Day 6: Road Trip (Seattle – Lincoln City)

Well yesterday was eventful!

We picked up the car at 7:30 courtesy of a lift from Josh. It’s a Toyota Corolla with an upgrade of a Sat Nav (they didn’t have the one we requested so free upgrade!)

After some nit picking about small scratches and dints so I don’t get charged extra at the other end we headed back to Angela’s to get packed up. She drove the first stint in the city, as we figured it’d be waaaay too confusing. But then it was my turn…

Automatics are weird – a few times I reached down to my left hand side to change gear and my left leg felt redundant. But I successfully drove us to Mt St Helens, or what we thought was the observatory for it. We were wrong, so we took in the views and drove back down to I-5 to go back up to where we needed to be. Then the heavens opened, and boy did they open. It was a bit hairy for me for a bit as so much was different but we made it through to where we needed to be to find it had closed, 5 minutes ago! So we decided I wasn’t supposed to see the crater etc and moseyed on back down the I-5 to Lincoln city.

I did have to drive through a small bit of city to connect to the next road, and found Americans drive oddly. The signs just appear at the junction with little warning and nobody seems to use the lanes as we would in the UK. The slow lane was empty, the middle lane would be full of lorries and the fast lane had everyone weaving in and out of it. It’s the same on the I-5 but in the city it seemed to be like that on a scarier scale. But we made it out the other side to a Dairy Queen.

Apparently Dairy Queen or DQ is a fast-food institution here in the US. And it was good but again big portions!! I think my stomach is the size of a gnat, seriously, and I have a big appetite in the UK?

Anyway we made it past the correctional facility, which looked a bit posh. And to Lincoln city. The motel is cute and right on the beach front. We went to a local “dive” bar for a drink, before crashing for the night. It was empty but some interesting characters came in while we sat. We were treated to the film small soldiers, which was a bit random. But it was cheap and cheerful with obscure decor and a lot of pool tables.

This morning we do breakfast get “Gas” and then start leg 2 of phase 2 of the trip, down the coast to Crescent city… Then tomorrow we drive to Grants pass then down to Sacramento (this seems backwards but I want to see the Redwoods).

Day 5: Dances with Wolves and Dinner with Fish

This morning we dropped Melissa at the airport for the second leg of her journey until we meet again in Pacifica. Her flight unbeknown to us all was delayed, otherwise she probably could have come with us to today’s final Seattle based adventure: Wolf Haven

Due to Angela finding out I loved wolves yesterday she found a wolf sanctuary for us to visit – so we ditched the EMP (a perfect excuse to come back and visit) and travelled down the road to see the wolves. Wolf haven is a sanctuary, but they do breed the rarer species and have a release programme they run. They are totally volunteer run and take in wolves that have been kept as pets by the weird people who don’t get that they are WILD animals, and do what they can to allow them to live out there lives (yes in captivity) but as close as they can to a normal life.

Angela was very taken with one of the youngsters called Shadow. So much so that she has claimed him as a pet! He was very cute and had a fetching scar on his face after he’d had a scuffle with his colleague over a dead chicken. They feed what we would consider the BARF diet, but what they would know as a natural diet. So cow and chicken carcasses, and road kill with a little bit of dog food just to top it up. Only one of the wolves looked fat tge rest were lean and natural looking… And Nat (yes you miss cook) they provide enrichment to all the wolves and they all looked pretty content and chilled out. They also have a couple of coyotes, one has only one eye as he had to have it removed after an accident.

Anyway after the cuteness of the wolves we had planning to do so we headed back into Seattle and got to work booking the car and motels on the way to California! Phase two is ready to begin!

For tea we had Sushi, yes, I, ME! I ate raw fish. Most of it was rolls and stuff but I had some raw salmon stuff and it wasn’t as bad as I thought although I loved the tempura vegetables. I would eat it again, but I did find it awfully filling. But further to that I managed to eat with chopsticks, I was so proud I even kept the chopsticks much to Josh and Angela’s disgust… I can eat like a pro with the chopsticks now although from Angela’s photographs it looks a little like the evolution of Tool-Age man.

Next stop, Lincoln City!

Day 4: Taches on

Ok so today was crazy full – this morning we did Breakfast, not the artery clogging typical American… Sorry United States, not American as American is not a nationality for citizens of the US – private joke… Breakfast but still a damn good breakfast. We had cherry mimosas (a pitcher of, we keep it classy man) and French Toast which was yummy, and yes yet again I needed a take-home box.

After breakfast we went to see the Troll, yes a Troll on our way to the Market. He lives under the bridge in Fremont, he’s an art project in the area and is randomly holding a VW Beetle? Both him and the statue of Lenin, yes that Russian guy, are probably the most random ones in Seattle. But they are interesting to say the least. Fremont Market is an eclectic mix of a flea Market and craft or high end goods, a few of the stalls stood out in particular and I’ll add there websites when I get a chance but there stuff is really really cute!

The Burke Museum (part of The university of Washington) has a Wolf exhibit on at the moment so we went to take a look-see at that, and for $10 it was a good find. The exhibits were really cool considering the small space and the wolves they had on display were stunning. A random fact; only 50 Mexican wolves still roam the US and they are practically extinct, their gene-pool is so narrow they have interbred in the wild with coyotes, their natural enemies in order to breed and populate.

Post museum we went to Volunteer park to get some good views of the space needle, we climbed the water tower (107 steps) to get a good look and jeez was it pretty – 360 degree views!

Dinner was at a place called Agua Verde, so true to form I ordered an appetiser and again couldn’t finish it!! But after the quick meal we went for our evenings entertainment at the Rock Box… For those who don’t know this is a bar where you book a room with your friends and sing your little Karaoke heart out. After a bit of Dutch courage (which Melissa and Angela didn’t need) we were singing our little hearts out. Or on my case wailing the country barrier for song options was a little more random than I imagined, they didn’t know Queens I want to break free. This was selected by me due to our hip cool new glasses and Moustache ensembles!! (pictures will be coming I promise) but as they didn’t know it, it kind of fell flat. We finished up with a bit of Journey, which seemed to go down well with us all.

Somehow I think my karaoke voice may not be making regular appearances, but that could be a good thing. The world will be a happier place me thinks!

Today is the last day in Seattle so the road trip planning will be set in stone by tonight. Phase 2 of USMAC 2011 will begin on the 12th….

Day 3: I’m on a Boat

So after the Cabaret at Can Can, which was Awesome we went to the Hard Rock for tea… This late tea and alcohol consumption plus late night nattering and putting the world to rights made us a little bit late for our excursion. By like literally minutes, but when your catching a Ferry that kind of makes all the difference.

Anyway we missed the one we were aiming to get on so we popped into Anacortese for breakfast. It’s a cute little town that looks like the classic American town – well from my movie experiences anyway, although as most of my movie experiences are ones with Psycho killers, deadly viruses or crazy corn possessed children I could be mislead. Note: I am in no way, shape or form saying that Anacortese is any of the above, that’s merely my only comparison. I think it’s a cute town.

Breakfast was good, the second meal I’ve finished this whole trip… Toast and Jam, but really, really good Jam! It was proper strawberry Jam with actual strawberries in it.

