A Week of Weirdness

My life is always pretty weird but this week in particular has been extra strange, or extra interesting depending on the point of view. Spring has sprung and we have been having some lovely walks in the countryside in the sunshine. Most things are looking green now or starting to come into bud. The sun even has a little warmth in it now. That's not to say that the British weather is behaving itself though, oh no. Just when you think it's heading towards shorts and tshirt weather BAM. Snow....

Seriously this happened. Middle of April and I wake up to snow. The day before had been lovely and sunny. It wasn't just a little powder that melted before the sun rose either, it was a couple of inches that hung around until mid morning. I thought it was great of course, I don't see snow very often so I like to take pictures of it at any opportunity. I made sure to put some extra seed on the bird tables too since the local birds looked as confused as I was.

 

 This was also a week for projects, the main one being that I had a go at making my own shampoo. Not because I'm a health freak mind you, or one of those people that won't use anything unless it's organic, but simply because I can't find a supermarket shampoo that doesn't make my scalp bleed. 
That's a bit dramatic actually but the point is most supermarket shampoos don't seem to react well with my skin and I end up scratching until I bleed. I have tried the medicated shampoos, organic shampoos, sensitive skin, dandruff, healthy healing etc etc but no luck so far.
So, in desperation really, I decided to have a go at my own version using all natural products. I'd love to say that it's the most fantastic thing I've ever used etc but so far it's a bit of a nightmare really. My hair is pretty disgusting atm, greasy but somehow dry, stiff and generally not pleasant. I have been led to believe that it may take a couple of weeks for my hair to adjust though and since I've only been using the stuff for three days I'll give it a bit longer before I discount it. After all, the main reason I want a natural shampoo is to ease the itches and the last few days have been the best I've had for awhile so I'll have to take the good with the bad I guess and hope for the best.
   

 

My second project was to get feathers for this bottle that my sister got for me (from an undisclosed location as she may have borrowed it long term XD)

I was set on wanting pheasant feathers, don't ask me why, I don't have reasons for how my mind works. So the only way I could think of getting feathers from a pheasant, without shooting one or chasing one aimlessly around a paddock for a few weeks, was to find one that was already dead. Road kill to be precise. The less smooshed the better.

Sooo, it took awhile, to be honest I have been scoping out the local roadkill (and some not so local) for a couple of months now. You don't realise how inaccessible most road kill is until you want to start a collection of dead animal parts. I mean you can't just stop in the middle of motorway to go and poke at a dead fox without possibly killing yourself too or at least getting some stern words from a policeman. Eventually though we had success in the form of a recently dead pheasant that was in an area where it was possible to stop and I was able to scrape it off the tarmack and pluck it's tail without getting hit by a car myself.

 So was it all worth it? I'll let you decide what you think but personally I really like it but I'm just set that way.

Just to finish up this post I thought this photo was pretty good. If you don't follow me on instagram you wouldn't be aware that I carry a soft toy rabbit called Chester around with me everywhere I go and take photos of him. He has his own account actually @travellingchester if you're interested. 

Here he is with my sister's dog (who also has his own instagram account @one_dollar_please) when we went for a walk two nights ago. 

I think Dollar's expression speaks volumes in this picture. You know you're a true weirdo when a dog looks thinks you're odd. Poor boy. He does get subjected to many photos being taken of him and he is usually a good sport about it. Something about having to pose with gorse and a stuffed rabbit though seemed perhaps a bit much even for him. Although thinking about it I can't really blame him XD

I have no idea whats going on with the photo size and orientation in this post by the way. Or why the text it centered. I'm too lazy to change it so I'm just going to say that it's intentionally weird to round out a weird post about weird things on a blog called Today Was Weird! Did you have any weird moments this week. I'd love to know what kind of odd things you get up to so let me know in the comments.

Until next time, Stay Weird.

 

 

 

A Busy Day of Sightseeing

 This morning when we got up the sun looked so inviting that we decided we just had to go somewhere, anywhere really so long as it wasn't too far away and there was something to see. So we picked Ludlow, totally randomly, just cos it has a castle.

