Almost daily diary!

Wednesday, April 04, 2012

Flying pigs and pink flamingos!


Driving to school along the country lanes that form the journey out of the city to a slightly 'better' school (but not much) we pass hedgerows loaded with the promise of spring. What a beautiful time of year. It may be almost an hours round trip if the traffic is bad but it could be a far worse commute and makes up, just a little, for not actually living in the countryside.

Tall Girl is in the back of the car (She's in the back on the way to school with SS in the back on the way home. She chooses this option because she feels more invisible in the back of the car. Heaven forbid that, in the queues leaving the city, we should get stuck next to the school bus on the duel carriage way long enough for her to be 'seen' in the car travelling with her embarrassing mother and small brother ). We are driving merrily along and I can see what looks like someone's old pink swimming towel draped in the hedge ahead, ruining the aesthetics of the journey. I mentally harumph to a non-existent 'other' for spoiling the scenery when suddenly Tall Girl lets out an excited shouted "Oh!" shortly followed by a disappointed "Humph".
"What's the matter?" I ask sympathetically from the front.
"It's so disappointing" She replies, distraught "I thought it (the pink towel) was a flamingo"!
Small Sprog and I burst into laughter "A flamingo!" we laughed "well you don't get many of them rampaging around the local Alveston area do you?" I glance around at her, she is looking decidedly disgruntled and I wonder if I've gone too far.
"Well it could have been a plastic one" She retorts.
Small Sprog and I look at each other, we know it might be time to stop guffawing now.

The journey continues...

7 comments:

Maggie May said...

Thats intriguing! I wouldn't be surprised at anything.After all, my brother found a real life peacock on his garden path one day & he lives in a residential area!

Might take you up on your kind offer one suitable day. (Re:ypur last comment on my post.)
The weather is atrocious now that the school holidays are in full flow. My grand daughters are with me and feeling very cold! Has cut down on the possibilities of things to do after the lovely warm weather last week.
Maggie X

Nuts in May

NitWit1 said...

Fake pink flamingoes are a joke in my area as there was once a fad of them in yards all over the southwest. Now you have been pinked if one mysteriously appears in your front yard. Usually it is a birthday prank, but then your a burdened with getting rid of the thing, usually in the same manner. I think there is only one that circulates in my town. So far I have avoided the prank. GUess I run with the wrong crowd, or is it right crowd?.

Furtheron said...

Ok time to own up - my parents had one when I was a kid - goodness knows why, to frighten the blackbirds away from the seeds? Anyway it ended up in the "children's garden" a bit near the bottom that was ours - well I never bothered but my sister and brother did. Over the years the poor flamingo got worse and worse, faded to an off yellow colour, neck bent and finally it was broken off its legs and just pushed back on and lolled there somewhat forlornly ... I think we left it for the new occupants when Mum moved out - I bet they were over the moon :-)

Steve said...

There's more chance of seeing a pink flamingo than a flying pig...!

Rob-bear said...

Oh, yes. Thise tacky pink flamingos, about which NitWit1 has already commented.

Here, in River City — across the pond, putting a whole bunch on someone's yard was handled by a company called "Get the Flock Off My Lawn." Haven't seen that happen lately. The fad must had worn off.

I remember for my 40th birthday, a similar event happened. I was working for a radio station, reporting primarily on agriculture. A friend and the radio station conspired to put a tractor on our front lawn. There was a picture of it in the local newspaper. (The indignities done to some Bears.)

nick said...

I expect Tall Girl had read about pink flamingos disguising themselves as towels to avoid getting too much attention.

A shame you have a one-hour round trip just to get the kids into a halfway decent school. Teaching standards seem to be falling all the time.

Anonymous said...

Brilliant! I would have been disappointed too if it had only been a pink towel. The stuff kids come out with!