Day 20: the weekend of breakthroughs

Well I promised a day 20, but its more of a multi day post…

On Friday evening I went to my friends for homemade pizzas, Jamie olivers recipe (awesome btw), an inbetweeners session and a catch up. All was amazing and its given me ideas for my house warming.

Saturday was, wait for it, a dog training day. And we finally got Tweed to stay while someone else threw the dummies! My whistling needs a bit of improvement, as I’ve reached the point of frustration where everything sounds the same. Solo managed to pick a full size (lighter weight) dummy which was great she’s slowly building up to a full weight dummy. Findlay did fine he’s trusting Heather more now and direction really well.

Today was swim day, Amy and me went to Ellerton park and swam in the lake.

Ellerton park

And as nerve racking as it seemed once your in the water its fine. Cold but fine. Amy is upgrading to a full length suit mind as today she had a shorty and her foot turned purple also I think she felt the cold more than me. Swimming in a wetsuit is actually harder than you’d think as your feet try to float and your movement is restricted. But after a few more practice sessions we’ll be ready.

And so ends my daily update mission, hopefully I’ll manage the weekly update mission a bit better!

Day 19: Dummies for Dummies

Today (yesterday) was the fortnightly dog training session at Hetton Lyons Park. So off went Tweed, me, solo and Heather for a night of retriever training.

All went pretty well, for most people. Quite a big turn out for the puppy group. Tweed got a few compliments, although I could have killed him a couple of times as he’s obsessed with the dummy!! But what is annoying is he’s steady at home?

But anyway, we have some homework again to go over. And we’ll see how we can improve for next time. Sometimes I look at him and think, Jesus you’d never think you worked last season, its unreal!!

Anyway everyone else had odds and ends to go over. Solo picked a big dog dummy for the first time as she’s only just started with a puppy dummy this last few weeks. But she’s coming along fine, she’s only a pup bless her.

Right well… Tomorrow Will be my last daily post. I’m finding I have less and less to write about the more I write. So my new target (to reduce reader boredom) is once a week. But I Will do 20 days straight to end this sequence as I’m obsessed with even numbers!

Day 18: Bruises a eulogy

Pole yesterday was a nice way to end a Tuesday a bit of exercise some social banter and bruises galore. You see this is the thing that professional pole dancers must either hide well or just manage not to do.

Bruises it turns out are a part of the deal. But I suppose metal on flesh isn’t generally a non bruise causing scenario. I’ve had millions of bruises now, some real stonkers and some not worth writing home about.

Its odd to get excited about a bruise. What’s wierder is documenting it’s development, which myself and others have done, I’m not crazy honest!!

Day 17: Why do I bother?

So today I learned that The Secret Circle got canned after one season… This is the umpteenth TV show that I get in to that has been prematurely cancelled. So today I vent!!

The series hasn’t even finished yet here in the UK and now I have a decision, do I make the effort and watch it or do I not bother as its the end??

The CW are to blame… But why do TV shows die, why not as a standard rule allow every show 2 seasons? That way fans get a total story and between the first and second season the fan base can increase! If you can’t tell I clearly have no life, I’m ranting about a TV show being cancelled.

But its the morality of it all. You suck us into these shows then just dump us with a mass of disappointment. We do everything asked of us we watch, we absorb, we discuss, we enjoy. But Nooooooooo you steal it from us. You do the unthinkable and unforgivable thing like taking candy from a baby or kicking a puppy/baby.

I am saddened by the TV people, yes you took our show but you took the cast and crews jobs. In these recession filled times how can you do that, they could end up out on the street with no job, no home to go to (unimaginable really the whole cast was great, they’ll easily get new work).

But still!!!

On that note: what show have you got in to that inadvertently was cancelled?

Day 9: Recovery complete!

After a good nearly 24 hours of sleep I’m now in a fit state of compusmentusness that I am functioning normally, (or as normal as can be expected considering this is me!)

So as normality resumes I realise my ramblings are quite literally that ramblings. Blogging everyday is a discovery of how boring someone’s life can be.

Today I ordered our Stormin the Castle tickets, yay to that! That’s a good blog post and photo album in the offing! Should be a good weekend rain or shine. So if you see me cheering my little heart out in the tents say hi!

