A Wedding

A few weeks ago I went to a country house hotel for a family wedding. The venue was Eastwell Manor.

It looks like a Jacobean manor house (ie. from the time of James I in the early 17th century) but in fact it is a fake from 1926. You'd think, under those circumstances, there's be no excuse for such poor disabled access, but you'd be wrong. Their lift has been out of order for over a year. They say they can't replace it because of conservation restrictions. One of my cousins is very dodgy on her pins, but had to negotiate a long staircase to use the toilet. But it was great to catch up with cousins:












Including the bride's mother:



As well as the bride's brother and his partner (now his fiancee!)



And the beautiful bride and her groom:



And an amazing dress:



Not forgetting the cake:



The bride's father was my cousin, but did not live to see his daughter marry. He died  seven years ago of asbestos-related lung cancer.

He would have been so proud.

Suspicion of Innocence

Brilliant bit of acting from a very young Vincent in one of two episodes of The equaliser he did with the late, great Edward Woodward. His character's disability is not specified, but from his acting it's pretty clear to me he has cerebral palsy.

Performing for the Public

Unlike last week's non-appearance, on Friday the tiger cubs were out and playing for much of the day. There was much exloration of the jungle.


















Sadly, there was some domestic violence. Mum beat dad into submission. No cub should have to witness that!



Dad crept away with his tail between his legs.



When she'd had enough of naughty cubs, mum went further up the climbing frame than either baby has yet ventured.

Stuart Saves His Family

I saw absolutely no point whatsoever to this film.

Adventures in Zoo Land

There was a shortage of tiger cubs on Friday when I was at the zoo, but plenty of baby gorilla action. This is Alika following mum round.



And here we have triple tier gorllas, Mjukuu with her stepson Gernot on her bck, and her daughter Alika on the top!



Finally Bhanu is in with two of his ladies. There is a hate-hate relationship with the third, RUbi, so she's not with them. This is either Heidi or Indi. I can't tell the difference.



He is a very handsome boy.



I don't think he was evacuating his bladder but I'm not sure. It was not easy to get a good view.



He paused to look up at his fans.



The he looked into where we think there was food being prepared.



Melati was in a very bad mood, not for the first time. She's been aggressive to the keepers and to JaeJae, who could swat hereasily, but is fortunately too good-natured to do so. After this feed, the shutter between this half of the enclosure and the other half with JaeJae in was shut. The keepers were a bit sad that this meant keeping Jae away from the cubs, as they think the cubs prefer him and his laid-back-ness to their mother!

Strange Days

And a strange film. In which he dies yet again.

Exercise Plus

My lovely cubs decided to come put and play, and play, and play on Friday. I really want to get some video of them, but there are always so many people going googoo eyed at them and blocking the view.

One thing's for sure, everyone who saw them thought they had their money's worth at the zoo that day.

When I arrived, one baby was annoying dad. In the wild, the cubs would be unlikely to meet dad, but JaeJae is such a softy, and he loves mum Melati so much, they decided not to separate them this time round.



When dad had had enough, he went back inside.



When mum saw baby trying to follow, she was on guard immediately.



"Daddy, where did you go?"



Who's a pretty cub, then?



"What mischief can we get up to next?" The boy, Achilles, is on the right, the girl, Carys (?spelling) is the paler cub on the left.



Who needs toys when you can fight with a smelly sack?



Up for a fight.



A pause in cub hostilities.



These brave little warriors are still barely three months old. It's impossible not to love them.

Steal This Movie

This film told me a lot more about the 60s than I ever learned living through them. LIke who Abbie Hoffman was...

Big Cat Adventure

All we saw of the male lion this time was his retreating bum.



The keeper with one of the best jobs in the world was feeding the lionesses through the wire, training them to do what was necessary to allow their keepers and the vet to make sure all is well.



They are a beautiful trio, but no wonder the three feisty sisters intimidate their potential mate.



JaeJae was showing himself off.






Two brave cubs aged just two-and-a-half months came out to play.

Staten Island

Weird film but I enjoyed it.