Friday, 14 June 2013

Cats...

We like cats here at What Time. We even have our very own cat lady (in denial, but you can guess who she is, can't you?). Sleuth sent us this funny video... about cats, of course! Thanks, Sleuth.



I also have a couple of recent photos of "les chats."

Pirate

Pirouette


Thursday, 13 June 2013

No stress

View_From_Here sent us these wise words:

If you can start the day without caffeine,

If you can always be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains,

If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles,

If you can eat the same food every day and be grateful for it,

If you can understand when your loved ones are too busy to give you any time,

If you can take criticism and blame without resentment,

If you can conquer tension without medical help,

If you can relax without alcohol, 

If you can sleep without the aid of drugs,


Then You Are Probably
The Family Dog!

Handle every Stressful situation like a dog.
If you can't eat it or play with it,
Pee on it and walk way.

Thank you, View.

Wednesday, 12 June 2013

Musical Painting

This is a lovely video. Make sure you have the sound on...

Tuesday, 11 June 2013

Hey TW, don't call the cops!

I couldn't resist posting this old favourite after TW's comment about some loud neighbours: "If you put on some Van Morrison.....I won't call the cops. Maybe."



The next one makes me go all oooh...

Monday, 10 June 2013

One of the joys of summer

This is just a quick post because we have to go to the supermarket, which is not such a joy...


Sunday, 9 June 2013

Wonderful world

Amy sent us this spectacular video. I'm a great fan of David Attenborough and never miss any of his fantastic programs.



Thank you, Amy.

Saturday, 8 June 2013

He's not cheap...

GrannyJ sent us this story about Lee Trevino:


One day, shortly after joining the PGA tour in 1965, Lee Trevino, a professional golfer and married man, was at his home in Dallas, Texas, mowing his front lawn, as he always did. A lady driving by in a big, shiny Cadillac stopped in front of his house, lowered the window and asked,

"Excuse me, do you speak English?"

Lee responded, "Yes Ma'am, I do."

The lady then asked, "What do you charge to do yard work?"

Lee said, "Well, the lady in this house lets me sleep with her."

The lady hurriedly put the car into gear and sped off.

Thank you, GrannyJ.

Thursday, 6 June 2013

Living walls

I was googling something and came across these pictures. These walls are pretty and very low maintenance...






Wednesday, 5 June 2013

The handsome stranger

This story is by a Brazilian writer, Fernando Sabino, an old favourite of mine. It's a loose translation, but you'll get the story... It takes place in Rio de Janeiro, many, many years ago. I hope you'll enjoy it.

A teacher was waiting in line at the bank, looking forward to cashing the check for her monthly wages. A tall, well dressed, handsome man was waiting in another line. He smiled at her. She blushed and looked away, but her eyes had been warm and welcoming when he smiled. She decided that he was also a teacher drawing his money for the month.

The line moved, it was her turn, and she was distracted counting her money, carefully wrapping it in a paper tissue and putting the neat package in her handbag. She looked around for the handsome man. He had vanished.

She sighed, left the bank and hailed a taxi. When she reached for the handle, an arm appeared and opened the door for her: "Allow me. I was about to get into this taxi, but you were lucky and got here first..."


It was her "teacher."

"May I ask your destination?"

"I'm going home," she answered.

"Where would that be?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Well, perhaps we're headed the same way and could share the taxi," he said with a smile.

"I live in Rio Comprido."

"Now, that's a coincidence! I live very near Rio Comprido. May I accompany you?"

She was aprehensive, didn't want to appear to be an easy girl, but what could she do? If she refused, she might never see him again. He was so nice and polite, so handsome... and that smile! She just shrugged, feigning indifference, and entered the taxi. He entered after her.

The young woman gave directions to the driver, then discretely looked at her companion. He was sitting very still, his gaze fixed ahead, but he still had that smile. She thought it was strange, almost sinister.

His hand moved and she thought he was reaching for her hand. When she looked down, she saw the gun pointing at her.

"Open your handbag very slowly," he whispered. "Place the little package with the money by my side. Any reaction from you and I'll shoot."

Shaking from head to toe, keeping her eyes on the gun, she fumbled into her handbag, felt the package and placed it on the seat next to his thigh. He casually picked it up, put it in his pocket, put the gun away and told the driver, "I'm getting off here." As the taxi slowed down and came to a halt, he continued, "I'll give you a call later, darling," while he kissed her on the cheek. As he left the car, he added, to the motorist: "Get her home safely, please."

She was completely confused. She even thought he might actually ring her...

The taxi resumed the journey. After a few moments, she came to her senses and started shouting, "Stop the car! I've been mugged!" The driver stopped, turned around and asked how was it possible, why would her boyfriend mug her?

She explained everything in a very confused manner, but he understood it in the end.

"Shall we go to the police station to report it?"

"How can I report it? All I could tell them is that I was stupid enough to give a lift to a well dressed, smiling stranger! They won't be able to do anything. You'd better take me home."

