Hmmmmm.

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We had a very wet and windy day yesterday so I figured the algae that was starting to reappear on the roof of Sue’s glasshouse would be easily brushed off. When I got there with brush and hose it was to find broken glass on the floor and a hole in the roof. My first thought was that a branch had been blown through the air and hit the glass end on but there was no sign of a branch or any other projectile.

All the broken glass was immediately below the break and there was no sign of any foreign object coming through. It hadn’t been anything travelling at high speed; I ruled out bullets and meteorites. All the breaks radiated out from a single point; it had been hit at that point by something, not just broken by the wind twisting the pane.

I looked around carefully outside the glasshouse and found a polished pebble that I didn’t recognize, that seemed about the right sort of size and weight to be the culprit. I don’t think it could have been thrown or fired from a catapult from any real distance away, it would have gone through the glass and been inside the glasshouse and the glass shards would have been more spread out. That rules out it originating from the other side of that neighbours house. As far as I know no children live in any of the houses within reach so it seems unlikely to have been kids throwing stones; besides, the weather was awful and they’d have been in school.

If I had to hazard a guess I’d say it was a stone that came to hand when an unwanted critter was in the garden and it wasn’t very carefully aimed. Perhaps it was too well aimed and bounced off the critter’s head! It was neither of our two cats, they were accounted for.

I reckon whoever did it must have heard the glass break but no-one has come round to apologise. I’m not aware of any animosity with any of our neighbours that might have meant it was a deliberate act.

It just so happens that I had a few spare panes of glass about, one of which was the right size. I repaired the broken window and then did what I’d set out to do, cleaning the roof.

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Published by Jim Stephens

Gardener, no-dig allotmenteer, camellia enthusiast. I love colour, it cheers me up. Retired nurseryman.

12 thoughts on “Hmmmmm.”

  1. I have heard crows have an amazing memory and if you’ve been mean to one, it will remember you and tell all their friends! Not saying you have been but I found that fascinating.

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    1. There’s a few seagulls around here who would be well justified in harbouring a grudge, after me going after their babies! but I actually quite like crows. They chatter away in our oak tree in a very conversational way that’s never struck me as sounding hostile, but I admit I don’t speak crow.

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  2. Your deduction is commendable. I also suspect a crow or another bird dropped it. Shortly after I moved into my home in town in 1989, I cussed at a crow and threw a rock at it to chase it out of the garden. Some time later, it started throwing bits of roadside gravel at the front parlor window! What was worse is that it taught its baby crows to do the same for as long as I lived there. They never broke the glass, but it was a bit unnerving at times. Crows here regularly and randomly drop shiny bits that they can dislodge from a nearby metal recycling dumpster.

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  7. This is a mystery! My mom has been known to throw a rock on her own roof to scare a squirrel away. But she’s no where near you so we can rule her out. It’s so nice you had a piece of glass on hand to fix it.

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