A Big Dollop of Franney

i fought the beetroot

2011-04-20T09:10:00.000Z

and i WON! :oD
(eventually!)

It's not really beetroot, that doesn't work as a dye apprantly but that's the colour it has come out and i LOVE it! :oD

Spend a quid - win a shawl! Potentially!

2011-03-29T10:14:00.000Z

I, like a lot of people have been very shocked by the recent earthquakes and the tsunami in New Zealand and Japan and it got me thinking about what i can do to help. the answer is: not a lot really.
I can offer no practical help but i can try and raise some money so when i saw the Japanese Garden Shawl (rav link) designed by Wendy Johnson (who is donating all profits from the pattern sales to the American Red Cross) i knew exactly what to do!

I checked through the stash but found nothing with a suitable yardage so i popped over to Stash Fine Yarns and picked up some Aracaunia Ranco in this gorgeous pinkypurple - it's not a luxury yarn but it is lovely and soft.

It arrived on Saturday but what with my busy weekend i didn't get to play with it until yesterday! I wound one skein up and spent the day knitting a small sample. This is what you get if you knit just Chart A as it is with no extra repeats. I'm happy with the colours, my needle size, knitting from the chart and everything so i'm casting on the shawl proper today!

So how is this helping?
My plan is to take donations of £1 per entry to a prize draw with the 1st prize being the finished shawl. I have had offers of donations for other prizes as well but i will post about them when the details are finalised :o)
(I still have details about how to take the donations to iron out as well but as i haven't started the shawl yet i figure i have a little time before i need to worry about that too much!!
I am hoping that the money i raise will be split equally between the British Red Cross and Medecins Sans Frontieres if i can just work out how to do it ;o)

Japanese Garden

2011-03-24T08:26:00.000Z

I've just bought the Japanese Garden Shawl from WendyKnits and i will have some very exciting news to share with you next week. Keep 'em peeled! ;o)

Spring is in the air

2011-03-19T14:15:00.000Z

Tis a lovely day today, clear blue skies and warm spring sunshine...

The cherry blossom is out on half the tree...

No idea what this is but it's pretty <3

Sunshiney tulips

Cheeeeeeesecake! :oD

2010-12-31T14:34:00.000Z

Well, it's New Year's Eve and i am getting ready to head out to spend the night with some very lovely friends and get very drunk!
I've made some cranberry vodka which had been infusing in the fridge for the past week or so and i have just finished the After Eight cake. An online friend had mentioned it so i tried it on Boxing Day but didn't put any cream in it so it was very hard indeed, but it tasted gorgeous so today i have improvised a little!
I crushed half a large pack of digestives and mixed with just over half a slab of melted butter and put it in the fridge to set. Then i melted a box of After Eights in the microwave, it took about a minute but i stirred it after 30 seconds. While that was doing i whisked half a tub of double cream and added about two thirds of a tub of softenened Philly then when the chocolate was done i stirred the other half a tub of cream into it until it was smooth. Next i folded the chocloate mix into the whipped cream mix and finally i poured it over the digestive base and it's now sitting in the fridge setting (hopefully!!)

Fingers crossed it all works out ok and if i see you tonight ENJOY! :oD

Wishing you all a happy New Year, i hope it brings all you wish for xx

Six Legged Freak!

2010-10-16T17:36:00.000Z

Four on one side, two on t'other!

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Size doesn't matter

2010-10-16T13:38:00.000Z

When you're a pansy lol
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Saturday Sky

2010-10-16T11:45:00.001Z

it brought rain... funny that!

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ehehehhhhh

2010-10-09T01:01:00.001Z

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I love my view!

2010-09-10T09:49:00.001Z

We're back at Malvern for Vanfest at the Three Counties Showground and i have an awesome view :-)
Our two week holiday is nearly at an end, on Sunday we'll be driving home and sleeping in a proper bed again! We've had a fab holiday and done so much, from the steam of Blandford to the caves at Cheddar and the lions of Longleat and everything else in between!

Oh i do like

2010-08-31T12:06:00.001Z

To be beside the Swanage seaside :-)
I just wish i'd put my cossie on so i could go for a dip!

Lavender's blue dilly dilly

2010-07-27T16:37:00.001Z

I met up with Noo and Spot at Mayfield Lavender Farm today for a stroll, lunch, knitting and some good old fashioned conversation :oD
It was rather lovely despite the few spits of rain and the screaming children and the grumpy Lukey who thought Spot was in his personal space lol

The lavender was swarming with bees, and so many different types too

I am looking forward to another day out there next year!

FIRE!

2010-07-18T13:02:00.001Z

Matt has taught himself fire poi and he gave us a couple of shows

Didn't he do well!!

Oh i do

2010-07-18T12:49:00.002Z

Like to be beside the seaside!