Other things to look forward to are:
1. Moving day
2. Christmas
3. My swim
4. Stormin the Castle.
5. Race day
Hmmm if I think of any more I’ll add them in!

Tomorrow I have another days holiday and I’m spending it shopping. Then back to the grind on Wednesday… So I foresee more deep and meaningful posts coming (ha ha ha)

Day 8: The seven deadly sins, Sloth

Today I slept, nothing new there. However it may be constituted as Sloth like that I slept from 9 till 6 in the afternoon… Maybe. And as I write this I am back in bed getting ready to go to sleep… Again.

This is a bad thing but it was caused by another sin so all in all its been a rather sinful bank holiday so far!

Maybe I’m getting old, I used to be fine after a night on the tiles. Sadly that is no more. I am part of a new era now, the group that succumb to the effects of late nights and alcohol… Sad sad times

Day 7: dog training and drinks

Due to alcohol consumption yesterday post is a day late… And rather hazy.

Yesterday was a dog training morning with findlay who did very well and kept out of the tempting water. Big challenge is on Sunday next weekend in his working test but he’s coming along. Or at least I think he is!

The night was spent in Durham on the lash. Good night some of it a bit vague, but all in all a good night. Still a bit hungover this morning, probably will be till after another good hour or so’s sleep so the post for today will be pretty dull I think.

Weather nice though!

Day 6: Driving Rant 2

A little while ago a friend of mine said that women are the worst drivers, this conversation began due to my rage at the inability of 70% of society to drive in the snow.

I beg to differ, although my track record accident wise is far from clean I consider myself a pretty competent driver especially in bad conditions i.e snow.

Anyway todays rant is aimed at people who are for want of a better description beyond their able driving years. Today after our outing around Durham my brother was very nearly wiped out my an elderly gentleman who was at a junction and after looking in or direction pulled out practically into my brothers car! Due to his young brain and ability he served and avoided what potentially would have been a very nasty accident.

The justification for the elderly gentleman pulling out into us… He didn’t see us (it wasn’t a blind junction it was a straight road) oh, yes, and he had someone behind him? Now this was the odd response, he had no right of way, he wasn’t in any rush… So why pull out into us???

That ends todays rant. More from the rants of Claire tomorrow!

Disclaimer: Please note this is not aimed at all old people who drive, it is merely an opinion formed from an incident.

xoxo

Day 5: Its the handler not the dog

Tonight I went to the GRCN training session and discovered that although Tweed is grand at generic picking up we aren’t quite up to trialing scratch. Not that we can compete together, but he’s a good dog to start with even if get is a hybrid.

The problem is me the dog knows what its got to do, I however am not a trialing standard handler… Yet! I will get there, got lots to work on as homework. But will be back with bells on in a fortnight to show my progression to my new mentor – Brian doesn’t know what he’s got coming!!!

Right, now begins my long weekend. Yes making the most of the back holiday and taking Friday to Tuesday off work. Yay!!

Shopping tomorrow, out Saturday night in Durham (and possibly Sunday) and mixture of dog training and house stuff in between. Nice!!

Day 4: I hate thee Lotus driver

Today random posting is primarily a rant, “what about?” you say…

Well there is someone who drives a Lotus who works where I do and obviously lives where I do to. And he is a nob head.

Why is this person to be described in such a way I hear you ask. Because he drives like a one! Yes he has what we would call a mid-life crisis car (a penis extension if you will…) but that is no excuse for driving at breakneck speed through every 30 zone on the road. This is a massive pet hate of mine.

I’m not generalising at all I don’t hate all Lotus drivers. Just this one, I’m sure there are conscientious Lotus drivers out there.

And so ends day 4′s rant.

Thank you for listening!

Day 3: Gemini success

Woot turns out tonight I nailed Gemini pose at pole (Tempest dance studio – Durham, link below). I’m so pleased although I’m gutted I still haven’t nailed scorpio.

Was interesting at Pole tonight, a bunch of newbies learning what I did back last year was fascinating! Turns out I’ve progressed way further than I thought. I can go upside down with ease now, and I think I’m a little bendier – my balance and coordination however is still dud but I think that’s most likely my brain!

