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Are you a real man? Blog post

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 John Burns 26 Nov 2014
The wind rattles the bothy door and pushes hopefully against the windows, the frames flex under the pressure of the gale but I know they’ll hold and relax with my tea. There’s nothing quite like a cup of tea in a bothy, the taste is transformed into some kind of heavenly nectar. Bearnais bothy is a long walk from anywhere, in places the path from Achintee is difficult to follow as it winds its way in an odd diagonal before it crosses the high ridge to descend into the broad silent glen. I savour a mouthful of the hot tea, rubbing my aching legs, and then, glancing down through the stem rising from the dark liquid I notice something floating on the surface, it’s a mouse turd.

I sit for a moment, staring at this unwanted visitor to my beverage, hoping it will magically transform into something a little more welcome, a seed perhaps, a fragment of biscuit but no, it stares back at me and is, unmistakeably, mouse crap. I fish it out and I’m then faced with a dilemma, what to do with the tea. I was enjoying it a moment ago, positively revelling the taste, but now it appears slightly less appetising. Option one is to throw the tea away and start again, option two is to man up and finish the tea and pretend nothing has happened, after all it will taste just as good as it did before.

Read more here

http://johndburns.wordpress.com/2014/11/24/are-you-a-real-man/
 Niall 26 Nov 2014
In reply to John Burns:

Do mice carry the likes of Weils disease, or is it only rats?
 hokkyokusei 26 Nov 2014
In reply to John Burns:

Thanks. I do enjoy your blog posts.
OP John Burns 26 Nov 2014
In reply to Niall:

> Do mice carry the likes of Weils disease, or is it only rats?

I'm no expert on contagious diseases transmitted by animals but I think the answer is yes mice, in theory, could transmit Weils disease. I think it's mostly a problem in slums and the poorer parts of the world with high density populations. I suspect that since your average bothy mouse lives a fairly remote and isolated existence it is less of a risk but not impossible. As far as I know you get the disease through infected urine coming into contact with broken skin and not by ingesting it. All of the above could be rubbish, don't listen to a word I say, I never do.
 ScraggyGoat 26 Nov 2014
In reply to John Burns:
Ah bugger, they took the stove out. Last time there, a pan of water placed on the stove top would almost come to the boil. Mind you the Bearnais bothy babes had carried in plenty of coal, alcohol and food, via a quick diversion up Moruisg. Before you ask they are from Aberdeen........
Post edited at 20:18
 goatee 27 Nov 2014
In reply to John Burns:

John you have a way with words. I was hooked in that first paragraph. Keep writing.
OP John Burns 01 Dec 2014
In reply to ScraggyGoat:

> Ah bugger, they took the stove out. Last time there, a pan of water placed on the stove top would almost come to the boil. Mind you the Bearnais bothy babes had carried in plenty of coal, alcohol and food, via a quick diversion up Moruisg. Before you ask they are from Aberdeen........

The old stove was pretty well finished, I couldn't get it to light on a previous visit. The new hearth burns a lot better.

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