BBQ Banquet

2010-07-17T19:56:00.001Z

Usually when we camp everyone just does their own thing but this weekend we decided to organise ourselves and eat together.
I did a bulk shop of meat for the BBQ and then everyone brought along a side dish and a dessert of some kind if they wanted to and this was the result...

Isn't it AWESOME!! :oD
I think we all did really well and hardly anything went to waste and the cold meat for tea on Sunday was FAB! :oD

A big thanks to our chefs for the evening, they did brilliantly and nobody went home with food poisoning!! LOL

Don't fall asleep....

2010-07-17T18:44:00.000Z

In your chair....

Or in your van....

Especially if Becky is around!!

:oD

Snapshots of the weekend...

2010-07-17T12:47:00.000Z

Me modelling Barry's blankie :oD

In the field next to bus Stop was the Crowborough Fair and we were lucky to catch the bird show.
This bald eagle flew round several times and it was just magnificent!

I wasn't quick enough to catch it in flight unfortunately, or when the seagull decided it was fed up with an eagle invaded it's airspace!!

This is the sea eagle, isn't he impressive. I am amazed at the size of his beak and how powerful he looks just sitting there

An odd bunch

2010-07-15T12:27:00.002Z

We found this bunch of apples growing on mum's tree!

Any ideas??

2010-07-12T15:20:00.001Z

I found these dead spiders at the bottom of the camping bag, anyone have any ideas what the little pea things are that are attached to them??
I also found one live spider running round in the bag, i'm not quite sure what to do with it!!

We has fire!

2010-07-09T21:12:00.002Z

It must be ten past ten :-)

Cloud!

2010-07-03T17:06:00.001Z

This floated past while we were relaxing in the garden, our very own Cloud Dragon!

Luckily he was friendly and didn't rain on us :oD

Strawbellies!

2010-06-23T12:46:00.001Z

I've already had two lots for pudding off them and they are bloody gorgeous!

I must sort the runners out, they are going mad! :oD

Summer is here!

2010-06-14T15:11:00.001Z

Heralded by the arrival of my first strawberry!

It's huge... or at least it was until i ate it :oD

Deeeeeeeeelishus!

Then and Now!

2010-05-24T09:49:00.001Z

This is Ruth and me in October 1990, we'd been friends for about 3 years here...

And this is us yesterday after our Race for Life, a mere 20 years later!

I'll make sure i post another piccie of the two of us in 20 years time too :oD

Race For Life!

2010-05-23T19:37:00.001Z

Caroline, Sadé, Ruth and me on the way out...

Ruth and me on the way back in...

Most of the girls!

Sadé, Caroline
Ruth, me, Rachie
Gee and Lisa

They are all amazing xXx

Tunisian Crochet

2010-05-18T23:12:00.002Z

Thought i'd give it a go this evening as it's something I've been wanting to try for a while. The section on the right is Tunisian Simple Stitch and on the left is Tunisian Knit Stitch. I much prefer the Simple Stitch, it makes a firm fabric with a nice waffle type pattern. The Knit Stitch is very thick, almost like it's a double layer. Glad I've tried it, now i just need to find a practical use for it!

Tunisian Crochet

2010-05-18T21:05:00.002Z

No snow here!

2010-05-12T09:22:00.002Z

Let's hope it stays that way ;-)

All a-Skew!

2010-05-10T21:46:00.002Z

I started this pair at the beginning of April with the intention of finishing them before the end of the month and have just cast off the second sock!
Better late than never eh? ;-)

Ooh i say!

2010-04-30T13:15:00.002Z

That wasn't there yesterday! lol
The flat leafed parsley has made an appearance. In fact the whole of the herb "garden" is looking good and healthy with lots of new growth. The walk flowers are now in flower but the daffodils have gone over so I'm just waiting to see what else comes up in those pots cos i can't remember! lol

It worked!

2010-04-30T13:08:00.002Z

The strawberry plants have flowers on! I'm really pleased as i wasn't sure the ones i dug up would survive but they seen to be doing ok. They aren't as big as the shop bought plants but they all look healthy :-)
Is it Pimm's o'clock yet?

I has mouse!

2010-04-27T16:36:00.001Z

I saw it dashing along the side of the garage and in through the side door and then it came out under the main garage door and under the trellis that the strawberry planters are sitting on to keep the drainage holes free. I think it's from the same family that live in the compost bin. It's so tiny bless it! I hope i didn't give it a heart attack when i peeked under the planter!

Massive Cock!