The dog has improved from yesterday but it is very obvious that I am the problem. When I’m home he barks and whinges when I’m not home he is mute. So begins rehab for my Tweed. As if my dog has separation anxiety… How my uni lecturers would laugh!

Anywho my bruise is forming nicely from side climb in the back of my leg so I think I’ll call it a night.

Post 4 tomorrow may prove more difficult. If I manage 365 days I’ll be well impressed!!

Tempest Dance Studio

2012…

Welcome to the future! Yes another new year, that’s 26 I’ve now experienced, nearly 27. God does that make me feel old.

Still plodding on through life, still seeing where my path takes me and still in general a crazy person.

I will post more frequently this year I promise, only right now I have very little to post about, but as the weeks progress I’m sure something will happen that requires publishing!

xoxo

2011 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 2,500 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 42 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Slight Delay!

Hi I’m writing this from Angela’s laptop, I do have 2 blog posts written and ready to send but for some reason the internet is playing up on my iPod and I’m too lazy to rewrite them on here – so I’ll post them when I get a good wifi connection.

But just in case anyone thought I had died from the lack of posting I haven’t…

Right then time to shuffle to LA to see what the fuss is all about!

xoxo

How I heart thee “generic music player”….

Well this evening was one filled with reminiscing and randomness. Firstly my Mam’s birthday present arrived today, and due to an oversight of either mine or the companies she figured out what it was… this came mainly from the fact the box stated what was inside! Which is something I’ve never come across before but even if it was a whole day early from her response it seems like it went down well. So if you want a teacup and saucer plant pot, look here – http://www.exclusivelyforyou.co.uk/giantplanterslist.asp

Anyway Happy Birthday for tomorrow Mam!

On to the reminiscing, as usual I set away my laptop and put my “generic music player” on but tonight as I felt a bit random I pressed shuffle on my whole collection and boy has it been a ride. From Funeral for a Friend to Glee to a bit of Feargal Sharkey and some good old Frank Sinatra (that I didn’t even know I had), it’s been quite amusing… of the 2808 songs I have I think I only listen on a regular basis to like 10-20% but it’s nice to have a good shuffle up.

The funniest thing is that as many songs as I own most of them bring back vivid memories to specific times of my life, it’s funny how memories work isn’t it? The best part was as I own random movie soundtracks one of which being the Reservoir Dogs soundtrack I had a random intermittent of the Madonna speech by Mr Tarantino, or God as he’s more commonly known!

Ironically as I write this Little Green Bag has just come on… Keep on Truckin’

I think somehow my music collection has gone slightly mad though – seriously if anybody wanted to analyse me for my musical taste they’d think I’d lost my marbles I can quite happily be bopping along to some pop classic such as ABBA and then in a flash be happily jumping around to some Marilyn Manson. I think although I was born in the 80′s my tastes span obscure and wonderful decades and boy has the music seen some horrific fashion along the way… (mind wandering) …

Anyway, as a warning to Angela and Melissa you better be prepared for the horrific singing along and random musical taste as it’s coming with me to America, see you in 2 weeks ladies!

…and to finish the evening a little bit of Madness, goodnight all!

xoxo

The Importance of a Good Title!

I learnt my lesson and so henceforth erased my post about the fated apocalypse. Seriously I was getting like at least 100 hits a day at times, it was crazy how one small comment made in the blogosphere could create such chaos.

So from now on I will be more delicate and think out my posts and their content more wisely. It was nice been popular for a little while but then it got a teeny bit intimidating. What was more scary was some of the comments I got but didn’t approve – there are some cRAzY people out there.

But anyway I’ll be more careful in future believe you me (what that means, lord knows – oops don’t discuss religion, don’t discuss religion). Anyway thank you to those who read and apologies to those I just offended by calling crazy. If it makes you feel any better surely I am the crazy one for writing down these weird and wonderful ramblings, am I not… and really – what is normal?

That is all

Thank you.

xoxo

3 months tomorrow till the big adventure!

Wow, it’s seriously only 3 months until I’m on my flight out to the USA. Scary or what, that seems to have flown over.

