Sauntering Vaguely Downward

Very much feeling as though I'm limping toward the finish line here. The University shuts down at CoB tomorrow for the Easter holiday. I'm running on fumes and caffeine, trying to clear my desk and inbox of things I really shouldn't leave until after it re-opens.

This month features the return of the canal boats*, two trips to London, and the inaugural ice creams from the Ninja Creami (thank you, semianonymous!). Making your own soft serve ice cream from scratch truly is a luxury.

* We missed them last year. The entire lock flight had to be shut for months so the Canal and Rivers Trust could carry out extensive repairs to a lock with collapsed walls.

Somehow I was under the impression that I didn't do much travelling in December. Making this video reminded me that I went to London twice as well as Harwell and then Norfolk for Christmas. I didn't fly, but I certainly spent a lot of time on trains and in the car.

The full year video reminded me that I flew to new places for conferences: Hamburg (Germany), Nicosia (Cyprus) and Larnaka (Cyprus). I visited my parents in the USA. I went to Paris (France), Darmstadt (Germany), and Frascati (Italy) for workshops. We travelled as family by train across Western Europe to go to a conference in Vienna (Austria). We holidayed in Wales and Norfolk. I went to Maui (USA) for a conference. It was an incredibly busy year.

( Full year - 12 min 30 sec )

Regarding the penultimate video (30 October): Whenever the bloke goes away, Astro goes into a heightened state of alertness. He comes into the front room every evening to inspect the adult humans. If he finds me alone, he will go and sit on the mat by the front door. He curls up and faces me with his ears back, half-closes his eyes, and stays there until I go to bed. He follows me upstairs and curls up on the landing. I don't know if he stays there all night, but I often find him there when I get up in the morning.

If he sees both of us in the front room, he will come and stand on me for a short while, make biscuits on my legs, and then transfer to the bloke's lap, where he rolls onto his back and flops out blissfully. It's as if he can't relax completely if Alpha Cat isn't present.

Comet, on the other hand, couldn't care less about us in the evening. He's only interested if Humuhumu is around and has left her door open so he can sleep on her bed. When she isn't here, he walks around the landing and gives occasional plaintive yowls.

Despite all the Welsh holiday footage, Astro managed to sneak in here quite a lot. Meeting the talkative long-eared owl was one of the highlights. She had many and varied opinions.

I can't quite believe how much has happened this month. At least 60 days of stuff were packed into June's 30. And now we're halfway through the year. Dear Time, Please slow down, Love, Me.