Reporter’s diary

Press, 31 January 1986, Page 2

Reporter’s diary

Here again? COULD IT have been Charlie? A St Albans couple“have a swan plant, a milkweed, in their yard. Last year, Ralph Jones saw a beautiful butterfly flying around, and wondered if it had been a monarch, a type which he and his wife, June, had seen in Auckland years ago, after they were married. Sure enough, eggs were found on the plant’s leaves. Mrs Jones kept a close watch on their progress as they grew from the caterpillar to chrysalis stage and became a dozen or more butterflies. The weather last year was not suitable for them to fly off straight away, and they lingered on the plant. The nights were cold. Mrs Jones gave a hand to three new butterflies, which were tame enough to walk on to a finger. She took them inside the house and put them under gauze for three nights running until they were strong enough to fly away. The butterfly season seems to be about a month earlier this year. A couple of weeks ago, Mr Jones thought he saw a small sparrow under the eaves. lOturned out to be a large flapping

against a window. It flew over the roof to have a look from the other side, then came back and flew into the house through a door. It went to the top of the microwave oven, which is placed where the butterflies used to sleep at night, and stayed for about five minutes. It was dubbed Charlie. It also flew out to the place where last year’s swan plant used to be, but which has since been pulled out. A second plant that came away from it is a couple of metres down the yard, and eggs were laid there. Caterpillars are ranging over that one now. Could Charlie have been one of the butterflies nurtured last year? Gold bracelet A JAPANESE woman who was in Christchurch with her family late last year lost a valuable keepsake that she would like to have back. It is a gold bracelet, a simple gold chain, that Sadako Fukuda was given by her husband on their tenth wedding anniversary two years ago. She and her family bought lunch from a takeaway shop on December 28, then went cycling along the Ajyon River. While she was rid-

ing, the woman noticed that her bracelet sometimes scratched the handlebar of her bicycle, but she had no idea that it would come off so easily. On her way back to the hotel, she noticed that it was gone. After a farm tour, she and her husband rode around the course they had followed, but they could not find the bracelet. If anyone can help her, the woman would be grateful to have it back. She can be reached through us. Tourist pleaser A FRIEND has a word of praise for a Christchurch City Council worker with a sensible attitude to recycling rubbish. He was seen in Victoria Square yesterday afternoon, emptying rubbish bins and carefully separating out food that has become junk to the consumer who wants no more of it Bits of pie, cake and sandwich were being tossed to the seagulls which were putting on a typical display of avian bad manners, much to the delight of a group of Japanese tourists. Real mellow A NEW telephone system

is being installed in a city office that will bring it up to date with new technology. Workers have learned that they can punch one button three times and remind themselves of what it is like to be in an airport or an office building lift where Muzak is piped. It is the “stand by” sound callers will hear when they have to be put on hold while waiting for a connection. Already, some workers can be seen nestling receivers against their shoulders to help keep them in a tranquil mood when the going gets hectic. A bulge WHEN A Christchurch man took his car to be serviced recently, he saw a car in the workshop that had a pronounced bulge in the boot lid. He asked what had happened, and. was told the following' story: The new car’s owner could riot figure out how the boot light came on. He decided that the only way to find out was to get into the boot and have it closed after him. His wife obliged, but then she had trouble finding the lidß-elease. The man decidecTiiot to risk claus-.

trophobia and forced the boot open with his feet

By torchlight THEY were decked out in evening finery, returning home from a big night. Outside the house, in a culvert near the front gate, was a dead black and white cat that looked all too familiar. They knew their elder daughter would be upset by the death of a beloved old cat, one of two in the house. Micky had retired from the wandering life, and spent most of his time curled up on some cushion or chair around the house. He left the wandering to his mate, a white cat To keep the daughter from the trauma of finding Micky in such a state, they crept up the path and took a sack from the shed. They wrapped him up and dug a hole in the garden, giving him a thoughtful burial by torchlight Then they went into the house, only to find that Micky was snoozing peacefully by the fire. The Redcliffs cat lived on, conserving his energy, for many years. r —Stan Darling