So that means I need to sort out my money, bank cards (in case of emergencies, which after the rig-ma-roll with the hotel room in Nova Scotia I think is pretty vital). I also need to finish figuring out the rental car and apply for a foreign driving permit from the Post Office and double check my car insurance with the insurance company and rental people.

I think otherwise I’m ok – I just have to negotiate what the heck to pack now… I’m assuming it will be nice and sunny though so shouldn’t need too much. The infamous camcorder is going with me, so expect loads of videos of wide open spaces and random singing in the car (warning to Melissa and Angela on that one he-he-he). And in only a few weeks it’ll be like a whole year since the Nova Scotia expedition. I watched the videos and looked over the old photo’s the other day reminiscing, and a lot has happened since then. It’s scary to realise just how short 12 months really is - One of the group moved to france, another is engaged,  I turned 25 and lord knows what else happened in-between.

Sadly I feel that after this big jolly to America I may not be able to have such extravagant trips anymore, but I’m sure I’ll find a way just not two in a row like this past year.

Oh well on rumbles life, the only thing I think that’s been consistent (for a change) in the last year has been my hair colour. Which is actually odd. I haven’t remained the same colour for more than a few months for a long time… Maybe it’s time for a change again?

3 months, 3 whole months till I’m on American soil, bring on the next round of good memories

xoxo

Day 12: Last day in Bonnie New Scotland

And so the adventure ends, today is the last day!! That’s right folks, the lastest day, sad-sad times.But anyway so to discuss today… We had a debate this morning about environmentalism and what the ideas and theories actually mean to us and the rest of the earth as a being. Which was pretty deep!! Then we went to kejimkujik seaside adjunct for some final animal spotting and to take in the scenery.

The adjunct was pretty amazing it had beautiful views and delivered bucketloads of photo ops!! And today I saw a seal, sadly it was a bit far off to get a photo, but then came the porcupines!! We saw 2 and I got some great video of one of them which yes I will upload (hopefully tonight). It’s been a pretty relaxing day all in all and now we are ending the fortnight of hardwork, animal watching and tick killing with a few beers, wine and curry.

21:40 – Ok so tea was banging and we’re now listening to some rhythm, blues and soul… It’s a nice way to end the day, washing done, packing sorted, and now to chill…

We leave for the airport at 8:45 and I fly in the afternoon. So I’ll continue to update most likely at least until I’m back at work but who knows I may blog for more of my random adventures. I’m planning a charity bike ride along the north penine way (70 miles) to raise money for Earthwatch and Cancer Research UK so I’ll be training for that and then doing it (it can take 3 days) so I may update again then.

I hope you’ve enjoyed Reading about what I’ve been up to please feel free to comment and watch my videos or look at my pictures! It’s been nice to know people want to read along…. To those who know me I’ll see you soon to those who I don’t thanks for joining the ride!! xoxo

 

Day 7: Kejim-who-jik??

Today we went to kejimkujik, as explained earlier-which is the national park of nova scotia-and had a bit of an explore around. First off we went to go see Mills Falls a "waterfall" which chris described as rapids, and it’s much smaller than low force in teesdale, England so I think rapids covers it! Although it was quite impressive.

After that we went for a trek around the hemlock forests and around the big dam lake (that’s it’s name not me being sarcastic!) where we saw all the humongous trees and various features like nurse logs, fungi and lichen growth. I wasn’t so hot with my camera today though so you should check out everyone elses blogs for pictures. Then we conducted more poop surveys. This time for White-tailed deer who are now prevalent in the area and, as I may have said before are responsible for the loss off the moose in the south of nova scotia-due to the brain worm. Me and kim drew 1st place after picking quadrats with 11 sightings each, which was probably fluke but we’d like to think it’s because we think like the deer.

Tomorrow we set up our second batch of longworth trap transects at Cooks lake farm, so I should get more pictures from another area of nova scotia. And hopefully see more new species as today we saw 2 white tailed deers andan osprey nesting. Ok shower time I think, but while I remember we did spend this evening watching various entertainment online, so go to badgerbadgerbadger.com or look for the blackfly song on YouTube to share in our evenings joy! xoxo

Day 5 & 6: Tragedy strikes Halifax

Day 5: We collected in the traps today and I finally caught a little guy, my transect was nearest the road so it was slightly unexpected! So I was pleased. But Anne took a nasty fall on the rocks and was taken to hospital for 11 stitches it was a very deep hole in her leg!!

