While putting out the washing this morning I heard a strange squeaking noise and wondered what it was. I looked in the almond tree but couldn’t see a bird so I went back to me pegging out the bedding when there it was again. I looked down near the fence and there was a grass snake with its jaws around the back-end of a medium-sized frog. I rushed off to fetch Dave & Lucie and Nick & Val because this was very unusual.
Slowly the snake engulfed the frog as it tried to crawl away and in the second photo you can see the frogs front legs with two sets of eyes – snake and frog. And as if by magic the frog was no more and the snake slithered away to digest a very large meal. David Attenborough eat your heart out…
This afternoon I took the Mazda CX5 for its first service and while I was there I was tempted to test drive a Mazda MX5. A quick (very quick) drive across the Wolds and back to Grimsby within an hour – phew. The Lotus is a wonderful car, frighteningly fast (and I mean that literally) but it is a struggle to climb in and out and any journey over two hours is bone shaking. Perhaps I should be considering a vehicle with a similar attitude but some of the creature comforts I have in the CX5.
Should I? Would I? Could I? Watch this space for the answers…
Hmmm,
Should you consider swapping the Lotus for an MX5.
Well I am of course entirely unbiased but, on balance, and it’s a close call, I’d say, and I am not at all biased here, I think, well, ultimately, despite the finely balanced choice, and they are both fine cars of course, but ultimately one has to choose and it is a difficult choice between an iconic British car and, well, the best selling sports car in the world that Jeremy Clarkson said in his review of the Mk2 in 2009 ‘ The fact is that if you want a sports car, the MX-5 is perfect. Nothing on the road will give you better value. Nothing will give you so much fun. The only reason I’m giving it five stars is because I can’t give it 14.’
Or indeed as he said about the current model (ND to those of us who might just follow these things, not that I’m remotely biased) ‘And so we get to the new Mazda MX5. The old model has been the world’s bestselling sports car for about 25 years, thanks to a combination of low price, ease of use and a smile-a-minute factor that’s up there alongside a game of naked Twister with Scarlett Johansson and Cameron Diaz.’
Not sure what that says about the car, I’m just working through that game of Twister…..
When I was driving it over the Wolds at illegal speeds I was thinking of you and what reaction I would get when you heard I was thinking of moving over to the other side. Your comment has not disappointed me. She is very tempting and the metal roof is so smooth. So what should I do – trade in the iconic Lotus or stick with it for a bit longer. Change/stay the same – ooh, I don’t know 😉
Well in the years we worked together my aim was to never disappoint so I’m pleased I can still maintain that standard!
PS I’ve been working on this for ages but in the final line of the bit about the grass snake / frog shouldn’t it have been ‘David Attenborough eat your frog….’
Hmmm, maybe that bit does disappoint!
As for your final comment – sometimes less is more… 😉
Hmmm.
I don’t know why but I have a slight suspicion that you have already done the deed, the swap date is in the diary and you are just leading us on……
Oh my goodness Steve that’s unbelievable! Roger said he would loved to have seen the snake devour his meal! Although it’s nature my reaction is “Awww poor frog”….. xx
We had a discussion about intervention or not and then we asked ourselves – what would David Attenborough do? He would lower his voice and describe the whole event as the frog went from the outside to the inside of the snake… Exciting stuff!