We are of course far too stingy to pay to go into the castle and even too stingy to pay for parking. We parked at the bottom of the hill and walked over the bridge and up the hill to get into the town. There are great views of the castle from the bottom of the hill though so we might be cheapskates but we know where to get a good view for free!

As it turned out it was market day in Ludlow which made for a good mooch. There are lots of nice stalls there and although I was tempted by quite a few things (fresh herbs and books mostly) I didn't actually buy anything. Dad didn't spend up large either but did buy a rubber cap for the base of his walking stick that he uses sometimes. He lost his previous one by testing the depth of a mud hole, he found out how deep it was but sacrificed the rubber base to the suction of the mud XD 

We bought lunch at the local shops and went up an awesome (and free) viewpoint on the edge of town to eat and enjoy the view. The sun was gorgeous when it was out and it would have been tshirt weather if not for the clouds scudding past. We weren't complaining too much though, the view was good and the food was excellent. I managed  to eat the entire cob loaf pretty much by myself, which perhaps wasn't wise but I don't care haha It was bloody good. 

After our meagre lunch ;p we moved on to Stokesay Castle which we did go into and even paid for the parking! We are members of New Zealand Heritage so we got into the castle for free and the parking was only a quid for the rest of the day so figured we could suffer it. Stokesay is a beautiful place and although we have been there many times before I still really enjoy it. I always feel like a character in a period drama when I'm there as it doesn't take a lot of imagination to see how the rooms were used. 

The great hall gets me everytime. I can just see the great long tables loaded down with plates of bread and cheese and a whole hog in the middle of the centre table, beer flowing, straw on the floor and dogs squabbling over the scraps while the lady of the house watches from the balcony before making a regal entry down the ancient stairs in her flowing gown. I should write books not blogs haha 
Stokesay just screams history and I could probably blah on at you all day about lord so and so and mistress whats her name but I didn't bother with the audio tour because I like to make up my own version most of the time. I like to know the general history of a place, how it was used and how things worked but when it comes to names and lineage and politics my interest tends to fade off.

After Stokesay we figured we might as well overload on old ruined buildings so stopped off at Wenlock Priory for a whistle stop tour. Again we skipped the audio tour so if you want the dates times and peoples names I'm afraid I will have to urge to ask google. As for my interest, as ever, I want to climb things!  wanted to get to those second storey corridors that I could see but alas, with other people around and a dash of better judgement, I kept my feet on the ground.

 With the sun still up and a tempting road sign promising places called Homer and Wig Wig, we took a little detour and found this old church. It was sat on top of a hill in a little village with this perculiar black and white gallery attached to it that caught our attention. We had a look around and had a bit of a mooch inside. It was nice as churches go. Small and empty XD Strangely enough we didn't find Wig Wig or Homer. An aim for another day perhaps. 
So that was our busy day, with multiple tourist attractions loaded into one day. I'll leave you with one last image for you to think about, something that gave us pause in the church grounds.

See you next time! 
 

Attingham Park

Since I've been to Attingham Park three times in the last week I thought I better write about it!
As with all National Trust properties it's a beautiful place and has a mixed history. Attingham as a property has seen a lot. The man who commisioned to have it built died before it was completed so it was passed to his son when it was finished. The son however changed the design of the house and had more work done. He furnished it extravagantly and lived beyond his means until he was forced to flee to Italy to evade his creditors. 
Furniture and fittings were sold and the building left largely abandoned for many years until, in the 1920s, Lord and Lady Berwick moved in and tried to restore some dignity to the place. The trust took over the building around the 1980s and have been restoring the building and adding to the collections since. 

The trust is also restoring the gardens and greenhouses. The gardens are always my favourite part of any property tat we visit and at this time of year I like to see the volunteers planting out the new seedling and also seeing the early flowers coming into bloom.

 
  At the moment in the gardens they have a focus on what it would have been like during the war. They have a pen of chickens on one of the vege plots and this cute sign to show you that, during war years, chickens were enlisted too! These chooks were super friendly too and wandered over to the mesh to eyeball us and see if we were going to feed them. 