To fill in time till the next Ferry we went for a look around. It’s got loads of arts and crafty like shops and is mostly touristy and randomly has a really big toy shop, but it wasn’t a chain like Toys ‘r’ Us, it was a proper toy shop. So we had a look in there.

We made it to the second ferry in good time and made our way through the San Juan islands. It’s so picturesque, Angela describes it as living in a Postcard and she isn’t far wrong. It’s stunning, we had the Olympic Mountain range poking through in the distance at one side, Canada on the other and the most calm sea it looked like you could do the Jesus thing and walk on it.

The ferry journey was an hour and we reached Friday harbour on San Juan island (there are other islands available we just went to this one specifically) at lunchtime. So we went for fish and chips at the place that claimed to be the best in the world or something along those lines and it was good, although I do like my chips a bit chunkier.

Orca spotting was next on the agenda, although sadly we didn’t see any. We went on the bus to the Coastal park to spot them, Melissa tried to escape from the bus. She was sat in front of the emergency exit and kept pushing it to keep it open for air and set an alarm off with the driver. The window is meant to fall out so if he’d known how hard she kept pushing it I’d be getting it checked coz’ the bugger wouldn’t fall in an emergency in my opinion! So after much giggling about that we walked to the lighthouse to spot Whales, and as I said we didn’t see any but I did get some photos of Canada and we saw Floyd the Sea Lion bobbing about. I got a little burnt by the sun, so I now have a lovely bag strap tan line.

After getting back into Friday harbour we had a look around the shops fir the Lavender farm and the other little industries on the island we waited and had a beer until the ferry to go back turned up. We had on board entertainment in the form of some kids doing gymnastics and trying to breakdance while on the boat, randomly. And we kept ourselves amused with some Moustaches we’d bought earlier in the day.

In order to show me more of the stunning beauty Washington state has to offer Angela drove us to Deception Pass. It’s the most stunning view ever, it’s a bridge over a stretch of water (I think it was an estuary, but I may be wrong) and the drop us incredible with evergreens surrounding and then just open water ahead. It was staggering!

After that I don’t remember much I promptly fell asleep on the car ride home, I blame the early start (7:00, we set off on our way home at 9:30ish) and the sun.

Day 2: Gas Works Park whilst riding a Duck.. Not as crazy as it sounds…

This morning Melissa and Angela went to Zumba. I however took the option of having a lie in. But after they got back from their energetic stint at the class we had a quick breakfast then took Lulu (Angela’s dog) out to Gas Works park for a run.

As weird as it’s name suggests, that’s what it actually is/was. The park is based around an old gas works which still stands but is obsolete. I have taken pictures and will upload them when I get a chance. We played fetch with Lulu for a bit and took some pictures of the city then went for lunch.

We went to a store called REI (like Millets but on a massive scale), which was kinda cool and had lunch at the cafe in there called world wraps. It was the first meal I’ve had since I arrived that I didn’t bring the majority of it back in a box. I’m having issues with portion size and eating times out here, I think it’s possibly left over jet lag… Or the plates are literally huge?

Anyway lunch was had but then the main mission of the day commenced. We went to ride the duck. This is not a crazy statement, they are an amphibious car that were built during the war(?) to aid troops, but they were slow and inefficient so some crazy fool decided to use them to tour around cities in the US. This was fun, we saw all around the ports and the city and got to go into the lake. We didn’t sink and found out random facts on the city like the fact it burnt down, and that there is a whole city underneath what we see today which can be explored in another tour. To me it sounded like Futurama, you know the whole New New York, Old New York… If not google it. But let’s hope underground Seattle doesn’t have mutants living there. Again you need to Google Futurama for that one.

So yeah, Ducks was fun – took photos, and then went to see the Space Needle. But it’s really expensive to go up in so we just looked at it from below. It’s impressive but odd. Like someone designed a spaceship then got bored when they couldn’t make it fly so they stuck it on a tower to make it look like it had a purpose, you know, or like an alien mothership got lost on the way to its home planet so landed for refuelling but liked it so much they decided to stay, and set up a restaurant. We were also near to the EMP museum which is an impressive bit of architecture but we’re going to look in that another day they currently have a big Nirvana exhibition on in there which sounds cool.

So now we’re resting after ice cream then going out to see a Cabaret show.

Update again tomorrow!

Day 1: Pedicure virginity lost, Maltby City lunch and Redhook Beer…

Ok guys, so today I lost my pedicure virginity. And I have nicely teal painted toenails… Good god was I ticklish! But that was a nice way to start the day, post Angela’s yummy breakfast.

Then off we went to Maltby city. Now for those of us in the UK city may seem a bit of a stretch, it was smaller than Frosterley… But that’s what the sign said? Anyway, we had lunch which was nice at the Maltby Cafe which was a cute cafe and the food was nice but I think I’m still a bit jet-lagged as I couldn’t eat it all.

At which point we went to Redhook brewery for a “tour” now the tour involved $1 a lot of beer samples but not so much touring. But it was very entertaining. I’d recommend the Pilsner which was my favourite or the EBA which was second runner.

Then we went to look at Chateau St Michele winery but we missed the tour and we get to do the Napa valley wines next week so wine will be then.

Tonight we’re off to play bananagrams at the Pub with Angela’s friends so a bit of a beer day. And Zumba tomorrow night??? For those of you who acknowledge my lack of coordination you’ll find this fact highly amusing… If I survive I’ll re-post tomorrow.

The Immigrant’s Journey

11:02
Ok so I’m waiting in the departure lounge at Newcastle airport… This feels familiar! 21 minutes till they open the gate for my flight and basically there are only so many times you can be attacked by the perfume sellers and the random person who decides I look like I need a credit card to consolidate my debt – I’m sorry but if I had debts I wouldn’t be going on holiday, maybe she should find a more appropriate place to stand?

Next stop Heathrow Terminal 5 to find my way to flight connections, then off for my final flight to Seattle. Oh and for those of you who may be concerned I’m feeling much perkier, but whether the airplane food agrees with my condition or not is another matter!

I’ve bought a book to keep me entertained about some serial killer from Florence who is somehow connected to the Meredith Kercher murder… So I’ll review that once I finish it for those who may be interested. Although it may be a bit weird to review a true story, it’s like giving the actual murderer a rating out of 5 for effort and originality. Morbid!

Right back to people watching and waiting for flight 1 of 2.

13:34
I made it to Heathrow, minor turbulence and a lot of fluffy clouds later! Now I just have to wait till 13:50 to find out which area of the immense terminal 5 I have to be (I’m in A now but I could end up anywhere). You’d think they’d at least tell you which part of the terminal you have to be in advance because its huginormous, gigantastic I mean there are 2 mini harrods’ here – it’s practically a metro centre (nice northern reference there).

So I wait! But as I flew over London I spotted various stadiums, the O2 arena and the big wheelie thing and the gherkin doodad on canary wharf, so at least I can say I’ve seen a bit of that today. I feel sorry for the poor buggers who live right under the flight path though… It must be a nightmare to sleep underneath that noise.

Right 10 minutes till I commence mission 2.1 Find my flight Gate! I will update once I arrive on tge final questions did I get food provided and did I have any annoying snoring people behind me this time!