2010-04-21T10:20:00.002Z

Made you look! ;-)

2010-04-20T15:51:00.002Z

My friend Lisa and i went to The World of Sewing last week and both picked up fabric scrap bags with the same fabrics in so we set ourselves a little "challenge" to see what we could both make.Lisa has made two cute little bags with hers and after a little trial and error i have made a needle roll for my Knit Picks needle tips and cords.We both used an extra piece of fabric, which was allowed, and mine came from one of the other scrap bags that i bought at the same time.I'm rather pleased with it :o)

Anyone for tennis

2010-04-09T18:09:00.002Z

Well, that was easy enough. I used all the plants that i salvaged from the garden plus an extra 6 which have gone in the top of bags. I don't know what variety mine are but the new plants are Sonata which is a mid season fruit. I am looking forward to June immensely!

Herb garden

2010-04-09T16:11:00.002Z

I've been watching too much telly! Grow your own drugs is particularly inspiring at the moment so i've decided to give it a go :-)

Rescued!

2010-04-09T16:06:00.002Z

Managed to salvage more of the poor neglected strawberry plants than i thought i would. They'll be finding a new home in a proper strawberry planter very shortly :-)

Baking day with a difference!

2010-02-09T14:00:00.002Z

Today i embarked on a new hobby. I chose some soap making ingredients for my Christmas present from Bloke's family and here are the results of my first experiment. I'm fairly happy, the icing took a bit of trial and error but it looks ok and the red hearts have come out wonderfully! The cakes are scented with vanilla and strawberry and the hearts are scented with just strawberry and have golden dust mixed through :-)
My mind is now racing and i will be gathering inspiration and ingredients for another batch once i have found homes for this little lot ;-)

We has Snow!

2010-01-06T16:30:00.001Z

Yeah baby!
It looks really lovely outside, and luckily i get to stay inside and admire it from the warmth ;o)

Ribbit!

2009-11-17T20:34:00.000Z

During the recent bouts of torrential rain i discovered a little green visitor to the garden, he sat there for ages enjoying the rain bless'im!

today i am mostly feeling goth...

2009-11-06T13:33:00.001Z

St. Clement's Church, Leigh-on-Sea.

2009-11-01T15:02:00.000Z

I spent many happy days in my childhood playing in and around Leigh and this church was one of our favourite places to be.
It's right next to the library gardens and is next to the hill that takes you down cobbles and wonky stairs to Old Leigh which is a wonderful place.

Lost in the woods!

2009-10-20T19:59:00.000Z

I got completely lost in High Elms Country Park for about an hour and on my travels i spotted this lovely tree.

Another day out!

2009-10-16T15:38:00.001Z

This time to Coombe Wood which is very luckily local!

I love these tiny cyclamen that were growing throughout the woods, so delicate and yet so hardy!

Tiny little fungus. To give you an idea of how small they are it is sitting amongst a bed of pine needles!

The late afternoon sun was just peeping through the trees and i couldn't resist taking a picture and i love the little orange sunbursts that appeared on the camera

A lovely day out

2009-10-12T15:28:00.000Z

to Camber Sands

The sea was quite rough with some lovely white waves crashing in, it was my first visit there and i shall definitely be going again.
Luke and i had a lovely ramble through the dunes, well, i say through! It was more of an up and down movement and quite knackering but we had lots of fun and got soaked through as the long grass was quite wet round my legs and the rain was attacking me from the other end ::lol::
The day ended with a bit of a disaster unfortunately when Rob's van wouldn't work so after a bit of push-starting he got going and then decided that as he had no dynamo working to charge his battery we ought to stop somewhere so he could call the recovery. What a total pantomime that was! Three hours after pulling into the pub the recovery truck drove away without him on it! His van being lowered there was no way it could be hoisted onto the truck without doing significant damage :o(
He was then told that a suitable truck would be with him within 2-3 hours, as the pub was closing by now we decided to cram as many people into the Bug as possible and head home. There were five of us and the dog in the Bug and we left the other three in the van to wait it out!

Certainly an eventful day!

Weird tree

2009-08-13T13:28:00.002Z

It's a huge lump of what looks like bark covered tree lol

My new

2009-08-05T13:13:00.002Z

Favourite flower. For now ;-)

Adventuring

2009-08-05T13:11:00.002Z

Takes you to some interesting sights!

OUCH!

2009-07-17T09:21:00.002Z

The summer blisters have started :o(
I had to pick small nephew up from school yesterday and as it is only 3 streets away i thought i'd walk. I can't see the point in driving to be honest, he's 8 now and big enough to walk for ten minutes but it would seem that i'm not!
I wore my crocs which have been so good at preventin blisters for the last couple of years but by the time i got to the school i could feel my soles burning and by the time i'd got him home and then got myself home i could feel the blisters spreading. I hobbled off to Knit Club though and by the time i came home it was agony! They aren't your usual run-of-the-mill blisters, they are deep ones, the kind that are impossible to pop because there is just too much skin to get through and they are all the way across the balls of my feet. I'm feeling kind of glad that we haven't gone to Bug Jam this weekend cos that would have involved a LOT of walking and i really can't see me doing much of that for a while!! I'm hoping that things aren't too far apart at VW Bus Stop, as long as we are camped fairly close to the toilets i don't mind!!