 Every large garden should have a cat to keep the rats and mice down. This curious fella followed me and Dad through the green houses and out to the gate. I think perhaps he too was hoping we might give him some breakfast.

While I'm on the subject of animals I should mention one of my favourite reasons for visiting Attingham is the deer herd. They have so many that it's really quite a sight the first time you see them. I'm not sure on the trusts breeding policy but since it's spring I'm hoping I might see some fawns soon at the feet of the does. 

 
 For now though I am content just to see the hinds and the stags with their large antlers. They really are a beautiful creature.

Attingham is also a farm and has a few different herds of cows and sheep that graze the outer pastures. Today we saw this gorgeous little bull calf out the back of the property with his mother. I have a thing for cows, espeicially speckled ones .

 Not content with pets and farm animals, Attingham is also a haven for wildlife. Squirrels, rabbits and pheasants all call the fields and woods their home as well as wood peckers, crows and hares. There is even a pair of swans nesting in the reeds this year.

I really enjoy going to Attingham as there is always something new to see in the garden and there are so many animals to watch. If you are ever in the Shropshire area you should really give it a visit.
 

Er, So I Moved Country...

Hi guys! How's it going? Long time no see right... Yeah I kinda slipped off the face of the earth for awhile there, quite literally really since now that I've landed I'm on the other side of the world in England! No more NZ for awhile, I'm back in the mother land! Although I should call it the father land since this is where my father was born and my mother comes from NZ... Anyway

It's spring over here and today was a beauty day. Me and Dad spent the afternoon in Bridgnorth which is a lovey two tier town. No matter how many times I go there I always find something interesting to look at. Today it was steam trains at the severn valley railway station.

We spent some time sitting on the platform watching the comings and goings and enjoying the sun. It was warm enough to actually take our jumpers off which is quite a feat for England in early april. So we made the most of it and lounged until the clouds came over.

After the station we went for a walk up the hill and saw a gorgeous retriever who was very intent on something that it could see but well behaved enough to just stand and stare. It took me a minute to twig what it was so keen on but when I worked it out I cracked up.

 

Cheeky cat knew it was out of reach! We carried on towards the shops where we saw a great sign in a window, good humour on the shopkeepers part and pretty true too.

We were very lucky with the weather today as for most of the time that we were walking around it was sunny or at least patchy sun but on the horizon we could see dark storm clouds gathering. I was very glad to be where we were rather than under those threatening clouds.

Bridgnorth is such a historic town, and such a touristy town, that it's hard not to learn something new while you're there. Today I learnt that the steps leading to high town are so shallow as they were designed for donkeys! Apparently there was only one road wide enough to allow passage to wheeled vehicles so most goods had to be brought up the hill on the backs of donkeys. So they made a set of shallow steps that wouldn't trip them up.

So there you have it. A day trip in Bridgnorth sort of, more like a lazy afternoon but that still counts. Here's hoping I can get back into the blog a bit more in the next few months and keep you updated on my adventures around jolly old England. As a parting pic, have another steam train.

 

 

Ashley Park Country Fair

Summer is finally starting to tentatively show it's face and today was a lovely sunny day. Me and Mum drove out to Ashley Park and spent a nice few hours wandering the stalls and looking at the animals during their annual country fair.

Happy Birthday To Me..

It was my birthday last Friday and I got exactly zero presents, cards or candles. I guess now that I am 26 I am officially an adult, at least in everyone else's eyes. The fact that I am sulking over no one making a fuss of my bday quite plainly states I still think I'm a kid. Of course the arguement goes that Mum paid for new tyres for my car that I suddenly needed, I have a birthday cake (even if I did bake it myself) and I did go out to dinner with a friend. Our birthdays are exactly a week apart so we always try to meet up for a mutual thing.
Yet here I am complaining about a lack of gift wrap. I shouldn't be surprised though considering the history of my birthdays in NZ. No one shows up when I try to organise a party and I distance myself from all family here. Me and Rachy have a no gift policy going the only other friend that I see regularly is broke beyond belief.
I did try to make something of the day though, I had the morning off work so after doing a couple of chores (which were beyond depressing) I decided to buy myself a gift. I bought a litre bottle of Demon as my celebratory drink and a bowl shaped like a cows udder to plant some saplings in. It wasn't much but it made me feel better.