She had to borrow money from her sister to pay the taxi fare. When she told her what had happened, the sister shook her head and said, "What were you thinking? How could you allow a complete stranger to ride with you?"

"Ok, ok, I was stupid. But how am I going to survive the month? How am I going to pay all the bills, get to work, eat???"

The sister was very practical: "You could get a loan. I know somebody at the bank and he can cut a few corners so you can get the money quickly."

They went to the bank by bus. The guy from the bank was very helpful and sympathetic when he heard her story. In no time at all the forms were filled in. "All I need now is a photo ID with your signature and we're done," he said.

She rummaged through her handbag looking for her ID card, but found something else: Her neat tissue wrapped package containing her money!

"I don't need a loan. I found my money!" She was crying with joy, but laughing uncontrolably at the same time.

Her sister and the bank employee were visibly puzzled.



"I gave the mugger a sanitary pad!"

Monday, 3 June 2013

Very handsome birds

View_From_Here sent us photos of some spectacular birds. Thanks, View.

Sup - Polish Chicken

Bleeding Heart Pigeons

Flamecrest

Formosan Magpie

Golden Pheasant

Green Jay

Himalayan Monal

Lady Amherst's Pheasant

Nicobar Pigeon

Quetzal

Peacock

Sunday, 2 June 2013

Orchids

These orchids look quite unusual. Maybe it's my eyesight, but I think they look like bunches of daffodils...


Saturday, 1 June 2013

Posh bird

Doesn't this bird look aristocratic with his dashing moustache? I tried to find out its name, but google is playing up and won't load the page...




Friday, 31 May 2013

Sounds familiar?

View_From_Here sent us a timely warning:

A.A.A.D.D.- KNOW THE SYMPTOMS!

Thank goodness there's a name for this disorder.

Age-Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.

This is how it manifests:

I decide to water my garden. As I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my car and decide it needs washing.

As I start toward the garage, I notice mail on the porch table that I brought up from the mail box earlier.

I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.

I lay my car keys on the table, put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table, and notice that the can is full.

So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the garbage first...

But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out the garbage anyway, I may as well pay the bills first.

I take my check book off the table, and see that there is only one check left. My extra checks are in my desk in the study, so I go inside the house to my desk where I find the can of Pepsi I'd been drinking.

I'm going to look for my checks, but first I need to push the Pepsi aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over.

The Pepsi is getting warm, and I decide to put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.

As I head toward the kitchen with the Pepsi, a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye - they need water.

I put the Pepsi on the counter and discover my reading glasses that I've been searching for all morning. I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I'm going to water the flowers.

I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote. Someone left it on the kitchen table.

I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV, I'll be looking for the remote, but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs, but first I'll water the flowers.

I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on the floor.

So, I set the remote back on the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill.

Then, I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day:

The car isn't washed,
The bills aren't paid,
There is a warm can of Pepsi sitting on the counter,
The flowers don't have enough water,
There is still only 1 check in my check book,
I can't find the remote,
I can't find my glasses,
And I don't remember what I did with the car keys.
Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today,
I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day.
And I'm really tired.


I realize this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get some help for it, but first I'll check my e-mail....

Thank you, View.

Thursday, 30 May 2013

This is for the "kitty moms"

TW and Sleuth have their hands full at the moment. This is for them and all the other cat lovers.

So lovely!



Wednesday, 29 May 2013

Our feathered friends

We have new customers at our bird restaurant since we opened a "take-out" section. The two grease and seed balls that we hung on the window shutters were nearly finished, so I broke them up and scattered the remains on the window ledge. It was an instant hit with the great tits. They had never stopped for a meal before; only the blue tits frequented our fine establishment. The new customers like to get a nice lump of food from the buffet, then fly to the neighbour's (Monsieur Soup) wall to eat their meal.

There's a tree opposite the window, about 50 or 60 ft away. We call it the "launch tree." The birds congregate there, then launch themselves towards our window, flying in an endearing bouncy fashion. They land on the two telephone cables just outside the window and take turns to help themselves to the food. Peter observed one of the blue tits hanging upside-down on the cable, with only one foot on it, the little show-off!  The great tits tend to chase the blue tits away if they dare land on the ledge at the same time, even if they're at the other end, hiding behind my herb pots...


The restaurant

Launch tree and "waiting" cables

A well behaved customer

We know that these things are pretty trivial for seasoned bird watchers, but as beginners, we're fascinated by them. The great and the blue tits are like teenagers from rival gangs; it's quite entertaining to watch their antics...


********

This great tit turned up after I had published the post. He was facing the wrong way, but he did come to the ledge for a nibble, eventually.


Sunday, 26 May 2013

The lightness of marble

I came across these pictures and I find it incredible how the artist managed to create the illusion of lightness and transparency from a hard material like marble.

The artist is Raffaele Monti (1818-1881).


Motherhood

Detail

The Sleep of  Sorrow and the Dream of Joy

Detail

A Veiled Vestal Virgin

Detail