We had a wicked storm here last night, i laid in the bath with the light out and watched the sky lighting up with that clear blue glow that only comes from lightning. Beautiful!

Light

2009-07-14T23:06:00.001Z

Light

oh, i've gone all technical! i can now upload photos to flickr using just my mobile phone! YAY!

So close...

2009-07-06T13:48:00.002Z

I had to take the T4 to the mechanic this morning and on my walk home i remembered the lovely view from the top of the hill.

That would be London spreading out in front of me for those that don't recognise the shapes of the buildings ;o)

i'm a hamster!

2009-07-04T19:18:00.000Z

That's me and Manda rolling down a hill in a giant hamster ball!!

What a brilliant way to spend 10 minutes on a summer's day!

Therapy!

2009-06-30T10:22:00.001Z

I was talking with someone the other day about Rosemary beetles and Lavender beetles and when i found one i thought i would make the most of the opportunity to:
a) show you what a Rosemary/Lavender beetle looks like
and
b) have some beetlephobia therapy

They are so pretty, i don't think these photos capture the richness of the colour in its shell.
It is striped along the length of its body with coppery red and turquoise blue and the occasional hint of gleaming gold.

I don't think i did too bad for someone who would have run screaming a few years ago,
although i have yet to let one crawl on my hand!

I think i might be quite lucky, although i have beetles they haven't devoured my Rosemary or my Lavender yet. I remove the "cuckoo spit" that has the larvae in but i can't bring myself to kill the adults and as long as they live alongside my garden i shall continue to do just that ;o)

Relaxed Much?

2009-06-30T10:01:00.001Z

Cheeky beggar, that's my pillows he's sleeping on!
;o)

I don't actually mind though, the hairs can be shaken off, the dribble will dry out and the smell goes eventually! LOL
Seriously though, this was Saturday evening at Munksfest and i was happy to see Lukey feeling relaxed enough to spend some alone time in the van, in the old days he would have been howling the roof down if the door was so much as closed with us not in there!

Munksfest Report:

AWESOME!!

Hadleigh Castle

2009-06-29T13:41:00.002Z

From the bottom of Tattersal Gardens.

Comfy dog

2009-06-19T14:58:00.002Z

What's the saying? Give them am inch, they'll take a mile? lol

Red sky at night

2009-05-30T20:17:00.002Z

Stunning isn't it!

This picture was taken while we were camping in somone's back garden, can you imagine having that as a view day in and day out? Amazing!

Time for tea!

2009-05-30T15:42:00.002Z

This is the life :-)

Tonight i shall

2009-05-30T14:02:00.002Z

Mostly be admiring the view :-)

Garter loveliness

2009-05-28T16:46:00.003Z

My new transportable project, chosen because i don't need a pattern! It's the baktus scarf (think that's what it's called, no computer to hand at the moment so i can't check!) I'm using Drops Fabel and loving it so far ;-)
It is very simple, just increase once every 4 rows until you're halfway through your wool, then decrease back down again for the other half. Happy days :-D

Mum's back garden

2009-05-11T15:59:00.002Z

Is a good place to be a fox ;-)

The fireplace

2009-05-09T14:04:00.002Z

Is ready for tonights potatoes ;-)

The view

2009-05-08T19:56:00.002Z

From our camp is awesome!

Sorted

2009-05-08T15:03:00.002Z

All set up and ready for some fun :-)

Sorry for the sideways photos!

2009-05-05T18:01:00.003Z

I keep forgetting to rotate them on the phone before i upload them to the blog!
I'm investigating whether or not i can edit them once they are uploaded but i have a feeling the answer will be no!

I have to say, i am loving mobile blogging though. It's nice for me to have a snapshot of my day to serve as a reminder and the new-to-me camera does take rather good photos... when i remember to have my phone handy that is! I forgot to take it with me on Sunday when we went to Stanford Hall and there were so many opportunities for good photos too :o(

Border

2009-05-05T15:40:00.002Z

Progressing well if a little slowly. My hands are not liking crochet at the moment but as long as i take it slowly it's not too bad luckily :-)
So far we have one round of double crochet and one round of half treble in cream and one round of half treble in the stoney sort of shade. Next up is the beigey shade and then i'm done. I think i'm going to do a round of half trebles and then a round of doubles and see how that looks

Joined at last

2009-05-04T21:26:00.002Z

After trying several techniques i settled on the double crochet through the back loops with wrong sides facing method :-)
I like the ridges, i think they define the squares really nicely as does the first section of edging that i've finished since this photo was taken. I'll be adding more rows to the edging in a different shade too.

