My latest houseguest

I have a houseguest at the moment......He/she's a collared dove!

He was found in the riding school where I train for agility. Whilst it's usually best to leave birds alone, this guy had obviously fallen from his nest which is about 30ft above in the rafters. The riding school has a large population of rats - there's no way this little fella would have survived the night. If by some miracle he had survived the parents still would not have been able to feed him as the arena is busy with people all day. I then didn't want any of the kids to find him in the morning....Anyway, the upshot is that he's now living with me.

After a quick call to the local bird expert (Mrs Wren - honest, that's her real name!!), I put him on a diet of weetabix and water and he seems to be doing OK, well he's still alive anyway which is always a good sign with birds!I have been hand feeding him, its not an easy job as he doesn't gape so I've had to physically open his beak and shove food in, then stand back because he shakes his head and sends weetabix everywhere! However today he's started to peck at seed, it took him about an hour and a half to get the hang of picking up a seed, turning it the right way round and swallowing it without dropping it, but I think he's got the hang of it now!

I'm hoping that this one will make it but my past experience of birds is that just when you think they're doing well, they die. So, we'll see.

A mini safari.

Our Sunday walk turned into a mini safari, thanks to the enthusiasm of my 7 yr old nephew. Even ants and woodlice were exciting for him. In total, we heard a cuckoo and a woodpecker, and we saw deer, rabbits, ants, woodlice, a centipede and even found a slow worm who seemed to have run out of steam half way across the path! I'm not sure he appreciated me moving him into the bracken though!

My evening out the night before was an Indian meal which was very nice. Driving home I saw a fox and a badger, and as it was gone midnight I can count them in my mini safari too as it was all the same day. Well, it's my blog so I'll apply my own logic to it!

What shall we do?

I'm catching up with a friend this weekend but we can't decide what to do. We wanted to pamper ourselves at a local salon but it's too late to get an appointment, so we're going to have to find anther way to enjoy ourselves. It'll be tough, but we're up to the challenge!!

So far so good...

... for Bella, at any rate! She's doing well with her new owner and all is going to plan so far. Fingers crossed she will continue to do well for the rest of the training course!

Tim and Alfie (rabbit) are still here, they go home on Saturday so then it will just be me and mine for a while, until the next 'lodger' comes along anyway! Alfie seems to be a bit better so fingers crossed for him too!

My nephew liked his birthday present (phew!) although as with most 7 yr olds, he seemed to get more fun out of the box than the toy. Still, Dad seemed to enjoy road testing the mask...

Time flies.....

.....when you're having fun!!

Work is going well at the moment. One of the two dogs I've been following through advanced training at work is now in training with her Guide Dog Owner. This is week one and so far all is going well. This is Bella.

This week, my brother and his family have gone to Hong Kong and China for 2 weeks on holiday. I have got their dog 'Tim' staying, he's a sweetie and is behaving himself so far. He goes home on the 18th April. I've also got their poorly rabbit staying too! He seems to be doing OK though, and is taking his anti-biotics like a good boy! I think I got the rough end of the deal here, but there was a hint that there might be a bottle of duty free brandy in it for me...

Oh yeah, one more thing......
.................DR WHO IS BACK!!! YIPEE!!!!