River Wharfe, a river of death and blood!

Today I returned to field duty for the first time since my arrival back in the UK.
(pic not related, ha ha ha)
I was only doing my water chemistry sampling, the actual crayfish come later in the week, but the 'water run' is fun because I get to see my whole stretch of the river in one day. There was a very large flood event recently, so I was eager to see if there was anything interesting left by the high waters. I was not disappointed. At my second site, there was, up in a tree, about 5 feet above the current water level, a dead sheep.

an entire, adult, dead sheep. amusingly, there were live sheep in the field just behind it, so at first I thought it was just grazing at an odd angle.

otherwise it was an uneventful trip, except for the bloody handprint on the farm gate. and something else really cool I can't remember. too bad.

Fire in the Sky

Actually in next door's front yard.

The house next to us used to be a battered woman's shelter, but then one of the women was shot in the backyard, and they closed the shelter. that was over 4 years ago. It appears that everything was left as is. The backyard has random kids' shoes, a pet carrier, a kids chair, some other old junk. the house itself is boarded up. Anyway, recently someone bought the place and is now starting to...fix it up?

so far this has consisted of some non-English speaking, possibly-illegal workers hurling stuff from the top story window into the front yard, where there is constant fire during the day. Poor Carl was getting ash stuck to him, so tonight he got a nice wash. Plus he wanted to show off how cool he looks even if he is old, to the new car of the other rifle club driver. silly car. anyway, I hope they finish with clearing the place out soon, I'm eager to see the place look tidy. It already looks 51% better!

I'm thinking of getting some marshmallows to roast over the fire. i think its safe, mostly what they are burning is an old dead tree. yay fire!

Crow Bag

What the world needs now is not love, sweet love, apparently, but crow bags. Supply is extremely low. Demand, it would seem, is anything but. Almost a year ago, my mom made this awesome crow purse for me. Technically, crows have black bills, but nonetheless it is MY CROW BAG. Almost everytime I encounter someone new, and they see the crow bag, they make some comment. Its so cute. Its so amazing. Its so unique. Its so lovely. And it is, all of those things. It fits everything I need inside. It has nifty wing-shaped pockets. It has a zipper. It has handles. It has a friendly smile. It can even hold unusually-long things due to the triangle beak!

In short, everyone loves the crow bag. But would they actually like to have a crow bag? I'm not sure. Maybe they like it the same way they like my crayfish hat:which I do not, by the way, take out in public, unlike the crow bag. Still, I think there is a market for crow and perhaps other similarly shaped bird bags. Collect the whole set!

That was my december! those were my snow covered dreams!

Wow, where did December go? Well, the first half went into crayfish experiments. Forty replicates. yessirree. The second half went home, or rather I did. At home I had lots of fun visiting the relatives,

looking at excessive Christmas light displays,

hauling and decorating our weirdo tree (it looks like it wants to eat us),

and drinking 47 pound rooster.

you know, what everyone does at Christmastime.

I also played the new Zelda game, alot, because it was so grate. THE ONE WHERE YOU CAN SHAPESHIFT INTO A WOLF AND RIDE A HORSE. Unfortunately I didn't have time to finish it before I returned to England. That just means next time I come home I can play EVEN MORE.

But now I'm back in the UK, taking care of business, like renewing my flat contract, putting up window insulator sheet stuff, rearranging my furniture (desk -> heater), dogsitting, feeding the crows, and petting my crayfish.