I've posted before about this bird of prey centre in Kent, which is 12 years old tomorrow. They are increasing their range of animals all the time. As well as the birds and reptiles they have always had, they have porcupines, coatimundi, meerkats, huskies, camels and, of course, the cheetahs.
The female is not friendly, but the male was hand-reared and is a complete softie. Yet health and safety regulations say that they cannot let him off the lead, and he cannot be touched by members of the public.
But his interactions with the staff make his sweet nature clear. They put their microphone next to him so you could hear his loud purr.
As for being the fastest thing on four legs - it was as much as he could be bothered to do to go more than two steps at a time. Till they showed him the food he had to chase...
The dictionary definition of a moue is "a pouting look". It's the little twitchy lip thing ending in a smile that he does when Jameson says he's been "interrogated by professionals and he has the scars on his genitals to prove it".
I think it is a wonderfully descriptive word, the only one that exists that could possibly be used for that split-second expression that says it all.
So here we are, already up above the 2 - or the 4 - I'd allowed myself!
I'm posting very late tonight. I went down to Southampton today to visit one of my cousins. Usually I manage a little paddle in the sea when I'm down there, but as it was raining hard most of the day, and when we went to the coast the wind nearly took the door off their BMW, I gave it a miss.
I know my blog is so full of pictures that sometimes it crashes people's computers, so I thought I'd try something different. I'm going to try and post an iconic picture or two from each episode (it is REALLY difficult to narrow them down, so bear with me if I occasionlly choose three or four). There are still some episodes I haven't capped, so there may be blips, but hopefully they won't be with your computers like they are now!
One of the topics of conversation yesterday was that apparently Vincent used to sit in cafes in Covent Garden when he was making Full Metal Jacket, and was ignored because he was so overweight and shaven-headed.
What better place to sit and talk about the man? And wish we'd been there back then... (I actually might have been!)
Eliza looking pensive
Diane looking serious Ann was pulling a face, so she made me delete the picture of her.
Taking pictures of others is a great way to avoid being included in the display yourself!
That's what we did all day, Eliza, Diane, Ann and I. AND IT WASN'T EVEN ALL ABOUT VINCENT! Just mostly.
My camera jammed open because the battery went flat, and I've mislaid the spare, but I did take a couple of photos on my phone. I've got back too late to do anything about it, so that will have to wait for another day.
Thanks to Vincent for bringing us together. He has no idea the benefits he bestows on womankind (I'm mot forgetting you, Snarkangel!)
On Friday I received a new copy of Naked Tango from Diane which seems to be clearer than the ones we usually manage to "find". I have to recap it (second time? third? who cares?) but here is a sample of how it is likely to turn out.
And look - Photobucket even allowed me to make a slideshow today!