Preserve nature - pickle a squirrel

I'm easily excited, living in rural East Yorkshire, if the milkman goes by with a smile on his face it's a talking point. Today two things tested my imagination. The first was the fantastic story via the BBC from Australia where wallabies have been eating the poppies in a field used for legal drug production and have become so high that they are wandering round in circles making 'crop circles' in the crops - fantastic. Apparently this is not new and sheep have been known to do the same thing.

What do get if you cross LSD with a birth control pill? A trip without the kids.

Well that answers a few questions and perhaps solves the mystery of British crop circles; I always thought they were the result of mad artists with planks making patterns in fields in the dead of night. Now we know that it's simply mad artists who have been eating poppies - same result but much more enjoyable process.

The second piece of news, unverified as yet, is that the planet Mars is due to come the closest that man has ever seen it to the Earth, just over 34, 600, 000 miles away starting around August 27th and will be the brightest object in the sky. It won't be like that again for over 60,000 years and its all due to the gravity tug from Jupiter.

Just as a matter of interest, Mars is the fourth planet in the solar system, with two moons, Phobos and Deimos and is half the radius of the Earth. Its red tint come from the iron oxide on its surface. The red planet is named after the Roman god of war and the astrological symbol for Mars is the circle with an arrow coming from it pointing at 2 'clock, the same symbol as 'male'.

I'm not big into astronomy and don't know how it all works, but I am interested - does that make sense? If the USS Enterprise was available today, I'd be one of the first passengers on board. It's a cliche to look up to the stars and dream and think of what's out there - but what is out there? I often sit on the patio at night with a drink looking up and pondering the possibilities and sometimes the thought is too stupendous and enormous even to contemplate; and the shame is, I'll never see it or experience it in this life.

Well to sign off tonight, there's a slightly sad note. The squirrels have decimated all the flowers I have planted this year including destroying 6 out of seven begonias I had put in an ornamental planter. Although I will miss the flowers, I have decided that for next year, the pots will all be planted with ornamental shrubs. The only alternative is to get someone to catch the squirrels and take them to the countryside and let them loose near a forest of some sort which I don't really think is wise in case it creates an imbalance. Disappointed that I have been beaten (unless you have a solution dear bloggers), but I can't get wound up about it anymore - I used to get angry, but now - so what.

Here's some handy excuses to get out of a date...

• I have to worm my dog.
• I'm teaching my ferret to yodel.
• I have to check the sell by dates on all my dairy products.
• I'm going to count the bristles on my toothbrush.
• I have to study for my blood test.
• I'm so busy, my plot to take over the world is gathering pace.
• I never go out on days that end with a 'y'.
• My gerbil is about to give birth.
• I'm sandblasting my oven.
• The Pope might drop by.

Chat soon,

Ta-ra.