14:02
At gate B32, small tube journey and massive escalator stroll. But good god is Heathrow huge, Charles de Gaulle last year is nothing in comparison… It’s scary how much space in the world is taken up with airports. Wow, says the small town girl in the big world!

05:58 (UK) 11:00 (USA)
Ok so I arrived just after half 4 and made it through immigration and was welcomed at the entrance by 2 crazy people in Earthwatch t-shirts!

My second flight was fine but Jesus was I exhausted when I arrived I think I looked dead. The entertainment on the flight was fine I watched limitless, red riding hood and then was amused by the people watching.

I’ll set the scene for you – A mother and her 2 children were sat in front mother in the aisle, youngest kid in the middle (say 4/5), eldest child in the window seat (around 6/7).

Anyway she was watching a film with Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman who had sex intermittently throughout the film, so to protect her child she would shield the screen from his eyes… Little did she know her other kid in the window seat, he was watching the same film and was rewinding the sex scenes to re-watch them. After about 10-20 minutes she realised, then instead of making him turn off the film because he was clearly underage she made him block the screen from the middle seat child!! Random parenting lesson there guys, it’s fine if they start watching it and you haven’t noticed. But on a more serious note, maybe airplanes should invest in some age restriction doodad?

Anyway, I didn’t eat just drank lots of fluids. We had a catch up while I kind of died slowly and in the morning I’ll be fresh for what the day brings…

Flight Info – Check, Passport – Check, Brain – Check?

Well I’m now on the last leg of waiting. It’s days now till I fly and good golly gosh am I excited.

I packed yesterday, but am going to have to re-pack tonight now I think – you know when you think you need everything but the kitchen sink, well it looks like I even packed that and I’m trying to travel light! I’ve finished printing all my travel documents. I’m checking in online on Wednesday morning so that makes life easier.

You’d seriously think I wasn’t going on such an adventure I mean I’m literally going on a proper mission but I think because I’m going to stay with Melissa and Angela I feel like I’m just popping over to stay with friends for a few weeks – When actually I’m flying for about 9-10 hours and going halfway across the world. Funny how my brain works – when it is working…

Our most recent itinerary is as follows so for all those who follow my adventures it’ll give you a rough idea of the mission ahead!

6th – Arrive in Seattle, go see a show

7th – Sightseeing; Pike place Market, Ride the Duck(?), Space Needle (woot), EMP Music Museum, Bananagrams (again ?)

8th – GasWorks Park, Green Lake, Kayaking on Lake Union – Eat Mexican at Agua Verde, karaoke on Capitol Hill (singing, me, this will be believed if it happens, although I think the whole of Seattle will be killed by my beautiful tones)

9th -10th – San Juan Islands, ride mopeds and watch orcas

11th – Mt St Helen’s

12th – Chill day

13th – Drive to Lincoln City (5 hours)

14th – Drive to Crescent City (6.5 hours) See Redwood Forest

15th – Drive to Sacramento (6.5 hours)

16th – Drive to Long Beach

17th – Los Angeles; Runyon Canyon, Walk of Fame and other various sights

18th – Pacifica – The Ultimate SF tour including such fantastic sights as The GoldenGate Bridge, Lombard St., Palace of Fine Arts, Twin Peaks, Haight/Ashbury… Then baseball game ~ Giants vs Dodgers!

19th – NAPA wine tour

20th – Museums Academy of Sciences/DeYoung, Legion of Honor, or MOMA… followed by “Beach Blanket Babylon” & North Beach

21st – Trip  Santa Cruz, Monterey, or Mt.Tam/Sausalito/Tiburon

22nd - More museums, more city, or more road trippin’  (see how we’re feelin’) 

23rd – Fly Home

24th – Arrive home (minus volcanic ash interuption or other such events!)

So all in all a hell of a trip although I know a lot of the above has been adjusted for various reasons but it’s nice to have a rough idea of the visit. I’ll be updating daily and posting photos to my Photobucket so hopefully you can join us on our adventure. It’s nicely acquired the name the USMAC (United States – Melissa, Angela, Claire) West Coast Takeover Tour 2011 – we should totally get t-shirts!!

And for those who were with us last year in Nova Scotia I’m wearing my Earthwatch shirt on the flight over, you know, just in case they don’t recognise me at the airport. Plus I look like I’m on a field trip ha ha!!

Right I think this will be my final update before I travel so I wish you all a happy 4th of July, oh and Happy birthday to Tweed and his siblings for the 4th and 5th. A whole year since they came into this world 365 days, as if my little pup is a pup no more.

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

We don’t want your business…

House hunting – Now I may be going off the wall a little bit here, but surely an estate agent’s purpose is to sell a house to a buyer. In my most recent experience with an estate agency that shall for now at least remain nameless (unless they annoy me just enough to name and shame them) was just downright rude.

They contacted my home and spoke to my Mother to organise a viewing and were just rude and vicious to her when they found that I was working the day I wanted the viewing, clearly they didn’t get that I only work the morning and I live at least a half hour away from the property, it’s called being economical you Ass!

Then upon arranging the viewing and turning up before the agreed upon time (seen as she was so bloody twisty about it) we rang the main office to see when the agent would arrive. There was no agent, she’d called in sick and they hadn’t even had the decency to contact me to say they would NOT be coming out to show me around and that was it – I lost my rag!

Upon getting home I found out they had tried to contact me about another property that didn’t even fit the same requirements as the one they wouldn’t show me around, so some poor lad who knew nothing of the whole debarcle got it in the neck and suffice to say I will not be dealing with them ever again.

YOU ARE TRYING TO SELL A PROPERTY, IT’S YOUR JOB! Stop making out like it’s more than your jobs worth, it is your bloody job. Get the stick out of your arse and earn your money, the property market isn’t doing well at the moment so you’d think they’d be snapping up buyers to get sales but no. It’s clearly an inconvenience!

If you can’t tell I’m annoyed.

Rant over.

xoxo

GRCN Working Test – Bilsdale (Chopgate)

Today we were sucked in by the glorious morning… only to be showered upon in the afternoon. The luck the GRCN had been having with the weather ran out. This weekend we had a Novice and an Open test; the Novice ran 5 tests while the Open only ran 4, but all in all spirits were high and everyone seemed to have a good day – the winners obviously more so than most!

Novice:

1. Mark up a steep incline in a wooded area
2. Mark into meadow area over short wall into second field
3. Blind to shot
4. Blind in meadow area
5. Double mark to shot (pick first drop first)

As I had the morning off from assisting (due to being slightly late – I had work commitments) I managed to observe all the novice tests. the ground at Bilsdale was very good as it had every type of ground, it seemed to challenge the dogs well. One of the only issues I think that some had with the ground (and that I know would be an issue with my boy) was that the sound of the whistles on the various tests carried well and added a distraction to the dogs. But this is something that happens and can only be accounted for by good handling. Note to self: Test the boy with this going on!!

There was a run off for the Novice between two of the dogs, but the Labrador pipped the Goldie to it leaving the placing’s as follows.