After collecting the traps and Anne from the hospital we went on a hayride around the local organic farm, where we learnt about organic wood production where they still use the old methods of horses driving the trees out and not using pesticides etc on the ground or food enhancers on there animals. After that we went to the "pub" in Liverpool which wasn’t a pub but more a hotel where we listened to some "banging tunes" by a little known pair called Naming the Twins and I signed some of you up to the mailing list (don’t worry you can unsubscribe!!) so you too can experience a bit of the local culture of Nova Scotia.

 

Day 6: Today was our research free day so we all got bundled into the van to go to Halifax for a look around the shops and exhibitions. The maritime museum was particularly fascinating as I never knew the involvement that Halifax had in the titanic rescue or that 5 years later in 1917 the poor buggers then suffered a huge tragedy of a massive explosion which wiped out the whole area practically with a few surviving and the buildings being completely destroyed. It happened due to a missions ship hitting a smaller boat on it’s way into the harbour and as the missions ship was armed with various explosives it went Boom! It looked like a nuclear explosion it was horrific!! It was the largest man made explosion until the Hiroshima bomb, which is pretty damn impressive in a bad way.

After the exploring we all met up for dinner and I tried a bit of lobster, I wasn’t incredibly impressed as it was sooooo sweet so I don’t think I’ll be having it again. Today we’re off to Kejimkujik national park for a look around and some more transect work, so I’ll probably have another update tonight but I figured I’d catch you up on the past 2 days.

I uploaded the photos yesterday but am still to label them all so I’ll sort that out aswell… And remember you can comment on them and this we all get excited when we get comments!! Also i had 250+ views last week so thanks for Reading that’s an impressive amount ok best get dressed and ready. Oh and we finally had rain and sleet yesterday, but I have caught the sun on my face on the first few days but I won’t be quite as brown as I was after Cyprus etc. xoxo

Day 4: Alvin, Simon, Theodore, doop-do doopety-do

Ok today’s blog shall be short and yes photos are still in progress. I’m tired you know!!

Anyway trap checking again today and still my transect caught none, but no captures are just as important as captures! We caught 8 in total but all were recaptures from yesterday, and the female I handled is now visibly pregnant so that’s nice to know. On the afternoon check we caught a chipmunk which was exciting as I’ve never seen a wild one and boy are they quick, it got away on christina and was off like lightning . Luckily even Lycos wasn’t fast enough or else the poor guy would be a goner!

The middle of the day was taken up with more porcupine damage surveys and snowshoe hare quadrats. We found (as a team) 5,000 snowshoe hare droppings, but as yet chris and christina still need to figure out how many an individual produces over a day so they will have to catch or keep some and then do counts and calculations from there. The 5,000 was over 5 quadrats but as we got further into the wood/forest the numbers increased which makes sense as they can hide better in the immensly dense woodland (believe me I know!!) and therefore the population is much larger.

This evening we had a climate change talk with chris who explained the ins and outs of the matter, which is a bit much to go over but if you want to know more – read a journal!! Also as a note if you go to www.wildspirits.ca you can access the project website and learn more about what I’m doing out here.

It’s 10pm now and we’ve got a busy busy day tomorrow again with a lovely end of the week at the pub so probably no blog tomorrow but while the teachers skype I’ll upload my photos of the last 2 days and also pop up the longworth trap videos! Goodnight y’all! xoxo

Day 3: Lights, Camera, Action!

Ok today was trap checking day and would you believe it we had 7 captures today, although 3 in the afternoon were recaptures from the morning.

We caught all red backed vole one of which I handled I will include images and a video soon! After capture we had to set them in a timidity tray for the time it took to run through or 10 minutes depending on which came first. The hypothesis so far is undecided as Christina is unsure on if the faster to escape means the more likely to survive longer or by staying put they are more likely to survive. But from our observations today (as 2 Voles had fur clip marks from September and wouldn’t leave the tray) I would say timidity must work but clearly that’s just a tiny sample!!

