Mindful?

Grey swirly skies and a peachy hue splodged with the palest blue.  It's warm and toasty for January and I think the birds are confused: they are certainly singing their hearts out.  I bird watch with my ears a lot of the time, so I "spot" robin, song thrush, blue tit, woodpecker (and spend ages trying to find him in the trees) canada geese on the sticky flooded fields, and a jackdaw fly past.

I tried to walk from Budleigh to Sidmouth but the path is closed due to a collapsed culvert apparently and the alternative path up to Otterton is like walking on solid, sticky, slippy chocolate mousse.  Boot imprints and dog paw prints.  It's not my idea of a nice path so I veer off at White Bridge, and decide that instead of trying to walk to Sidmouth I will go with what's in front of me, see what presents, rather than be a tiny bit grumpy.  Well that's the theory as I slide along.....

The old road up to Otterton is collapsing a bit more each time I walk it.  It's lined with curly, crinkled brown beech leaves and some kind of nut mast or case, I am not great on tree identification.  I could lump up the road to Ladram and Sidmouth but actually it's been a frantic week - and January isn't a time when I or anyone else seems to abound with energy.  Grey. So I march down to Otterton mill for tea and cheese scone (got to be better than the sandwich I brought with me)

Beaver spotting along the river on the way back.  Apparently they have been re introduced.  I can't see one.  Woud be very surprised and delighted if I did though. And the question of the day - where do the Budleigh beach huts go in Winter?  Who spirits them away.  Are they flat-packable?

Roman Exeter

I've always had a fascination with arms and armour and Roman soldiers.  Today I dipped into the museum as it was bitingly cold outside and I had a freeish Saturday morning.  I am really not sure if I have ever seen the Roman Exeter exhibits before, but for an hour I stared at strap ends, belt buckles, helmet hooks and a rusted dagger frame lost by legionaries visiting the bath house adjacent to the cathedral green. So early. The dagger reconstruction clearly portrayed the military men who occupied this city back then.
I remember the bathhouse when it was briefly excavated - I was small and it was probably in the 70s.  I wish I could remember it more clearly.

There were legionary burial finds with pottery and bits of glassware, little statuettes found in cremations in holloway street.  Mosaics and fragments of tile and hypocaust - Roman central heating.  Fragments of a beautiful blue glass vessel - a modern reconstruction showed it with a charioteer ramping across it. (I love glass, particularly blue and green) Knife handles with snarling animals.  Glass and amber beads, bowls of my favourite red samian ware, and jet bracelets, shale bracelets, gold finger rings.

Broken combs and an elaborate twisty handled mirror, tweezers and needles, a wooden shovel. It's a beautiful museum and I am embarrassed that I visit so rarely.

Teasmaid?

Brrrr. That's a more wintery morning temperature.  Lying in bed I contemplate the teasmaid.  As you do when you are 1) on your own 2) too lazy to get up and make a cuppa.

Mum has Dad - he's quite happy to potter around and make tea first thing whenever that is. But when I was living at home, my grandparents gave them a teasmaid.  I googled it - they are apparently "enjoying a revival and have retro styles available".  I remember it hissing and gurgling and I could hear it from my own bedroom, it woke you up before the blare of it's light and alarm. What a bizarre and excellent invention!

I'm not that desperate for tea!  I think about having a house robot - watch the excellent film"I robot" and you might cautiously welcome this idea until the "upgrade" happens and the first duty of the robots is to destroy not protect humans.  Because we are wasteful, violent and flawed. Hmm, interesting.

Should be a possible system somewhere?  My friend has "Hive" which controls her heating from the phone.  Can't be that hard to switch on a pre filled kettle?  What about "Uber" style "rent a butler"?
Oh sod it I will get up it's really not that cold......