Lunch and dinner were incredibly unhealthy but tasty, A hungi for lunch and fish and chips for tea. Well wedges and hot dogs but close enough.
Other than food, work and chores though I did also go to the lake. It's duckling season and I wanted some photos. I was in luck too, there were quite a lot there and the second lot I came across were so bold that they ran right up to me and even tried pecking my shoes! It was beyond cute.

On Saturday night I went out with a friend to an 80's themed birthday party. Everyone seems to be born this time of year so there are plenty of parties to go to and I figured someone elses was easier than trying to organise anything. It was a mandatory dress up which I usually hate and there was no way in hell that I was going to dress in 80's fluro crop tops or whatever so I went punk instead. I think it worked really well with my short hair too.I used old things I had lying around, a cut off pair of old jeans, work boots and a dog leash for the leg chain! It was a good night even if I did get so drunk that I fell on my ass at one point. For which I have a beauty bruise as a reminder.

As for my cake I tried to make myself one of Saturday but it was bloody awful really so I tried again today since I have the day off due to the weather. I made a red velvet cake with cream icing and designed it to look like a pokeball. I'm pretty proud of it actually. I thought it looked pretty tidy and it's tastes pretty damn good!

So that's my birthday. Do you expect a big fuss for your birthday or have you resigned yourself to the fact that it's just another day of the year?

Cash From Crap and Curious Kids

Argh where have I been? I would like to say that I've been off on some wild adventures that have left me no time for the comp but no such luck. The truth is that with work picking up I have been averaging about 15km a day behind the mower and by the time I home, get clean and get fed I'm so brain dead that I just do things that don't require a lot of thinking like crochet, colouring in or simply staring at the tele.
Today was just too interesting not to write about though and I actually had my camera with me so got some good pics. We were up at 7am again this morning (on a Saturday! It's a crime) because today was the day of our combined garage sale with a few of the other people from the village.

I was actually quite surprised at the amount of people who came out to see what we had. People were already waiting at the door when we opened up and there was a pretty constant flow until 10am. By then we were totally frozen through and rather over it, sitting in the cold isn't much fun with out customers so by 10.30 we started to pack up and cleared out. I kept an eye on the hall after we got home and only two cars showed up after we left so we didn't miss many customers.

 We made about $60 which I was pretty pleased with considering we were selling just crap. I have a terrible sense of what people want though it would seem. Things that I thought would be snapped up were totally ignored and other items that I thought were a waste of time carrying over were sold really quick. Who knew CDs were still popular? I took over a stack of mine that have been sitting in a draw for years thinking I would be bringing them all back and almost all of them sold, they weren't even good artists.

Some old comp speakers, a box of coffee jars, a CD player/radio clock, a breadmaker and a bunch of plates all of which I thought would be better in the trash managed to sell. It's amazing what people will buy.

 After the garage sale we went to my Uncles to drop off some pig scraps and while we were there I heard a strange but cute bleating noise from one of the sheds so went to investigate and look what I found! He has recently aquired about two dozen goat kids and they are adorable!

The chooks seem to think they are pretty neat too and spend a lot of their time with them, helping them drink their milk and eat their grain.

 They are cheeky little things and very curious. They all wanted to have a nibble at my camera strap, gumboots or jeans so needless to say I came away rather slobbery but happy.

Tongue out cuteness!

 For some reason this little chap was the only one with floppy ears! As a bonus he stuck his tongue out at me too! Cuteness overload or what?

 This cheeky bugger was trying to eat my hair while I was trying to get a close up of the others. He even climbed onto my knee to get a better chomp.

By the end I was totally surrounded, I had three chomping on my camera strap, one chewing my hair, another trying to climb onto my back and another sticking it's head in my gumboot! It was totally worth the mooch and I rather felt like I had stumbled across a free petting zoo. Great day.