Sunday, August 16, 2020

The Prince and the Snail


Here's our kitchen windowsill at the moment. I brought the dahlia in because somehow it broke off one of our plants, and I didn't see any reason to waste a perfectly good flower. It looks nice with the green glass, don't you think?

I don't know who that guy is standing at far left. I found him on the street one day, months ago. I think he might be a Disney prince.


Don't mention his war wound. He's very sensitive about it.

Finally, finally, we got some rain. I can no longer complain about it falling all around us and not on us. It rained steadily yesterday evening as Dave and I watched (appropriately) "Gardener's World," our favorite BBC show. And then we turned off the TV and just listened to it for a while. Such a wonderful sound.

This morning, I woke up, came into the living room and saw:


Yes, that is a garden snail. On our ceiling. How he got in -- much less onto the ceiling -- is anyone's guess. He must have been delirious with happiness over the rainfall and then equally bewildered that he was suddenly back in a bone-dry environment. (Assuming snails are capable of happiness and bewilderment.) I stood on a chair and eased him off the ceiling and put him back out in the garden, where he will probably demolish some of our plants, but after that traumatizing adventure I think he's entitled.

Otherwise, no real excitement yesterday. I walked Olga in the cemetery, where I took no pictures for a change. I also listed some of my found milk bottles on eBay. I'm feeling like we have way too much stuff sitting around the house and I'm trying to thin some of it out. We'll see if they sell. If not I'll just box them up and put them away for a while.

16 comments:

Frances said...

I would have thrown the snail into next door's garden.....they take no care of it so I don't feel bad. Snails might help to keep the wilderness down a bit!

Yorkshire Pudding said...

"Are gastropods capable of happiness and bewilderment?" - Reflections on the ground-breaking doctoral thesis of Professor S.G.Reed of the Zoology Department, University of West Hampstead.

"It is now widely recognised that Reed's experiments confirmed that gastropods experience the full gamut of human emotions from jealousy to elation and from anger to depression. Working with some eleven thousand snails, Reed was able to develop a communication system in which he could literally converse with the under-appreciated creatures..."

Why didn't you toss the snail into Mrs Kravitz's garden?

Anonymous said...

Lol at YP's comment. When I was younger and had a garden I would have just killed the snail with a stomp, although obviously not on a ceiling. Now, maybe not.

Moving with Mitchell said...

Don't you think Mrs. Kravitz could have used that snail in her garden (or at least deserved it for something she's done)? I love that little prince statuette. He looks familiar.

Ms. Moon said...

The little prince is definitely charming even with his, uh-hm, war wound.
SO glad you got rain.

Jennifer said...

Rain! Such a relief when it's sorely needed. I agree with the others here: why didn't you gift that little snail to Mrs. Kravitz?!

Edna B said...

Wow, so glad you finally got some real rain. I did not know that snails could walk upside down on ceilings. Hmmmm. I love that pink dahlia, and it does look great in that green glass bottle. You have a great day, hugs, Edna B.

ellen abbott said...

the sound and smell of rain when it has been so dry in wonderful. we could sure use some. I'm back to watering every day. and the dahlia is very pretty.

Sharon said...

That dahlia is beautiful and perfectly shaped. I hadn't noticed that floral trim on your kitchen tile before. I like it. It does make you wonder how that snail got in the house. Maybe on a plant you took outside and then brought back in? Glad you got some rain! Sure wish you could send some this way.

Red said...

Maybe no real excitement but some interesting things...like that damn snail!

Beth Reed said...

I love it... The Disney Prince and the Ceiling Snail... Me thinks that it is a good name for a movie.. or not.. lol I still think that they are both awesome and I love the bottles and I hope that they sell and you get a good price for them.

Forgive me for being absent. I have a viral respiratory infection and cannot talk more than a sentence or so before my voice cracks. I am waiting on results from a test and I am coughing a lot but my fever finally broke. But I am just going to take it slow and comment when I can but I am not going to blog until I have something other than these 4 walls to blog about. :)

e said...

I wonder what happened to that doll? And why that snail found your ceiling so alluring? Mysteries of life...Love the dahlia.

Linda Sue said...

poor prince has been injured, severely. Circumstances are a mystery.
Snail on the ceiling - what a super snail! Thank you for rescuing, as you do.

Michael said...

A snail on a ceiling. I have never had that happen before!

Steve Reed said...

Frances: Absolutely -- an unkempt garden could benefit from a snail!

YP: I wouldn't do that to a snail!

Andrew: Ugh -- I could never step on a snail deliberately. Too crunchy.

Mitchell: That would have doomed the snail. She puts down pellets!

Ms Moon: Yeah, I like him!

Jennifer: I feel too sorry for the snail to doom it to that fate!

Edna: It's amazing where snails can go and how fast they can travel.

Ellen: It's possibly the best sound in the world.

Sharon: Yeah, we're not wild about that tile, but it could be worse! It seems very '70s to us.

Red: That's what daily life is all about -- no real excitement but a few interesting things.

Beth: Sorry you've been under the weather! Keep us posted on how you're doing.

E: He was on the street, so I'm thinking he got run over and/or scraped around on the pavement.

Linda Sue: And yet he survives!

Michael: Definitely a first for me too!

Sarah said...

I also have a united dairies milk bottle on the windowsill. It is one of the many and quite varied milk bottles I have found on the Thames. Not sure who the prince is but he is probably happy to be looked after again!