Russell Turner | Happily Ever After

Happily Ever After

Life in The Rural Retreat with a beautiful wife, three cats, garden wildlife, a camera, a computer – and increasing amounts about running

Earlier posts can be found on Adventures of a Lone Bass Player, where this blog began life. Recent entries can be found here.

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I'm Ready For My Close-Up...

by admin - 18:04 on 15 June 2010

Pine martens can be bad for your health; they're addictive. I think I'm a martoholic.

That's why I was up before 6am again. Because any morning I'm not ready behind the Pentax might be the morning when I miss the snap that will get my work on the cover of National Geographic magazine.

I can't blame Mr Pheasant, who was quiet for a change. Even Spider's early-morning grumbling was of low enough volume that I wouldn't have heard it if I'd not been already awake.

As predicted, a masked mustelid did sneak into the garden after I'd completed yesterday's blog. He was there between 10.30pm, when darkness fell, and 11pm, when I made a pre-bed check. All edible matter was gone, including the egg at the foot of The Nutella Tree. Spotted at last. That means we were visited at least four times yesterday.

The tree, and a fresh egg, were untouched overnight but the gate was cleared of Nutella, so I put out more and waited, confident I'd see someone soon. But martens like to keep the upper hand – there'd been no sightings by 8am, when a bleary Matchgirl descended the wooden hill from Bedfordshire, so I opted for a shower to wake myself up.

I emerged from the bathroom to her cry of “Master Marten's here”. The trickster. So I stood back while Cecil B de Matchgirl continued to collect cinéma vérité footage on her teeny Sony Cyber-shot camera which this morning I turned into an exciting moving picture show.

Since then, not a single marten has been seen. And if I have the early night that common sense dictates I might not see any later either. But martoholics have no common sense...

Dolphin James wondered if one of the recent visitors was Mister Marten, who I snapped several times last year. Compare his picture, above, with those posted yesterday and make up your own mind.

As for Hairy Tim's slanderous claim that some kind of captive marten breeding programme is being secretly pursued in the grounds of The Rural Retreat, all I can say is that my solicitor will be in touch.

Comment from Soo at 19:20 on 15 June 2010.

I am getting a bit worried about you now Russell, I think you may need a longer holiday in July. Maybe a retreat, a bit of therapy, don't worry about the cats and the pine martens they will be in good hands, your little sister will look after them.

Comment from Russell at 19:57 on 15 June 2010.

I'll remember that when it's winter.

Comment from Lizzie at 22:17 on 21 June 2010.

Great film! The garden looks in full bloom too. Made me wonder about how the hacked, I mean well pruned trees were doing this year?

Comment from Russell at 23:12 on 21 June 2010.

Growing like weeds, much to Matchgirl's surprise. We should have apples again next year.

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