Dunwich ponies
Believe it or not, these beauties roam, relatively wildly, around the forests of Dunwich heath, Suffolk.
The thirty-something herd of Dartmoor ponies were introduced nearly 4 years ago, and have settled in quite nicely.
Being wild, walkers in the woods are asked to not to feed the ponies. However, they were definitely curious little things, and were interested in what we were doing in their forest.
Lovely hardy ponies, not the pot-bellied things that you see in the stableyard, these guys were introduced with the intention to encourage a “more varied vegetative structure which in turn increases the variety of wildlife”. Well, there we go.
Want to know more? Suffolk Wildlife Trust can help you there. Yay, ponies!
Gone
On Thursday, Bubble stopped eating.
She had been struggling with myco complications for a good few weeks now, and the antibiotics seemed to be having only a limited positive effect.
Rats often have respiratory problems, especially as they get older (my girls are about 2 now). Sometimes they get by on baytril long term, and Bubble put up a good fight, but ultimately, she needed a rest.
I can feel myself welling up now.
Ben phoned me up a few weeks ago, whilst I was up here in Suffolk and he and the rats were still in London, sounding worried – Bubble’s breathing was really bad, he said. Very wheezey, sneezey. She had bad porphyrin build up around her eyes too, a sign that she was seriously stressed out.
The vet gave her jabs, and gave us some baytril to administer at home (via oral syringe – she hated that). Then there was the corvental-D, and the powdered steroids, and I think it was all a bit much, and optimism got the better of us.
Bubble has always been a bit of a sickly rat. She had an abscess in January, and she’s been a bit sniffy since we first got her. But she’s also been very highly spirited, ok quite highly strung, but cheeky and loads of fun. Never a dull moment, even if the chewed wires were a pain (rare, but ultimately inconvenient).
Rats are tricky. They are incredibly affectionate, intelligent, inquisitive, and ultimately very easy to get attached to. But they are also small, and therefore quite short lived. Most rats manage 2-4 years. Short but sweet. I loved having Bubble in my life, which has made the last few days all the more difficult.
With the move to Suffolk and my new job starting, I’ve been up and down to London. Unfortunately, when things turned the bad corner on Thursday, I was up here, not down there. But I didn’t want her to wait, suffering unnecessarily, until I got home. A difficult decision, but we think the right one, Ben took her, alone, to the vet. I’m sorry that I couldn’t say goodbye. It hurts to think about that.
But she can get some rest now. I worry that her sister, Squeak (who moved up to Suffolk with me this morning) will be lonely. She seems mostly ok for now, but rats are sociable creatures, and I think she enjoyed being bullied by Bubble. We’ll have to keep each other company for now.
Goodnight, Whitey.
Dogging in the countryside
Hello to those of you who found this blog post because you were googling naughty things. Shame on you. Today I’ll be talking about dog walking.
This week, I’ve been looking after my mum’s dog, Dusky, whilst my mum and dad are on the Isle of Wight celebrating their 35th wedding anniversary. OK, I’ve sort of been looking after their dog – I brought her up to Suffolk, but because my new house (renting, not bought, for everyone that keeps asking) requires a “pet addendum” to keep pets, I didn’t think I’d risk asking this early in the game if I can have sleepovers with my friends, the animals.
Luckily, Ben’s parents (also in Suffolk) generously allowed Dusky to stay with them. They have a dog already (Jimmy, a grumpy Jack Russell Terrier), and he wasn’t pleased to see another dog enter the premises, but Ben’s parents LOVE her. She was initially a bit nervous (she is a rescue dog, so god only knows what happened to her before my mum took her in), but has settled in beautifully.
She’s had adventures aplenty. As well as walking around Southwold common, meeting other dogs, being frightened of bikes and freaking out at the sea, my brave little girl has been for a walk, OFF THE LEAD, for the first time ever:
I was a bit worried to start with, as she has no recall to speak of, and I’m not her real mummy, so I wasn’t sure if she’d make a run for it and never come back. But I kept the faith, and we’ve bonded quite well over the last few days, so she kept quite close most of the time.
But even more exciting than this, is she had her first ever play date. And what a play date it was.
I think I’ve mentioned my friend Vin and her two enormous Newfoundlands before. Well, they’re about a year old now, and sodding enormous. Thor, the boy, is about 12 stone, whilst his sister Jester is (only! Hah!) 9 stone.
