Final Resting Place

On Thursday Riachard III was finally buried in Leicester Cathedral. After everyone had left after the service the task began of delivering the monument that was to cover the tomb, and hoisting the solid granite slab into place.

Simple but beautiful.

Vanishing Act

I enjoyed this episode. Bobby was having such fun.

Dick's Chapel of Rest

In 2012 an excavation in a car park in Leicester found almost with the first spadeful the remains of King Richard III, the Plantagenet king of England who was killed at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485 during the Wars of the Roses. The victor was Henry Tudor, crowned as King Henry VII.

There was a lot of scientific investigation before it could be confirmed that the remains were Richard's. This was done by genealogists tracing the descendants of Richard's sister and comparing their DNA with that of the skeleton.

Thewoman in this photo, and the man on the left, are those descendants.

The coffin was made by Michael Ibsen, the male descendant, who happens to be a cabinet maker. He is Canadian, the female descendant is Australian.

The "family" wanted the remains buried in York Minster, since Richard was a member of the House of York, but the HIgh Court ruled that he should remain in Leicester.

The cortege arrived at Leicester Cathedral on a horse-drawn carriage, after being taken from the university to Bosworth Field on a gun carriage. The King was taken with dignity across the bridge where his body was brought back into the town naked and slung across a horse's back.

He returned this time with full honours.

I watched for hours with tears in my eyes. Whether he was a devil or an angel we will never know. Things like presumption of innocence and bail come from laws passed by his only government of 1485.

Richard will lie in state in the Cathedral till his interment on Thursday.

Vacancy

Bobby's looking a bit stern.

DEATH HAS CLAIMED YOU

The death of the wonderful Sir Terry Pratchett was announced on Thursday of a series of tweets from his daughter:

AT LAST, SIR TERRY, WE MUST WALK TOGETHER.
"Terry took Death's arm and followed him through the doors and on to the black desert under the endless night.
The end".

Anyone who has read his Discworld novels will know that Death always talks in capitals. Now he has met his creation in the non-flesh.

His death led the news on all channels, and the reports lasted for up to half the newscast. O Friday it was front-page news.

This must have been a mystery to anyone not familiar with the world he created. If that's you, it really is your loss.

The books started out as a gentle nudge at fantasy books, but turned into a view of our own world, from a skewed and very funny angle. Endlessly witty and inventive, Sir Terry created a world simultaneously like and unlike our own, which helped us to see the comedy in everyday life.

I read the first, The Colour of Magic, when it first came out, and after that never missed one. If you have never read any of the books, I suggest starting at the beginning and working your way through. I am jealous of the fascinating journey you will have before you reach the 40th and last.

Because of the popularity of the character of the Librarian at Unseen University (the wizards' university, where magic was constantly escaping from the books, and an errant spell turned the Librarian into a conveniently agile and long-armed orang utan) Terry took an interest in the fate of these creatures and visited a rescue centre in Borneo to make a TV programme. His fortune (he sold over 70 million books) helped him to support the Trust for their conservation financially.

Two other causes entered his life of necessity. Several years ago he was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimers. He made contributions to research, and took part in a film about his quest for a cure for what he called an "embuggerance". He was also passionate about assisted death, determined not to hang on beyond where his life was tolerable.

He died aged just 66, naturally, with his cat on his bed and his family around him. He was writing until relatively recently - he could only dictate his words, having lost the ability to type.

I can only repeat, if you have not read any of the Discworld novels, please give yourselves a treat. They are not his only works, but they are truly inspiring and amusing to the nth degree.

I will finish with my own favourite moment. Some Trolls who are fully accepted members of Discworld society form a group. Being rock, they are pretty thick. But when they form a (sorry) rock group, they can only manage to count themselves in by saying, "One, two, one, two, many, lots."

A modest but great man has left the planet.

Untethered

Poor Bobby went through so much to be a good uncle - then later, thanks to Frank's lies, the boy's mother criticised him for not doing enough.

Celebrations

I managed to snap a picture of Twiglet on the bed with Mackie. Sadly there has also been some fisticuffs. No injuries, not even any fur flying, but it has made the poor boy rather nervous.

Meanwhile, my school (the one where I teach, and at which I was also taught) celebrated its 300th anniversary. Founders' Day is always on the first Thursday in March, so parties and the school song were the order of the day.

Unrequited

I still can't believe how ordinary they made Claire Bloom look with that awful wig and dreadful costume. She is still making programmes and looks lovely for her age (84). OK, of course she dyes her hair, and has probably had some surgety, but still...

