Good timing

 This is the new stable block built by yours truly, attached to the side is the bale store, and then the She Shed, a safe space for MBAOSPW to store her precious things and horse gubbins. 

As is so often the case the designated spaces have dual purpose, so for now the bale store is Will.I.Am's shelter, Rocco has the Dez Rez cathedral sized horse box. The two are kept from the rest of the world by sturdy steel gates, and further separated by a very ornate (chewable) wooden gate. The drawback of this design apart from horses is that the last resort wooden gate is at the end of the She Shed. 

So imagine how happy yours truly was when dressed for a smart day at the office and obviously running late finding Will.I.Am and Rocco in the safe space behind the wooden gate. Somehow they had got past the steel barrier and created their own little world in front of the She Shed. Will.I.Am had taken this adventurous incursion one step further and had actually got into the She Shed where he dutifully disposed of 20kg of horse feed, scattered another 20 around, broken up some bales of straw for fun and for good measure decorated the inside of the She Shed with a potent cocktail of horse poo, urine and expensive horse supplements. 

For a brief moment I did consider pretending that I had not seen it and driving away but chivalry got the better of me and I helped MBAOSPW put things in some semblance of order before leaving HQ for a saner world.  

Pink Floyd, giraffes, lazers, kebabs and tanks

I wonder what you would get if you put the working title of this post in Chat GT or whatever the AI is.

But, in the real world it equated to a great night out with Dale who is a long time bestie and someone with whom yours truly has in a previous life house shared and had some utterly unbelievable adventures. 

Which is why, after checking the local landmark of a Duplo Lego life size Giraffe with sensible do not climb stickers on it, we could be found in seats 5 and 6 or Row X in the stalls of the Birmingham Symphony Hall. 

Where we had a fantastic view of The Australian Pink Floyd Show. Now, having seen the real deal in 1998 at Wembly, the former Wembly not the new build ersatz Wembly, no band is ever, ever going to top the lights and sounds of the real Pink Floyd. However, TAPFS do a pretty good job with some funny bits added. 

This is why the cross hammers logo from The Wall album is replaced by Skippy

on the big screen at the back of the stage synonymous with Pink Floyd shows.  

The giant inflatable pig is a large pink kangaroo, obviously. 

The sound was amazing and given the elderly population of the audience must have shorted out many hearing aids.

The finale, the shiny disco glitter ball still has the wow factor no matter how many times you see it as the guitars of Comfortably Numb soundwave that just blows you away. 

It was a great gig.

So great that we are already planning to see them again in 2025, this time with the apprentice who came to see them when he was 7. 

Back outside we searched for food and found The Black Sabbath bridge and a street food vendor selling very tasty chicken fajitas. 

Finding our way back to the car via the Lego Giraffe we paused to finish the spicy poultry feast when the quote of the evening was issued by Dale. Between mouthfuls, back to the Giraffe he pointed and asked if that was a Lego Tank. 

No Dale... thats a skip.
 No drugs or alcohol were harmed in the making of this post. 

It does move

This relic of motorcycling hooliganism had stood outdoors in an alleyway for nearly 30 years before being "rescued" by yours truly with a view to restoring it to its former glory and returning it to its proper road warrior role. It has had various bits poked, prodded, removed, tutted at and discarded, cleaned and put in safe places while the space in the man cave was created where it will reside until completion. 

Finally that day arrived and it is now safe indoors where it will be cocooned until it emerges likes a beautiful two stroke warrior in the spring. 
 

Disapproving Corgis

This is Nessa, a relatively new addition to the pack at Rock HQ, a Pembrokeshire Corgi. Yours truly was caught off guard by MBAOSPW who managed to convince me that a one more small K9 wont be any trouble. Having visited her with her mum and dad and grandparents who were all so lovely and most importantly didn't bark, I fell for the fox like charms of the said K9 and she arrived. Since then she has done nothing but BARK loudly at everything and anything. She also has the most judgemental look of disapproval. Here she is in a quiet moment, but her world has suddenly changed. 

Not because of anything the bigger doggos have done, here we see Benson sneaking horse snacks.

and not because autumn has arrived with the most amazing display of colours on leaves that are hanging on after a pretty miserable summer.