1. Broadlaw Buck [FtCH Emmawood Drake x Broadlaw Maple] Labrador Dog
2. Leacaz Liffy [Lowforge Aragon of Leacaz x Rimrock Redstart of Leacaz] Labrador Bitch
3. Tweedshot Teddy of Twigvalemoor [Tasco Brimstone x Tweedshot Mango] Labrador Dog
4. Patanavac Raven [FtCH Endacott Shelf x Patanavac Lagapus] Labrador Dog

Clearly a Labrador day!

Open:

During the open I was back to being a dummy runner so I only got to observe the one that I was running on, although I could just see the second from across the way.

This was a blind (with no shot) into thick bracken and rushes, which sounds simple but some where marking the test over the way and so were going down the hill towards the boundary instead of across the line ahead to the blind. There also was a distraction in the form of some decomposing animal that was in the growth higher up which seemed to have a pull for some dogs running. Overall though it seemed to wheedle out the best dogs and was a good test, however some crackers ran the test and were beautiful to watch in action.

The placing’s were after a run off, in which the three dogs had to pick a blind over a mark. The blind however was over a little dip (valley? whatever you want to call it) and the mark was on top of the hill. A Goldie and two lab’s were in the run off, and only two dogs successfully picked the blind and avoided the mark. Which left the placing’s as follows:

1. Woodsprite Loki [Misty Mountain Thor of Woodsprite x Wellinely Witch Hazel of Woodsprite] Labrador Dog
2. Holywear Gorse [Dukes Wood x Birdsgreen Amazing Agatha of Holywear] Golden Dog
3. Cynminfa Jenny [FtCH Levenghyll Peacock x Ropehall Poppie of Cynminfa] Labrador Bitch
4. FtCH Garronpoint Liffey [FtCH Willowyck Ruff x FtCH Garronpoint Little Dove] Labrador Bitch

So congratulations to the winners and well done to all who ran, thanks again for a great day out and see you again in July!

Also for all who may be interested at the Raby Game Fair (link below) the GRCN are running a non-KC regulated working test so any dog can enter (even those of us with the Heinz 57 gundogs!) and also they are looking for teams to enter as well. I would enter my boy but I’m in the USA on those dates so I’ll miss out on that one but if they get plenty of interest you never know they may run it again next year!

http://www.livingheritagecountryshows.co.uk/attraction/the-golden-retriever-club-of-northumbria/146.php

xoxo

PS Apologies if any of the dog’s registered names are incorrect, I Google as many of them as possible to double check the spelling is correct but sometimes errors are made.

Time’s a ticking…

Well it’s getting nearer to adventure time, one more working test before I go and a few more weeks of work then off I fly! I’m going to have a Skype session with Miss Blemker some time before I go just to catch up and finalize bits and pieces but otherwise it’s all going to be played by ear.

The Northern Monkey is off to the USA. I think I’m in shock – I never thought I’d get to go to America so that’s another destination to tick off the bucket list. There’s still loads more places I need to visit before I die, namely Australia, Mexico and I’d like to see some of Asia, I say some of as I’ve not overly done any research but I’ve heard from friends who’ve been out there that it’s amazing. I don’t count Europe as places to visit as they’re kind of a given. I think really that covers the whole world bar the poles but my geography isn’t too good so that’s debatable ha ha.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the weather holds out for the working test this weekend, although they’ve been lucky with the weather every other weekend so I’m hoping a pattern is emerging. It’s new ground this time so I’ll remember to take my notepad to write down what happens and as promised I WILL remember to take photo’s or video’s if I get the chance. I wonder who’s running their dog’s this time?

Anyway I figured an update was in order as I’ve not posted for a long time. But when I’m away I will be updating as regularly as I can. Also it’s not long till Grouse season starts yay!

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

GRCN Working Test – Butterknowle Fell

For some reason the GRCN are blessed this year with good weather! Although I doubt the dogs would agree as really it was too hot for them if anything. It did however make the tests more testing as the distinct lack in wind meant some of the dogs struggled more on the blinds. And like the dogs the hot weather also got me – I came home burnt but that was my own stupid fault for forgetting to wear sun cream, and I know I wasn’t the only one!

Anyway, the tests were Puppy, Novice and Open. And they ran as follows (bearing in mind I forgot my pen and paper until the end so if I got anything wrong I’m sure anybody reading who was there will correct me).

Puppy

Mark down into thick rushes – which was probably the least challenging of the tests, but with the dogs being only young some of them couldn’t contain there excitement and others were challenged by it being there first competition.

Double (Select which to pick first) – this tested there ability to work to command and there directioning ability as they had to pick the dummy you chose first. This was up on the top of the fell in amongst some gorse and from my perspective the most challenging.

Blind – Now this is the one I watched but can’t remember if it was a blind or a mark… I’m pretty sure it was a blind with a shot but it was early on in the day! It was run down a passage of gorse and a fence so a pretty straight run but there was a lot of distractions in the form of sheep shit and sticks, which I know from walking a young Stormford pup along to watch was ever so much more exciting to be sniffing at and picking up!

Winners:

1. Amancio Osprey [Ftch Darleigh Thunderbolt x Swaine Jaune of Amancio] Labrador Bitch
2. Pebbletoft Pepper [Souter Romulus at Millgreen x Moscargrange Barley of Peppletoft] Golden Dog
3. Garronpoint Medway [Ftch Darleigh Thunderbolt x Garronpoint Spree] Labrador Dog

Novice

Blind with a Gunshot – This looked easy but actually turned out to be a little harder as the ground didn’t run straight, and the dummy was so well hidden even I couldn’t see it from the top of the hill. And the lack of breeze really didn’t help, I think if there had been more of a breeze the Goldens would have fared better on the test but the Labradors pipped them to the post on this one with there differing hunting styles.

Blind and Mark into cover – Very few dogs successfully achieved both or even a single retrieve on this one. The blind was straight down from the handlers but again the lack of wind didn’t help and the temptation of the mark for some seemed to be too strong. The mark itself was just as hard as the dogs were going down over a brow on the hill into some cover and some struggled with this as they either didn’t go down far enough or struck out to far left of the mark. I did watch one Golden successfully complete it and at that point only one other dog had managed to do both retrieves! On any other day that would have been just as challenging but the weather made it nigh on impossible – but that’s just how the tests go.

Mark – This was a mark down into rushes, similarly to the puppy test earlier in the day so all in all a relatively simple one after the challenges of the other two.

Run off – Obviously somebody had just bought a new toy as both run offs used this. You know the rabbit runners that terrier people use at fairs and shows, well it was one of them, but by god did it test the steadiness of the dog. But we’d all gathered round to watch and it only took seconds!

Winners:

1. Cynminfa Jenny [Ftch Levenghyll Peacock x Ropehall Poppie of Cynminfa] Labrador Bitch
2. Holywear Blackthorn [Dukes Wood x Birdsgreen Amazing Agatha of Holywear] Golden Dog
3. Lazull Lucas [Ebony Black as Night x Duchess Dark Angel] Labrador Dog
4. Delfleet Pike [Ftch Mediterian Blue x Delfleet Dawn Flush] Labrador Dog

Open

Blind and Mark – The blind was to be picked first in some light cover and the mark was just on the brow of the hill. Some dogs sadly bypassed the blind and went straight for the mark, but I think most dogs were pretty competent at this test even with the distractions of dog walkers and hikers roaming by.

