*Sigh* The perils of living with little furry killing machines

I love my cats, but there are times when I could do without being reminded of their instincts..

Up til now, they have been fairly restrained - Loki brings in earthworms, which I can live with (although I feel sorry for them when he leaves them too near the radiator, and they dry out before I find them), and I have had to deal with one or two sad little sets of remains (which I would mind less if they didn't leave them on the living room carpet)

I came downstairs this morning to find both cats very intent on *something* in the fireplace. 


I moved the pictures to see if they had lost something, but couldn't find anything, but then 10 minutes later, as I was making toast, I heard squeaking, and Loki came running out of the living room (Coraline closely behind him) with a small furry squeaky thing in his mouth, and went out into the garden. (which on the whole I am glad about. I do not want small rodents in the house, alive *or* dead)

I did follow them out to see whether I could liberate the victim, but they were not prepared to give it up (Loki just ran away, but Coraline, dear, sweet Coraline, who is snuggly even with the vet, actually growled when I tried to get her to give it up.)  

I did manage to get it under a flower pot but fear that it had no sense of self preservation, as it burrowed out from underneath and got itself caught again. :(

I wish it was possible to teach them not to hunt, or at least not to play with their food. 

(although it is a reminder of just how strong instinct is. They have not been taught any of this - they left their mother pretty young and were brought up indoors, with no opportunity or need to hunt. )

I don't know, for certain, how the small sad squeaky thing got *into* the house, but I strongly suspect that one of them caught it and brought it in - I think it was a shrew, not a house, and I  don't think they come into houses on their own, much.

Back to Work

I went back to work last Friday, which was probably a good thing - having a one day working week to ease back into the working routine lessens the shock! 

I have now written all my christmas thank you letters, and paid my December credit card bill, and taken down all the decorations, and the tree (which naturally shed needles in a thick layer on the floor through the house to the back door!) The tree is now waiting in the garden to be put out with the rest of the recycling, on Tuesday morning.

It's actually been having adventures since then - last night was very wild and windy - nothing like the 100 mph gales they have had in Scotland, but never the less very energetic. This morning I found that the tree had migrated half way down the garden (and that the recycling boxes were all the way down to the end, so I spent some time picking up all the recycling!) 

And of course, the cats decided to make today the day that they played tag along the top of the fences and walls, and up onto the roofs of the sheds and the kitchen. 

I don't know that this is the first time they have been up there (I know Loki, at least, has been up on the fences before) but it is the first time I've *seen* either of them on the shed roof, and the first time I have seen Coraline (who is smaller, and generally less adventurous, than Loki) on the fence or the wall (both about 6' high).

As you can tell from all this, I am having a quiet weekend at home. I do have some fun things planned - next week I am going to see 'To Kill a Mockingbird' in Bath, then the weekend after I am planning to see an adaptation of Neil Gaiman's 'Stardust'. Then at the end of the month I'm hoping to have a visit from my cousin and her husband and little boy, and at the beginning of February I shall be going to London, to meet up with my parents, and to see the Magna Carta at the British Library. 

And I am still making plans to have some work done on the house. I had someone come round just before christmas, and have just had their quote, which is not as horror-inspiring as I had feared. I have asked them for clarification on some points but it looks as though I should be able to get most of what I want doing, done, at least indoors. (I shall have to wait for the outside work, I think)

So all in all, I am cautiously optimistic about 2015 so far!

(Now, if I can only shake off this cold . . .)

Fiends, Men in Pants, and Comics!

This weekend has been a lot of fun.
On Friday I met my friend Anabel (who was passing through Bath, en route from Dublin to London) and after having yummy Nepalese food at Yak Yeti Yak, including a delicious dessert made with yoghurt and orange and saffron, then  I headed over the the Theatre Royal to see Matthew Bourne's 'Early Adventures'

It was fun! Three short pieces; The first, Spitfire, featuring four competitive (male) underwear models, the second, Town and Country featured a 1930's styled set of short pieces, to well known music, including Elgar's 'Pomp and Circumstances' and including synchronised bathing and dressing, a 3-minute version of  'Brief Encounter',an interpretation of 'Shepherd's Hay', a Clog Dance, and some synchronised scooter-riding. The final piece, The Infernal Galop (A French dance with English Subtitles') which included a sexy encounter in a pissoir, some matelots and culminated in the least be-ruffled and most entertaining version of the Can-Can you could ever hope to see.

If you didn't think ballet could be funny, this will change your mind.

While I was watching fit young men in their underwear, Anabel was seeing The Avengers, and when both had finished, we headed home for chatting.

