(aka Bike) Part 1708 by Angharad Copyright © 2012 Angharad
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The university agreed to fund some more boxes so I asked the same carpentry firm to make them for me out of marine ply. They were the same spec as those from the mammal society but cheaper–I ordered twenty and he cut me a deal.
Then I went home via the school for bewildered young ladies and collected my three, making up a car load of four bewildered. “Are you alright, Mummy?” asked Livvie as I drove them homeward.
“No, I feel a bit down and fed up with my own cleverness.”
“Why is that, Mummy?” The other two had been arguing but now went quiet.
“I discovered someone had betrayed my trust and I had to sack them.”
“Wow,” said Trish, “You like, put them in a black bag?”
“No, I fired them, a post graduate student.”
“Why?”
“I told you he betrayed my trust and that of the university, so Gramps and I had to sack him.”
“What does that mean, Mummy?” asked Meems.
“It means he was doing a master’s degree and had to stop it, it also means he probably won’t be able to do another degree elsewhere, so whatever plans he had, he’ll have to change.”
“Was he cheating?” Asked Livvie, “A girl in the sixth form was expelled for cheating in her exams.”
“Not in that respect, Liv, he sabotaged one of my surveys, and I caught him.”
“So you were cleverer than him?” Liv had tuned into my earlier statement.
“Perhaps.”
“You ah cweva, Mummy,” offered Meems.
“Yes, Mima, but sometimes being clever is a bit of a burden.”
“I know,” sighed Trish.
“But you catched him, Mummy?”
“Yes, Mima, I caught him and sacked him and I feel sad about it.”
“We have to write an essay on dormice, Mummy,” Trish announced triumphantly.
“Okay, well you write it and I’ll check it over with you.”
“Can we borrow some books?”
“Of course as long as you take them back afterwards.”
“Yeah, we will.” I’d heard that one before.
At home I quickly prepared a casserole and shoved it in the Aga, it would take an hour or maybe ninety minutes to cook. I’d just finished when Danny came in. “Can you help me again?” I asked him.
He rolled his eyes, “I’ve got loads of homework tonight, Mum.”
“Okay, I’ll go by myself.”
“No, I’ll come, can I do my homework first?”
“I thought if we went now, we’d be back in time for dinner and then you could do your homework.”
“Alright, I’ll go and change.”
I did the same taking my waxed jacket with me, not so much a protection from the elements but from the holly tree when I took the camera down.
“You obviously caught him then?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“He was asked to leave the university.”
“Oh, it wasn’t Darren, was it?”
“What makes you think that?”
“I just thought it was, he was acting suspicious when you were taking photos and the pattern on his trainers was like the one on top of the broken nest box.”
“I wish you’d said.”
“Well, I didn’t know for sure, did I?”
“No, I suppose not, thanks for your help, Kiddo.” I hugged him and kissed him on the cheek.
“Gerroff,” he protested, blushing, although I know he secretly loved it. “Who’s gonna do his sites, for dormice?”
“I suppose I’ll have to until I can train someone up.”
“I’ll come and help.”
“Thanks, son, you make me so proud of you sometimes,” I said trying to avoid my eyes filling with water.
“Sometimes–huh?” he huffed then smirked and it was obvious he was teasing me.
“Yeah, sometimes–wanna make something of it?”
“Yeah, I challenge you to ordeal by Pooh sticks.” We both feel about laughing.
For those who don’t know the game of Pooh sticks–where have you been? Basically, the rules are described in, The House at Pooh Corner. You stand on a bridge over a stream and simultaneously drop the sticks in, the first one to clear the bridge wins. Obviously, you need to cross the bridge to look over the other side so it’s not suitable for busy road bridges, or for fast flowing streams. Near the car park in the wood is a slow flowing stream, although with all the rain it was a bit faster than its usually sluggish current. We played three times and Danny won all three.
He was still smirking after we’d unloaded the ladder back at the farmhouse. Of course he had to brag about it and the girls wanted to play a game. I said we might do it tomorrow on the way home.
Simon, and I discussed the situation with the meeting and I reported what had happened. “So who’s sorting out new nest boxes?”
“I’ve asked the university to pay for some.”
“How much?”
“I’m getting them for a hundred and sixty pounds, twenty of them.”
“See if you can get forty for three hundred.”
“I can’t the uni agreed to fund the twenty.”
“The bank will fund the rest.”
“Haven’t you got to put forward a case for a grant?”
“Cathy, I’m a chief executive, I can decide things like that up to about five hundred quid.”
“But, I’m your wife...”
“So you are, how about doing some wifely things–hint, hint?”
“I cooked your dinner.”