No, her world has been shaken to the core as another Corgi, Maive has arrived, and she has taken over the role as chief dog botherer and noise generator. 

Nessa does not approve!
 

Dez Rez

This is what remains of Mad Keeefs lair, the technohermit has long departed the dwelling he called home for some 60 years and has been moved, much to his chagrin, to sheltered housing in a local town where he has a comfy bed and hygienic conditions.  

You would think then that the County Council who moved him there for his own good would leave the poor chap alone, but no, every month they pester him for money. Yes dear reader this delightful dwelling is classed as his second home by bureaucrats who have the sense of Liz Truss and the self awareness of Boris Johnson. Despite nearly two years arguing with them on his behalf they consider this fit for habitation and charge him in excess of £400 a month for the privilege.  Apparently because it has walls and windows its a dwelling, ignore the fact that the windows are mostly glass free, the walls are painted cardboard and the only amenities are hot and cold rats. There is nothing here that would suggest it should be considered Techno's holiday villa. 

In fairness there is a water supply, a spring located 20 metres from the holly bush 

but if you are brave enough to look inside, this is what you are faced with, not enough room to swing a dead rat!

We left the abode having taken yet another set of pictures for the mindless pen pushers who will no doubt be jealous of Techno's luxury spare home and keen to move in 

and carried on with the evenings ascent of the Bonsai Mountain. 

 The clouds were low, barely 200 metres above sea level, so it was dark and oppressive, much like my attitude to the council tax boffins. 

A question of survival

While these two were camped in the local vicinity eating squirrels yours truly

was looking forward to a weekend of fun, maybe the beach, or a long ride on my bike in the autumn sun, a quick blast on my motorbike, a film, a romantic meal for two... but no. 

MBAOSPW had other ideas which mainly involved the jobs list and getting the horses sorted. 

Thankfully Daisy the quad made life a lot easier and a bit more fun as recycled money was shovelled up from the stable and loaded into the trailer and moved to be of use in holes and hollows on the ranch. 

It only took most of the sunshine before we were finished and then some new money was rolled within eating distance for more recycling. 
 

Gluttons for punishment

After a hard day on the hills yesterday 

any thought from yours truly that today was an easy day were quickly dispelled 

as it was time for the annual walk across the mountain leading 60 or so schoolkids and their teaching staff. The chances of seeing any wildlife was remote to zero given the noise created by their "talking"

but we managed to find a totally new to me place, the pond, on the side of the ridge which is the wilderness that we are lucky enough to call home.

Hard to believe we have been here nearly 20 years and never found the pool before.

Weather was not quite so balmy as yesterday but the rain stayed away while I led the happy hikers on a trail and told them a load of twaddle that they believed to be true folk tales of witches and demons.

The ponies kept a safe distance as a snake of humanity making as much noise as a Vulcan bomber crossed their paths. 

Ivy, she was amazing again, really enjoyed the attention from the noise generators and loved the walk. 

She really is turning into the perfect action berner.

Mrs Bear and Spotty were a hard act to follow

but she is doing well. 

She can even behave on the lead!

 

Action Berner

Early doors saw yours truly on the Big Black Mountain Challenge part deux.

Conditions were set to be perfect, which was a relief after the nightmare rainfall of the previous week.

This was a staff meeting dressed up as a lets do 50km in as fast as possible time 

across the majority of the Black Mountains

with the apprentice Action Berner, Ivy, who until this point had only done Snowdon and a walk of 12 miles.

She was brilliant, we kept an average pace of 3mph, we got slower to the end but never dropped below the magic number 3.

Even with a lunch stop we were ahead of schedule.

Ivy took this as an opportunity to catch a brief z. 

The humans of the team were faring well, Richard was troubled by his knees

but stopping just made it worse.

Lots of drinks on the way

and a slight error in route navigation meant the last big mountain was bypassed to save time if not distance 

but that gave us a chance to see the Dam and Bothy hidden in the valley.

11 hours after we started and with the sun setting on a great mountain day 

we reached the end, 51km in 10 hours 9 minutes moving time or just under 11 hours total. 

Ivy was a happy doggo eager for the ride home 

where se took her rightful place on the sofa.