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.

Thief!

This naughty squirrel was caught red-pawed stealing the birds' nuts!

I'm getting old

I ought to feel bad that I am having a week of relaxation whilst most of you have your nose to the grindstone, but I don't. Sorry. It was my birthday at the weekend afterall, so I think I deserve some time off. It's not easy turning 35...I am now closer to 40 than I am 30 which is all a little scary, though fortunately I still feel 21 (most of the time!) so can't grumble. Must find myself a husband at some point I guess, time is ticking on.

So what have I been doing with my time off work? Not too much which is good, sometimes it is nice to be able to mooch around and allow the batteries to recharge. Had my friends over to celebrate my birthday at the weekend- food, alcohol and sophisticated (?) company...what more could one ask for? Today has been retail therapy in Manchester with my mum, always a priority when I am on annual leave. Disappointingly I failed to come home with much but a pleasant day all the same. Yesterday I met up with Voley for an evening in Birmingham which was excellent- we went to a Vietnamese restaurant for dinner which was delicious though I made that age old mistake of having a starter (they are just so tempting) and then ended up not managing to finish my main course...diet starts tomorrow (especially after the huge chocolate tiffin biscuit I had today!).

The rest of the week I think will be devoted to a little decorating. I have been procrastinating over it for ages and now I have run out of excuses. The bathroom and a couple of windows need painting and then I need to put up some new curtain poles. Not my favourite pastime but I am looking forward to putting up my new curtains and having my new downstairs lights fitted. Other than that I have very little planned. Hopefully weekend will bring some entertainment.

Spring is sprung

It's been a beautiful weekend. Here are a couple of visitors I met whilst out in the garden this afternoon.



There are also loads of tadpoles in the pond but they are a little camera shy.

Doctor Who is back

I've been looking forward to the new series of Doctor Who all year, so it was with bated breath that I sat down last night to tune in for Matt Smith's first outing as the eleventh Doctor. I have been in a period of mourning since David Tennant regenerated at the end of the Christmas special and, though not wanting to make any assumptions about the new Doctor, have been unsure whether the casting has been right. Having watched last night's 'The Eleventh Hour', I am still holding judgement. I didn't dislike Matt Smith's portrayal, but I didn't find it wholly believable- I felt that he isn't sure himself yet of his character, but I feel that he may have the potential to grow into the role. Maybe this is intentional- as he says himself, "I'm still cooking".

On the whole I enjoyed the episode. Stephen Moffat, who has taken over as main script writer, has written some of my favourite episodes- 'Blink' and 'Girl In the Fireplace' were excellent. Like 'Blink', 'The Eleventh Hour' plays on our everyday fears, this time the things we occasionally see out of the corner of our eye, but never pay proper attention to. The episode was clearly setting the scene for what is to come, and importantly, introduced us to Amy Pond, the Doctor's latest companion.

I am looking forward to the rest of the series- we already have hints to the future ("Silence will fall", the Doctor is ominously told) and I am curious to see how the character of the new Doctor will evolve.

Mmm, chocolate

Happy Easter. Hope you are all enjoying the weekend and today's beautiful sunshine. Has the Easter bunny been? It's certainly been to my house- amongst other goodies, I have received the largest bag of Cadbury's Mini Eggs that I have ever seen! I feel that by the end of the day I shall be feeling very sick, very fat and possibly rather hyperactive, having not eaten any chocolate, cakes or biscuits for the entirity of Lent. Why I deprive myself for six weeks I have no idea, but I can say that it is worth it because chocolate on Easter Sunday tastes so much nicer!

The birds in my garden seem to have entered into the Easter spirit too and have created their own egg hunt...I found this one a short while ago.


...I think it may have been a little confused as to exactly what constitutes a nest.

Supermarket + children = headache

I've had a lovely relaxing weekend. Three days off work and the last two spent in the excellent company of Voley (and I even managed to pull back a scrabble win). However, five minutes in the supermarket and I felt like screaming. Why do parents allow their children to run around the aisles like they are in a playground and to dictate to them what goes in the shopping basket..."I want these cakes, they have more sugar in them"- no, you clearly don't need any more sugar. My head was throbbing by the time I had finished. I was rather amused though by the child who wanted to know how wood is made- her mother's answer was that it comes from trees but this quite obviously didn't satisfy the child who continued to ask "but how is it made?".

Thanks Voley!

I got home today to a parcel from Amazon. Thinking it was a book I had ordered last week , I was a little confused when I opened it to find a title within that I had no recollection of ordering (now my memory is not great, but it's not that bad!). I like surprises, so thank you Voley- I shall look forward to reading 'Freshers' by Joanna Davies, though I really need no encouragement to be nostalgic about our time as freshers at a Welsh university.

Housekeeping tips

Tip 1: Don't put washing-up liquid in your dishwasher. What happens? You get an awful lot of soap suds! I do hasten to add that I have never done this, though one of my work colleagues did today. Finding that we had run out of dishwasher tablets, they thought it would be just as effective to squirt a little washing-up liquid in instead...and then they went home leaving me to clear up the mess. It took endless scooping, swilling and three rinse cycles to get rid of the bubbles. Fun.
Tip 2: Don't superglue your fingers. OK, so I did this one. Enough said.

Sponsored abseil

I decided at the beginning of the year that I was going to organise a sponsored event to raise much-needed funds for the charity for which I work. So what did I decide would be a good idea? Abseiling of course because I absolutely love heights- not. A team of around 25 of us (staff and supporters) will be risking life and limb on Sunday 30th May at Devil's Gorge in Mold, each of us doing two abseils- the first is down the rockface, but the second is a 120ft free hang abseil! We must be mad. I really am terrified of heights. Voley can vouch for this after once walking round Conway town walls with me (they are quite high with very little to prevent you from falling off- a rickety hand rail as I remember)...when I say walked, I was actually on my hands and knees! So doing this abseil is definitely going to be a challenge for me- I will do it, but someone may have to prise my fingers off the edge! It is for a worthwhile cause though so a little fear is fairly insignificant. The North Staffs Special Adventure Playground is a fantastic charity providing play and recreational facilities and activities for disabled children and young people. I have been involved now for 20 years and, although I may be a little biased, it really is a wonderful place. You can visit our website (click the link above) to see what we do, or to see a quick snippet of us in action click here- the link is to an episode of Celebrity Cash in the Attic in which Nick Hancock, our patron, appeared to raise money for us (the footage of the Playground is in the last minute or so- I kept well out of the way of the camera!). It costs us over £200 000 a year to keep the Playground open and the majority of this money we have to raise ourselves through applying for time-limited grants and general fundraising, so I am keen for this abseil to be a success. If anyone would like to sponsor me, we have our own fundraising page on JustGiving.com- clicking the link below will take you there!

Every penny raised will go directly towards providing a vital service in Staffordshire for disabled children and young people and their families.

..and wish me luck with my abseil! I will no doubt post some pictures after the event.