Beavering away

Normally I rant then Blip but today the reverse as I'm not sure how long or strong the rant will be and I want to save you lovely Blipers the agony.

Luna is in the middle of her second heat and seemingly enjoying it, teasing Flash no end. Luckily we caught her early on seducing him and were able to warn him. Being the gentleman he is, he is ignoring her advances stoically. So no walks in places where other dogs could be underway. First went to the beavers stream to inspect the tree they started on earlier in the year and which they left in peace over the summer. Now having gone all around the trunk, it won't survive the winter. If they were to stop nibbling at literally a hundred other trees, they could concentrate on bringing this one to the ground.
Then walked in to the forest searching for a track, disturbed a fox which I saw and luckily Luna was too busy trying to follow the scent to raise her eyes. She shows a very strong hunting sense (unwanted trait) but it seems it's only trying to track the smell/find out what it is. This was confirmed shortly afterwards as we were crossing a ditch out of the forest on to fields and disturbed a hare just 2 meters away. Luna looked at it, thought she ought to investigate when it charged off but when I called her she came straight to me, something she doesn't readily do when tracking a scent.

Finally passed two groups of herons and egrets - wish I knew the difference. One is grey and the other white. Have Flickr'd them if someone knows their herons from egrets.

Well thank you for reading this far and have a great New Years Eve. See you tomorrow. Bye Bye ....go to top of page



Now the rant which I have downgraded to a statement of facts as there is a danger of falling in to the same trap as the person who caused it and who is probably under unusual pressure but should know when they are being used by others. It is not aimed at any family or Blipers.

1) Blip is MY way of simply recording MY day for MYSELF. It isn't a 1:1 of the day's events and I doubt any Bliper would claim their journal was. If we wanted to put the world to rights we would Youtube, Twitter, write hate comments on various forums/fora etc.

1.2) And as important, its a way of keeping family informed of what we are up to so that when we meet or phone they have a visual idea of whats being talked about.

2) I enjoy the hour or so a day looking around the journals of other Blipers. Some I like to look at in detail daily, others perhaps just in overview, dipping in occasionally. Over time I have got to know several wonderful & interesting people and to date have never come across a single Bliper who I would reject out of hand. There are people, I am told, who would hang on the phone for two hours chatting and gossiping and think it was worthwhile time spent whereas Bliping was trivial.

3) Yes it's also a form of therapy and substitute for getting out & about since leaving full time work in Munich 3 years ago. I love my rural life but sometimes I need to talk to others than birds, bees, dogs, horses and cats, as much as I love them all.

4) It's great having the interaction with other Blipers particularly as an exPat, keeping up with goings on in the UK but also learning the lives of so many different people in so many countries around the world. Blip is for ME more about the personal highs and lows, trials and tribulations and not whats going on in the world - I have a TV for that.

5) Because I Blip it doesn't mean I don't care about anything else. Yes I do tend to keep Blipotunities in my mind and sometimes see things with Blip in mind but only out of joy and fun. Blip is also often a "crutch", motivating at times when one is feeling down, knowing that other Blipers have far worse problems to come to terms with and master.

6) Blipers are and will remain friends and good friends at that. Personal friends are just as important and cherished. They are different even if some are both! There are some Blipers who I would ask for help from before asking personal friends, because they are different. I don't think anyone else has the right to tell me who I am allowed to have as a friend.

Somehow I can't find the right words. There is no need for me to justify Bliping but to even contemplate the idea that it is more important than face to face friendship shows a, I hope temporary, loss of good judgement.