Between all the fun of the animal capture we also did a porcupine damage survey across a transect we monitored. As porcupines are viewed as a pest for forestries as they chew at tree bark so here in nova scotia they shoot them, which isn’t ideal as they’re becoming less and less. So by studying there behaviour and tree selection it should be possible to cone up with a soloution. I was also wondering if sounds would help keep them away but the soloution has to be cheaper than a bullet, so maybe not?

We also then set up camera traps (hence the title), we’re hoping to get sightings of porcupine, snowshoe hare and others in the spot me and diana were set so fingers crossed-however the first few images will be us standing and waving to double check it worked!! We did a field tracking survey in the woodland surrounding our trapping transects following the paths and found signs of beaver, coyote, skunk and porcupine and found the chrysalis of the biggest moth in north America the name escapes me right now but it did begin with ‘S’. And tonight we had a fun conversation about the differences between British and American English, which was pretty entertaining ha ha ha

Anyway I think i’m going to shower now and then set away with photo and video uploads but I may be soooo incredibly tired it’ll have to wait till tomorrow, so obviously we’ll see about that one?! Oh and I’m still tick free people rock on!! xoxo

Day 2: Trapping begins

Up and out at 9:00 and then off to the study site for our first trapping session. The traps we use are Longworth traps which are most commonly used for rodent trapping and were designed in longworth near Oxford, UK. I will add a picture to my albums of them. We walked a line transect each in pairs and singles depending on where we were walking and set out 20 traps in a line with about 5 foot between each trap. We’re hoping to catch mice and voles which we will identify using hair snips on the bodies and then return to the area they were caught. The traps will be reset and then put back in the locations in the hope if recapture or new capture over the next 3 days so that Christina and Chris can monitor the ecology of the area. So tomorrow I should have some good pictures of mice and voles that we’ve caught, and fingers crossed don’t get bitten by!!

We also had a DIY task of helping to build the Walls for the on site unit that is in progress. Angela and Amanda got there 2 together first with me and Melissa coming a close second (images are also to come).

I saw more red squirrels today while walking the transect, and Dad would be proud I kept up and kept in line for once Ha ha ha Anyway I think that shall do for today i’m off to check for ticks and have a shower, that’s right there are loads of ticks so we have to check for them after being in the field. I might go out to see if the racoons are out later on but for now I think I need a wash! xoxo

Meet and greet

Well after last nights moderate disaster and now feeling relatively caught up with all my timezones it’s time to meet the rest of the gang. I met Sue, one of the many who is on a teaching award-and so not only has to do the project research but also has to teach her school kids-last night at the airport and she sat through the debarcle that was the room error. But hays travel will be getting a proper earfull and I expect a refund after that, but on to other things.

So Sue and Anne-who arrived yesterday but understandably was tucked up in bed by the time we made it in-are already here, and the rest we’ll meet as they come in to the airport. We’re going to head over there once we’re all suitably refreshed and then do lunch as it’s just as handy as going to downtown Halifax which has a pricey taxi or bus involved!!

***

Well we all made it in one piece, so including Sue, Anne and Me there are: Amanda, Angela, Kim, Melissa and Diana. So those are all the members of the crack team!! And only poor melissa lost her bag, but that should turn up soon. We’ve done the ice-breaker and met Chris, Christina and Lycos (the dog, yes he is named after the search engine, they found him on google!) the earthwatch scientists who have been lovely enough to accept us on the mission.

We had pizza, salad and ice cream for tea and had the health and safety to digest-all of it using both English and American terminology, so as examples we have Flashlight (torch) and Band Aid (plaster). Pretty easy really but there are teeny tiny differences accross the board, imagine if I used the word Chav or Charver they’d be lost with that one. But as I’m yet to see a one in Canada I think they’re safe from the scurge that is the Chav’s!! Right anyway I’m exhausted jet lag is catching up with me a bit so I’m going to crash.

Tomorrows the first day in the field so I’m sure to have an immense update then but for now this will do goodnight all!! xoxo