Despite their size advantage, and the fact there was two of them and one of her (and it was THEIR turf, not hers), Dusky surprisingly put them in their place and ran rings around them. Jester was actually AFRAID of this minute lurcher, retreating behind Vin’s legs every time Dusky went to say hello. Thor, on the other hand, fell deeply in love – he followed Dusky everywhere, licking her ears and generally dribbling all over her (Newfoundlands are drooly dogs).
There were only three dogs, but with their size and her speed, it felt like there were at least a dozen dogs. A fun time had by all – we must do it again some time!
Oh, final excitement: Dusky also caught her first rabbit whilst at Vin’s. It had mixamatosis, so it was probably better off dead anyway, poor thing. Luckily, Dusky broke its neck pretty swiftly, but we had to chase her around the garden for a while to get it off her. Vin had the honour of disposing of the corpse. Fun. Times.
Crafty: Kitty-fox shoes
Another gratuitous crafty post today. You’ll appreciate I’m quite busy at the moment… (WE HAVE A MOVING DATE, EEEEEEE)
Some of you may remember when I painted some plain Converse knock offs -
Sadly, these shoes have long since bit the dust, and I finally cut the cord and threw them out yesterday.
But it’s ok! Don’t cry! I made some new ones. Haha. Same sort of design – if it ain’t broke….
Art Outdoors: Belgium
Today’s bit of street art is courtesy of my mother and her travels to her homeland of Belgium. I’m not 100% certain of which town this was spotted in (I think it was Mechelen, but I wasn’t there, so I can’t be sure), but she saw it and thought of me. Aww.
EDIT: Want to see more work by the same artist? Roa, based in Gent, Belgium
Reach the Beach 2011
On Saturday, Ben and I had an early start. We were going to Hersham Hounds to pick up a dog for a day at the beach.
Every year, Hersham Hounds (the Wimbledon Greyhound Welfare Trust) organises a mass exodus to East Head Beach, West Wittering (near Chichester in West Sussex) – volunteers, dog owners, supporters of the trust all take greyhounds in the (quite) long journey down to the coast.
We arrived at HH’s sanctuary in Esher at about 8:30am. We were to get a big boy called Rooster.
“Is there any reason you’re only taking one dog..?”
“Um… Not really. We could take two.”
“Only his girlfriend has been crying. We didn’t think she’d want to go, but as soon as we started getting the other dogs ready to go, she was getting really upset.”
So, two dogs. Big Rooster (9 years) and his tiny, timid girlfriend, Nala (10). Rooster was really friendly, really lively, very cheeky. Nala, by contrast, quiet and just wanted to sit in the back of the car.
Rooster and Nala
Greys travel really, really well. They just sit in the back of the car, quite happy and patient. And it’s quite a trek from London to Chichester.
With on brief stop at a petrol station to get snacks, we got to the beach around 11am. There were photographers to take pictures of everyone and their dogs on the beach itself, but no sign of those yet. I’ll let you know when they’re available.
There were some activities, too. I didn’t partake, but it was fun to watch man&dog 100 yard dash (and there was an equivalent event for the ladies, too). Oh, and a Bonio&spoon race.
As greys have a penchant for running very fast (and taking a negative interest in things that move, but are not greys), it was leashes and muzzles all round. These docile lovelies don’t look like they’d hurt a fly, but things can go wrong, so we prepared for the worst: it would be terrible to damage the reputation of greyhounds.
Nala and I were happy to take a very gentle walk along the beach. Rooster wanted to run, so Ben was in charge of that. Luckily, Ben brought a change of clothes – he ended up in the sea. Brrr.
And finally, the obligatory picnic. Nala was not interested – she hopped right back into the car, and sat there for the remainder. Rooster was VERY interested indeed in our sausage rolls. He had his own punnet of cocktail sausages, but still got jealous of our food. Incorrigible.
And then, at around 2pm, it started to get a bit chilly – we’d been lucky, as the weather had held until that point. So back in the car with the dogs, and back to Esher. Nala went straight to bed, unsurprisingly. What lovely doggies.
If you fancy, you can always ask to borrow a grey for a day, to help with dog walking. HH are always grateful for volunteer dog walkers and the like. And they have LOVELY dogs. Go on – give a dog a walk. Get in touch with Hersham Hounds to find out more.
V&A: The Cult of Beauty
On Friday, I met up with my mum and aunt, who were having a day out in London. They had already been to see Jan Gossaert’s (Flemish, like they are!) work at the National Gallery by the time I met up with them, and had a cheeky sit in at a lunch time concert at St Martin-In-The-Fields whilst they were waiting for me to arrive, so I knew they were on a culture binge. After a spot of lunch, we decided to round off the day with a visit to the Victoria & Albert museum.
