Just to give some idea of Ari’s dimensions, here is a photo, taken by Tigger, showing Ari near a ruler.

Ari and a ruler
Photo by Tigger

At the time of the photo, Ari had descended somewhat from her usual level near the ceiling and to a position nearer the bedroom door. Is she planning to move somewhere else? Time will tell.

By late evening, Ari had disappeared again, destination unknown…

See also Ari, the spider.

After our long, if enjoyable, ramble yesterday, we felt like staying nearer home today. The weather was still warm (15°C) but the sun was hiding behind clouds.

A little light DIY on a warm afternoon

As yesterday, we decided to have our coffee in the open air and, having visited the deli to buy it, walked the few yards to Myddelton Square Gardens, next to the church and found a vacant bench.

Myddelton Square Gardens

This is a view of one end of the gardens from our bench.

Busy squirrel
Photo by Tigger

There were a few people in the park and some activity among the other inhabitants, including squirrels, pigeons and other birds.

Signs of spring

After our coffee break, we took a stroll round the garden where the new blossoms showed that spring is in the air.

We were mystified by this sign

This sign puzzled us somewhat. To the fourth and fifth floors of what building or buildings is it referring and why would this be in a park? My best guess is that it is a muster point but as this is a residential area I am far from satisfied by that guess.

Pigeons and friends

The garden’s pigeons were very active all the time we were there, suddenly taking off in a flock with a great rattle of wings when something scared them and then dropping back down again in twos and threes when the fright had passed. Someone was giving them food which was keeping them busy in the ground.

Myddelton Passage

We walked through Myddelton Passage which we had not visited for a while.

Gate chained up

This gate leads to a path from which there is a view of the gardens and old buildings on the New River Head site. We sometimes entered here to look at the view but the gate has been chained up for months now, whether because of Covid or some other reason, I do not know.

A quiet street

Myddelton Passage is a pleasantly quiet street because one end is closed to vehicles so there is no through traffic.

No sign of new life

Each time I pass this way, I look carefully at the vine along the top of the pub wall, hoping to see new signs of life. At the moment it still looks dead but Tigger is confident that it will produce new leaves soon. I hope she is right.

Flowering bush

This flowering bush in Arlington Way was a pretty sight with its little red flowers. I hope it acts as encouragement to the pub’s vine.

A small chapel in Arlington Way

Also in Arlington Way is this little chapel called Mount Zion, about which I know nothing. However, what amused me today was the notice affixed to the nameplate with clothes pegs.

Don’t ring – phone us!

This makes a pair with the notice on a door in yesterday’s blog except that this one warns callers that the doorbell doesn’t work and to phone instead – a modern solution that the chapel’s founders could never have imagined.

The clock is wrong but it is working

In my post To the pharmacy and back, I showed a photo of the undertaker’s clock and bemoaned the fact that it had stopped. It turns out that I was wrong about that. It is in fact working but showing the wrong time. I don’t know how it came to be 4h 29m slow (or 7h 31m fast – take your pick) I don’t know.

Window box

We saw quite a few window boxes during our walk. Now that spring is on the way, people are replanting them. This is a sample. We might have to start collecting them just as we collected Christmas wreaths!

The sun briefly appears

Just as we were nearing home, the sun put in a brief appearance between the clouds. Nice but too late. Even without the sun, though, we had had an interesting walk with coffee al fresco to encourage us.

The last time we saw Ari was on February 4th (see Spider Ari moves fast – sometimes). Since then, though we regularly scanned the walls, there were no more sightings. I began to think that she had moved to fresh pastures or… but I didn’t like to dwell on more morbid speculations.

This morning, Tigger suddenly emerged excitedly from the bedroom. She had news: Ari was in the bedroom!

I went to take a look and there she was, in a corner high up near the ceiling. Corners on the line between wall and ceiling seem to be her preferred resting places.

Our ceilings are quite high and photos taken by me standing on the floor showed a tiny image which was fuzzy when enlarged. So… I had recourse to a stepladder, risking life and limb to bring you the latest picture!

Ari in her “pilates” pose

As you see, she was resting in her characteristic “pilates” pose with legs (all eight of them) stretched out before and behind her.

How Ari came to this location is rather a mystery. Unless she has discovered a secret passage, she must have negotiated two doorways and the hallway. How and when she performed this trek, I do not know. Or why. But she did so and there she is until she decides to make another move.

See also the composite version of the adventures of Ari: Ari, the spider.