I held a golden eagle!!!

I've never been to a falconry and to be honest, I don't think I knew what it was but along we went to explore. I was shocked that there are so many types of owls. We saw flying displays of falcons, owls and listened to a few of the talks about the birds which was really interesting. I never learn though, when asked if I would like to volunteer, I did!! I volunteered to hold a 10lb Golden Eagle on my arm! It weighed a ton. It was only when it was stood on me that I remembered that I don't actually like birds that much and that my arms should be longer than they are. It was an experience.

We went back to the campsite and had a nap :) We really are turning into old women - we nap, we have tea and cake and I have a bad back!

That evening, the BBQ was rained off becuase of rain so we went for chinese instead. Picture this, posh chinese restaurant and the 4 of us in scruffs and loving being dry and warm.

Rupenzel let down your hair

Oh Jen wa snot a happy camper this morning and looked like she was about to get the car with PG's. We visited Broadway Tower, a folly in Worcestershire. We managed to buy a family ticket (even though we are aged 25, 27, 27 and 30), we climbed the stairs, looked at an amazing view of Worcestershire and Glocestershire. When I asked Fran and Jen to pretend they were queens of the castle for my picture, I didn't expect the response I did. They picked leaves and put them on their heads as crowns. Frans crown was significantly bigger than Jen's but we were all convinced they were crowns. After tea and cake, it was off to our next stop. And the rain poured on and on.

Jen's first time

Al and I seem to be drawn to camping in the rain so off we went to the Cotswolds with Fran and Jen for Jen's first camping trip. However, this trip was slightly different becuase the car was full to overflowing with a larger tent, chairs, table etc. Al and I almost had a domestic putting up the new tent and Jen and Fran 'convienintly' arrived just as we finished putitng up the tent. We cooked dinner and then went to the Travis concert in Westonbirt Arboretum. We joined the 'women who don't want to have their bags searched by a man' queue which was about a 1/16th the size of the normal queue. We danced, jumped and then spent hours trying to get out of the car park but god were they worth it. By the way, look at the colour of the sky in the piccies, it got significantly worse than this :)

Birds, Birds and more Birds

As part of Al's 30th year of birthday treats, we visited Slimbridge Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust. The WWT really thought it through becuase its £8 to visit and then you have to pay for the privilage of a bag of seed to feed them!

Two days at the European Commission

What a couple of days! It started with a 4.15am wake up call to get the5am train to London. I should have known it was going to be one of thosedays when I saw someone being arrested at London Eurostar security.However, things got better and I had my meetings at the Commission,complete with head phones listening to a translator which I really likedfor some reason. The fun and games started when I left the meeting. Myhotel had to move me to another hotel so they called me a cab. Halfwaythrough the journey I considered taking off my seatbelt and sitting inthe middle becuase I was sure we would have a crash any minute. He drovealong the tramlines instead of the roads, he almost hit someone offtheir bike, he scratched on call and hut their mirror and drove atridiculous speeds. However, I got to the hotel in one peice and metsomeone being arrested in the foyer!!! The police were taking astatement from two German tourists as I got my key! to say it was basicwould be an understatement as it smelt like someone has only just leftthe bed. Strange thing was that I didn't know whether I was saferindoors or outdoors? A meal on the Grand Place followed by a beercheered me up. However, I had to go back to the pit :( I walked past agroup of homeless people, past a gang of lads but I was alive, I wasn'tarrested and I needed to sleep!

Race for Life 2007

We did it, we got to the end of Race for Life 2007, 5km run/ walk through South Park in Darlington. Al, Al's sister and I walked the course in one hour, in very humid weather. I love the atmosphere in Race for Life but get really upset when you read people's backs. I did this race for my two nan's, There were many people running for themselves, running for their mums and loved ones.

Wii me

Have you ever played on a Nintendo wii? It was fantastic, we bowled, played tennis and baseball and I wasn't hopeless! I did however, get thrashed by an 8 year old.

A day at Preston Park

Littly joined us for a day trip to Preston Park. We visited the butterly house, museum, animal farm and played crazy golf. Al tryed to completely loose her ball in a shrub, a cunning plan to forget that I was winning :)

And the blankets got smaller

We spent the night in Al's sisters family house in Darlington. It was quite and episode going to bed so it has to be documented. We discovered that the dog had wet himself on our bed, well Al discovered it, I thought it was just a mark and was gonna jump into bed. So, all of the sheets came off the bed and we then searched Al's sisters wardrobe for bed linen. After which the comedy routine started with me stood on tippy toes pulling out duvet coveres and pillow cases in copious amaounts. It took emptying the whole wardrobe before I found a sheet, then a duvet cover. Then we merrily made the bed before remembering that we have no duvet so I went back into the cupboard. We thought there was a single duvet and discussed that a single duvet could go into a double cover and so I reach up, only to find out that it was a cot blanket! Then Al saw what she thought was a feather duvet, only to find out that it was a pillow. Then Al saw a fleece blanket, only to find out that it was a cosy toes. At this point, I lost all control of laughter and bend double when we pictured al covered in cosy toes, cot blanket and pillow over the shoulders :) What would we find next?????

Sights and smells of Eden Camp

I've wanted to go to Eden camp for years after mum and dad visited. Its a great WW2 museum by York housed in the old POW camp. In each hut it chronicles a different part of the war but it doesn't have the technical flashy things that so many museums have now, it just had simplicity. I loved the info and smells pumped into the huts. I learnt that women did have a really really big part to play in the war and the second thing i learned was that the cows were painted with white stripes becuase of the blackout! This is to stop you driving into them!!!! ou could also hire a wedding cake for the day if you couldn't afford to make one with your rations. I also had my first bit of linguistic confusion with the sign 'no parking in't centre'. I asked where the T centre is? First lessons, T is short for 'the'.....why, its already short???? :)