FRIDAY's FAVE FIVE - RANDOM 5 FRIDAY

1. Days are flying by when there is nothing special happening as your daily routine. It's Monday and then suddenly Friday and you wonder what you have done during the week !

2. As usual I hopped around in the swimming pool during Aqua Gym, taking care of my health and body.

3. I spent a lazy day on my day "off", day "off" means that Mr. G. is out of the house playing cards (Whist) in a group. I used this day by watching a movie, which is too romantic for him.

4. And then came the day which recompensed the days which seem to me like a pearl on a pearl necklace every day looking the same.

Nicole had invited us, Ilona and me, we wanted to talk about our forthcoming trip through Cornwall with an old train, still using a steam locomotive. But it didn't happen. When we arrived we found a very unnerved Nicole, telling us that she was completely out of her mind, which we stated with no problem. She tried to tell what happened and I understood she had found a corpse in front of her entrance door, fortunately I had misunderstood, it only was an injured bird. She had taken it in and had put it in an open box on her terrace. She had been in the garden with a spade to dig out worms for this little thing, but despite all efforts it refused to eat. One sleepless night had passed and then we arrived !



We followed her on the terrace, where the worms had dried meanwhile and Ilona tried to give the bird at least some water. The ungrateful thing bit her in her finger, so I concluded that he was not that injured, but it couldn't fly and always fell on its back. We had to do something. Kill it ? No, nobody could do that, spending another night on Nicole's terrace, impossible, then she would have landed in a madhouse. She was so concerned about the little birdie. We thought it was a raven baby.

Finally I had the good idea and googled for a shelter for wild birds or animals. I found one not very far from Waterloo. But Nicole in her nervous state had written the address with only one wrong letter, and of course Madame GPS couldn't find it. We arrived in the little village, but still nothing on the GPS. I asked Nicole to call the shelter again, which she did and my GPS  found the right street. Only there wasn't any  animal hospital but a beautiful park with fitness equipment, swimming pool etc in the middle of the woods and of course closed in this season.

I asked a man who seemed to work in the woods for the hospital and he told me that it is a few meters further on the same street. I called Nicole and Ilona but they had ran off and were out of view and too far away to hear me so I had to ran after them. Meanwhile my patience was coming to an end, I had driven around and we still weren't there after more then an hour ! We were in a hurry because the shelter should close at 5 pm and it was already 5 ! I hurried them back to the car and asked to call again. Apparently we were very close, but couldn't find the entrance. Now I had enough, I asked Nicole to dial the number again and give me the mobile so that the woman on the phone could direct me while I was driving. Nicole's mobile was dead, she had forgotten to charge the battery. I gave her mine, she dialed the number gave me the phone and I told the woman where we were and followed her instructions. She said that we would see a sign with a blue owl.



and finally I saw it, well hidden behind trees and a fence and no street of course. You had to walk to the animal hospital. I parked the car in front of the fence and we three plus the bird, still sitting in his box ran down to the entrance.



The bird had stronger nerves as we had, because it still was very much alive. And I had thought it would die of a heart attack in the car. Instead it had bitten Nicole again who pushed loud screams which nearly directed me into the next tree while I was driving.



A very friendly lady greeted us three vintage ladies a little out of breath, looked at the bird and told us that it wasn't a  raven baby but "only" a blackbird ! All three of us as cat lovers have no clue about ornithology !



The lady showed us her patients mostly injured birds,



but also wounded hedgehogs. I tried to take a picture of one, but it was hidden in a box behind the yellow grids. We said good bye to our little problem child, went back to the car and returned to Nicole's. This time without any problem and it only took 20 min instead of 1 1/2 h !

Now relieved from her troubles, Nicole served us a well earned drink and then we sat there looking at each other and bursted out into laughter. We saw us like in the "hidden camera", the three vintage ladies running around with a bird in a box and one with a camera shooting around. Besides all the fights and rather animated discussions we had in the car about streets and directions !

5. In my painting course, I just did nothing, I had no inspiration at all and sat in front of my painting which looked like a dart game, without the arrows.




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