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!!

Barney Trubble

Puppy day finally arrived on Saturday. I've been like a child waiting for Christmas for the last few weeks so everyone will be relieved that I am no longer going to give them a day by day countdown! We eventually decided to call him Barney and he is absolutely gorgeous, though just a little mischievous. He's already tried to take a dip in the pond, has taken the heads off most of the pansies and tries to eat anything in sight (he sampled l'escargots for supper yesterday!). He is so much like our last dog, Sam; his personality seems very similar so I think we have another cheeky one. Here are a few photos.

Barney likes pulling the heads off the pansies

...and scrabbling in the soil

Zonked!

I survived!!

Sunday was the day of our big sponsored abseil at Devil's Gorge to raise funds for the North Staffs Special Adventure Playground, the charity for which I work. In the run up to the event I was far more anxious that the event would run smoothly than I was about the abseils themselves, so I must say that a huge sigh of relief was breathed at the end of the day when it was all over and had gone without any hitches (and all 31 participants got home alive!).

As for the actual abseils, I can quite honestly say that it was the most terrifying experience I have ever had! The first abseil was down a 70 degree slope, the second a free-hang 120ft abseil. I had the pleasure (?) of being first down, and managed to set a great example by losing my footing just after I started my descent and swinging into the rockface- I now have some lovely bruises to show off! After regaining my composure, I started again and despite my utter fear of heights, I didn't find the rest of the descent too bad. However, I can't even begin to explain how terrified I was for the first half of my second abseil- looking back now I don't know how I did it. I am genuinely scared of heights and descending to the edge of the overhang and then going off the edge is the hardest thing I have had to do, but you can't beat the feeling of achievement you get afterwards.

Despite the horror of dangling 120ft in the air on the end of a rope, it was a fantastic day and I am hopeful that we have raised in excess of £3500 which makes everything worthwhile. The rest of the story can be told in pictures:

Going over the edge

"Straighten your legs and lean back"- easier said than done when

you are 120ft off the ground and scared of heights.

"Smile for the camera"- you are having a laugh.

Point of no return

"Am I nearly there yet?"

Reaching terra firma

The second abseil- you can just see me emerging over the edge

"Straighten your legs and come off the wall"- whatever

Still reluctant to lose contact

"Eek, where's the wall gone?"

Well and truly hanging ....and I didn't look down once!

This is the look of relief that it was all over!

...and a few more puppy photos

Super Furry Animals

I am SO excited. I have been to visit the litter of puppies from which I will be having one in two and a half weeks time, I can't wait. I don't know which of the litter I will be having at this point, but they were all absolutely gorgeous. I will probably end up having the one that was being just a little mischievous- he kept trying to wake up one of his sisters by pulling at her ear and jumping on her, she was not impressed. Some photos are below (sorry the quality isn't great, but wasn't allowed to use the flash!)- any name suggestions for him will be most welcome!

...and here's a song too!

The sun has got his hat on

Good weekend? I decided that I would finally get round to painting my bathroom yesterday....on the hottest day of the year so far. I must be mad. I painted the walls and the ceiling and then gave up having nearly expired from heat exhaustion. Just the glossing left to do now...that will have to wait for my next weekend off.

I've been out in the garden today. It's still a little hot for me but not quite as oppressive as the last two days. It's been nice just being able to mooch around and relax, it's been a hectic couple of weeks and this week is going to be equally busy (except for Wednesday when I am skiving off work to go for some retail therapy with my mum and auntie, who is visiting for the week).

Next Sunday is the day of my BIG abseil. I'm more anxious about ensuring the event runs smoothly than I am about the actual abseil, though I am sure that on the day I will be a little more worried! I have a team of around 34 people taking part so I am hopeful that we should raise a significant amount of money. You can read more about the event in my previous post here and I will make sure some photos (and possibly video footage) appear next week. Wish me luck!

For now I shall leave you with some pictures of flowers (and a bumble bee!) from the garden.

Pondlife

Loads of tadpoles this year, even though Mr and Mrs Mallard keep coming for supper. They are starting to take on a more froglike shape and the fact they are starting to come up for air suggests that they are starting to develop lungs.


I've also been watching electric blue damsel flies laying eggs in the pond this afternoon and there is a rather interesting looking nymph sunning itself on the pond grass. Hope there are lots of frogs soon!

My new 'neigh'-bours

I have just been for a walk round the garden and came face to face with some horses peering over the hedge at me! For as long as I can remember there has been nothing in the field behind the garden so it came as something of a surprise. I'm not a mad fan of horses but it has been quite nice standing watching them. I like the small white ones best.