Double (first drop, first retrieve) – This was a lovely test to watch as the dogs were handling really well as you would expect for open standard dogs. A nice left and right into cover really helped show the handlers skills and the dogs training – although I’m sure many would disagree.

Memory Failure – I sat and watched this test last so you’d think I would remember what it was but I honestly can’t! I’m going to blame the hot sun and the distraction of my growing sunburn!

Run off – Again out came the rabbit device, but on top of that the dogs also had to pick a blind with a gun shot, but somebody forgot to move the rabbit device and so that was a massive distraction to the dogs upon retrieving the dummy. But I think only one dog faltered and decided that it would be more interesting and promptly dropped the dummy to have a good look.

Winners:

1. Summer Satin [Ftch Endacott Shelf x Drakeshead Evie] Labrador Bitch
2. Jodies Star [Maplebrash Magic x Brody’s Star] Labrador Bitch
3. Cynminfa Jenny [Ftch Levenghyll Peacock x Ropehall Poppie of Cynminfa] Labrador Bitch
4. Leader Blue [Greenbriar Falkland x Sparkling Sunbeam] Labrador Dog

All in all a damn good day out! And I got a day off for being dummy thrower, so you’d think I would be more likely to remember everything but no – I have a horrific memory now so lord knows what it’ll be like when I’m old and grey…

Congratulations to all the winners and well done to all runners as let’s be honest it was a hard day for all the dogs involved, I know a nice long splash about in the river afterwards made the day worthwhile for the Stormford dogs that came to observe.

xoxo

N.B If I have anything wrong please comment as no doubt I will – thanks

An Outing with the Gang!

Here are a few photo’s from a walk I just got in from with a couple of the Dog’s (Tweed, Misty and Penny) out and around the surrounding area and down the beck (river to those not in the know).

Out came the sunshine…

It’s not very often that a nursery rhyme has such an apt way to describe the UK weather. Incy-Wincy was correct, although I have been led to believe that it’s more about perseverance and how if you keep trying you get where you want to be, but I think we’ve all been lead a merry dance. It’s about the weather!

We start off the year with a minging batch of snow and sleet and rain, yes it’s refreshing but then we crave the sunshine and would you believe it when your about ready to think we’ll never see a nice day again out comes the sunshine and dries up all the rain! I know it makes me feel better.

It’s been a lovely week this past week and having a nice weekend has made up for missing out on the sunshine from being stuck in work you would think – but no I’m working this weekend (sad face). Mind you it just ruins the morning not the afternoon so I can’t complain.

I think tomorrow I shall go take the pups down the river… I call them pups but they’re far from it now. They were microchipped by my own fair hand only last weekend, yes I am now officially licensed to microchip animals. Now I just have to invest in the equipment and buy some chips. I have my first order already but as they aren’t to be born for a few weeks I’m figuring I’ll wait until I get paid all my overtime at the end of the month before I invest. It won’t be a massive money spinner but it should keep some beer money in my pocket at least ha ha.

Once I have prices etc figured out I’ll publish them on here (what with all the views I’m getting I can’t see it doing any harm?)

Right I think I’ll go sort out the Ninja-pig and let the Boy out for a run about again. I really need to take some more pictures, he’s blooming HUGE now bless his cotton socks.

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

GRCN Working Test – Crathorne Estate

Today was the first working test of the year for the GRCN, and good god did they get a good day for it!

The sun shone all day, except for a brief “April shower” just as the run off for the novice test was being run. But all in all the day was wonderful I got lightly sunburnt but at least it’s proof that the sun was shining.

I spent the day with one of the judges on both of his tests for the day, so I only saw what went on on his particular test.

The novice test in this case was in my opinion relatively testing for a lot of the dogs as they had to not only pick a blind over water but also then go pick a mark (the crossing of the water for the blind being the difficult part in my eyes – I had to run between the two dummy throwers delivering as they went through there dwindling supplies as each dummy was picked. I’m surprised no one was taking bets on when I would fall in I felt as if I would more than once. But I live to see another day, good job I love my wellies.

Many of them did so beautifully although some got a bit waterborne shall we say and others weren’t so keen on crossing the river for something they didn’t know was there. But as it was such a hot morning I think many of them were glad of the refreshing spray running through the water – I know I was!

The run off for the final placing’s was between two Holywear Goldie’s and a lovely little Labrador bitch, this was just as the heavens opened but this didn’t put the dogs off their pace and it just freshened the afternoon up nicely after a good lunch and flask of tea.

The final placing’s for the Novice group are as follows, and clearly it was a day for the girlies to win out:

1. Spirit of Grouse Lodge (Labrador Bitch)
2. Holywear Guelder Rose (Golden Bitch)
3. Holywear Blackthorn (Golden Dog)
4. Aroexis Petal (Labrador Bitch)

The Open test was situated in the same field however this time no water was involved. The test was over two marks, the first was slightly hidden behind a hawthorn – I say hawthorn but I don’t know my trees,so for arguments sake maybe it was a big shrub? Anyway that was the first mark but then a second mark would be thrown over the other end of the field into a slightly overgrown area. The dogs would be sent for the first mark first and second mark second.

The majority of dogs faired better at this than the novice test and some of the handling was poetry to watch. Some faults were made but in general it appeared to be a good test. I rue the day I ever attempt to compete though, as myself and the judge made comment on how it’s so very different to working on a shoot day and that’s what my dogs are trained for… So will need to change my habits a bit, not that they’re sloppy but I think I need to sharpen up a bit!

There was no run off for the Open dog test and this time the dogs succeeded the bitches with top marks, and not a Goldie in sight!

1. Leader Blue (Labrador Dog)
2. Kenocto Major Mace (Labrador Dog)
3. Garronpoint Till (Labrador Bitch)
4. Lowforge Aragon of Leacaz (Labrador Dog)

Not long now… But what’s left to do?

So as the countdown continues it has dawned on me – am I ready?

I know all the paperwork is sorted, my passport and flights and things are done and dealt with. But there has got to be something I’ve forgotten to do/sort/figure out? I’m trying and trying but I cannot pin what it is!

As such I decided to concentrate on other things and so now I am being distracted by TV and my promotion documents, which if you ever have to fill them in are there as a way to put you off wanting to be promoted… seriously a 20 page document is not my idea of fun!

So then as a distraction from the distraction I then got highly absorbed into friday night television, yes I’m at home on a friday night but you know what I don’t care. I’ve got things to be saving for plus I’m not on my finest on a friday evening I’m all tired from work, which although it’s not overly strenuous on a friday I do find that as it’s the end of the week I’ve used all my energy up and need the friday night and sleep saturday morning lie in to get my wind back!

Anyway I’m rambling again. I’m mainly writing this as it’s been a while and I figure I may as well write something new as I’ve been getting so many views lately – I have to say I’m quite charmed by the reading of my ramblings. So thanks guys.

Right, back to figuring out what it is I’ve forgotten, only 131 days / 18 and a bit weeks / 4 and a bit months till I fly out now, time’s running out man…

So in case of death – Repatriate!

