Read a book and pass it on

If you click on the little yellow book in the sidebar,you will discover, as I just did, this excellent site called Bookcrossing. It exists to promote a novel way of encouraging people to read books. (Novel - books - get it? Oh well, please yourself!) The idea is that you join up and recommend a book you have read on the site and then leave it in a public place for someone else to pick up and read, in the hope that they too will pass it on in their turn. Seems like a good idea so I joined this morning. I only have one problem. Since I discovered the joys of writing and reading blogs, I have done appallingly little reading, so it looks as if I shall have to cut down on the blog-browsing and read more so that I will actually have a book to recommend!

Another quiz

Just come across a brilliant site although I'm not sure how I got there. On that site there is an interesting little questionnaire which apparently is used in many Human Relations departments of large corporations to enable them to get a better insight on their employees and prospective employees but you can do it just for fun!
My score was 38 and this is the comment:
Interpretation of Results
Others see you as sensible, cautious, careful & practical. They see you as clever, gifted, or talented, but modest. Not a person who makes friends too quickly or easily, but someone who's extremely loyal to friends you do make and who expect the same loyalty in return. Those who really get to know you realize it takes a lot to shake your trust in your friends, but equally that it takes you a long time to get over it if that trust is ever broken.

Personally I like the 'clever, gifted or talented but modest bit'! Yes, I can live with that :)

Another sheep!

What are you looking at then?

So, it's another sheep - this time from T'Lake District. How can you tell the difference between Cumbrian and Welsh sheep? It's the accent, of course!

From one national park to another

Today, Keith bravely decided to venture into England! (Slight digression, but did you know that there is still an ancient law in existence which forbids Welshmen from being within the walls of Chester after sunset?) Anyway today we swapped Snowdonia national park for the Lake District, heading off at the crack of dawn (all-right, 8.30a.m.). In spite of having lived in Liverpool for more years than I care to remember, I have to confess that I had never ventured as far as the Lake District, except for a couple of visits to friends in Barrow, but that doesn't really count.
We decided on Lake Windemere and Keith's trusty PDA with sat. nav. brought us speedily to Bowness on Windemere and the lake itself.
We had our lunch in a little motor boat in the middle of Lake Windemere, which was unusual and very pleasant even though it stayed overcast most of the day and Keith played with his camcorder and shot reams of exciting film. I was allowed to play with it for a brief moment too, but made a mess of my attempt. I will need more practice before our trip to France! For my photos look at the Windemere folder here.
After that, Keith decided he wanted to go and look at Barrow - no idea why (apologies to any Barrovians reading this) as it's not exactly a tourist attraction, but we drove along the dock road before heading off towards Ulverston and then home. Keith was heard to breathe a sigh of relief as we crossed the border back into Cymru! :)

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!