Holiday's over

It's been back to the grindstone for me today and after sitting at my desk for five minutes with around a foot of post and messages to sift through before I could even think about getting any other work done, I almost wished I had not had any time off. So, my day has not been quite as chilled and relaxed as the last few, the last two of which were spent in the very pleasant company of Voley. Yesterday we spent a leisurely afternoon ambling around Biddulph Grange Garden, another one of those places very close to home that I have never visited but ought to have done, followed by the consumption of unhealthily large slices (=wedges) of cake for afternoon tea. Here are a few photos taken (mostly by Voley with my camera) of the Garden. One of these days I will get round to uploading photos to flickr, but for now just a few will have to do.

Barney's getting bigger...and cheekier!

I can't believe we've had Barney for four weeks already, the time has flown by. He's grown so much in a month and he's starting to get very adventurous (= wayward). His favourite pastimes are getting wet and muddy, squashing and eating the plants in the garden, and getting himself stuck in places he shouldn't go. He is very cute though. He's had his first visit to the vet for his vaccinations and his second one to look forward to this coming week...then, the real fun begins, training him on his lead! He's been for a few walks on it round the drive and has done fairly well, though his tendency to lie down every few yards is probably not such a good idea once he is out in the lane! Here are a few more photos of him.

He loves his plant pot....

...and rolling on the grass (though mud is even better!)

"Ooh, I spy the pot of pansies...can I get there before they stop me?"

"Ner ner, got there first!"

Butter wouldn't melt

Barney loves Gladys the elephant....

...but not quite as much as he loves digging...

...and eventually, he runs out of steam!

In the garden....

...I found...

...one great-spotted woodpecker hanging on the nuts...

.....one baby frog sitting on a lily pad....

....one toad lazing in the pond.....

....a lily flower....

....and a giant caterpillar crawling on the drive.

I just wish I'd had my camera with me when the thrush was smashing snails and feeding them to her young.

Rain rain, go away

I know we badly needed rain, and I'm much happier now that the weather has cooled considerably, but did we really need to have the wettest week in some time whilst I am on annual leave? I had planned to go fruit picking so that I could make jam (there's nothing better than homemade strawberry jam spread on freshly home-baked bread, mmm), but the rain has not let up long enough to pick the fruit, and even if it did, all the strawberries have probably now turned to mush. Very annoying. So instead I am baking cakes...or trying to as, thwarted again, I don't appear to have all the necessary ingredients. I've made a lemon sponge and some almond slices, but the rest of my bake-a-thon will have to wait until tomorrow when I've done a spot of shopping!


I'm so enjoying not being at work this week though. It's been a hectic couple of months and my batteries needed recharging. My week so far has in general been fairly relaxed and I've been able to spend lots of time with Barney who is growing rapidly- I'll post some photos later- I really miss him when I'm at work. Retail therapy in Manchester went well; I came back with a number of successful purchases, without parting with much money (thanks to the gift cards courtesy of my Dad's American Express points!), which is my kind of shopping! Not much planned for the next couple of days, but Sunday and Monday will be spent in the company of my favouritest (yes, I know that isn't a word) friend, so I'm looking forward to that. Will have to wait until September then before I have any more time off- it's a hard life!!