Work, Birds and Sherlock Holmes

The day was spent in mundane research at the computer. In part I was following up contacts made at the IFE last week. The remaining proportion investigated the companies at Smithfield Market.

This venerable building is on the Saxon Smeeth Felde (Smooth Field), which has been a Market place since at least 1174 and, more gruesomely, was the site where 200 martyrs were burnt at the stake during the turbulent years of bloody Queen Mary's backlash against the new protestantism.

Whist accessible to the public, the intrepid visitor should be forewarned to attend between 4am and 8am in the morning when trading is underway as the building is practically deserted and inaccessible at more civilised hours.

My investigation into feathered visitors to our modest bird feeder continued by initiating half hour recordings through out the day on the camcorder. An evening perusal at fast forward found Dunnock, House Sparrow and Chaffinch as the main visitors. I hope to continue the process tomorrow as a minor diversion from the drudge of keyboard and screen.

The evening's entertainment consisted of watching the picture show "Sherlock Holmes", which I had purchased last week. It was most entertaining. I was concerned that the portrayed Mr Holmes may have been regressing into the more spiritualistic mumbo-jumbo of his original creator. Yet clear and incisive logic cut through to the solution at the end of the film, as often in the excellent short stories by Mr Conan Doyle.

Took a step outside to view the gibbous moon as clouds scurried in. Birdsong had already begun, yet it was not more than half past two in the morning.