After a drift through the hall of statues (the first gallery you come to after entering via the subway), we decided to avail ourselves of the temporary exhibition on the 1860-1900′s aesthetic movement, The Cult Of Beauty.
As all three of us are avid lovers of all things Art Noveau, it drew us in immediately. With a philosophy best summed up by Morris, “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful”, the aesthetic movement was a celebration of beauty. Whilst I wasn’t mad on everything in the exhibition, there was an astoundingly large selection to choose from. My favourites included Pavonia (the picture used in the promotional material, as above), Proud Maisie, The Beguiling of Merlin and Louise Jopling. I was also deeply drawn in by the beautiful statue, Mors Janua Vitae (death is the gateway to life) by Harry Bates – the picture on that website does not do it justice; it is stunningly beautiful and more than a bit unnerving.
As well as being crammed full of beautiful paintings, sketches and sculpture, The Cult of Beauty also boasts some architectural drawings (including sketches for Whistler’s famous Peacock Room), Morris wallpapers, pottery, a set of wrought iron gates, some beautiful clothing and astonishing feats of carpentry. Oscar Wilde gets a mention or two, and there is a poster for a play entitled “Quite Too Utterly Utter”, which makes me grin like a loony.
The exhibition is on until the 17th of July, and is well worth the price of the ticket. We spent a good couple of hours in there, and would have taken even more time if we hadn’t started flagging after a long day.
Tickets are priced at £12 Full, £9 Seniors citizens, £7 Full time students, ES40 holders, 12-17 year olds, £31/£19 Family tickets (2 adults and 2 12-17 yrs/1 adult and 2 12-17 yrs)
Find full details on the V&A website.
Wai, Hello Kitty
Holy crap, look what just arrived in the post (in one piece!)
I told you my sister-in-law was a master baker (sorry, I can’t resist saying that).
Art Outdoors: Brick Lane
I took my mum to Whitechapel a couple of weeks ago, and we had a great time wandering around the shops and generally enjoying the sunshine.
On our travels, we came across a lot of street art, including this beautiful, enormous crane -
Crafty How-to: Origami Peacock
Ooh, a special Crafty post today. I’ve been meaning to do this for a long while. Here: a video, demonstrating how to make an origami peacock! Oh joy.
Please excuse my sloppy folds – I usually make them a lot neater, but then, I usually am not being watched.
Enjoy!
I Want Never Gets: Peacock tea cosy
I have a new teapot. So clearly, I need this. I’m sure you all understand.
From the V&A shop, £45
Books: The Red Queen
The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature
Following on from yesterday’s review of Sexual Nature at the Natural History Museum, I thought I’d give you a “recommended read”. I actually finished this book about a month ago, but am only just now getting around to reviewing it. Don’t expect any ground-breaking reflection – I’m a bit weary at the moment.
Well, the long and short of it is: Matt Ridley is great. I’ve known this since I read his “Nature Via Nurture” last year, at which point my dad recommended this.
Here, Ridley looks at the question of: why sex? Sex uses a lot of energy, is slow, and requires two individuals. And it leads to a lot of dangerous competition. Well, sex has its various advantages, and Ridley looks at these systematically.
But the more entertaining portion of the book looks at various sexual behaviours: from sexy-son theory, to the thousands of genders in the mushroom family, you’re bound to be in for a few surprises.
My main love of Ridley comes from his rare ability to impart brilliant scientific knowledge, whilst still keeping it all fascinating and entertaining (I would NEVER describe Ridley as “dry”). Phrases like “a gigantic experiment called communism in a laboratory called Russia…” are bound to raise a smirk. And you will be bowled over by the blunt illustration of the interconnectedness of all human-beings (as early on as p. 12). Be amused by the Coolidge effect! Finally understand why gentlemen prefer blondes (or not)!
Definitely worth a look in – I enjoyed it very much, and imagine I will be reading it again in the not-too-distant future.
Contains Themes Of A Sexual Nature
Hoho. Gotcha. No porno here.
Actually, I’m talking about the new temporary exhibition at the Natural History Museum, entitled “Sexual Nature“, which opened recently.
As I said in my post yesterday, I went to visit the NHM with my friend Vin last Thursday, with the express intention of seeing this temporary exhibition (and going the gift shop, ofc.)
I’ve read mixed reviews of “Sexual Nature”, so wasn’t sure what to expect, but at only £4 for students, it’s not really money wasted, regardless.
Image from NHM website
I have to say, I was really pleasantly surprised by the exhibition – if a little weirded out, too.