Looks pretty

2009-05-01T13:09:00.002Z

Smells pretty vile!

a walk in the park

2009-05-01T13:08:00.002Z

Spring Park to be exact, it's a gorgeous day and Lukey and i both need exercise! Had one encounter with strange dogs that didn't go too well, just some growling though, no violence. Wish he could be with me how he is in kennels :-(

Making the bed...

2009-04-30T15:11:00.002Z

has never been so easy!

I managed to get the upholstery done with no big dramas, except for the first cushion i made which had the zip in the wrong place! DOH!

I has flowers

2009-04-30T14:49:00.002Z

As well as bindweed! There are some flowers on the strawberries too! That's enough gardening for now, my back is starting to get too hurty! Don't want to spoil my knitting meet up this afternoon ;-)

I'll do something

2009-04-30T14:22:00.002Z

With this one day!

I bloody hate bindweed!

2009-04-30T13:46:00.002Z

I bought some new plants at tesco today so have decided to do a spot of gardening, it desperately needs it! Any tips for getting rid of the terrible weed are very welcome ;-)

how's that

2009-04-28T18:21:00.001Z

for a lovely neat corner!

I managed to work out all by myself how to solve the problem of the cushion shaping round the wheel arches at the back and i am very happy with the result!

The cushions were a very steep learning curve for me, i have never attempted anything on that scale before and it was very daunting but i am so glad that i persevered as they look just right and however vain it might be i can boast about how i did it all myself :oD

More T4!!

2009-04-06T13:40:00.001Z

Work is coming along really well on the van.

The lino was laid last Saturday...

and all this week i have been staing and varnishing the backrests and the bare wood parts of the interior...

On Saturday i helped out with table making in the morning but as i had worked so hard during the week i was given a free pass and so i headed off to my knitting group, when i came home Roj had made the hole for the table leg and also got it all assembled!
The drawer (at the front of the picture) was made yesterday, it was a lot of work as it had to be measured precisely and the actual drawer has been custom built by Roj too.

So far, so good!
We hope to have made the interior as versatle as possible, with plenty of seating for visitors but also a cosy snuggle space if we are camped on our own :oD

This week the foam and fabric are arriving and next week i start sewing!
We ended up getting the fabric on Ebay, i have spent several days visiting local (and some not so local) markets and fabric shops but nothing suitable has presented itself - we have taken a gamble on the colour and hopefully it'll be perfect when it arrives!

A few things have altered along the way, we were going to attach the backrests with magnetic catches but they aren't strong enough so we are now using roller catches and another thing which we are now talking about is whether the drawer section on the other unit should be one big drawer like we've just done, or two smaller drawers - we'll find out what the decision is next weekend as that is Saturday's job ;o)

Saw some cars too!

2009-03-29T20:09:00.000Z

Yes, that's right, there were some cars at Volksworld and i actually managed to take some photos too!!

Not many mind ;o)

But aren't they YUMMY!!

EXTERMINATE!!

2009-03-29T19:20:00.000Z

Today we popped along to Sandown Park for the Volksworld Show and i was stunned when we were greeted by The Daleks!
Seems they've decided to be nice, this one was even collecting money for charity... it's either that or they need to boost the "Take Over The World Campaign" fund ;o)

A little further along and i managed to terrify myself when i spotted a Clockwork Robot, i was able to hide behind the TARDIS and get a shot of him and his new pals the Daleks, seems they had managed to capture some people... i dread to think what they did with them, i am just lucky i managed to escape!!

The conversion so far...

2009-03-22T19:35:00.003Z

I've been meaning to post for ages but i'd rather blog about knitting ;o)
We decided to get a new van for camping last year cos our lovely bay is getting a bit knackered, lots of rust and related goings on and it needs a lot of fixing up. We'd planned on doing that this year and using the (new T4) as our camper during the year so we don't have to lower ourselves to tenting!! hehe
So, this is our T4 conversion so far. We're trying to do as much of it ourselves as we can, and so far we've managed, i'm a bit hesitant about the upholstery but i'm sure we can work it out between us - both our Mums know how to put a zip in and we can both work a sewing machine ;o)

So, here's our progress so far, the van used to be a mini-bus with two lots of seats but as they are surplus to requirement we started our project by gutting the interior...

27th Feb

All seats and carpet taken out, ready for the floor to be laid

28th Feb

New floor!

7th March:
Took a trip to Rainbow Conversions in Cambridgeshire to pick up the laminated ply for the units so no work done that weekend!

14th March:

The bench seats are taking shape, there is more thinking and planning going on than building at the moment, but it's getting there!

21st March:

Some more work is done to the bench seats, backrest supports have gone in along with the backrests on one side

22nd March:

Backrests on both sides now completed, along with the "lids" of the seats on both sides.
The two "open" boxes at the end will have non-removable lids as they are both drawer units.
The backrests are removable and fill the gap inbetween the bench seats to make a full-width bed.
We are very happy with our progress so far, it's really coming together well!

