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Hi, Rusty!
Well, lunch was a bit of a disappointment! We were intending to go for a curry, but on arrival found that the restaurant was closed! So we ended up having pizza!
I arrived back home in time for grandson's arrival! He is fast asleep at the moment - worn out! I shall have to wake him soon though to have his tea!

My new Brewers arrived late this afternoon - just in time to look up your queries!
I couldn't find "donkey's ages" but "donkey's years" - which is the version I know - is there.
It means 'a long time' and is probably derived from the pronunciation of 'ears' as 'years', helped by association with the length of a donkey's ears.
And "yonks" funnily enough has a similar derivation. "Yonks " is a sang word meaning 'a long time', and apparently might well be a shortened form of "donkey's years".
Are the words not in your own copy?
Neither is in my 'old' Brewers! so I now feel doubly justified in having bought a 'new' one!
Incidentally, apart from one very badly creased page, the book is in excellent condition.

Now, to further incense you regarding The Times crosswords.......in today's QC by Orpheus.....
7 D: Traverse East London district, to get weapon (8)
(Take a deep breath...don't throw anything! see if you can do it! even if you don't know much about London, you may be able to get it from the play on words?)
But yes, I definitely can see what you mean - this expecting folk to know about London districts must be getting somewhat trying for a non - Londoner!!!
(I can tell you the answer later if need be?)

How was your day?

Hi, Doglet!
Sorry for the late reply - I've been out for lunch!
Thank you for the information on hedgehogs. Fortunately I had read that one shouldn't give bread or milk, so when I do encounter the odd one in our garden , I give it cat food and water!
I'm surprised that Ziggy likes them - our cats have always been very wary of hedgehogs! they are apt to paw them suspiciously!
You do a very good job re-homing them!

Hi elle Ziggy tolerates them even when they move into his house,they obviously like vet bed Weather here very warm and very wet with more to come.Hope you have restful evening

Elle and Doglet, I don't know about cats tolerating hedgehogs, but I once had a dog (English Springer) who made it his job to unearth them even in the middle of Winter, and bring it, unharmed, into the house, dropping it at my feet !
I then had to take a towel or some gloves and put the poor animal back in some protected bits of grass.

What I have never understood is how Chokky managed to carry the spiky ball in his mouth without hurting his palate !

None of the dogs would leave a hedgehog alone they would pick them up and get spines in their mouths which must have been painful but continued to bring them home I suppose all terriers are hunters of something, the cats are worse as they collect rats and bring them into the house and let them go,we have two harvest mice this week a frog and a dead legless lizardbut no birds.my husband is rather squeamish so that is my job, the spiders too I dont tell him but the big black house spiders I release in his garage

There was nothing I could do to stop Chokky from bringing in all sorts of animals - springers are great hunters.

I think someone told me once that spiders only lived in healthy houses - that might make your husband better disposed towards them....?

Mummy cat is a great hunter and brings all sorts of animals in the house; but where she really amazed me was a few days ago when she brought a drowsy but live mouse and dropped it between the kittens; the mouse decided to move a bit so Mummy caught her and dropped her again between the kittens - she then just sat watching the small ones making sure the mouse was dead.

I reckon she was teaching them how to deal with things, how to hunt and therefore how to fend for themselves later. (although they will not need this to survive of course since I shall supply all the food they need !)

hi Elle
I have the 18th edition of Brewers which if I remember correctly is the same edition as rusty's.
Both donkey's years and Yonks are exactly as shown in your copy. Hope you are having a relaxing evening.

Good evening, Elle!
Yes, the words are in my copy, too!
I have been hectic today, so no time to look up words!
A grand tip from me would be to smooth out the page as best you can, close the book, then put a pile of books on top overnight.
I get "crossbow".
It is the main Times crossword that irks me.
It is syndicated, and attempted by people all around the world. Folk who live in Alice Springs, or Carrbridge, will not have heard of Barking, or know that Hackney is pronounced 'Ackney. Too parochial! That is my beef.
How is your grandson settling?
It has been great weather here.
Did you get rain?
At least one granddaughter visiting tomorrow.
I'll better go to the bank!

Evening, Jazzy!
It's reassuring that with this 'new' copy' of Brewers I have the same words and definitions as other people!!my original version was a 1980 edition and quite archaic! I think I might donate it to the charity shop? but will anyone want it?!

Evening, Rusty!
Yes, I'm pleased with my new Brewers - it's a great improvement on the other one, but then that has served me well over the years, so I cannot complain.
I'm ahead of you in that the crumpled page is already smoothed out, and the book is sitting under a heavy pile of books! It's shame that the page is so damaged but the rest of the book is in impeccable condition.
And it only cost me £11.32 whilst the printed price inside the cover is £30 - so a good bargain?
For your information, Bow is a district in East London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. I have never been there though.
We had a good time with our grandson - he was very good and oh so chatty! He would "talk the hind leg off a donkey"!
One for Brewers? or for your idiom book?
Mum and dad came to collect him about 9 o'clock.
So what have you been doing to make your day so hectic then?