Tortoise Trouble! 04.09.07

Don't panic, I haven't been feeding my mum's tortoises on super food, this picture is of one of the giant tortoises at Twycross Zoo. I took the children to Twycross Zoo on Monday as a final day out before the start of term. We have been there many times before but we always enjoy seeing the animals, especially the primates. The giant tortoises were 'misbehaving' much to Sam's amusement, it seems to take tortoises considerably longer than you would expect and judging by the very loud and troubling noises it requires considerable effort. I always wondered why they look so exhausted!

Sam was rather exuberant and was darting from one place to the next so quickly that I was terrified I would loose him. Being a 12 year old boy the highlight of his visit was watching an elephant defecate, but enough of that, I will move on to more pleasing matters. The gorillas were awesome, but the girls and I thought there was more than a passing resemblance to a certain railway fanatic!

My personal favourites are the bonobos, but I enjoyed taking photos of many other animals and birds.

At the gift shop I bought Robbie a fridge magnet with an owl looking rather menacing, it said
I have one nerve left and you are getting on it!
I thought it was rather apt, but he didn't seem to see funny side!

I think there was a bit of a domestic going on in the penguin enclosure!

Grand Ambitions! 05.01.07

Yesterday I came across a really good documentary on Discovery, it was called Trains and was presented by Pete Waterman. Of course being a kind and thoughtful person I saved it on sky plus for Robbie to watch later. Well that's my cover story anyway - I have to confess that I watched it 3 times yesterday, but don't tell Robbie! It was about the role of the railways in the war and it was really interesting. It certainly helped me to understand Silverlink and the way they manage our local station. My theory is that their absolute refusal to pass on any information to the public is because no one has told them the war is over! That probably explains those horrible austere uniforms too, they are still living in the days of rationing. It could even explain their miserable faces, I suppose they could just be a cruel freak of nature, but I think it has more to do with their policy of only employing failed undertakers, the ones who couldn't stand the pace. They have only one speed at Northampton Station - dead slow!

Anyway Robbie loved the program and when we had watched it he decided to watch one of his Christmas DVDs called Railway Diaries. I got to choose the station that we would start with and not surprisingly I chose Exeter because I love the route between Exeter and Plymouth. We watched trains coming and going through Exeter Station and we saw the same trains at other points along the route too, but at 1am I had to surrender to sleep. Robbie found the Railway Diaries DVD so exciting that I thought he would burst. He gave me the start and arrival time as well as the exact route of every single train he saw, not to mention providing the name and number of each one. Just a bit obsessive perhaps? It was quite interesting to watch and a much better option than sitting on a cold station in January.

Years ago Grandma suggested that Sam he would perhaps become a vet one day because he is very good with animals. Sam responded with folded arms and his most serious expression, he explained that he didn't want to be a vet because he liked animals from the outside, but he didn't think he would like them from the inside. Grandma was speechless and struggling to hid a smile, but Sam had warmed to his theme and declared that after university he planned to become a trolley pusher at Safeways! Thankfully he now has much grander ambitions. I have to agree with Sam's sentiments, because on cold wintery days I find that trains are much more appealing from the inside than from the outside!