I think someone asked if Sherlock's half term dates are the same as Mycroft's and I never answered, but they are. Sherlock's plans are becoming ever wilder. If it were left entirely up to him, I think we'd be climbing Everest over the weekend, followed by a short jaunt to the Amazon basin in the week. I'm not sure we'll be going anywhere at all, but I'm sure we'll have fun. It'll be great having him home.
Lestrade brought me home flowers last night because he's the sweetest man alive. White roses and green chrysanthemums, the kind with the extra long petals. There's probably a name for them, but you'd have to ask Greg the florist. They're lovely, and sitting in a slightly wonky vase on the table. It's white and chipped, and I don't actually know where it came from. Maybe it's Mrs Hudson's. The only vase we had whose origin I was certain of is the one I got cracked over the head with.
It's funny how things just appear like that. Not something I'm used to, like having a fixed address and more than two pairs of shoes.
Lestrade, let me know if you want to get lunch or something? And then I've been advised that I'm not too old to jump in piles of leaves in the park with Sherlock, so I expect we'll be doing that after school.
Lestrade brought me home flowers last night because he's the sweetest man alive. White roses and green chrysanthemums, the kind with the extra long petals. There's probably a name for them, but you'd have to ask Greg the florist. They're lovely, and sitting in a slightly wonky vase on the table. It's white and chipped, and I don't actually know where it came from. Maybe it's Mrs Hudson's. The only vase we had whose origin I was certain of is the one I got cracked over the head with.
It's funny how things just appear like that. Not something I'm used to, like having a fixed address and more than two pairs of shoes.
Lestrade, let me know if you want to get lunch or something? And then I've been advised that I'm not too old to jump in piles of leaves in the park with Sherlock, so I expect we'll be doing that after school.
41 comments:
do you think Sherlock might share some of his less outlandish ideas at some point? not that I'm looking for ideas for half term myself or anything you understand ;-)
I hope you enjoy jumping in the leaves.
I think the vase is mine. White, chipped, refugee from the 1970s. Sound like me.
I thought it was Everest this weekend, Amazon in the week and jumping from space next weekend?
Lunch...probably don't have time. Coffee either pre or post school run could be a possibility?
Anonybob - he could probably be convinced. :)
L - Oh, yes, I forgot the space jump, and expedition to Antarctica. Coffee's good. Do you have a pre- or post- preference?
Probably need to be post, now, I need to see a man about a footprint.
I'll say please lots if he want John :-)
Okay, I'll call you when I've got him and see if you're done with your footprint. What's it for? The one from the other night?
Yeah. FME and Molly worked on getting it off the deceased's chest, now off to see an expert. I'll leave it with him to determine everything he can about it.
Good luck. I hope it helps.
The flowers sound beautiful.
Have fun with the leaves, John! (And with the coffee, too. :))
Good luck with the footprint, L.
Cheers. We need a break on this one.
Anonybob, can you go apple picking? That's a pretty popular autumn activity around here. (Coming home and making applesauce afterwards is too.) Also, as I said to John, leaf pressing and tree identification exercises can be fun. We make a "kit" which is a page with a turned leaf pressed between two pieces of waxed paper, a twig, a rubbing of the bark, and a seed (if we can find one). And then in the spring we add a twig with buds and a pressed flower along with a leaf that is still green. One of my moms with a yard also built a "dirt observatory" with a pane of glass set into a retaining wall. She covers the glass with a chunk of board most of the time, and then every so often they take down the board and see what's happened to the mulch and dirt behind it. I'm told the worms make tunnels right next to the glass when you're lucky. Autumn is also a good time to look for animal tracks and try to identify them if you've got any half-wild land nearby.
Which reminds me, how is the crop of newts and frogs this year, Sherlock?
rsf
Thanks RSF :-) they're going to see steam trains on their day with their dad and baking with Granny while I escape on a little trip of my own one day so just three days to fill and the park will probably be good for wildlife if we get a good day for it :-)
I hope the expert can find something useful Greg and that you all get time to enjoy coffee, tea and whatever Sherlock drinks :-)
I want coffee too! I like going places where there's mud and seeing animal tracks like in the woods or a forest. I want to see an owl and bats.
Animal tracks are really neat. And I expect Lestrade can show you how to take a plaster cast of a track, since it's like taking a cast of a footprint at a crime scene. (Do they still do that? Or is it all pictures now?)
rsf
I feel an experiment with you and coffee should take place earlier in the day than this Sherlock and given you have more energy than most people can manage when high on caffeine I'm not sure you really need it.
