Day 11

Lovely readers,

I was greeted this morning when I stepped outside for a walk in the forest behind the house by Zorro, a lifeless baby bunny in her mouth. ‘Tis life (and death) in the countryside (or “out in the sticks” as they say here) I suppose. Feline etiquette required me to pat her on the head and thank her for her thoughtful gift, even when I was feeling awfully sorry for the little rabbit. While my sister slept on, I set off across the field towards the forest. It was a lovely walk—loud with birdsong and the buzzing of flies but not much else. Not another soul was about. Ravens cawed and squirrels ran madcap from branch to branch. I walked atop the remains of an Iron Age farming settlement, though I could see no evidence of it. I think I saw a mouse dash back into a hole under a log, but I could not be sure.

Following my walk, Diana and I took the bus into Bristol again, where we nipped into a café for a quick bite to eat, and then made our way up to the Bristol Zoo, England’s oldest zoo. With only an hour left until the Zoo’s closing, we may or may not have accidentally on purpose walked in through the zoo’s gift shop and into the zoo itself without paying. I said accidentally! There we saw the most amazingly monstrous creatures: fruit bats! There were in a walkthrough aviary, swooping low and loud over our heads and staring straight at us with their glowing orange eyes. My sister and I were enthralled. At one point, there was a batfight! Quite unlike anything I’d ever seen. The zoo itself is rather small, but has an interesting selection of animals. Upon the zoo’s closing, we walked around the block to my cousins’ school to be picked up and driven home. I must admit I felt rather like an animal in a cage as my cousins pointed to us from across the street to show their friends. They do, however, think we are quite "cool". I think they are quite cool as well.

Dinner out in Thornbury tonight then off to Oxford tomorrow!

Yours truly,

A