Catches

But me and the chaps (well, them - I can't catch a cold at the moment) did get some living creatures in our sweaty mitts at the weekend...

Nothing, zip, nil, none

I'm a broken man.
Mr Bean 0 - Mighty Mouse 4 (empty traps, that is).

Result

Empty. I have a ghost mouse.
Now I'm scared...

Gotcha (?)

Both traps emptied of food again - and neither gone off.

But - and it's a bit but...the 'humane' trap is leaning as if full of Mighty Mouse...

Hols

Seafront at Cadiz

Palm trees in Rota

Wish my leylandii looked like this

Cadiz was a mix of styles - a lot of Spanish influence (duh) but it felt like Cuba, too

Deserted beach ... Rota

Meant to place a few pix on here to show how Mr Bean enjoyed a little stay in sunny Spain.
Rota, near Cadiz, was the venue - and what a hot time it was (for September).
Sangria was ace, company was better and a nice time was had by all.

It's empty, 11am

Watch this space...

Humane

Let it not be said that I am anything but a trier.

I am, however, becoming more and more like that nutty professor, above, from the Back to the Future films. I open the garage door, mouse has run off with food, trap is untouched. My hair is starting to resemble the mad prof...and I guess I need some sort of:

a) treatment;

b) counselling;

c) haircut.

I am now going to try the humane route with a humane trap.

If I catch, I will feature Mighty Mouse on here.

Wish me luck.

(and ok, I promise not to stick his awkward little body in the real trap)

You guessed it

Rats!

But no mice...

Nothing again

Ok, cheese doesn't work.

I tried - and failed.

It's feeling like I used to feel on opening the hen laying area as a child and finding eggs.

I now open the garage door - and hope to find a mouse.

How sad am I.

Anyway, Mighty Mouse lives - and is driving me nuts.

Nuts! Perhaps I should try those...

There's a mouse in my house

...well ok, not in my house, but in my garage.

I moved in a while ago, and was initially upset to find they found my fishing bait far more attractive than any fish has ever done.

So I locked that away.

And put down a trap...

I was not happy at doing this, but I'm a farmer's boy and humane traps were never our thing. Even the dog had a mole-catching role.

Anyway, I have now come up against Mighty Mouse.

He/she is very clever.

I bait the trap. I wait. It gets dark - I sleep.

Mouse comes out. Mouse eats bait - without disturbing trap.

I have used cheese - he has gobbled it.

I have used chocolate. He has gobbled it.

I have used marine halibut Dynamite Baits paste (anglers will understand). He has gobbled it.

When I test the trap, it nearly takes my arm off.

Advice please - and bait tips welcome... it's becoming a scene from that great film Mousehunt and we know how that ends.

And another thing...

I see that Ruby girl has been trumpeting the fact that she's had 100,000 visits to her blog.
Big deal.
This one has hit 1,000 today so watch your back Ruby2Shoes, Mr Bean is closing on in!

Whoa!

My youngest is away this week on holiday and texted me last night. 'Dad, jmpd off va rck at blu lagoon. It wa cold.'

That's the rock above, and it's a scary (Wales) jump. I would have done it, of course, if I had been there - I'm no wimp. Due to the ample proportions of my trunks, I would have advised any nearby families to take cover for fear of tidal waves, though.

Three days on...

...I guess it must have been the Next sale at the weekend?

There are lots of red bags going to and fro as busy women buy/take back/buy again/and take back things they liked the look of, didn't really need and then had a crisis of consicence when they got home.

Who'd be on the tills, eh.

Safe journey

I see Ruby is moving on to pastures new in York.
Good luck and safe journey, Ruby - I'll miss your Bury blog as will all the little Beanies.

Ecky thump

Jack Sugden (aka actor Clive Hornby) has died.

I grew up with Emmerdale Farm, as was.

Jack, Fraser Hines (Joe), Annie, Seth Armstrong, Amos and Mr Wilkes.

I'll raise a glass for you at't Woolpack tonight.

Wheely good

Had a month's rest but back in town, now.

While on holiday, went to that big wheel thingy in London - and it was really great.

What about putting one of those in the Abbey gardens?

Get well soon

How sad. I hear Monty Don has had a minor stroke and will be quitting his role as lead presenter of Gardeners' World. I like Monty. Get well soon - your garden needs you.

Err...what's going on here?
They look ok, but what did these little Abbeygate Street beauties cost?
I know, let's also:
- put speed bumps on the water meadows;
- sell advertising hoardings for the Abbey Gate;
- introduce car parking in the Abbey gardens, and:
- convert the cathedral into a Starbucks.

Oh, baby

Flying the nest

In she goes

Looking for some food

And found some...

Annoying (see earlier post) Cleverclogs has just shown me up with a number of pictures

We have Great Tits (we'll call them GTs) nesting and with young in the garden.

I have tried to capture the fast little fliers all week - to no avail. I've tried hiding in the undergrowth, crawling Army-style up the grass and all has failed.

Along he comes, stands right in front of the bird house and hey presto. Pictures.

Grrrr...

