They're back!

No not Lord Voldermort, as finally declared by the Minister of Magic at the end of the Order of the Phoenix (if you don't know what I am talking about ask a 10 year old). No, I refer to the ring necked parakeets which have finally made a noisy return to the woods in the nature reserve. After seeing a lone male flying on Christmas Day I had no positive sitings until the other weekend when a flock of half a dozen wheeled over my head with flashes of red, yellow and green. I had assumed that the very cold weather in the second half of the winter had wiped out the small colony. Funny how attached we get to some colourful immigrants. Somehow, awful though it may sound, if I had lost a group of Albanians or Poles in the woods over the winter I don't think I would have been so bothered. That's the British I suppose.
Yet again I must apologise for the long silence, nearly as bad as the parakeets, since I last blogged. I can't even blame the parliamentary recess as most political bloggers seem to have been at it just as hard over the summer.
I am looking at a pictogram of a greyhound, the emblem of the Retired Greyhound Trust, who have been known to take the odd reindeer by mistake from time to time. We went to a coffee morning in support of them a couple of weeks ago and came back with lots of "greyhound" stuff and helped them raise quite a bit of money into the bargain. I rather suspect greyhound goodies may make their way into some of Santa's sacks this year. Their publicity reads: "great companions; good with children; don't need large amounts of exercise; don't cost huge amounts to feed; generally quiet and don't bark a lot and are a very healthy breed" - doesn't sound like a reindeer to me!
Yesterday was a fun day with Mr and Mrs Claus going out incognito to celebrate the 50th anniversary of our local tube depot. I prefer travelling by sleigh myself but it was interesting to see how the Muggles (ask a 10 year old) travel. "attle trucks"is the phrase that comes to mind but very interesting to see different ages of rolling stock going back to early Metropolitan and District days, even to steam power for the early subterranean routes.Then we saw the promise of the new Euro Tube,which looks a bit like a bendybus but runs on rails. Lots of space and very airy. What they really mean is that they have taken out half the seats so they can cram in more people standing and given them air conditioning to cope with the smell. Mind you stand under one of the air conditioning vents and you will have a stiff neck or a frozen shoulder for the rest of the day. They are promised to come into service this year BUT not on this bit of the line until 2013 if we all last that long. We finished the day with a trip on a double decker bus which was "jolly fun" as my Aunt would say as we sailed gracefully under the "low bridge" that proclaims "no buses". Which all goes to show - something or other. Either we were all shorter 40 years ago or we just didn't mind getting cricks in our necks every time we stood up to go down the stairs. Those were the days, an open platform with a white pole to hang onto whilst waiting to jump off as soon as the bus got slow enough, or even to grab onto if you were running to catch up. Clippies who rang the bell and told you to "hold tight please". (NB 10 year olds if you don't understand what I am talking about ask an adult, preferably one over forty who remembers the time when buses were not totally enclosed and there were enough employment vacancies to have a driver AND a ticket collector