All Kitties Great and Small

I was pretty torn over the two cats that needed a home, especially as a friend told me next day that some mutual friends were going to send one of their cats to a shelter. They'd taken it on when the mother of one died a couple of years ago, and it hadn't settled with their cats.

Well, Iris and Millie had another person interested in them, so I decided to adopt the boy who was about to have his life thrown into upheaval for the second time in his nearly 13 years. I collected him yesterday.

Meet...er...Blackie:

I will gradually be changing his name...Mackie, then Mac, short for Macavity.

He is very placid and friendly. Twiglet is not convinced though. But there have been no fisticuffs.

Meanwhile, I have been back to see the tigers, and while dad was showing off his "hunting" skills (pouncing on and eating an already dead piece of meat...)

...one cub left the safety of his mother's side to try and hunt a squirrel high up on the netting roof of the enclosure, far above his head. Sadly, he couldn't find a tree high enough to climb and reach the pesky little rodent.

Undaunted Mettle

I love it when Bobby toys with people, potential perps or not.

Dilemma

Now that I only have Twiglet left, I've been planning to keep her as a sole cat, then foster for a local rescue centre when she's gone. I might even give my self a few weeks or months of zero commitments, I thought.

Then last week that same local rescue centre (which is where Twiglet and her mother Mitzi came from over 15 years ago) showed a pair of unfortunates on Twitter. One black cat, one white, 12 years old, they were owned by a drunken druggy who has gone to jail. They were neglected and underweight, with terrible teeth.

They've been built up and treated, and are now ready to be rehomed.

I expressed a vague interest "as a last resort". I guess we all know what other kind of resort is likely to come before the last resort - none.

But what if Twiglet, who has risen to her role as the only cat in the household with, er, extreme laid-back-ness, does NOT take to incomers? She was the last one in all those years ago, and has never had to accept a cat that wasn't here before her.

And yet my soft heart melts...

The Unblinking Eye

Sorry, folks, for the absence. I've had this champion cold (or whatever) virus that won't go away. Great way to spend half term holiday - coughing, voiceless and asleep all day and night! Still hasn't gone and my concert and rehearsals need me.

Anyway, this episode really threw into perspective the average man's self-centredness.

Tiger Cub Birthday

On Tuesday the London Zoo tiger cubs were a year old, but for some reason the celebrations were held over till Wednesday. In anticipation I went along.

There were lots of colourful parcels laid out for them, laced with meat, but mum Melati took advantage of the cubs' caution to help herself to all the treats before the day even started properly!



One of the parcels ended up in the water, and tentatively the cubs started trying to retrieve it.





Success!



Now let the destruction begin.



"I think I'll have this bit." "Mmm, me too."



Fight!



He bullied me, mum. I love you.



Everyone ended up with pink paws from the (edible) paint on the favourite box.



Job done.

Tuxedo Hill

I'm glad the nasty perp didn't get away with his crimes by trying to sell out others. Bobby was really angry.
 

Tomorrow

So many gorgeous pictures to choose from, but I'd like to be being held by him in the second picture...

 

 

The Third Horseman

I will never understand the kind of person portrayed in this episode. I know they exist in the US - fortunately not in the UK - but I don't get how they don't understand that Christian fundamentalism and Muslim fundamentalism both embrace terrorism.

Luckily, Bobby's gorgeousness manages to help me to put that on the back burner for a while.




Bonus bottom picture!

Suite Sorrow

My favourite scene in this was when Eames went to the unofficial Botox clinic. But Eames isn't Bobby.Or the famed eyebrow...

Babies - primate and feline

Here's Mjukuu with her new baby. They think it's a girl, which is good, as she's less likely to be attacked if they ever need to import yet another male.




As for the tigers, they are nos so big at 11 months, it's mostly their fluffiness that helps one tell the difference between them and mum. Here we have mum Melati in the middle, flanked by the two boys, and the girl cub at the front.



And here's a very relaxed boy cub.

Stress Position

One of those episodes where Vincent looks so tired.

Not baby gorilla pictures

There is a new baby gorilla at the zoo, but I wasn't able to get a picture.

So here are some lovely tiger pictures to compensate:

Mum Melati has a stretch

Look, mum, I can do it too!

Huh! See what I can do with my claws and a tree.

Well, at least I don't mind getting my feet wet.

I go strolling with my dad...as long as there's this glass screen between us!

I found a chew toy. No idea what's in it...

And I found a sunny spot. Clever cub.

Time for mum to take a nap using us cubs as a pillow - though number 3 is still up the tree!

Goodnight.