THE BUSY WORLD OF SQUIRREL NUTKIN & TOMMY BROCK

Time was that July and August were our quietest months.  No longer!  It seems that along with the climate, your shopping patterns are changing.  Gone are the days of long lazy afternoons only briefly interrupted by just a little light picking and packing.  This year the garden cushions have stayed in their boxes, and the new chairs artfully positioned on the edge of the ha-ha have yet to bear the imprint of a human bottom.  I specify 'human' because only this morning I saw a couple of squirrels balancing on them, the better to admire the view as they breakfasted.  Cheeky beggars – not quite as cheeky though as the badgers who have taken up residence either in the wilderness, or in the paddock.  Deliberately or not they cause havoc, as the dogs need hear only the slightest snuffle or scent the slightest whiff, to go beserk.  Our sainted posties are very used to the vocalising that greets their approach, and so it now seems are our wild tenants – they really couldn’t give a monkey’s, and have worked out that so long as the dogs are inside, they can go on doing whatever they want with zero fear of any repercussions.  So the lawn and orchard have become ankle-breaking no-go zones as both species have dug furiously to store food for the winter, and seed filled poo litters the garden in quantities I would have thought impossible, just a few months ago.  Oh it’s marvellous, this ‘living in the country’ lark.  Who knew?!