Pets?......Don't!!!

Reading the entry on guinea pigs in Kaptain Kobald's blog reminded me of 'happy days' in the past when one of my son's went into pet-owning in a big way. We ended up with 13 rabbits, 2 chinchillas, various mice, hamsters, gerbils, a couple of chipmunks, a lizard, a water snake, ferrets.....need I go on?
We had 3 sheds in the garden to house them and the lawn fenced off as a rabbit run, with the inevitable burrows underneath and, of course, who ended up cleaning them all out when he 'forgot'???
His older brother decided to get in on the act too, but he restricted himself to 1 pet, a water snake which he kept in his bedroom....when it wasn't escaping, that is, and secreting itself under his younger sister's bed. She was NOT impressed!
The snake was partial to baby mice, not the sort of thing you can pick up at your local corner shop or supermarket but younger brother came to the rescue and,through his contacts in the pet shop business, obtained a quantity of said baby mice (dead).
The next problem was where to store them. I must have missed out on this discussion because the first I knew of it was through an irate phone call while in school, from my ex-husband who had delved into the freezer for that evening's meal and chanced upon .....you've got it! The mice, in a plastic bag! One of my colleagues at school claims that she dined out several times on that story!
A couple of years later, the menagerie was disbanded and we had a fishpond in the garden instead, which took up a third of the lawn and meant that, whenever I wanted to hang washing on the line, I practically had to tread water.
(You couldn't make it up, could you!)

An almost perfect walk

This morning dawned bright, sunny, calm and beautiful; a pleasant change after all the gloomy clouds and rain of the past week. The ground in this area gets waterlogged very quickly in wet weather so Lucy and I have been sticking to pavements for our walks this week but today I thought we would take a chance and go across the field and around the lake in the valley at the back of the house. The valley always provides peaceful surroundings for a walk and I am always conscious of how lucky we are to live here. Have a glance at the Moss Valley page and see for yourself . There were a couple of people fishing, one or two other dog walkers (Lucy was very good today and politely ignored them!)and a row of mallards sitting on the bank contemplating the view. The babies have grown now and become teenagers (juveniles in proper 'bird' language). It took them a few seconds to realise there was a D.O.G. behind them, but when they did, they rose as one and launched themselves into the lake. Actually, Lucy has realised by now that there is little mileage in chasing any birds as they inevitably fly away where she hasn't a chance of following. It's a pity she doesn't apply the same common sense approach to cats, but no, the sight of a cat is a guaranteed signal to attempt death by strangulation as she leaps towards it, quite forgetting that she is on the end of a lead. Although an old lady - estimated age, 13 - she has been known to attempt to scale a six foot fence in pursuit of a cat!
Almost round the lake and what did we discover? A burnt out white Fiesta abandoned by some anti-social idiots the night before. Barriers have been put up recently to stop off-road motor bikes careering round the lake and through the wood but it seems that such measures are sometimes regarded as a challenge by those with no appreciation of their surroundings. Just wish I could go and dump it in their living room!

Olympic Games opening ceremony

Keith and I have just been sitting in front of the television totally entranced for the past half hour. The reason? We have been watching the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. Neither of us are great fans of the Games and that is probably as much as we will watch during the coming weeks but we were both amazed by the artistic and technical effects. I have certainly seen nothing like it before. The whole thing was perfectly choreographed, the music was fantastic and the artistic and technical flair behind it, sheer genius. If you missed it, look here and play the video. Give yourself a treat!

What type of blogger are you?

I was browsing the ether earlier today and came across this little quiz which is supposed to tell you what category of blogger you are. Most people I know would say the 'insane' category, but they just don't understand, not being bloggers themselves! I have tried to convert them but without any luck so far.
Anyway, if you'd like to try the quiz for yourself, don't forget to post the result afterwards!
You can see mine at the side. Hmmmmm.........

And yet more!!!

