Roulette

It gets dark late now doesn't it roulette is well under way, each time someone says it I win a prize. So far two croissants and a seseme seed snap.

A good choice!

 As it was mothers day my beautiful and oh so patient wife got to choose where we went for the day which is why Stan is parked looking magnificent but out of place in the desert, read beach.

 Along with the apprentice and RRMK2 we had our two eldest K9's, Rocky and Poppy who were keen to

 join the boys on the packed beach. As usual the sun brought the worshippers out and it was heaving.

 Barely room to turn around even!

 Despite the crowds we made the best of it and fought our way to the sea's edge.

 A modern art installation caught our attention

 as did our dogs posing.

 In the sand dunes the inevitable roly poly down the biggest sand slope began

 with the apprentice leading the way

 before crashing down the 45 degree slope.

 RRMK2 played find the wellington

 and then tried to outpose his mother

 before demonstrating his ability to improvise tools to assist his ascent.

 Never one to give up he finally opted for the bare foot on all fours approach.

 It has to be said that on days like today this is the place to be.

 Back at Stan the dogs got a welcome drink

 and the apprentice fell asleep

as did MBAOSPW and RRMK2 when we got home. A great day out!

Simple

 The answer as to why would sane people

 dress and act in such an irrational manner is quite simple, Comic Relief 2017.

 So the good people of Kington were accosted by yours truly dressed as a lion

 with pet lion on lead,  for donations to a great cause. Needless to say everyone was both suprised and generous.

Back at the ranch we celebrated the 8th birthday of these lovely dogs, all from the first Dolyhir litter. Woozah on the left, Mr Bear in the middle and Spotty the action Berner on the right all wait patiently for their birthday treat. Jaffa cakes.

What day is it again?

 Comic relief day 2017

one of us isn't happy about his costume!

Springtime

 As spring has sprung and days are now longer than night times there is some capacity for evening activities work, critters and weather permitting.

 So after an amazing amount of rainfall in the morning it was rude not to go with the apprentice to see what effect it had had on the river.

 As expected the river was in full spate and we had to cross the bridge instead of the ford.

 Poppy on the other paw decided to use the usual crossing then in her old age mentalness forgot the crossing had an edge and deep water

 was only a step away.

 having fished her out the apprentice and I ate our supplies

 under the watchful eye of Rocky who had the good sense to stay dry

and together we watched the sun set. Perfect end to the busy day.

No batteries required

 As the apprentice and RRMK2 are now fully mobile (code for annoying) they have to be kept "occupied" while jobs around the smallholding are done otherwise animals get irate and unfed.

 So whilst yours truly was moving two ton of gravel by wheelbarrow to beautiful and oh so patient wife's location where she raked it out level (the preferred option was fill a barrow while I wheel the full one but as the second barrow is still in bits in its box that idea was a fail) the boys got on with their attempt to get to casualty by playing in the bales.

 Quite quickly a house was constructed

 that had just about enough room

 for two, but sitting quietly was not as much fun as

 climbing as high as possible and jumping down makeshift "slides".

 All attempts to slide down the roof of the house was banned on account I had gravel to move not ambulances to guide.

 They did manage to escape at one stage mid barrow load and a plaintiff help was heard leading to the discovery of RRMK2 firmly stuck in the next job of the day, moving horse pooh.

 MBAOSPW arrived to rescue him, I couldn't on account of laughing and the small child was soon released with compulsory wellington stuck in mud falling off foot achieved.

 Back indoors more non electrical fun as I became a total nerd again and got my little men out and counted how many baddies I had.

 This led to some nerdy pics being taken but

experimenting with filters to make it look WW2 era was probably a nerd too far.

How does that one go?

 The winter project has arrived safely, anyone would think that yours truly had too much time on his hands, but it will fly again, after copious amounts of TLC and swearing.

In the same delivery a piano arrived from the same generous donor. It was a whole 3 minutes 47 seconds before the "Do you know that pianos on my foot" joke was cracked. But it was and cosmic order was restored.

They grow so fast....enjoy it!

 A common cliché I know but non the less true they do grow so fast, so there yours truly was trying to salvage the toys from the mountain of debris the apprentice and rug rat mkII loosely refer to as tidied up and no sooner as my back is turned there he is, RRMK2 playing accountants. He continued his maths odyssey up until  he ran out of space or in his terms number 23'd.

 Fresh air and activity was obviously required to curtail this bookish tendency so we set off for a local castle where we performed our own tribute to "Bohemian Rhapsody". Clun castle was very impressive but the two smalls were more interested in who could drink the most milk shake at The Maltings Cafe, which in case any dear reader wishes to try is a fantastic eating place hidden away in this tiny village.

 Back at the ranch all creatures great and small featured in the rest of the day, we now have a plethora of guinea pigs while a rather large dog kept a watchful eye on RRMK2 while he

 cast Lego bricks across the floor for the unwary foot to find later.

Once the wreckage of the day was bulldozed into the conservatory to be sorted later yours truly could concentrate on being a nerd and playing with his own toys.