Tomorrow i am off to Kingston Market to try and find the right upholstery fabric!!

More Munksfest '08

2008-06-25T11:53:00.000Z

Friday night - wicked photo!
Fantastic night too - impromptu guitar playing, singing, comedy duo and a lovely warm fire... oh and Sangria! :oD

Saturday evening gets underway with a BBQ
Your friendly servers this evening are Frannery, Robbery, Beckery and Manda.
Here i am serving a vegematarian with his cardboard burger ;o)
It was SO SO SO HOT!!! behind the BBQs - lots of beer was consumed ery quickly in a feeble attmept to cool down - next time we'll try water heheheheeeeee

Saturday night's alright for ROCKIN'!!
The band were AWESOME and they played for ages too with just one break

High FIIIIIIIVE! :oD

Munksfest '08

2008-06-25T11:38:00.000Z

In an effort to document my many blurry weekends of fun i present to you:
Munksfest 2008!
In honour of our friend John who was celebrating his 30th birthday with camping and partying at his parents place in Lincolnshire.

We start with a shot of our camp from halfway through the meadow. Luke thoroughly enjoyed being allowed to roam off the lead and his recall was outstanding compared to his usual glance and wander off in the opposite direction - he actually came to me when i called him!! YAY! :oD

As you can see, portaloos were provided for our lavatorial pleasure (as well as everyone that just came for the party of course!) and very welcome they were indeed! It really does make all the difference having clean looked-after toilets when you're camping. There were 13 of us brave souls there until Monday with about 20-odd other campers who arrived either Friday or Saturday and left on Sunday.

Here we have a shot of the beer mountain that took about an hour to build with many different designs being tried and tested beforehand! I've never seen people arguing over what shape makes the best beer mountain before and i hope to never again ::lol::

RIP boys < :3 )~~

2008-06-06T11:57:00.000Z

I am very sad to report that both Freddie and Squiiggle have passed away :o(
Freddie suffered a very short illness that lasted just 24 hours for which i am thankful and we decided one week later that Squiiggle was only deteriorating and he was taken to the vet to be put to sleep :o(
I shall miss my boys dreadfully and even now i still expect to see Freddie's beady eyes watching me from the top of the cage as i potter in the kitchen.

Thankfully the "babies" don't seem to have suffered too much, i am sure they miss them in their own rattie way though.

squiggle is a curly ratty

2008-03-11T09:09:00.002Z

Squiggle's curly whiskers

This is Squiggle's curly tail
Apparantly it is a genetic fault, i thought he'd had it squashed when he was a baby!

fruity ratty

2008-03-11T09:07:00.001Z

Squiggle spots the apple

after some thought and careful planning he reaches it

Why didn't he just climb up on the door??

rattie photos

2008-03-11T09:05:00.001Z

There haven't been any rattie photos for a while so i shall make up for it today :o)
This was taken on Saturday 8th March. Squiggle's having a snooze on the lower level and Brian is napping in the box above him, unfortunately for them they keep chewing big holes in the boxes! Not long after this he slipped through the hole a bit more and then moved.

Pythonathon!

2008-03-10T08:45:00.000Z

What a fab weekend we've just had!

I had my Saturday all planned out... bacon butty for breakfast, clean the rat cage out, have a coffee and a biscuit then put my feet up with my knitting. Luvverly!
Then i had a text from Becky asking what we had planned as they were at a loose end and then all hell broke out! ::lol:: I rushed around doing emergency housework, washing up, putting the washing on and clearing all the crap off the kitchen table and was not long finished when people started arriving. Now, we only have a small house, we have a three seater sofa in the living room and an Ikea chair(not quite that one, ours doesn't have arms) and we were expecting another eight people to come round! It's always fun entertaining isn't it :o) Luckily we have a camping sofa, one of those foldable thingies, like a chair but bigger ;o)
Fortunately only five people made it round so it wasn't too tight a squeeze! We watched the rugby first and then decided that we wouldn't have time to watch all SIX Rocky films so we all agreed on Monty Python and watched "The Meaning of Life", "The Holy Grail", "and now for something completely different" and "Life of Brian"
I'd forgotten how completely random Python humor is and "and now for something etcetc" is just SO funny, there just isn't anything like them now and that's a shame i think.
God knows how we are going to pull an all-nighter on the 4th, we barely stayed awake til midnight, it was pathetic ::lol::
On the 4th we are having a Highlander film night, i managed to pick up three of the films on VHS and recorded the 4th film on the tv and i'm so excited! I have completely forgotten the story beyond the first film so it'll be good to watch them all at once and see if we can work out what the hell is going on! ::lol::

