Christine's walking & birds blog

We're just starting our second week in a chalet at Ardmair, and have come home to do the washing. The bungalow looks like a building site but Greger's pleased with the way the work is going. He's caught my cough and has stuffy sinuses; meanwhile I'm still not quite over it, so we're a right pair. My biggest fear is that the builders and the plumber will catch it - and the latter is off on holiday soon.

The main wildlife event in the chalet came mid-week; unable to sleep, I got up at 4 am. Going into the kitchen I caught sight of something small and dark shooting along the skirting board. Blimey, I thought, that was a blooming big spider. It seemed too small to be anything else.

But it was a shrew. After much skirmishing I trapped it in a plastic container and put it outside. I settled down to have an early breakfast, and heard a faint rustling noise. There in a Waitrose bag in the corner was the shrew! Or a shrew, anyway. I caught it again and took it a bit further away, releasing it in the long wet grass.