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Monday March 17th 2008

Up at 06:00h.
Jane set off for work and I found yet again that I have no internet connection!
I processed all the photographs which we took on Sunday and wrote the blog offline.
The pre-dawn sky is beautiful. Anyone up early with clear views to the eastern horizon can see Mercury. It is visible just before sunrise. A small planet very close to the sun. Mercury isn't an easy spot, but at the moment it looks like a bright star in the pre dawn light. I'll try to photograph it tomorrow with zoom but I'm not hopeful it will show up.

The connection returns and I get on with some work.
I uploaded the photographs for Sunday's blog, this internet problem is becoming a source of mucho frustration.

I walk the dogs to the donkeys. I guesstimate it's about a 12km round trip. The dogs love it. Ferdy does slow in places but I haven't the heart to leave him at home. I know he'd rather come with us, he still gets excited when the leads come out.

The donkeys look well, I give them around 1kg of seed mix each and half a bale of good quality meadow hay.

I enjoy the walk back, eating oranges and looking for birds. Recent spots are a Nightjar, probably a Red Necked Nightjar but I only saw it fly from one Cork Oak to another. A juvenile Golden Oriole, with a flash of bright green/yellow on its rump. We've seen this bird a few times. A few unidentified Eagles (not Booted) flying high across the Genal. Lots of Swallows around the village, no House Martins or Swifts yet. Chaffinches, Jays, Great Tits, Blue Tits, Wrens, Sardinian Warblers, Blackcaps, Redstarts, Black Redstarts, Stonechats, Great Spotted Woodpeckers and Nuthatches are regular sightings. A small pretty olive coloured Warbler has been perching on the roof opposite. I must bring the binoculars up to the apartment to see if I can identify it.

Back home I worked all afternoon.
Jane got back at around 18:30. We made a macaroni cheese. Jane got an early night.

I watched the Birmingham City v Newcastle United match until the internet connection dropped again!
So I listened to our improved second half performance on the radio. A 1-1 draw. An away point which might prove vital. A much better effort, we really did play well at times and if we can take this form into our next few games we should be safe from relegation.

I watched the end of 'Slipstream'. Written and directed by Anthony Hopkins. He also stars in it. He even wrote the music! Jane couldn't face watching it. I thought it was brilliant. Admittedly difficult to watch. Worth giving it a go just because it's Anthony Hopkins brainchild and it is an incredible piece of writing, directing and editing. The end titles are even (especially) worth watching! I'll be watching it again, very soon. How he got this out of his head onto film is a feat of brilliance. Most people will hate this film. Perhaps you'll love it? Genius at work.

Not yet for sale in the UK. I'll put a link asap.