You see, when you pass through the big, frosted glass doors behind the ticket desk, it feels a bit like you’ve just walked into a seedy sex shop: there are long curtains to walk around, and what I can only describe as “mood music” softly playing in the background. But do not be alarmed: behind the curtains awaits a wonderland of facts and figures, with slightly unnerving multimedia support. First up is the giant video screen showing chimps fornicating (and my lord, some of them look bored), which you can’t fail to notice as you walk in.
All around you are display cabinets with bizarre artefacts: penis bones, insects “caught in the act”, and even a pair of unfortunate locked foxes (if you don’t know what I mean by this, please go and look it up).
I think the strength of the exhibition lies in its variety: there are a multitude of of different ways the information is displayed, from the written boards (which are very readable), to the pictures, videos, display cabinets and even the slightly disturbing “Green Porno” – the image of Isabella Rosellini dressed as a snail will stay with me always (for good or for ill).
I don’t want to say much more, as it’ll spoil the surprises in store. In conclusion: I loved it. £4 well spent.
Sexual Nature is on display from now until 2nd October.
Open 10.00-17.50 daily, last admission 17.15.
Adult £8, Child and concessions £4, Family £21
Free to Members, Patrons and children aged 3 and under.
This exhibition contains frank information and imagery about sex.
I Want Never Gets: Kissing Bunnies
On Thursday, I met with my friend Vin to go to the Natural History Museum‘s new Sexual Nature exhibition. More about that in a future post.
BUT. In their gift shop, they had some beautiful jewellery relating to the exhibit. Including this gorgeous silver pendant, at £125. Sigh.
Films: The Men Who Stare at Goats
Mighty unusual film, this. Yes, there is a degree of goat-staring, but that is not the entire plot.
A dark comedy, based around true events (Americans are weeeeeird), we follow the story of the PSYOP movement. Some of it is frighteningly believable (and historically ineffective in terms of interrogation methods) such as the brainwashing techniques (Barney the Dinosaur, anyone?), but some of it, I find hard to swallow (I’m not into the whole “psychic” thing. Although I know people who are, so I will not pass judgement).
However, believable or not, this film is very fast-paced, pretty whacky (Clooney seems to be doing a lot of whacky at the moment) and very entertaining.
Drugs! Goats! Moustache! And dancing. Lots of dancing.
Get with it.
Art Outdoors: Brick Lane
Oh hoh! More street art from Brick Lane? You betcha.
First, these lovely (if slightly disconcerting) owls:
And secondly, not really street art, but definitely worth a mention, this eye-grabbing, day-glow orange shopfront:
Lewes
Yesterday, I was at my mum’s in Sussex. Given the miserable weather, we decided a day-trip for shopping was in order. So we pootled off to Lewes, for a wander about.
The best place to park in Lewes is, of course, always packed. But we managed to get a spot outside the old Needlemakers indoor market. There is a limit to 2 hours max parking here, but we thought that would be enough time to browse the shops (without frittering away our entire day).
Lewes is a wonderful little old market town, and has evolved into a quite up-market, quaint tourist town (and a fabulous, if on the pricey side, place to shop for the more unusual bits and bobs).
Most of our stay involved looking about in the shops inside the Needlemakers – my favourites being Wickle (where they sold, amongst other things, real beetles set in resin, and postcard booklets entitled “Beautiful Sheep”, “Beautiful Pigs” and “Beautiful Cows”), Skylark (selling a selection of fairtrade craft goods and a variety of unusual books and music) and, of course, not forgetting: The Patchwork Dog and Basket. More on this at a later date – needless to say, they sell goods for patchwork and quilting.
Lewes itself is a lovely place for a general explore – it’s got a lot of hilly bits, which makes for a more interesting walk then a flat town. Oh, and did I mention, it has really unusual shops? Like ones that sell MASSIVE jars of chilli jam?
And in the words of Jackie Chan’s uncle – One more thing! St Michael:
Crafty: Cross-stitch wolf
At my mum’s again this week, so I’ll treat you to another bit from my childhood bedroom!
This beauty is the single biggest and most time consuming cross stitch project I have ever managed to complete. I love it dearly – it has ended up as a work of art.
I’m afraid I can’t remember offhand the name of the pattern designer, but I do know she has produced a series of animals in this style – a gorgeous animal with a Native America style shadow. Other designs include a jewel-coloured hummingbird and a cougar.
