The Wanderer

Hello there! I am currently counting down the days until I return home for the summer. It’s a bit dull here to be honest. At every other holiday I go home quite early and everyone has loads of fun without me. This time I thought I’d hang around a bit, only to discover that summer is the one holiday where everyone goes home as soon as possible. I know three people that are still in the city and they are all busy with their own things anyway.

What’s more frustrating is that not only do I not have internet access in the house but also the navigator button on my phone is broken so I can’t do anything of that beyond reading and replying to messages. My brief internet times have come when I’ve been to the university library or the local Starbucks. I’ve sort of become addicted to Starbucks. The staff in this branch are always nice and I’ve now got a usual table and a usual beverage. Every time I go in there I have a “Frappuccino” (an ice drink) which is a Mocha Cookie Crumble. They are the best things ever! Originally I went into Starbucks just to get internet access but that has now transformed into going to get a Mocha Cookie Crumble and internet access being an added bonus.

I’ve been trying to keep myself busy where possible. I purchased a new 3DS game yesterday, Mario Tennis Open, and it came with a free tennis-ball shaped stress ball which I was more excited about than I probably should have been. I’ve also been going on lots of walks to make the most of this lovely weather while it lasts. On Monday though a man thought I was a jogger. I’m not sure how I should take that really. Firstly, do I look like I jog? I look like I need to jog but I certainly do not look like a jogger. Secondly, are my clothes that casual that they look like jogging clothes? I was wearing a t-shirt and shorts so I suppose I can just about forgive that one. But worst of all was the fact he thought I looked like I’d just been jogging. I may have been a bit hot because it was a hot day and my hair was probably a mess because it always ends up that way past lunchtime. But really, I looked dreadful enough to look like I’d been jogging on a really hot day? Thanks Mr. Random Old Man, thanks a lot.

Exciting news about Martha the Moorhen. (For more on this story see here and here). Martha’s eggs have hatched and the chicks are out of the nest. Unfortunately I’ve not been able to see them and see if all five are still ok but yesterday I saw Martha hanging round by a bush on the edge of the water and when she went in it I could hear some chirps so I know the chicks are around. Clearly Martha is doing a pretty good job at having them hidden away. I have seen some other Moorhen chicks though:

^{I very much love in this photo how the chick on the left is copying Mummy only to discover it has no feathers yet…}

Yesterday I decided to go for a really long walk which is kind of what the title is about. It turns out it was only a couple of hours but it was exhausting in this heat. I’ve got a heap of photos from then and a few other trips out that I took so I shall end with some of the best of them. Hope you like them!

^{A fantastic sunset.}

^{A couple of beautiful river shots. I love Britain at this time of year.}

^{A duck and a swan.}

^{A tunnel I had to walk through. Fantastic brickwork.}

^{A damselfly I saw. Different from a dragonfly, though similar. Damselflies tend to be more fragile looking and they sit with their wings closed whilst dragonflies sit with their wings open.}

See you all soon!