Bats is a really good idea :-)
Owls and bats are both pretty amazing, each in their own way. They're not so easy to see in the wild, though, because bats and most owls are nocturnal. Still, you never know!
The ice rink in Rockefeller Center opened this past weekend--maybe you can go skating one day of half term.
I'd look for them in the dark. We should go camping.
Sherlock, what you want is owl pellets. You soak them and pull them apart and from the tiny skeletons you can work out what the owl has been eating. The jaws with the little red teeth are shrews!
Lancs. Anon
I am fairly sure I'm too old to go camping in October.
Although I do have a hot doc to warm my sleeping bag...
Apropos of nothing at all: Nameless were you affected by the 1,000 frozen chickens on the M5 at lunchtime?
what is this too old thing you two have going on? too old for camping and too old for jumping in leaves! did no one tell you that the whole point of small people is you're suddenly the perfect age for all the fun things again ;-)
I wouldn't mind camping...
AnonyBob - I was thinking that when your age exceeds your shoe size you're probably old enough not to go camping in the cold and wet...
However, Sherlock was SO excited when we met up I think I'm going to lose this fight. Mycroft can have the casting vote.
(we hadnt even given him coffee)
are there any glamping sites near you? wooden tents kind of things? We went a few weeks ago and stayed in lots of different places in different shaped wooden tents (I really did feel like I was in an episode of playschool) but that might work, you would stay dry and kind of warm and Sherlock would get sort of camping?
Just a thought :-)
If you camp somewhere near a place with a cave you might see bats at dusk. This website has a link to a map of England where people have spotted bats, and it looks like it has a lot more information about them too.
When I visited England, a long time ago, there was an owl that lived in one of the buildings where we were working. It didn't like us much, and it spit an owl pellet out on one of my friends' head one morning.
rsf
p.s. Autumn camping is really nice. And winter camping is even better.
(we hadnt even given him coffee)
Genuine excitement is genuine. :)
There aren't many places you won't see bats in the UK, RSF.
It'll be easier to spot them if we go somewhere with a pond or lake, as they'll come and drink.
John, I'll go camping with you if you promise I can put my cold feet on you and you won't wake up the whole site with your squealing.
I always let you put your ice cold feet on me, it's no different when camping. And I'll do my best not to wake up the whole site this time for any reason.
Ah, hey, I didn't mean that. Sorry.
And the feet thing is your fault - you're clearly just far too hot, so it's only fair to share that.
SH - 1000 frozen chickens on the M5? 0_0 Fortunately I avoided that by dint of not leaving work at all during the day... although the traffic was unusually heavy when I came home just now, so that might be residual chicken-avoidance.
Lestrade - I'm not one for camping - I like privacy, warmth and comfort far too much - so my opinion is biased, but I'm pretty sure that camping is like queueing to get into a club: something that much more enjoyable the younger you are :-p OTOH, I admit I never went camping with a hot doctor...
John - the flowers sound gorgeous. How was the leaf-jumping?
How about Borough market and the boys could cook dinner? I know Mycroft's a whizz in the kitchen and Sherlock is no doubt an enthusiastic sous-chef :)
Imperial War Museum? I believe there's an exhibit on spies currently...
Or if they feel like a challenge, see how much of a new language they can learn in a week? One neither of them know, with a different alphabet: Russian, Mandarin, Arabic?
L - I know you didn't, it's all right. Always glad to share body heat with you.
Nameless - leaf jumping was nice but sometimes unexpectedly soggy.
I'll cope with your soggy feet, then.
Maybe we could go to Kew? See what Autumn's doing to the place? Might be a lot of leaves to jump in.
You can see bats a lot of places here too, or could before white nose syndrome hit. But some places are more rewarding for the impatient people who would probably like to see LOTS of bats. :)
rsf (who spent two years sharing an attic bedroom with bats, and still thinks they're cool.)
My parents used to rent a cottage in the Catskills for the summer, and we had bats in the attic there. (And skunks in the cellar, alas!)
There are bats in Manhattan, but the only people who know about them are (for the most part) those who live on high floors and leave unscreened windows open at dusk. :D
We could just go to a London park (preferably with water) to watch them. But that's not as much fun as camping, is it?
Sherlock, if Mycroft wants to go, we could go for a couple of days next week, or at least, I could only come for a couple of days.
Late to the party (as usual) but thought I'd mention that you have clearly reached the true heights of domesticality if vases start popping up randomly
(Obviously vases only grow in the right environment. Possibly out of the seeds of glasses that are left on the side or at the foot of the sofa)
I think camping would be very enjoyable.
Sounds like you're all going camping! :)
(You're a great brother, Mycroft.)
I hope you get some clear skies for stargazing!
rsf
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