“So you did, let’s go to bed, I think shag has got to be worth at least twenty nest boxes.”
“Hmm, if you chuck in the money for the cable to tie them up with, I might be tempted.”
“Cable?”
“Yeah, we tie them to the trees with old electric or phone cable–with the plastic still on, obviously.”
“This is in case they want to install lighting or telephones I suppose–you spoil those bloody dormice more than our own children.”
“I don’t, the kids were fed twice last week.”
“Twice, but that costs money?” he gasped in mock horror.
We went to bed and he got compensated for half his nest boxes, he also knew someone high up in BT so would try and get some scrap wire for us to use.
I told him about the conversation on the way home and when I’d suggested I’d been too clever for my own good and Trish had mumbled her own agreement of the experience.
“D’you think she needs to talk to someone?”
“I don’t know, I could ask Stephanie to see her, it’s been a few weeks since the last time.”
“Might be a good idea, we can’t do everything for them ourselves, we’re too busy.”
“Yeah, tell me about it, I’ll have to do Darren’s survey work–though Danny offered to come and help me.”
“He’s a good lad,” although I wasn’t looking at Si, his voice told me he was beaming with pride.
“Yes he is.”
“Maybe I should take him to Lords to see a test match?”
“I think you’d both enjoy that.”
“You could always come, y’know?”
“I think I’d rather go shopping or watch the Giro or TdF.”
“Hmm, test cricket is quite exciting.”
“I’m sure it is, I used to go with my dad occasionally to watch Gloucester play, saw them play the Windies, Australia and India.”
“Bloody hell, wifey, that’s not fair...”
I just turned over and chuckled myself to sleep.
Comments
Cathy can still do a good wind-up
Mind you, Si is such an easy target.
Sounds like Trish is geting seriously bored, particularly if school streams her commensurate with age not ability. She needs to be challenged.
Nice one, Ang.
S.
Trish and boredom
not a good thought at all. danger ahead!
Just make sure...
...she isn't allowed to see any documentation concerning Darren, or...
<clickety-click>
...and he finds himself in even bigger trouble than High Street Banks PLC asking him to to repay his overdraft asap...
I'd imagine Trish is given differentiated work, but when the teacher asks a question, she's probably one of the few to consistently raise her hand. Even if she's learned not to shout out or criticise classmates for not understanding a concept she regards as simple, it's quite likely she's been labelled a "know-it-all" by her peers and possibly even "teacher's pet". There's probably a core of pupils who consistently tease her for being so bright.
Since Livvie's probably in the same class, it might be worth asking both girls separately what the class thinks of Trish. I'm also slightly surprised Mima doesn't appear to be getting teased for her unique speech patterns, unless it's so subtle she hasn't realised it.
-oOo-
Meanwhile, trust Simon to simultaneously agree to fund more nest boxes and lower the tone (his, erm, "lower brain", tends to do a lot of his thinking when in the presence of Cathy...)
As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!
Easy As Falling Off A Bike pt 1708
Challenge Trish>? How?
May Your Light Forever Shine
The teasing repartee never gets tiring :)
It lifts an otherwise down episode. I think Darrin will come back to haunt Cathy though; just this feeling about it.
Kim
Have to agree
Kimmie when you say Darren could well be back, If your mind is capable of thinking that wrecking nest boxes is payment of sorts for doing a little of the necessary work involved in their upkeep, Then quite clearly it would not be a large step to take revenge on who you feel to be the main instigator of your problems...
Having said that its quite clear the Darren is not stupid, And he will realise that any attack on Cathy could have a very painful conclusion for him, Which is why i think he may well play a waiting game ....
Kirri
Bike
Still no pedals on that silly bike huh?
Trish and Boredom
I can think of a good way to relieve Trish's boredom. I think she might enjoy being out with Cathy and Danny while they install the new nesting boxes, and I certainly hope we have heard the last of Darren.
+VOTE+ +VOTE+
Don't let someone else talk you out of your dreams. How can we have dreams come true, if we have no dreams?
Katrina Gayle "Stormy" Storm
Pooh Sticks
I can thank Disney for learning what that was. The only Milne book I read as a kid was "When we were very young". Didn't get to read about the 100 Acre Wood until my kids were of age. (Now, stories about Oz...)
Luckily there's a park less than a mile from our house - with a nice little brook (okay most of the time... It's been quite the torrent a half dozen times we've lived here (from a few inches deep - to over a dozen feet). It's got a nice foot bridge (except for those times where it was under water - but we avoided it then). Many an hour was spent playing Pooh Sticks. :-)
Interesting episode. Gotta be careful with trish learning there's potential negatives to being clever.
Thanks,
Annette