER national holiday; I know most people would be glad for long weekends but yeah; not me, right now. I just got back from an attempt to go into town to mooch around some hobby stores and found that not even Carrefour was open so I turned round and made my trip out into a short cycle around the roads near where I'm living. I saw a local bike race whoosh past me, some storks in a field, a few other people on bicycles and not much else.

This blog could have been called "what have I been eating?" as you'll see in a bit however the major theme of the week has been the cockerel and its not-quite-complete crow which has woken me every morning at about 5am (except one when miraculously it didn't crow but my phone did connect to WifI that doesn't normally reach my bedroom and starting buzzing at, you guessed it, 5am). I don't know if it'd be any more acceptable if the crow was complete, of course. All I do know is this crow is very annoying indeed.

My regular visitors; the bunny rabbits

When the mad cockerel had two ladies

Any twitchers able to identify this?

Corn, corn and corn

A rapidly darting dragonfly

One of the hundreds of butterflies I have seen

Cattle underneath coppiced willow trees

You can't argue totally with the wildlife around here though. Just now I've watched a tiny little wren bouncing around on the fence near the patio doors though sadly it disappeared when I got the camera out. The rabbits are a continual presence, along with the chickens of course (though the noisy cockerel has appeared to lose a wife - he only has one with him now). Yesterday I was sat at this table getting on with a few bits and bobs for Christmas day when I heard an interesting sounding bird and was just in time to glimpse it flying off into the distance and grab a bad photograph, though you can see it is mid-cry which is quite cool. Other than that I got out last Saturday for a walk around the local area as I thought I'd seen a footpath sign but found out pretty quickly that it was just a no entry (apart from on bike or foot) and so didn't go all that far along the road. It went between fields of sweetcorn and then a field of wheat and it was very beautiful but very samey. My picture of the beautiful dragonfly came out far better than expected as it was flitting around madly and I wasn't even sure if it was in frame when I snapped.

Carried A's birthday present back on The Bike

I love this picture

Some glimpse of a sunset through the trees. Nearly.

My lovely peaceful spot

One bloom remains through the storms

Other than that it's been a time of working and cycling and feeling tired and eating and not doing very much else. The Bike has proven itself to be an awesome workhorse and has transported some pretty unwieldy loads without any problem as I've been buying presents for A's birthday when she is here. The weather has been up and down - one time I got so soaked while walking to get lunch that I had to change into my cycling tracksuit bottoms for the afternoon. The evenings, when clear, have been beautiful though and I can just about see the sunset through the trees though photographing it is a challenge. Yesterday I tried to have a sleep on the lawn as I hadn't had a great night previously for some reason and I spread a rug on the grass and nearly dozed off before, you guessed it, the white devil appeared and started screeching at me. One obvious impact of the unsettled weather is the roses have sadly taken a battering. There is one bloom hanging on proudly though.

A filet steak (melt in the mouth) with my attempt at spicy wedges

The wedges worked so I did them again, with pork chops this time

Roast lamb, roast spuds and carrots, and beans. Nom!

BBQ Chicken with more spicy wedges

Testing out another Irish steak - it was lovely

Pork medallions with boiled spuds and green beans in butter

My dirty takeaway night, sat in the sun

Trying the local grub - Steak Hache Ardennes

And so, the meat of this update (yes, that WAS an attempt at a pun) and you can see why I said this could be an update just about what food I've eaten. I really have caught the bug for taking pictures of my food and for that I apologise. I have settled into a bit of a routine now with a banana and glass of water before I get on my bike to work, some crusty rolls with cured meat at lunch, and then a proper feed in the evening. I felt like a takeaway one night but had something on the edge of its date to cook so put off my takeaway to the next, when it wasn't actually all that great. The pizza was nice but the sides were a bit meh. At least I'm not going to starve, and I'm even managing to lose weight what with all the cycling I'm doing.

I'm given a big new (and heavy) sofa

The cockerel ran away from the little girl

A few things have actually happened while I've been typign this up. I can still hear the wren but I haven't seen it since but then I've had visitors in the form of the guy who lets this place out and his brother who brought me a new sofa to replace the old one in the lounge. I think he's been on holiday and got back yesterday as there's certainly more bustle around the place right now. Also I heard the sound of their daughter in her electric car somewhere in the grounds and then the cockerel shot across the lawn and the next minute appeared up in a bush! I've asked for and received a sweeping brush so as soon as I get this published I'm going to have a quick clean through the place and get rid of all the flies that my much-better fly spray have littered everywhere.

Thanks for reading.

I can't wait to get home though.