Then yesterday, as the sun came out, we headed out to Wells on a Hot Fuzz pilgrimage, which included visiting St Cuthbert's Church, the Market Place, and Wells Cathedral and Bishop's Palace. We also bought cornettos at 'City News', but didn't shoot any one.

Bishop's Palace, Wells

Although Wells is still what I think of as my home town, (or maybe because I still think of it as home) it's been a long time since I last did the tourist thing.

Cloister

The Cathedral is beautiful. And although there were lots of  musicians and choristers in the nave, preparing for a concert, but other areas such as the Cloisters, Chapter House and the museum in the Undercroft were relatively empty.

Undercroft door

After  visiting the cathedral (and enjoying our cornettos), we had lunch at  The Old Spot, which is one of my favourite restaurants - on any given day, the menu will be short, but everything is always fresh, seasonal, locally sourced, and oh-so-delicious...

After gorging ourselves  enjoying lunch we headed over to Bristol, where the Bristol Comics Expo was going on.  We met up with Cheryl Morgan, Paul Cornell and Mike Carey, in the bar, and I ended up spending the hour or so chatting with them (much fun) while Anabel headed over to the Expo to see Ian Sharman, then Anabel introduced me to Ian and Holly and we went out for another meal..

Today was much quieter, involving Anabel and I relaxing and chatting and eating the chocolates she until it was time to put her on a train, and for me to go back to laundry and other housework.

A VERY fun weekend, and, for what feels like the first time in months, the sun was out.

Cats

This evening, I was sitting eating supper.

I noticed a squeaking sound from the doorway into the hall.

This isn't unusual. Now that it is getting colder, I am in the habit of keeping the doors and windows closed, so Tybalt has to knock to come in or out.

With the door, he knows that sometimes he can hook his paw under the door and pull it open, so that's what he tries, hence the squeak.

So, like a well-trained human, I got up to open the door.

He immediately sat down (just outside the door).

He didn't come through the door.

He looked at me, with a look of utter disdain, as if to ask why on earth I was standing in the doorway.

He didn't come through the door.

Eventually, I gave up, and sat down again.

As I did, I heard a squeaking sound from the doorway....

Which is mostly an excuse for pretty pictures of flowers

We have had several beautiful sunny days, and the garden, small as it is, is blooming. I have aquilegia (which I don’t recall having planted – perhaps they hitched a ride with something else I transplanted from my parent’s garden), plus my surviving clematis has started to flower,

as have my pansies.
And none of my vegetables have died yet, which is a bonus.
Tybalt has been enjoying the sunshine, and so have I (although I have not (at least as yet) been rolling around on the patio!

Comic Relief and Cats (and Anteaters)

So, it was Red Nose Day on Friday, and on Twitter I noticed (via a tweet from Paul Cornell) that one Laurie Pink was offering to draw pictures in return for donations for Comic Relief...

I looked at the pictures on her site, and really liked them, so I made my donation, and requsted some (Sneaky) cats (Although I think for most cats, 'Sneaky' is probably the default position.

Later in the evening, I asked whether I might perhaps have some Anteaters as well as or instead of the cats, because, well, Anteaters rock.

And some time on Sunday night, while I was sleeping, pictures were drawn, and I woke up on Monday morning to this



Which I think anyone would agree is an extremely nice thing to wake up to on a Monday morning! You can see a bigger version (which hasn't had the edgs cut off) at Laurie's Twitpic page where you can also see the pictures done for other people.

The original deal was that Laurie was making pictures for anyone who donated, and tweeted her with details before midnight on Friday. Whether she would be prepared to consider new requests now is something whih you would have to ask her!

Enjoy!

Aphrodisias

From Selcuk we went to Aphrodisias – about 175 Kilometres from Ephesus. It’s a lot further inland and much higher up, (about 1,900 feet above sea level) which meant it was much colder, although most of the day was bright and sunny we definitely needed coats!

The city is on plateau in the hills so there are stunning views in all directions, and it was almost deserted.

If Ephesus is impressive, Aphrodisias is utterly mind-blowing. It covers an even larger area (and there are huge areas which haven’t yet been excavated.
Historically, it was named for Aphrodite and as it was sited near several marble quarries it became famous for sculpture. The temple of Aphrodite was turned into a Christian church in the 5th century, by moving walls and pillars to almost turn it inside out.


The gates / portico from one end is still standing, together with quite a few pillars – it must have been an immense building. They know, from inscriptions, that the temple, and the theatre, were paid for by a leading citizen named Zoilos, who is believed to have been a freed slave – possibly a slave to the Emperor.

Most of the ruins date back to the 1st & 2nd Centuries AD, and most are still in situ although some of the carvings have been moved into the museum or to Istanbul.