No photos i'm afraid

2008-02-24T13:52:00.002Z

but i had the most lovely cuddle with Freddie last night. He was all snuggled up inside my cardigan and laying on my shoulder then when imoved to get more comfy he did the same and ended up laying in my cleavage! He was wedged in with just his head showing and he stayed there for absoloutely ages! I've never had such a lovely cuddle from him and it really made me happy that he is now so happy to spend time with me :o)

Plenty of room

2008-02-23T13:43:00.001Z

For everyone to ignore each other! :oD

I reckon there's room for a couple more in there too :oD

I went to P@H yesterday as we needed rat food and i just happened to be passing the adoption section when i noticed a group of ratties all curled up together in their log house... fortunately for me they were a group of girls so they stayed where they are ;o)
I also happened to be just passing their regular rat cages and they had a rather handsome looking fellow in there who was a dusky grey colour. I prised myself away quick smart and have vowed to never look in the rat cages again - i can't have a rat stash like i can my wool ;o)

I also took a trip to Sainsbury's for some rat friendly cereals for their dry food mix. I follow the feeding plan of Alison from the Shunamite Rattery and they have a mixture of rat pellets, rabbit food, dry pasta and breakfast cereals. I managed to pick up four different cereals so their mix is nice and full of variety again now. Luckily they are all cereals i like too and i have been making the most of having a box of cornflakes in the house ;o)

The BIG day!

2008-02-20T13:38:00.000Z

All the ratties are now in the BIG cage! WOOTWOOT!

It went smoothly, a couple of William/Squiggle scuffles but other than that all was well :o)
I'm so pleased, i can't tell you!
The cage is looking a bit crowded at the moment with lots of fabric shelves but that is purely because i don't want any long drops which could hurt any of them.

This picture of Freddie reminds me what an old fella he is now, when he was a youngster he'd never have been caught napping and now he does it all the time - mind you, he still sleeps with one eye open ;o)

silly william!

2008-02-19T13:33:00.000Z

He just can't seem to get comfy!

Bless'im!

sssshhhhhhhhhhh!

2008-02-19T13:31:00.000Z

William's sleeping!

I can't help smiling at this photo, i was convinced he was going to fall out of the hammock!

teef!

2008-02-19T13:29:00.000Z

Freddie and Brian were all comfy when William went into one!
He really doesn't like not being the Alpha rat, but he's just too little to fill Squiggle's shoes yet i think and Squiggle has definitely let him know this! Bless him, he does try and make himself assertive but Squiggle ends up just sitting on him and he soon gives up again!
Hopefully they will make peace with each other as the strangled squeaks that William lets out are just too much to take sometimes and although they aren't even touching each other you would think that he was being murdered!

how'd you do!

2008-02-19T13:19:00.002Z

As promised, here are the photos from the groups first day together :o)

Brian went in first as he is the most accepting of everyone, he had a run around and was then joined by Freddie.

They got on fine, no scrapping at all, which was great!

So, in went William as he is the baby most likely to get all antsy with the Bigboys, the fact that Freddie doesn't have his boy bits any more was definitely a factor in how well the intros went i think ;o)

After a while it was time for Squiggle to go in. This obviously didn't go as smoothly. He is the Alpha rat and there has been most tension between him and the babies so i was expecting things to kick off. Fortunately it was all calm for a while and after much running around, smelling their new environment and each other they all settled down for a nap :oD

YAY!

2008-02-15T13:37:00.003Z

At time of writing all four boys are in the small cage together - in a hammock! ASLEEP!!

YAY! *does a happy dance*

I've got to take the dog to the kennels so i am keeping my fingers crossed that they're still all in one piece when i get back but there haven't been any major dramas so far, and i have some extremely cute pictures to share when i get home :oD

I got them all out this morning for their free-range together and they all snuggled into the box more or less straight away so i figured it was the territory thing that was the problem. I took the small cage apart and cleaned it thoroughly and took out the shelf and hammock and just put in one new hammock and covered the floor with newspaper, carefresh and some strips of newspaper for Freddie if he needs it - he likes making nests, bless him. I also put the litter tray in so that the big boys can teach the babies what it's for :oD
Once it was all clean and put back together i put Brian in as he's the calmest of the four, he had a run round and a sniff and then i put Freddie in with him. He also had a run round and a sniff then it was straight into the hammcok for a snooze! Brian and Freddie were fine together so in went William - there was a little tension on William's part but before long he was in the hammock with Freddie while Brian continued to ping round the cage. Then it was Squiggle's turn to go in, i was most worried about him as he is the Alpha and William really doesn't get on with him. There's been some squeaking and mouth opening but nothing serious and they've all been sleeping in the hammock together!
I'm not sure how i am going to cope over the weekend, i might have to ask a friend to pop in and make sure they are all alive on Sunday morning but as long as it continues to go well today i am going to leave them in the small cage for a few days to give them a chance to get to know each other properly and to sort the heirarchy out :o)

