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bunnMany small bits of news.
We went to the local show on Saturday.
As a Shirwell girl, I was rather hoping that there would be giant vegetables, while Polo said that he had come only to see if there was a Spiderbaby. I have to say that the vegetables were a sore disappointment to me. They were all of merely average size, and there was no amusingly shaped vegetable class, which is a fairly major loss for any village show in my book. However, after a very good icecream each, we agreed that the presence of the 'chainsaw sculpture' and 'pony fancy dress' classes very nearly made up for this, and that we had never seen such a fine array of very very old tractors. The presence of an MG Maestro in the Veteran Car class caused Polo some pain, however.
There was a dog show, and I entered Mollydog. It was starting to rain though, so I just entered her into the 'Pedigree working dog and hound' class, as that was the first one she was eligible for, so we could cut and run afterwards. This was a bit of a mistake: she proved to be the *only* hound in the class (most of the rest were labradors) and the people entering took it terribly seriously - most of them had brushes, and furiously brushed their dogs throughout, and the woman with a spaniel had brought a special folding table to brush her spaniel on! It was all a bit daunting.
We very nearly made it to the final 5 - I thought we would be let down by the fact that Mollydog has a bit of a limp and a fine selection of scars all over her poor skinny body, but no - apparently I failed to run fast enough to 'show my dog to best advantage'. I am not sure if I got the wrong end of the stick about this, or if they understood that if I'd got her really running a) I can't go that fast, and b) there was no way we could have stopped again inside the fairly small show ring - we'd have burst out the other side and ended up all among the Donkey Show.
Anyway, it was all most amusing. I think next year we'll turn up a bit later and enter some of the frivolous classes instead though - the crossbreed owners seemed much friendlier and more laid back than the pedigree ones. I am sure she could win 'Prettiest Eyes'.
Our neighbour's daughter was entering her black lurcher in 'dog most like owner' and was all got up in Goth with black hair and corsetry!
In other dog-related news, the oldie GSD I posted about has a foster home lined up. Phew. Now just to get him from A to B.
As I walked on the hill this evening, something sang at me from the grass
Whatever it was was absolutely tiny - it could hide in shortish grass and hide successfully in a clump of heather no more than 3 inches high. If it had been higher up or somewhere with a bit more cover, I'd have thought it was a wren - it did that sort of very high clear imperious sort of warble - but as it is, I'm wondering if it could have been a shrew? I think it must have been a rodent rather than a bird - or rather, that THEY must have been rodents, as there seemed to be plenty of them about this evening on the hill.
And I have new reading material -
A recent chainmailmaiden post reminded me that I'd been meaning to get round to A Game of Thrones for ages, and as it happened someone was flogging all 4 books on Ebay - I got the lot for 12 quid including postage, which given how fat they are seems like a lot of book for the money!
I wasn't immediately entranced, I must say. The introductory chapter seemed awfully generic fantasy, and I felt that the setting was straight out of the Tough Guide to Fantasyland. But it's definitely growing on me. I still think the start of the first book is poor - it plunges you too quickly into a very standard high fantasy setting that just feels a bit manufactured - but the depth and effort put into the structure of the world is very appealing now I'm half way through. I shall certainly go on and read the other 3.
We went to the local show on Saturday.
As a Shirwell girl, I was rather hoping that there would be giant vegetables, while Polo said that he had come only to see if there was a Spiderbaby. I have to say that the vegetables were a sore disappointment to me. They were all of merely average size, and there was no amusingly shaped vegetable class, which is a fairly major loss for any village show in my book. However, after a very good icecream each, we agreed that the presence of the 'chainsaw sculpture' and 'pony fancy dress' classes very nearly made up for this, and that we had never seen such a fine array of very very old tractors. The presence of an MG Maestro in the Veteran Car class caused Polo some pain, however.
There was a dog show, and I entered Mollydog. It was starting to rain though, so I just entered her into the 'Pedigree working dog and hound' class, as that was the first one she was eligible for, so we could cut and run afterwards. This was a bit of a mistake: she proved to be the *only* hound in the class (most of the rest were labradors) and the people entering took it terribly seriously - most of them had brushes, and furiously brushed their dogs throughout, and the woman with a spaniel had brought a special folding table to brush her spaniel on! It was all a bit daunting.
We very nearly made it to the final 5 - I thought we would be let down by the fact that Mollydog has a bit of a limp and a fine selection of scars all over her poor skinny body, but no - apparently I failed to run fast enough to 'show my dog to best advantage'. I am not sure if I got the wrong end of the stick about this, or if they understood that if I'd got her really running a) I can't go that fast, and b) there was no way we could have stopped again inside the fairly small show ring - we'd have burst out the other side and ended up all among the Donkey Show.