Travel insurance is, although essential, an annoying necessity. Most of all because I HATE small print. If it’s that important why don’t they actually make it in massively huge text so that 1. You can actually read it and 2. You know exactly what you’re getting.

I’m twisting mostly because there are loads of cheaper travel insurance deals I can get but not one of them includes repatriation… Which according to my mother and others is a highly vital part of a travel insurance deal. Mostly because if  – worst case scenario – I die while I’m away they can bring my body back, or in the case of a serious injury or illness they will pay for me to be flown back to the UK for our wonderful NHS service and care. I say wonderful through gritted teeth as up till now – all I get told is I’m an anomaly if I do have something wrong with me!!

So as I scroll through the endless (and I mean endless) insurance quotes and there teeny tiny small print so I know what I’m getting included for my money, I wish that instead of this stupid comparison button that they have on this particular website. That there was a big ticky box chart that had what I NEED from my travel insurance so that I don’t have to go the long way around to find it!! I mean the car insurance is much easier to sort than travel insurance it’s like they want to put you off travelling?

It will not be stopping me but it is infuriating to say the least. So the search continues… I sound like a right cheap skate though, I’ve just realised that as the most expensive deal I’ve come across so far is around £50 for the trip but even so, if I can save cash then I will. So consider this my plea for travel insurance to be made more transparent in what they offer and also make selection easier.

And for the sake of my sanity can everyone include repatriation in their insurance – for the love of god, if I select one that doesn’t I’m never going to hear the end of it if, woe betide something horrific does go wrong – but I have every faith that it won’t, even if I do keep getting told the apocalypse is upon us. But somehow I doubt that my death will be a forewarning of the end of the world!

xoxo

Who’s for a Cuppa?

The decision has been made – we’re travelling on a wing and a prayer. Yes we’re figuring it out as we go… The general plan is sorted. Arrive in Seattle, go to see Angela and get her to get her tour guide hat on.

From which point various outings to Vancouver, a Winery and seeing the Space needle are most definitely occurring. Then jump in the car and head down the road; inland for so long, then heading out to the coast taking in all the sites. Seeing the redwood forests, the beautiful coast and all the bit’s in-between until we reach California. Where Melissa will takeover as tour guide and take us to another Winery (we like the grape juice!). The Golden Gate bridge and San Francisco bay, along with Pacifica. Then probably LA and the rest of southern california we can fit in!

I want to see as much as possible and take in all I can of the big American experience. It’s all so exciting I nearly wee’d a little!

I now though have no idea what to pack. I want to travel relatively light, with all the travelling I think it’s better to take a small amount of clothes and then wash but I don’t want to under compensate and take too little. But 20 days is a long time so maybe if I take 10 days worth of stuff then wash the middle of the trip and start again… I hate luggage and packing, mainly because I’m bad at it. I was a total flake last year for Nova Scotia – if it wasn’t for the packing list we got of essentials I would have totally forgotten the most important stuff like my hiking boots. But then I’m sure my Mam would have reminded me about them! She’s a handy packing aide!

The problem now is I’m so overly excited that by the time it actually comes around I’ll be so worn out from all the buzzing around for 6 months waiting I’ll probably be dead when I get off the plane! So I think I may take some teabags, I love tea, I’m a true Brit.

The USA needs to stock up on some good tea – Typhoo or Yorkshire Tea, they’re the proper brew none of this PG tips, mind Sainsburys gold leaf fair-trade tea makes a damn good cuppa at work, so I’m not a total tea label freak. And I HATE Earl or Lady Grey tea, it’s all flowery and rubbish – it tastes like Parma-violets in tea, and Parma-violets were never good. They were all little and ewwwwwww.

The MOST hated sweet EVER (Not 100% fact, but I sure don't like them)

I was more of a Love Hearts or Refresher girl… wow I’m totally rambling now, about tea and sweets – so back to the program, and talking of programmes Frasier is on – or as it’s now known – The Seattle research show.

So I will bid you adieu, with my thoughts of tea, and sweets. Goodnight xoxo

No, I’m not a Spy…

Today, because I’m a citizen from one of those lucky countries that the US doesn’t deem to require a VISA to enter the country, I filed and was approved for my ESTA (Electronic system for Travel Authorization) into the US, and what a random lot of questions.

But because I don’t have a mental disorder (although some would say that’s debatable) or Gonorrhea, I’m not or have never been involved with criminal espionage or had any persecutions associated with Nazi germany or its allies luckily I was admitted entry.

I understand why they ask all of this stuff but when you fill it in you do giggle. I mean how many people who enter the US would admit to seeking entry in order to engage in criminal activities, I’m not – but for people who are, would you say so??

So now it’s official I’m allowed to enter the US… $14 later

So roll on the 6th(?) of July – that’s the estimated date I intend to fly out on – and the craziness which will ensue upon my arrival.

xoxo

ESTA Website (for all you happy travellers out there) https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/esta.html?_flowExecutionKey=_c82B7DC5B-505F-9C25-EB38-AA97FD866F01_k00DFC028-59B4-42FC-DCAE-8EB7795CA847

Slowly, Slowly, Catchy, Monkey

Well the more intense planning stages are about to commence. That’s right folks the real pricing has begun and jesus, it’s going to be expensive but worth it!!

So far I’ve got my travel costs down, that’s right down to £1200, but considering how much I spent on my expedition last year that is nothing. And I’ll probably never do the same trip again especially once I get myself on the property ladder, so till then may as well enjoy myself.

Next stop is passport central. My passport needs to be sent off and updated as I can’t get my Visa unless I have at least 6 months to a year so off to the passport office we go for documents and the like. On a bonus note I think I have to get a new passport photo, so a trip to the hairdressers and a beautification may be in order, as I look HORRIFIC on my last photo and my driving licence isn’t overly special either. Don’t want to scare the immigration guys at the desks!!

Sooooo the current plan still stands I think… Train to Heathrow, Flight to Seattle, Drive to Pacifica, then Vegas, Then fly home again, and all in 20 days I think I calculated it to be. 7 in Seattle, 7 in Pacifica/San Francisco and 4 in Las Vegas, plus 2 days flying/travelling!! Woooooooot

The USA should be afraid, be very afraid!!

See you soon my American friends xoxo

West Coast – America 2011

Route Plan, USA 2011

Yes that’s right folks – I’m doing the US of A in 2011, travelling from Seattle, WA to Las Vegas, NV via San Francisco, CA. The whole trip should take about 3 weeks, so a nice long holiday this coming year.

Driving all the way baby, yeah! I’m going to visit a couple of amigos from my Nova Scotia expedition last year, and I can’t wait it’s going to ROCK! Planning starts imminently but first I have to order a new passport and also sort out my immigration stuff then finalize the finer details of the trip such as stops, hotels and the such.

Expect more updates as the year goes on – now to get giddy and save some money!

xoxo

Moving Day?!

So it turns out MSN spaces has died (ironically I am writing this entry from Windows Live Writer). Although I am saddened by this I am also reassured that my blog will now be looked after

Upon being rudely told I would have to move I have had NO support form Microsoft regarding the issue to the point where my blog was presumed LOST! However, Word press came to the rescue after a quick message and now my blog is fixed a whole 5 DAYS LATER.

