HodgeHegs!!!

Saturday - 24th June, 2006 - location - in me garden!!!!

Okay, now I know I said I wish I had my camera ... :-) I reckon it was a spy hedgehog, and followed me.

We have a walled garden so the only way in is up the garden path, where we are all lead from time to time aren't we?

Not just one ... enter Mr Hedgehog I think because he was doing all the grunting ...


Kinda cute eh? But he's not alone ... in fact he was the timid one - in the next picture you will see what I think was the female hog ... she ran off under the leylandii hedge while he pretended to hide in the brick wall - like children they seem to think if you cover your eyes and stay very still, you disappear!

Yes, I saw them out the kitchen window and quickly tiptoed out with camera in hand and children. We didn't get too close and couldn't think what food was safe to give like you say Stormfx ... somewhere in the back of my mind I'd heard that either milk or water was wrong and didn't want to chance things. I heard they were partial to cat food, but don't have a cat.

So, when I'd taken my paparazzi snaps, I retreated back and watched from a distance ... Mrs Hog came out the far end of the hedge, turned back round trundled all the way back along the hedge and out through the gap she'd originally gone in, back to the pretend hiding hog ... he then started to grunt again and they both went back under the hedge ...

Ahhhh ... thanks for the visit ...

On the way back

Wednesday, 21st June, 2006 - not so far away from the scouts hut - across the busy traffic lights/road where I saw the crazy red eyed frog!

So I'm meandering back and over the road to the path which leads to the Scouts hut ... and what do I see but a small hedgehog trundling through the grass about to cross the path right in front of me. I've not really seen one quite this close before. He seems unaware of me so I walk lightly past so he will not turn back or get scared. I stop a little distant in front of him and get to watch him still oblivious to me but sensing something around ... he kind of crouches his wee legs as he goes over the paved tarmac like he knows something is there and he's trying to hide, in a hurry - like sneaking underneath something. I wait till he is well over the path and then move one foot, he doesn't stop but turns his head towards me and twitches his nose in the air, all the time concentrating on his route to the longer grass.

It was a lovely morning and seeing things like this really bring a fresh start to the day. Hope you have a nice one too.

Pity I didn't have my camera!

Before Breakfast

Wednesday, 21st June, 2006 - after the scouts hut!

Conversation:

"Is that a fern?"
"Yes that's right"
"Will it grow into a tree?"
"No, it's just bracken, a small plant."
"You can get fern trees can't you?"
"Um... (thinking) yes ..."
"What do they look like?"
"They are like Christmas trees"
"Do they have coconuts on them?"
"No, you are thinking of palm trees, fir trees are spelt f.i.r, fern is spelt f.e.r.n"

Moments later... points
"Is that a fir tree?"
"No that's a gorsh bush, it's not a tree it's a kind of shrub"
"What's a shrub?"
"It's a small tree ... it doesn't grow very high, those are all shrubs in the border there."
"Shrub's a funny word"
"Yes, it's a bit like scrub ..."

Now we get silly :-) Me:
"Difficult to say isn't it Shrub? Scrub, scrub a shrub ..."
"Like a tongue twister ... let's make one up"

... later ... me (roll eyes) "shrub a dub dub ... no, that's not right, it's scrub a dub dub, otherwise it's shrub a dub dub, a tree in a tub" Both giggle - image of tree having bath!

You try saying scrub a shrub over and over ;-)

Oh dear! Another Blonde Moment!

Saturday, 17th June, 2006 - stuck on a train bound for nowhere

Okay, Orange decide it's about time to give me a market survey of their services on the Saturday ... well actually they tried on Friday night but I was in the car on my way about to be dropped off so I said could they phone me back after 10am on Saturday ... when they phone after 11am I'm on a train :-) I agreed to the survey although I had no idea how long it would take ... (given also that the train was delayed whilst we were on it and a 30 min journey took 2 hours) and she tried rather valiantly to keep going with the poor signal (which cut out completely in one station). Why am I posting this? Because one of the questions was rather impertinent and very funny! :-)

She said "How would you describe your marital status?" (shocked expression) I immediately said "good!" and shiftly look around me in case anyone else heard the question and answer (roll of eyes) She said, "no, I mean, how as in what!? :-) :-) :-)

Posted in case any random person comes across my blog who is not from .net ... and because I was clearing my text messages from my phone and only just remembered.

A spur of the Moment Link!

Sunday, 18th June, 2006 - 19.46

Way to go cute overload http://www.cuteoverload.com/

Grins from ear to ear! Literally ...

Just in case the image changes really soon the article is called Bunroo 17th June.

Perfection of Smeagle-Furby

Sunday, 18th June, 2006 - after a nice filling full English Breakfast!

First of all can I say Happy Father's Day to all you lovely dad's. Hope you are all enjoying your special day and of course feet up for the footie.