And just for good measure, he also caught the baby thrush.

Blackie the Blackbird...

And a rip-off of my bark shot from earlier on in my blogging career. Copy-cat.

Blank canvas

And here it is.

Waiting for plants.

A feast is gonna come...(hopefully).

That's an azalea in the foreground, apparently.

Ouch, that hurts

Mmmm...radishes

Carrots...ok.

I'm a farmer's son.
I have webbed feet from growing up in the Fens.
Now is my time to shine...
My back is aching from digging - but the raised vegetable beds are ready for business.
I'm aiming to produce the above.
I have this vision of BBC's The Good Life, where I'm Tom Good and Mrs Bean is Felicity Kendall.
We already have Margo and Jerry next door (names have been changed to protect the innocent).
I want to grow carrots that taste like carrots used to taste.
All I need now is a pair of Wellies...and a goat.

Damn and the ants

Annoying red ant

I'm in a stress. These blinking red ants are now burrowing all over my lawn.

I don't want to spray them - but I don't want to be bitten when I'm relaxing on my new Marlows chairs. Anyone know a humane/green way of suggesting they move on (to next door's garden)?

I can't even encourage Blackie the Blackbird to eat them.

Blackie the Blackbird (picture posed by a model)

He's more interested in the 26p Sainsburys Basics digestive biscuits which we feed him.

McVitie's Digestives (other digestive biscuits are available from outlets)

Help please.

Angel Hill

Ok, I understand the medieval beauty of Angel Hill.
However, the safety of young children should come first.
Trying to drive past there in the mornings is an accident waiting to happen - let's either see a lollipop person or a crossing point. The studs are all well and good but there ain't much definition for motorists and pedestrians as to who should go where.
Rant over.
We read about accident figures and the like needing to reach a certain level before work can be deemed necessary - what price a young life?
Sort it.

It's festival time

I love Bury Festival - especially the street theatre.

Tonight, I'll be at the Beating the Retreat ceremony - and then enjoying the Weapons of Sound performance in the Abbey Gardens.

Might even have my first Mr Whippy ice cream of the summer...I've saved up.

SITB of course

Sir Ian Terrence Botham.

He's doing a 7-mile walk there as part of his 2008 charity walk.

Details here:

http://www.bothamwalk.com/en/1/wwbick.html

He's coming...

Wahey! My hero is coming to Bury - well Ickworth.
Can't wait and now need to get training so I can meet him.

Phew, what a scorcher

...has got his hat on today in Bury.
Cycled in to work and swallowed lots of flies.
Sun, cheap breakfast...it's downhill from here.

Cut down

Just had a mooch around Bury Waitrose - and I'm crestfallen.

Ok, so I was looking at the baby stuff and my eye fell over the bottom butter area...nothing weird though.

There's now a sign up.

'Due to high customer demand and high media focus, bottom butter is temporarily unavailable.'

No mention of this blog.

Cut down in my prime...

Should I tell the manager? Am I being precious? Why am I talking to myself?

Here we grow, here we grow, here we grow

I am a gardener.
It's official.
Bean Jnr is now Bean Senior:

Sunny the Sunflower has also come out to take a look around the kitchen:

Err...what do I do with them now?

World shortage?

Been a little worse for wear the past couple of days.

Normally, the above does for me.

However, seems there is something of a world (or at least BSE) shortage.

Sainsburys: 'Sorry, sir, we have them on order. They are repackaging.'

Moreton Hall pharmacy: 'Sorry, sir, would Vics Sinex do?'

Tesco Express, Lawson Place: 'Sorry sir, we don't stock that'.

Be warned, oh snotty people of Bury...

Shock horror

...and it would seem the doors at Waitrose have this evening been broken.
Shoppers are being told to use the side doors - either they are expecting a rush for Bottom Butter or the stampede has broken the electronic mechanism.
The power of the blog.

The bottom line

Bottom butter. There, I've said it.
It was a shock to me - the nearest butter gets to my derriere is on my toast.
The Daily Mail story (link below - other news sources are available) says that the £2.49 Waitrose own brand pots are flying off the shelves.
I did a bit of detective work at the Bury branch - that very nice man Clive gave me a cheery smile as I went in - and it's right.
'Temporarily unavailable' said the little sticker where the BB should be.
Women, apparently, are lapping it up - and slopping it on their faces. It's cheaper than many (all?) the other creams around and leaves faces feeling like a baby's, er, bum.
Whatever next?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=560636&in_page_id=1770

Aerial up

Mr Nice Aerials Man (got his name from the Moreton Hall Directory) was a star.
Would happily recommend him to anyone.
Being a more sedate sort of person, the sight of him hiking up to my roof holding another ladder in his free hand will haunt me for ages.
What a wimp I am.

Broadly speaking

Back to the broad bean saga.
I overwatered the pot - hence the weird shape you can see at the base. It's giving way. Drastic measures needed.


Then came a new pot and Bean Junior (BJ) started to flourish.



Yesterday saw a growth spurt - it felt like something out of Jack and the Beanstalk.