I’m still annoyed at how the move was conducted, the lack of options from Microsoft and quite frankly Crap customer service. From a user of MSN and it’s related products since the beginning of the Hotmail revolution I expected more – but then if they gave up on what could have been as big a service as Facebook if they’d publicised it more widely I guess they aren’t the big shots of the internet that they once were…

I’ll miss my MSN space – but on to the future… I’m just waiting for all my files, pictures and videos to be forcefully distributed to the highest bidder now. I give it a year, who knows they may move all our Hotmail accounts to Gmail next!

A disgruntled mourner at a shockingly bad wake.

xoxo

Home Sweet Home

Well now it’s officially over – back to the grind tomorrow at work, and back to the real world.

My flights all went fine, no Ash related problems which was pleasant, however I was unlucky enough to be sat in front of someone who coughed incessantly all the way from Montreal to Paris!! Which was unlucky, but I’m back and slightly exhausted. I’ve sorted my washing and found only one Tick in amongst my clothes which wasn’t so much of a surprise and his head got chopped right off. If I missed any others they now are in the drain system as they went through a 40 degree wash and then a tumble drier and although they may have survived they are now trapped in the piping and floating off to wherever the water gets filtered etc…

I will get round to uploading the rest of my videos this week, and the last few pictures. As you probably noticed I added Angela Blemker’s flickr site so you can see even more of the wonderful sites we saw on her pictures as well.

On a bonus note, I now also have to pay out for a new car windscreen as i have a mahussive crack in mine now so that’s to be sorted on Thursday which as you can probably tell was a lovely thing to come home to!!

Anyway, I’m now going to call it a night and wish you all well, sweet dreams and tick free sleep to you all. 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 10 & 11: Happy Earthday

Ok I know I didn’t blog yesterday but we didn’t really have time so in summary:Day 10: Today we went to Cooks Lake again to continue our rodent trapping and deer surveys. While we didn’t catch anything in our traps we did get to walk through some pretty amazing forest, the views were amazing! We also did some grassland management and got to chop down lots of trees, which was fun. But da-da-daaaaaaa I got bitten by a tick, that’s right folks it was attached, but I freaked out and couldn’t touch it so one of the group turned it Anti-clockwise and got it off for me, which was a relief!

After getting back we popped to the beach at cherry hill for a look around and saw various shrimps and small fish in the water in the lagoon behind the beach cove. Then the highlight of the trip for me happened…. We went beaver watching!! That was amazing, I have some half decent footage, however I can’t upload it as for some reason the PC’s here won’t play it? Which is very confusing. So I will upload that once I get home as I’ve now given up on the technology.

There were 3-4 Beavers all having a good swim around the lodge and we were that close we could even hear one of them gnawing on some branches. Prior to the Beavers emerging we also observed (and got footage of) a Muskrat going about it’s duties. I should warn you though once I get the video’s uploaded that the Spring Peepers (small frogs) are incredibly deafening and that’s what we sat and listened to for the whole time we were there!!

On the way back we also nearly ran over a Snowshoe Hare, Baby Racoon and a White-tailed Deer. All of which I saw but sadly I didn’t shout fast enough for the Hare and everyone else missed it but me!!

Day 11: Today is EARTHDAY and was our last day at the tick infested area that is Cooks Lake! And yet again we didn’t catch a thing, but we did some more grassland management in the area and got another 3 trees down for the hour and a half we were on (and no we aren’t allowed to use chainsaws, it was all handsawing!!)

This afternoon we did some survival techniques and learnt how to trap mammals and birds, and also learnt how to make fire using the old rubbing of the 2 sticks technique. As today is Earthday we are having a little celebration tonight with cake, which should be fun. But now I think I’m going to continue to figure out my videos and upload the photos from cooks lake and Beaver watching to keep you tanatalised if I can’t get the former sorted (They’re sooooo good to, well I think so anyway)

Right, ok it’s the last day tomorrow and we’re off to the seaside adjunct of Kejimkujik to go see porcupines, racoons and other interesting species xoxo

Day 9: Ticks strike back

After being tick free for a long time today they unleashed a force greater than we could have imagined. Today I had 8 in total though 5 were found on my salapets (ski pants to normal people). The rest were on my hoody or jacket, and it wasn’t just me it was everyone poor Anne had a one attached to her scalp!! But turning them ANTI-clockwise removes them… Remember that folks it could be important one day. Anyway on to less crawly things….

We caught one meadow vole today, they are a much larger strain than the red-backed ones we caught last week. But we only caught one out of the 100 traps we set which wasn’t so good but we did catch her twice, so maybe she’ll tell her friends?! After that we did 10 scat transects for deer and snowshoe hare droppings (by god there are a lot of hare droppings). Then another transect checking for field signs through the woodland. We spotted coyote footings which was exciting and lots of porcupine scat, so hopefully we should bump into another one soon

On the way out of the woodland I saw a racoon print in a puddle, they’re really cute just like tiny hands as they have 4 fingers and a thumb and they wash their food before they eat it-just like people do! We also popped to the local ‘mall’ for a quick stock up before heading back to homestead. So I got all my goodies for everyone at home, so you can all experience the wonder of maple cream cookies (biscuits really but you know what these canadians and Americans are like with cookies!!) xoxo

Day 8: Our luck runs out

The rains have arrived… today while out in the field it was officially minging!

It was cold and damp and not very pleasant, kind of like being in England (ha ha).

Anyway today was our first day at cooks lake-our new trapping site. It’s a lot different from the last one, as there’s no brambles or thick growth to charge through. There’s nice open grassland and some hardwood bush but that’s it. Cooks lake itself is pretty impressive with a massive expanse and there are beavers resident and a pair of loons/lunes which are great northern divers as there official name. I’ve got some photos of the beaver damage, as they’ve been lodge building.

Beavers in Canada don’t tend to build dams, only lodges-as in most cases the expanses of water they choose to live on are already deep enough. We set out 2 trapping grids in different areas in the hopes we catch not just shrews but also meadow jumping mice and possibly some deer mice… But we’ll find that out tomorrow!! Anyway tea is about ready so I’ll say ta-ta for now. And also in case anybody hasn’t noticed I added a blog link section in my column underneath my pictures, so you can read everyone elses blogs who are here and see there pictures aswell. 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

Day 1: Poop Watch

Today we have been mostly learning about poop, or scat for the American’s amongst us. The morning began with breakfast and a presentation by Christina about her current project in Wytham Woods, Oxford on Badger population and her and Chris’ Identification methods and basic protocols. And then we got on to Nova Scotia, and what we as a team would be involved in and how what we do would effect the project and in turn the species Native to Nova Scotia.

 

After Lunch, we then went on a 6 mile hike of Broad Cove (a coastal region) where we identified field signs such as tracks, faeces and bark gnawing. We also came accross various bones, one of which being identified as most probably a seal pup which is quite sad. Although we didn’t see any live seals we did see an Eastern Red Squirrel which was much smaller than I thought it would be and isn’t like the English ones we know and love. And we saw, a da-da-daaaaaa Porcupine which was pretty amazing, I was like-in awe-as I’ve never seen one before and barring the quills it was pretty cute and had such a sweet face. I do have a photo of it, however it may look more like tree branches than anything as the ability to get a camera in at it wasn’t so easy but hopefully one of the other guys got a good shot I can add once we sort through them.