Right, I've noticed that the Smeagle-Furby has some little rounding of corners ... so here to help you is the final installment I hope ... and you wish! I've discovered that once you get the purring right it is not quite enough ... having got another rather eager student to try it out. Indeed, you need to be able to add in the 'h' spit/gargle sound as in Loch not Lock. So, get that gargle now going and say 'hcarrrrrrrrrdbbbrrrrrrrhhoard' ... that should sort it! :-)

Last night we went out to a fantastic evening ... middle daughter and friends won 3rd place in a Playwrights competition last year with our twin town Sarasota FL. USA ... 6,000 applicant schools from all over the world entered and ours won 1st and 3rd places ... five of the winning plays and one exceptional entry for next year's competition from Dunfermline High schools were dramatised for us. Excellent writing skills these young people have. Very strong, powerful emotions were evoked ... and tears ... not so much of proud parents, but the content - stripped of the niceties of our conventional, appeasing world.

On the way out and back though ... we counted 26 bunnies!! They definitely are invading.

Yes! You too can be a Smeagle-Furby!

Friday, 16th June, 2006 - near that scouts hut again!

I have great news for you, I have discovered how to make the perfect impersonation of smeagle and a furby with very little effort ... ever rolled your 'r's? Well, that is the first step ... if you can brrrrrm with your lips you are on your way but it is paramount that you move onto stage two with the tongue.

Got it? Are you sitting there right now going rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr? Good!!! Now, stage three, look around you and find an object. Any old object doesn't matter what it is. You've seen a phone, right, oh dear ... well that might be a bit hard. Start with something simple like Rrrradio, rrrrrrrrruler, highlighterrrrrrr, dictionary... right, now concentrating on the dictionary, I want you to roll the n..., and shape your mouth into an oval. :-)

Yes, I'm mad, but so are you, because you're going to give it a try aren't you! ;-)

Right now onto harder stuff ... try saying 'eat your dinner', making rolling sounds in each word - there are no rules, you just go with what feels best or comfortable ... are you starting to sound like Smeagle? I hope so. If you're at work, don't look around you right now, you will find a whole bunch of people swivelling in their seats, eyes a gowk ... yes you look a right plonker, sitting there saying 'eat your dinner' in a funny voice to your computer monitor don't you :-).

Okay, now to put some emotion into it ... say 'cardboard' got it, 'cardboard'. If you are doing this right you will notice it really is quite a sensuous word. You can practice it with your lover later, sit in front of each other, gaze into each others eyes and say 'cardboard' you looooooove the cardboard.

So I've started you off with the new smeagle-furby lingo, and who knows maybe one day we'll meet up and be staring on top of the pops with our latest hit, just like Crazy Frog.

Now I want you to do some work ... in the comments write back the words which you have found most effective in this new language. I'm warning you, no sweary words, smeagle-furby is very clean. Most swear words don't have an rrrrrrrrrr sound in them and are short and curt. It just won't work, except for one little b word which also sounds quite sensuous, but that's an old fashioned word and won't make you look at all cool.

How did this idea come up I hear you ask? Well next door are having their kitchen extended, (they'll be so glad I told you won't they? :-) ) and the digger started up just before 8am ... so me and my 8 year old went down the road to school, barely out of the house and we were making digger noises with our lips ... (sounded a bit like cars and alien space machines) and then we had a competition to see who could keep their digger going longest on the count of three and then at the scouts hut ... it all started to take shape!

England for teh win! 2-0 but what a struggle eh? Seeya!

Addendum: On further practice this afternoon I discovered it's not just in the rolling of the 'r's you have to purrrrr like a kitten, so if you can purr you then just add words! :-)

I'm turning more than a little bunny!

Thursday, 8th June, 2006 - somewhere near the Scouts Hut!

A follow up ... you know when you're definitely 'a little different' when you see a nice group of wee bunnies (7) sitting in the grass hopping and sunny themselves and you turn the corner to see one solitary bunny hopping in the shade ...

I wanted to shout out to it and say, 'hey, (point) over there, your friends are all around the corner, if you're quick you'll catch them, go on." And yes, I felt a little excited at being able to tell bunny this good news. Then it dawned on me, I couldn't :-(

So, of course when I got over my disappointment ... and rounded the corner and saw another wee bunny ... I just smiled ... and waved! ;-)

Mikeynma pointed out a fabulous mosaic fun place on the net so I went in and made a wee room ... go see if you can spot Ped! :-)

http://www.thebroth.com/the_cerebral_mix - have fun and keep it nice for all the other little bunnies who might just stumble upon my web.

EDIT: Slight problem with the above link at the moment, the site seemed to have a server error yesterday and lost data therefore I'm having to re-register again ... Ped's masterpiece is gone! :-( But have patience it really is a great wee site and you can still play on the main mosaic if not mine.

EDIT: Sunday ... problem fixed and ped is back!