The Daily Dormouse. (aka Bike, est. 2007) Part 2686 by Angharad Copyright© 2015 Angharad

---

This is a work of fiction any mention of real people, places or institutions is purely coincidental and does not imply that they are as suggested in the story.
@@@@@
The next morning I again attended the university and had a meeting with their department of ecology, which basically monitored the forestry and submitted records to me, mainly as director of the mammal survey, but also I got records of other fauna and flora as well. We discussed how we could improve liaisons between the two universities, especially with regard to ecology and I hoped we could implement an exchange system for post grad students and teachers and possibly offer opportunities for groups to visit each other for field trips and so on.

Perth college is part of the UHI, the University of the Highlands and Islands so would have potential to offer study in these areas which would be so different to the rather lush environs of southern England; but that offered an attractiion to the Scots, to have an opportunity to study with us. It needed a bit more work but we were getting there and within a year or so, we should have our first exchange students who would stay for a term and do things like study the ecology of English chalk downland. There’s loads already written about it, but there’s no substitute for experiencing the real thing and the retention rate in terms of improving memory are far greater when they’re based upon hands on. Well that’s my experience of it and I tend to go with such things.

At eleven, after returning the Range Rover at the airport, I was settling myself down in the tail dragger, to fly back to Glasgow and my Easy Jet flight back to Southampton. I texted Jacquie to say I’d be home for dinner but wouldn’t be able to collect the girls. Apparently, Helen agreed to go in the Mondeo and get them.

It was nearly six when I arrived home. I’d missed a connection and thus my flight south. It meant I had time to have a tuna roll for my lunch, although it was probably three times the cost of one in our staff refectory. I promised never to complain about the cost of food in the staff canteen in the future.

On the plane, I dozed, even though I’d slept well in my hotel.

I decided, purely in terms of comfort, that we needed a farm, which although fair game in a number of areas once I decided where we were going to look for one. By tis of course I meant a going concern not some rundown place waiting for them to install a phone line. I emailed a few estate agent with regard to local prices here and decided to do the same in Portsmouth, which is getting more expensive by the week.

I’d already discussed the concept with Tom who nodded sagely and asked me to be more specific, so I was. He was quite contented to accept the glory and allow us to nominate people who we thought would serve the university. I wanted us to be able to offer as wide a range of opportunity of study as we could. Clearly we couldn’t run to doing Highland ecology or supporting things in the Orkneys from a base in Portsmouth; but if we had a partner in the area, then it became cheaper and thus feasible. It’s sad that things always come down to money but we are in the business of educating people and trying to keep things in the black if not making a modest profit.

We were also engaging with teachers with more expertise in those areas and in offering to run exchanges, we’d be getting that expertise very cheaply, but they’d be able to do the same with us. We have one member of staff who is to chalk downland what a certain other person is to dormeece. He can tell the difference between a chalkhill blue and an Adonis blue just by the way they fly. He knows the best places to look for different insects of plants and when he was a post grad researcher at Bath University, he discovered the best place to see stone curlews, a bird I’ve still not seen.

Daddy seemed very pleased with my progress and Simon was equally impressed. I was simply pleased that finally ideas I’d had for years were finally feeling closure approaching. That felt really good.

After dinner, Daddy, Simon and I were talking about what had happened up in Perth when Trish came and placed some paper in front of me. I ignored it until she asked, a little rudely, if she could be shoved in a microwave and then the freezer. I almost told her to carry on, then processed what she had said and looked at her sharply.

“I’m busy talking about the university, it’s rude to interrupt like this Trish.”

“So can I be put in the microwave and then into the freezer?”

“Don’t be silly, sweetheart.

“Well it works for bearded sand lizards.”

“What does?”

“Extremes of hot and cold temperatures.”

“So what are you trying to prove?”

“’Sobvious innit.”

“I’m afraid it isn’t, leastways not to me.”

“It would be if ya read the paper,” she demanded of me.

I glanced down and saw that it was about bearded sand lizards changing sex and about 40% seemed to stay that way. The new ‘females’ were more fertile than their normal counterparts and had more offspring.

I quickly read through it and finally asked a couple of questions. Trish didn’t seem to understand them despite her big brain—she lacked confidence to argue the toss and stormed off.