This took me over a year to complete. I was going to give it to my ex, but I broke up with him before I finished it. Selfishly, I’m glad I got to keep it 
Art Outdoors: St Mary Cray
I’m sorry – I realise I haven’t been blogging about much “intellectual” stuff recently (talks, exhibitions, and the like). It’s because I’ve spent most of my free time brain dead (because the study/work side of things is a bit intense at the moment).
But I have been out of the house a fair bit, and that has been a REAL treat! Yesterday’s trip to St Mary Cray threw up this selection of Banksy-esque glory, just outside the station. Enjoy!
Games: Sonic Colours
Nope, sorry, massive disappointment. Similar to Ben’s reaction to Gran Turismo 5 (where he was waiting ages for it, really looking forward to it, and cetera), Sonic Colours just did not meet my expectations.
That’s cruel – Sonic Colours is a pretty good game in its own right. The game is pretty (especially the starlight carnival planet) and the designers have obviously tried hard to remain true to the original charm of the original Sonic games.
But it just… doesn’t match up. It doesn’t have the same addictability as Sonic, Sonic 2, Sonic & Knuckles… There is even more annoying stuff to fall off of than in Lego Batman (beyond challenging, into the realms of pure frustration, to the point where I actually just turned off the console mid-level several times). The controls are a bit sticky (the double jump is a pain in the arse) and the “Colours” themselves are a bit gimmicky and frankly slightly embarrassing.
Oh, and the 2-player part of the game SUCKS. Jesus.
Fine, I’ll admit it – I didn’t finish this game. It just didn’t grab me like those from my childhood did. In fact, I traded it in today, and got Lego Star Wars for PS3 instead.
It seems SEGA still haven’t managed to recapture the wonderful Golden Combination that those original games had (up until the first 3D game *shudder*). I even liked Sonic Spinball. But not this.
Maybe I’ll just download the original games instead…. Sigh.
Films: Tangled
HAH. Weren’t expecting that one, were you? Well, think again. I’m not all angst and darkness. No, contrary to popular belief, I love Disney films. Well, some of them, at any rate.
And Tangled is definitely one of those that I love. I was beginning to get a bit jaded as far as “modern” Disney was concerned, but Rapunzel, her “magic hair that glows when she sings”, the charming Flynn Rider (who, trust me, has more depth than he originally lets on), the brave horse Maximus and the BRILLIANT chameleon Pascal, have most certainly won me over.
OK, OK, this is a pretty saccharine twist on the original Brothers Grimm incarnation, but then, that is the fate of the fairy tale in the modern age – it must be sweet and light (with some mild peril), and of course, it must be moral.
And I’m happy to say, Tangled ticks all the boxes. The goodies are good, the baddies are bad, there are reformed criminals and heroic animals. Someone is called Eugene (a name that has sadly been too long forgotten). There are a lot of very well written songs (yes, it’s semi-musical) including the fantaaaaastic “Mother Knows Best” (brilliant, as I was at the cinema with my mum). I’m still confused as to why Rapunzel had no shoes, but I’m willing to overlook that. It is all beautifully animated (works well in 3D!) and the script is very sweet.
Oh, and there is lots of hair. That’s a given.
Cheers for more reminders that long hair is, in fact, awesome.
Art Outdoors: Brick Lane
On Thursday, I had a meeting in Brick Lane. Of course, this was a good excuse to wander and look.
I took many pictures, but here is just one (I wouldn’t want to spoil you now, would I?)
Oh yes – ratty!
The Personal Touch
The workplace can be an impersonal place. I find it makes work easier if you make you work station a bit more fun, a bit more “you”. I think it’s really important to personalise your surroundings, especially those where you spend the majority of your waking hours. For me, that would be my desk at home, and for Ben, that’s his desk at work.
As a result, my desk is overflowing with stickers and brightly coloured things (including some pheasant feathers in my pen pot). But you can’t go too over-the-top in the office – it has to be small and subtle.
With that in mind, I’ve gifted Ben with various bits and pieces for his work desk – a little blue wolf from IKEA (I liked his funny grin), a tin of Stewie mints from Cyber Candy (he LOVES Family Guy) and…. a diplodocus.
I’ll explain the diplodocus. He’s the newest addition, having joined Ben’s desk-gang only yesterday. Ben was having a tough day at work on Tuesday, and sent me a message telling me so. Then he sent me a message saying “if you loved me, you’d buy me a dinosaur!”
Naturally, I asked him to specify what kind.
And one afternoon detour via the Natural History Museum left me with old dippy.
I hope the wolf isn’t mean to him. He’s a big softie.
What about you? What little trinkets or personal touches have you brought to your workplace?