At the moment i am feeling very happy, i think Squiggle is too as he was bruxing and boggling in the hammock earlier much to my amusement :oD

Right, time to take Lukey to the kennels for his weekend of partying and then it's off to the supermarket for supplies for tonight's PAAAAAAARTAAAAAAAAY! :oD

And today's free-ranging

2008-02-14T18:32:00.003Z

went incredibly well. Several hours were spent snuggled up in their box on the sofa. They all came out together for food and drinks and even Squiggle seemed to accept the presence of babies. Unfortunately when they all went in the cage together it went pear-shaped again :o(
Lots of squeaking, shrieking and running away. I left them for a couple of hours but there was no let up so at the moment they are both inside my cardigan snoozing. I don't mind though cos it means i get some bonding time with them and they'll be going back in the cage again later, even if only for an hour or so. I've been looking on the fancy rats forum for assistance and have a couple of things to try but whatever happens i don't think they'll be spending this weekend in the same cage as we are going away and i will be worrying the whooooooole time about them!

<3 )~~~

hehe

Free-ranging again!

2008-02-13T18:26:00.000Z

Poor William's face :o(
Luckily rats do heal really quickly and it had knitted together within hours and the scab has nearly come off already.

Even Fatboys need a bath!

They are all fine together as long as they aren't in a cage! They spent several hours on the sofa in and out of the box, running round, sleeping, eating... no problems whatsoever! Put them near the cage and it's huffing and hissing, squeaking and playing at statues!

2008-02-10T20:19:00.000Z

So i braved the inevitable fights and scuffles and after the boys had spent some time together free ranging i put them all back int he Fatboys cage... it seemed to be going quite well, there were a few squeaks from the babies and some hissing from the big boys but nothing too serious.
It was only when i was pssing the cage on my way out that i noticed William has a huge gash down his cheek :o(

I don't know when it happened, i was there the whole time but i'm guessing that Squiggle (or Freddie) made a lunge for him and caught his face :o(
I think it was Squiggle because Freddie actually isn't being that bad, the result of not enough hormones i expect!

So, the babies are in the big cage, the Fatboys are in the little cage and we'll try again tomorrow!

Sunday Sunday - looks good to me!

2008-02-10T13:22:00.000Z

Sunday morning freeranging - all is well in rattie land - so far!

The Big Bed Adventure

2008-02-04T22:14:00.001Z

The boys had their first meeting today on the bed. It went really well, there was no fighting at all, in fact the fatboys barely glanced their way! I'm really pleased as the babies have been living in the little cage with the Fatboys old litter and newspaper and it's getting really smelly, hopefully if intros continue to go so well they'll all be together before you can say RATTIEEEEEEEES!

Freddie was my main concern as he used to have "anger issues" but it seems the castration has really helped with this and he has really settled down. He allowed the babies to follow him round and hassle him quite a lot and then curled up under the cover when it all got too much for him :o)

Squiggle was slightly more apprehensive but then he's like that anyway, he's very nervy :o(
He did the same as Freddie though and went for a snooze when it all got too much and didn't mind whent he babies went for a nap too.

The difference in size surprises me every time! I can't believe that the Fatboys used to be this small!!

Meet the babies!

2008-02-04T18:08:00.000Z

William and Brian are here and settling in well to their new home.
They are currently residing in the spare cage until i am brave enough to attempt intros with the Fatboys!

William is a little shyer than Brian, probably down to the pink eyes, apparantly they have worse vision than dark eyed rats but he's very friendly and not hand shy at all which is great!

Brian is very very inquisitive and runs round like he's being chased by the devil! He is constantly on the move and always looking for trouble! He is also very licky and affectionate and given half the chance would be in my mouth like a shot! Unfortunately for him i won't let him do it cos i think it's gross but it doesn't stop him trying :oD

been a busy bee!

2008-01-24T13:18:00.000Z

I was up and out early this morning for a trip to Lidl because they were advertising a beech effect cabinet for £19.99 which would be perrrrrrrrfect for the rat cage to stand on. Since i moved the rats from the corner last August they've been standing on my little fold up table and it's getting gradually more and more rickety! We were toying with the idea of getting a kitchen cabinet but the sizing isn't right and Roj is too busy with work to fiddle around cutting one down to the right size and so it's been put off and put off... but i made an executive decision and went to Lidl :oD
It took a little under an hour to build (bearing in mind i am a girl and a bit cack handed!) and i am soooooooo pleased with the result - i am very tempted to get a second cabinet for the other side of the door so that i can put my sewing paraphernalia in it ;o)
Before - rickety little table and clutter on the floor -

After - shiny cabinet with clutter hidden away :oD