Anyway, it was all most amusing. I think next year we'll turn up a bit later and enter some of the frivolous classes instead though - the crossbreed owners seemed much friendlier and more laid back than the pedigree ones. I am sure she could win 'Prettiest Eyes'.
Our neighbour's daughter was entering her black lurcher in 'dog most like owner' and was all got up in Goth with black hair and corsetry!
In other dog-related news, the oldie GSD I posted about has a foster home lined up. Phew. Now just to get him from A to B.
As I walked on the hill this evening, something sang at me from the grass
Whatever it was was absolutely tiny - it could hide in shortish grass and hide successfully in a clump of heather no more than 3 inches high. If it had been higher up or somewhere with a bit more cover, I'd have thought it was a wren - it did that sort of very high clear imperious sort of warble - but as it is, I'm wondering if it could have been a shrew? I think it must have been a rodent rather than a bird - or rather, that THEY must have been rodents, as there seemed to be plenty of them about this evening on the hill.
And I have new reading material -
A recent chainmailmaiden post reminded me that I'd been meaning to get round to A Game of Thrones for ages, and as it happened someone was flogging all 4 books on Ebay - I got the lot for 12 quid including postage, which given how fat they are seems like a lot of book for the money!
I wasn't immediately entranced, I must say. The introductory chapter seemed awfully generic fantasy, and I felt that the setting was straight out of the Tough Guide to Fantasyland. But it's definitely growing on me. I still think the start of the first book is poor - it plunges you too quickly into a very standard high fantasy setting that just feels a bit manufactured - but the depth and effort put into the structure of the world is very appealing now I'm half way through. I shall certainly go on and read the other 3.
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Date: 2005-08-03 09:40 pm (UTC)As for something singing in the grass... Clearly it must have been a fairy. Or maybe an elf. Was it going "tra-la-la lolly?"
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Date: 2005-08-03 11:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-04 12:23 pm (UTC)Glad to hear that the Oldie has a new home, I hope he settles down quickly. Molly could probably win the 'Best Smile' class if they had one, she looks lovely in that photo.
I got given AGOT by Bacchus as an Anniversary present. He knows very little about fantasy and had only bought it because they were doing a special offer when you bought the new David Eddings book. At the time I thought David Eddings was really good and while I do still like the Belgariad and the Mallorean, I haven't really liked any of the later stuff and he completely pissed me off with his attitude to almost everything in The Riven Codex. Anyway I'm going totally off the point, which was I had a quick flick through the GRRM book, put it down and read the David Eddings one. I came back to it later, started to read it, got a bit bored and left it again. It wasn't until I'd moved to London and ran out of things to read on the tube that I went back to it and got completely engrossed. I went out and bought the next 2 books straight, away then suffered terrible withdrawal symptoms while waiting for the 4th one.
I think once you get into it, it does really draw you in and I've really cared what happened to the characters. GRRM is the only author apart from Robert Silverberg who's made me miss my tube stop!
I've tried to get Bacchus to read him and again he's just got bored with the first few chapters and given up, but it probably doesn't help he's not a fan of fantasy in general. Fevre Dream is another really good GRRM and the Hedge Knight is great as it fills in some of the history of ASOIAF, though I'm yet to get hold of the Graphic Novel version.
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Date: 2005-08-04 01:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-04 02:04 pm (UTC)Not that I'm speaking from experience, or anything.
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Date: 2005-08-04 02:27 pm (UTC)Having got past the intro I am definitely gripped by the story though and am really looking forward to the rest of the books - thanks for the recommendation.
I'd forgotten the Father Ted spinning cat, so I googled it and got THIS: http://www.speronewestwater.com/cgi-bin/iowa/works/record.html?record=1567
!!!
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Date: 2005-08-04 02:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-04 02:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-05 09:17 am (UTC)I like village shows. Aged about 10, I won "Dog Most Like Owner" with our boxer Tina.
What's a Spiderbaby?
Neuromancer.
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Date: 2005-08-05 12:26 pm (UTC)Don't worry
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Date: 2005-08-05 12:33 pm (UTC)I really must remember not to take a drink right before clicking on links, I showered my screen & keyboard with tea. Fortunately it was herbal tea, so it didn't have any milk in it and was easier to clean up, but there is a distinct smell of nettles still hanging around :-)