These are the original masks from a frieze above the stage in the theatre, which have been moved under cover

There is a stadium, which could seat around 30,000 and is one of the largest and best preserved in the world –

It still has the original entrances through which the participants would enter – one of these has been excavated so you can see the original ground level, several feet below the current level.

The whole structure is huge, and so well preserved you can still see the carvings on some of the seats saying who they were reserved for, and the places where ropes were fixed (for awnings?)

There are the remains of the agora (market places) and Baths, and houses.

And there was another Amphitheatre – even better preserved than the one at Ephesus. As it was almost deserted I gave in to my inner drama queen and took the opportunity to give it my best Shakespearean soliloquy (To be or not to be, since you ask. It’s the only one I know well enough to do without prompting)

I doubt that it would score highly in terms of acting ability but it’s an amazing feeling, and the acoustics, even without the rear wall, are amazing!

It's too small and far away to see properly, but that is me on stage (wearing my ‘Graveyard Book’ Neverwear shirt!)

There were pomegranate trees among the ruins – they had shed all their leaves, but the fruit were still on the trees, burst open like flowers.

And there were, of course, more archaeological cats.

We also went into the museum, where some of the more delicate statues and carvings have been moved, including most of the originals from the Sebasteion (Temple of Deified Emperors) which included one of Claudius (who I always think of as Derek Jacobi) conquering Britain.

On a few of them you could see traces of colour, where the stautes were originally painted (very garishly, if the research is to be believe

Apparently, builders in the 1st century were no more reliable than they are today – there is archaeological evidence that some of the statues were put up in the wrong place, so they have the wrong ‘captions’!

This entire place is stunning - I found it more so than even Rome or Athens - perhaps because it is less familiar. The really amazing part is how little of the site this represents. There were various ditches and other holes in the ground which (to the untrained eye) seemed to be natural rather than man made; you'd just look down and see half a classical pillar sticking out - there were also a group of 6 or 7 pillars standing amidst a clump of trees and brambles, which didn't seem to be important enough to be fenced off or labelled...

This (below) is the Sebasteion - the reliefs on the building to the left are copies (the originals are in the museaum, but the rest of the building is original. And roughly 2000 years old.

Ephesus

Difficult to describe – Ephesus (Efes) was the site of the temple of Artemis, one of the 7 wonders of the world, but that no longer exists. (I think there may be part of one piller somewhere, but we didn't identify it) So as you can see, there is nothing at all worth looking at, at all, any more….!

One of the things which strikes you is just how big the place is. There are several paved roads, the reconstructed library, one large and one small ampitheatre, various temples, and lots and lots of cats. (it's possible that the cats are not quite as ancient as the rest of the site)

The cats (not only here, but all over Turkey) seem to be semi-feral. They don't appear to belong with anyone specific, but they do seem to be encouraged rather than merely tolerated. I never saw anyone doing anything more then shoo them gently away (out of restaurants, for instance) and lots of people seem to put food out for them - I noticed little heaps of kibble, in the parks.

This is the street running down to the Library -

And this is the library of Celsus - it had collapsed, and the facade was rebuild, using the original pieces. Apparently when it was originally built it had to be 'slotted in' between other buildings, so the pillers were made different sizes to make it look wider and more imposing than it truly is. (Although I have to say, it's pretty imposing!)

The larger of the 2 ampitheatres. This one seated 25,000 people. Apparently they had gladiators there, as well as theatre and public debates.


Another of the street - the large ampitheatre is the bit on the right (by the crane). The crane seems to be there as they are doing some work shoring up the back wall of the theatre - but it doea make you think what a huge undertaking this must have been when it was origianlly built, with no such help.

I may be very ignorant, but until we visited, it had never occurred to me that the Ephesians to whom St Paul wrote his Epistles were the residents of Ephesus... St John and the virgin Mary apparently came, too. I also didn't know, before we came, that the city used to be a port, with a harbour to the sea, and this was one of the reasons it became such an important city (It was the Roman administrative capital for about half of Asia Minor) - then from about the 4th Century AD the harbout silted up and the city went downhill (as it were). It's about 3 miles inland, now.


Across the valley is the 'Mary's House' - alledgedly where Mary spent her decling years - the house was found after a local residenct had a prophetic dream. It's now a major pilgrimage site and tourist attraction. A cynical person but become suspicious...

We didn't go, so it is always possible that I missed the opportunity for a deep and meaningful spiritual experience. I have to admit that my first thought was that if the site is accurate, it was most unkind of the early church to build a house for an elderly lady right at the top of a steep hill and right away from the city....

We spent several hours exploring the site - I would imagine that in the summer it is packed with coach parties, and it was wonderful to have the opportunity of seeing much of it almost alone.