This is one – a vid – I made earlier (about 3 years ago)
It’s about time it got blogged.
A rather long vid of cut up cats relentlessly waiting to, or mercilessly about to, pounce on their dinner.
With Keith Jarrett relentlessly pouncing and pounding away from behind as rhythmical accompaniment.
Vid: Ian Nisbet; Music: Keith Jarrett
PS (or SOS): It’s probably best not to know, or see, what happened to that helpless calf at the end. I don’t (and didn’t)
We were in Tessier Gardens last Saturday, trying to entice ‘Sammi’ the squizzler down for some peanuts.
Admittedly, we didn’t have to ‘try’ very hard. He was scrambling down that oak tree and into our cupped hands quicker than a ferret up a drainpipe.
He was having a good look at Haze, eyeballing her, checking out her peanut presenting credentials. Satisfied her intentions were friendly, he proceeded to feed gently and greedily from her hands.
We’ll have him sat on the branches of our shoulders next time, fluffed up and bushy tailed, squizzling our necks.
Words & Vid: Ian Nisbet
Meet Mr Whippy, a Chinese weatherloach. A very fascinating chap.
Feeds on the bottom. Feeds on the top. Gets right underneath. Gets all around the sides.
Will poke head out of the water and frisk the air with his whiskery barbs.
Sometimes he hides.
Apparently, he will tell me when a storm is coming; by frantically whizzing around, jumping and splashing, getting extremely agitated.
Sometimes Mr Whippy will lie there, very still, waiting and watching, witnessing and wondering, lost in seemingly deep cogitation: What effect will Bexit have on the British economy? Will the price of fishflakes go up? Is Donald Trump a parodic inversion of Vladimir Putin? Are the both of them a pair of psychopaths?
Who is that bald biped staring at me through the glass? When’s he going to get his finger out and lob in some supper? Etc etc.
Mr Whippy is half fish and half something else. Like a seal crossed with an eel.
One day he’s going to jump right out of that bowl.
Words & Vid: Ian Nisbet
Tessier Gardens. The go to place in St Marychurch. Well, it must be – because we keep going there.
A peaceful oasis. No shitty yapdogs and no screechy children allowed (actually there were some kids erroneously present today)
Just a chubby tame squirrel.
Who is now known to us, if not to itself, as ‘Sammi’.
Calling out ‘Sammi!’, ‘Sammi’ doesn’t appear to evince any recognition in the animal.
However it will come squizziling across sharpish if you’ve got a bag of nuts in your hand.
It will even try to climb up your leg, mistaking it for the trunk of a small tree.
I’ll have Sammi chewing the chips off my shoulders next time.
Or possibly nibbling the acorns out of my earholes.
Words & Vid: Ian Nisbet.
In Tessier Gardens this Saturday afternoon was a very fat and very tame squirrel.
It climbed up my leg.
Think we’ll call him/her Sammi. It might well be the same Sammi Squirrel we were feeding back in the autumn.
An easy peasi warm winter this is for squirrels.
Oh, and there was also a gull doing a comical worm dance.
Words & Vid: Ian Nisbet
A walk up onto the cliffs above Babbacombe to collect some Xmas greenery.
A solitary crow watched us as we went.
Two squirrels were bouncing about in the little hawthorn, nibbling away at the red berries, enjoying a good pre-Xmas feast.
Unseasonably warm. Hardly felt like winter at all.
Words & Vid: Ian Nisbet
I’d like to meet this slimy 
gentleman next year
Or this raisin 
eyed cutey flopped out on a rock
If we’re near an estuary we’ll probably see 
Or this 
could be hiding on Dawlish Warren
I’m hoping we’ll see more 
speeding across Lyme Bay. And one day this magnificent chap will come soaring and swooping 
over the cliffs on the Downs again.
If we’re anywhere near Maidencombe these vulnerable little 
are awaiting to delight and disarm the senses.
There are bound to be many 
jelly swelling the shores come summer.
A flypast by a squadron of 
would be most thrilling.
If this were ever to happen up above us 
we’d be hopping about like Chris Packbum on ecstasy.
If we got near enough to see a wild one of these 
I could die elated.
Staying in the wood we might see this 
Rigging up a lightbox in the back garden could reveal this 
beauty. The one marvel I’d like to witness more than anything is more of these light-filled 
metamorphosing before our very eyes – to take our breath away.