They've been reading my blog - they must have been, and now they're ganging up on me. It's an organised assault - on my nerves! This morning's specimen had quietly insinuated itself into the bedroom. There it hung, swaying slightly, on the bedroom ceiling, grinning triumphantly - well it probably was. I didn't actually get close enough to pick up on facial expressions.
I gave myself a very positive talking to. "It's a lot smaller than you," I said.
"It's probably far more frightened of you than you are of it." ("Are you sure about that?")
"It's not actually going to do any harm, now, is it?" ("Yes it is, it's going to move, it's going to travel round the bedroom, it's going to grow into a bigger spider. Maybe, one day it will drop on me from a great height like the ones in our Australian friend's story.")
Well, there was only one thing for it - it was either the hairspray and hoover method (You don't wanna know!) or call in the cavalry. Men - they're just SOOOOO useful! :)

More spiders

Tales of my bravery when faced with a spider in the bathroom the other day seem to have spread far and wide. The sequel to the tale is that yesterday there were 2 more, also in the bathroom but this time I despatched them to that great cobweb in the sky! Well, you get fed up of being brave after a while. The novelty wears off :)
I was also on the laptop yesterday evening with 2 moths and a daddy long legs flying round my head (the back door was open) so I'm not all bad. I did let them survive!
Last week, a young Australian was in the shop regaling us with stories of his encounters with spiders back home. He happily reminisced about huge specimens falling from the ceiling onto his face while in bed! Bit of a passion killer really......

Anyone for Blogrolling?

Having had the bloggrolling html on my blog for weeks, I have suddenly worked out what to do with it (Yes, all-right, slow on the uptake, I know!)
So I have now put my linked blogs onto it and very proud of it I am too. There it is sitting elegantly on the right. However, these things never go smoothly (it's taken me all evening to do this!) and for some reason it wouldn't let me add Magz and Anytown NHS Trust so apologies to them but they are still there as links.
Anytown NHS Trust is brilliant - it tells you just how wonderful the organisation behind the good old NHS is. (Be afraid....be very afraid!)

Warm and comfortable?

I just visited Gemmak's blog and found an interesting little quiz which she had done, so I thought I would have a go too and, guess what - I got the same result.
Can I suggest that in my case, it's not totally accurate??? And that's as much as I'm saying :)
cuddle and a kiss
cuddle and a kiss on the forehead - you like to be
close to your special someone and feel warm,
comfortable, and needed


What Sign of Affection Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Bus stops and golf

We didn't go very far afield today. First Keith decided he'd like a quick bout of golf practice. I had said I would be interested in trying it out too, being a complete and utter novice, but - hitting a ball with a stick, how hard can it be? I thought. WRONG!!! It's much harder than it looks - but it's also good exercise. Mind you, Keith didn't do too well either, between you and me! So, after a quick stint at the driving range, we began today's meanderings - this time around Chirk and the area around Llangollen Take a look here
We had a lovely drive and saw some beautiful scenery. I never cease to be amazed at the wealth of amazing views and places to visit on our doorstep. As we were cruising up and down mountains, we came across this.....


Very strange, I thought, but no, Keith had the answer as usual. You may recall an earlier discovery of the bus stop on the way to Pentrefoelas. Keith did mention that the prehistoric Welsh were a very forward looking race, well, here, if you needed it, is even more evidence (he said). A prehistoric bus stop for the 22 bus! Amazing or wot!!!
On the other hand, he said, Douglas Adams could have put it there as the answer to the meaning of life, the universe and everything - maybe it is 22 instead of 42.
(And maybe that's going just a bit TOO far!!!)

Aaaaagh!!!


Aaaaagh!!!
This morning, when I went into the bathroom for a shower, there was a spider already there - not in the shower but perched nonchalantly on the wall. Not QUITE as big as this one.
I didn't scream or shout - there was not even a sharp intake of breath.
I left it there! I just wanted everyone to know how brave I was. :)
Mind you, when I had finished my shower, it had disappeared, which is more worrying, because now I don't know where or when it's going to show up again! :/

Plaster board and dust

So, we're still no further forward on the British Gas smart meter front and I've given up making non-existent appointments with them...