 

Nova Scotia is beautiful, it’s kind of got everything – coast, forests and open spaces it’s amazing. I’ve taken some half decent photos in my Day 1 Album so hopefully you can see exactly how amazing it looks. It’s relatively desolate during the more winter months as it gets soooo cold here so most people use it as a vacation spot, so not so many people around but it means there’s more for us to see!

 

Righty-ho going to figure out how to upload my photos now and then put them on here. I will be putting them on facebook aswell, but I’ll wait till I come home to fo that one.

 

Oh and bonus-so far the weather has been brilliant (However I may have just cursed us all by saying that?) 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

Planes, trains and automobiles!!

*Home-Newcastle* (1hour)

Well check in has been a success, self-service check in is quite a new fangled technology for little old me even my poor Mam seemed confused!! Anyway just waiting for my departure to pop up and then I’m off on leg one of the journey to Charles de Gaulle, Paris. And I’ve already had one disaster in that my mobile was disconnected so I am officially uncontactable for 24 hours, which isn’t exactly ideal if anything goes wrong? But we live and learn and I made it to flight one at least which is a bonus. This flying solo thing is a whole new concept to me but I’m sure it’ll all go swimmingly… Right something to eat!!

*Newcastle-Paris* (1hour & 4 hour wait in airport)

Bonjour!! Ok well that’s that one section over. Only an hour on a plane seems mild compared to the next leg! A seven hour flight may be more of a killer than I planned. But at least I’ll get fed, although I did get a drink and nibbles on my first flight it wasn’t really long enough to justify a meal. The plane was only 4 chairs wide and I did get a seat to myself but I was on the wrong side to see the Eiffel tower but fingers crossed on the way back How do you describe Charles de Gaulle airport in one word…? IMMENSE – It is absolutely Humongous!! The ceilings are somewhat similar (although much cleaner and more modern) to those at York train station, well minus the pigeons ha ha. The temperature is 15 degrees which for what is essentially a massive greenhouse doesn’t bode well for the heat challenged so for the first time since leaving home the hoody may get removed? Although I fear by the time I reach Montreal it may be going back on again. But for now I’ll sit and read my new book and wait to board flight number 2 or deux if we want to be country appropriate! Oh and on a positive note, the prior said 24 hour wait was cut short by a few hours as it appears I am now mobile! That’s got to be a good sign, right?

*Paris-Montreal* (7hours)

Oh my life, 7 hours never seemed so long plus some French bird kept squishing me with her chair ignorant cow, and her mother had a go when I put my knees up to stop her!! Some people!! Anyway plane huge, food middling-too much cheese involved, and sleep lacking!!

*Montreal-Halifax* (1hour 30minutes)

I made it, but have just had a major set back which due to exhaustion caused me to weep, my room booking at the holiday inn was misplaced. And to top it off they weren’t very helpful at advising me what to do, I don’t think they cared!! So after all that I’m now at the Hilton garden inn, for cheaper (guy on reception felt sorry for me seen as I’ve already paid for a room once) Booyah, glad someone did!

Anyway long story short I made it and now am going to have a long deserved rest xoxo

T-minus 16 hours till first flight!!

Ok now the nerves are setting in! Bags weighed and measured, boots polished, wellies cleaned and sadly my favourite hat shrunken! But I’ve got a spare so here it goes 1 more sleep till I arrive in Halifax, NS and then 1 more sleep till the expedition begins. It’s been a relatively short wait seen as I was such a late comer to the sign up which is probably a good thing – less time to panic and chicken out ha ha ha.

 

Anyway, I thought I’d say a bit more about what it is I’m going to be doing. The objectives of my time out there are to look at how ecosystems, biodiversity, landscapes and wildlife are affected by human activities. The sample sites we will be taking in are Cook’s Lake Farm Reserve – 330 acres of mixed coniferous and deciduous woodland, which is owned by one of the Scientists (Dr. Buesching) and Eastport Medway - which is a more coastal region of Nova Scotia and as it is close to human population shows how that interacts and affects the mammal populations.

 

The animals which are to be studied (as the title of the project being "Mammals of Nova Scotia" suggests) are Mammals such as Snowshoe Hares, Porcupines, Moose, Beaver, Vole and Various Bat species such as Pipistrell and Hoary.

 

Data collection will include censusing of the species, CMR (capture, mark, and retrieve), behaviour observations, transect observations (from droppings, footprints, burrows to animal sightings)…. I think you get the point now, and although some may be a bit teaching grandma to suck eggs with me, I am thoroughly looking forward to it. I’m just dubious of missing my flights. But we’ll find that out in a few hours!!

 

Oh and I’m taking a hot water bottle (Just in Case!!)

 

xoxo

 

For more info on the expedition click the following link for the briefing:

http://www.earthwatch.org/exped/buesching.html

Not long now… Arghhhh Packing!!

So my packing has commenced big style now!! You know when you have a moment where you realise the number of clothes you have makes absoloutly no sense…. I’ve just had one fo those now – I’ve got more t-shirts than years I’ve been alive and less than half the amount in trousers, which seems to put it mildly odd? Why wouldn’t the amounts be similar at all but hey ho.

 

I’ve packed the camera and camcorder so I should get some good shots and videos of the amazing wildlife and landscapes in Nova Scotia (hoping we have a few days nice weather). I’m going to look like a little eskimo by the way I’ve been packing, even though I decided upon half and half cold to warm clothes I’ve got my ski jacket, ski pants and then multiple scarves and hats. But I have sneaked in a few pairs of long shorts and vests :)

 

Well as I write this it will probably be my last entry till I travel on saturday next week, then I’m hoping to put an update on every day or 2 and update photos when I return. I’m NOT taking my laptop, but my iPod will be my travelling companion and keep me accessed to the world!!

 

Who knows I may not want to come back…. But biting the bullet may be actually more difficult than the dream. So travelling and volunteering will suffice for now, I’m already planning on doing another one next year and this one hasn’t even started yet!

 

Ok – I think that shall do for now – Shan’t be long till I return, and leave

 

xoxo

The Countdown Begins…

Well, not long now – roughly 14 days(?) till i commence my first solo adventure.

 

For those of you who don’t know I am off on an expedition, through a company called Earthwatch (I’ve provided their link below). I’m off on their "Mammals of Nova Scotia" tour in group 2 which is exciting. I intend to provide updates while I’m away on here and then a mass of photos will be popped on Facebook and probably on here aswell.

 

I sorted out my currency today, and luckily managed to avoid the hell that is the BA (British Airways) strikes which is a blessing. However I do ont he other hand have to go via france and montreal just to get to where I’m going – 3 flights later I should arrive ha ha, barrang a crash or terrorist attack anyway (always the optimist me).

 

OK so for a first Blog post for a while I think that about covers it… But I’m sure as my adventure continues there’ll be much mroe to write.

 

Ta ta for now!

 

xoxo

 

http://www.earthwatch.org/europe/ - Founded in 1971, Earthwatch is an international environmental charity which engages people worldwide in scientific field research and education to promote the understanding and action necessary for a sustainable environment.