Tuesday, 25 April 2017

A walk on the wild side

 There comes a time when a mans got to do what a mans got to do
 which is why yours truloy, Rocky the best Berner ever and Keeef
 packed a bag each (well Rocky didn't obviously as his paws don't have opposing thumbs)
 and set of to find wilderness not too far from the highway for a nights wild camp. Read sleep under a waterproof sheet. Now up until the time we got to our chosen bivvi spot the weather was fine, the sky was blue (almost) and the birds sand from the trees that spring was so happening.
 Almost as soon as we set camp the sun abandoned us and the heavens opened
 forcing us to have a long siesta which was no drama and Rocky made himself comfortable on my sleeping space.
 Very comfortable in fact.
 When the weather cleared up

 we made a fire in the kitchen area and huddled around it
 cooking food the old fashioned way. We did have a frying pan but whats better than a sausage on a stick method?
 Eric and Ernie had stowed away for their first camping trip since Kilimanjaro
 and they joined us by the campfire where Rocky waited patiently for his share of cooked treats.
 Night fell and then cleared off finding us alive and well in a very cold morning in a beautiful location
 and while my oppo was performing morning ablutions I evaded the sights, sounds and smells emanating from his side of the river for the more tranquil sounds of nature from the waterfalls.
 Of which there were many.
 Rocky sat quietly once again while yours truly made a pigs breakfast out of a pigs breakfast by dropping choice rashers down cracks in the rocks around the stove before completely wrecking the stove by melting it.
 Still, waste not want not and yours truly manfully fished it out, blew the most unappealing lumps of dirt off it
 before throwing it to an eager onlooker.
 A gentle walk back to Stan, parked over night at Gospel Pass, followed by a
quick tea and biscuits stop at an historic bridge concluded another mini adventure.

Back on top!

 Believe it or not this is only the second time MBAOSPW has made it to the summit of the Bonsai Mountain since we moved here over 10 years ago. Combination of her ME (that's an illness not a reference to yours truly) the arrival of the smalls, the smallholding and life in general have prevented her from exploring what I take for granted most weeks.
But here she is, she made it. This is just the start of things to come.

Monday, 24 April 2017

Fast mover

Mrs Bear making herself very comfortable on my bed.

Wednesday, 12 April 2017

Non pet status

 Animals at Rock HQ have either Pet Status, or food, but as we have been mostly vegetarian for the last 14 months all have achieved pet status. Another category is the not stopping.
 Heres one, Ivy, a rescue puppy from Romania
 who is here to await the move to her permanent home.
 No matter how how hard she tries
to look adorable she's not stopping. But she will make someone very happy.

Don't talk to strangers

We are teaching the boys some of the perils of modern life, amongst which is the never talk to strangers, especially strange men with puppies. There are exceptions to every rule, such as Pritch, non so strange, and he is the apprentice's God father so it was important that their second meeting was recorded for posterity.

Its started...

Don't ever give yours truly anything that might involve collecting.....

Tuesday, 11 April 2017

Come fly with me

 Its been a long held ambition to get to this place, RAF Cosford, so on a day that school declares and inset day yours truly loaded the car with RRMK2, the apprentice and MBAOSPW and headed to the museum via Supergrandma's house who joined us as shepherding three excited boys (guess who) around all this hardware needed help. The car park was full when we got there
 but straight away there were amazing planes to see, ones which I had only seen on Airfix boxes.
 Speaking of which the mess I make making models paled into insignificance
 compared to this scale of modelling.
 MBAOSPW found her favourite plane.
 I found a hi tec German interceptor
 and a very low tech recce helicopter.
 Iconic aircraft abound
 but
 the winner was obviously the Spitfire.
 RRMK2 played with his balls
 while the apprentice helped yours truly cross safely in front of tanks.
 This Vulcan was massive, but the wheels were tiny.
 The Scorpion tank, sold as surplus by the army under the strap line cheaper than a ford fiesta! I will have one one day.
 Arty farty shot.
 It has to be said that this was a very big display
 and everywhere you looked there were examples of brilliant aircraft.
 Thankfully RRMK2 didnt find the eject handle!
 He was very keen to learn the basics of flight.
 Back outside we looked at the bigger planes
 which included my personal favourite
the Fat Albert.