Birdies, birdies and more birdies!

So the other weekend we found ourselves stuck at home and wondering what to do for the day as (for a change) it was sunny. We decided to take a walk to the local Bird of Prey centre, Huxley's Bird of Prey. (www.flyingfalcons.co.uk). It was a little bit of a hair-raising walk as we found ourselves without a footpath at one point, but it was worth it when we got there!!!

One of our favourite parts of the whole experience was these owls:

The top owl in the photo is Little Mo, who was not, by any stretch of the imagination, little!! The middle girl is Katy, who was very vocal, most of their owls are imprinted when hatched which means that the first thing they see when they open their eyes is a human. Katy believes she is human and therefore likes to talk to people!! The bottom owl is Igor (yeth mathter). Igor has a bit of a sad story attached to him. . .He was bought as a present for a child (way before Harry Potter which just goes to show that people don't need suggestions to do dumb things, they can do it all by themselves). The family in question didn't really know how to look after an owl so he was left tethered outside with no shelter and occasionally fed dog food (or something equally un-owl-like). There was a gap in the fence next to him and schoolchildren would throw stones at him on their way past. One of the neighbours contacted the RSPCA who in turn contacted Huxley's and they came and rescued poor Igor. Igor is still frightened of many other birds of prey (as they would obviously have picked on him when he was unprotected) and cowers when he hears one of them calling. He is also afraid of the dark (an owl afraid of the dark, isn't that the saddest thing you've ever heard???) and when they take him on shows and it starts getting dark, they have to put him back in his carrier where he feels safe to calm him down. Anyway, at least his story has a happy ending because the nice people have given him a home and lots of cuddles and he is very loved now!!
You may notice that some of the birds are tethered where they are. This is not as cruel as we thought it was! There was a flying demonstration and during that we discovered that many birds of prey are actually just plain lazy. They will only fly a certain amount and then they'll start waddling around on the ground! So having them tethered is pretty much the equivalent of what they would be doing in the wild anyway.
They also only teach the birdies "tricks" that they would normally do in the wild anyway! Unlike stoopid China who absolutely terrrified these poor animals:

This was done for a celebration of China's "Anniversary day", the 59th year since they became a communist country. BAD CHINA!! Poor horsie and kitty just not meant to do things like this!!!

We also found out that the belief that owls are wise, is just wrong! (sorry to Nessa who when we did our whole every person is an animal thing we made an owl, because of the wise old owl stereotype, maybe we should rethink that. . .maybe a falcon would be better. . .)
ANYWAY, onto one of our OTHER favourite parts of the whole experience! MEETING IGOR!!!!

Yes, those feathers really are as soft as they look!! And he has ticklish feet which means that if you pat his feet, he'll start pecking (gently) you to make you stop.
Moving right along. . .here are some more photos of our favourite owls:


The top one is Igor doing his impression of Amber when she first wakes up (she's never able to open both eyes at once first thing in the morning, or after surgery which really freaked out the nurses in recovery!!) the bottom one is "Little" Mo, Mum - see his breast feathers? Little Mo is a Siberian Eagle Owl (not a scandinavian eagle owl like Amber keeps saying).

Here are some photos of them flying:
Ok, so none of them are actually flying in any of these, but that's cause it's really hard to take photos of birdies flying cause they're quite quick!! The bottom photo is Katy who at this point had had enough of flying and was talking to her "daddy" about how he should really just feed her now. The top one is Bramble the Barn Owl who knows the routinue really well and will start flying about his aviary in a really excited manner just before the demonstration time! Also, all fans of the Labyrinth should recognise that shot. . .the middle photo is of a Harrier Hawk, it's just landed and is settling it's feathers back down, Harrier Hawks are unique because they can be flown for a hunt and still fly for "dead" meat as well, Falcons and other Hawks will refuse dead meat if they have tasted "fresh" meat and killed.
Anyway, if any of you have been watching International Weather forecasts, you will be aware that some parts of England are already getting snow! Where we are has had a snow warning already and for the last two years snow hasn't fallen here until well after January. They turned on the COLD weather for us!
Also, for those who have been following the "Amber-needs-a-job" saga, Amber was offered a Learning Support Assistant (LSA) role at the following school: http://www.munthamhouseschool.co.uk/ She starts on Monday, the 3rd of November. The theatre position was only casual, this is full time. She will still be doing a couple of film shifts at the theatre but they couldn't guarentee her a full time position as they are run by the District Council and therefore have to piss around for several months before they can give a job to ANYONE. (much to the disgust of the technicians who work there who A) would like to have Amber working with them and B) are very understaffed and underpaid as it comes into Panto season)
Ok, now that we have caught you all up, we have to dash to town. . .love and hugs to all!

We came half way around the world to find New Zealand?

We have just finished reading Nation by Terry Pratchett and there is a line in the book that goes something like so far away from home you end up back where you started. This is a little bit how we felt when we ended up standing outside the Leeds Armoury in, well, Leeds.
They were doing a display called The Wonderful World of Weta.

Did you know that Weta made the Very Big Gun that was used in Hellboy? No? Well they did. this exhibition was all about the weapons that Weta Workshop made for LOTR, Narnia, King Kong, and yip Hellboy. There was even a sign that said to follow the Wetas. Not something you expected to see in England.
Photo Time!


This last image has nothing to do with the Weta exhibition but we have included it becuase we think it looks cool and kind of artsy.

Unfortunately We could not take photos inside the actual exhibit but this one is taken at the entrance to the Narnia section. Any one recognise those fur coats?
(Sorry this one is a little blurry but it is the best one I took)

Anyway this was just the thing to help two very homesick Kiwis feel even more homesick but it was still really good to see that little ol' NZ is world reknowned for making fake weapons in a very realistic manner. (good to know we are useful for something right?)

P.S Amber just told me that the first film she threaded up at the Capitol (her new job) had an ad on it to "come and see the worlds youngest country" filled with shots of the Naki and the Haka and Hongis and yep well I guess we are world famous.... Speaking of which if any body reading this feels like helping out a couple of homesick girls we could really do with some L& P and some Twisties...... care package anyone???

The Capitol Horsham. . .

is soooo cool!! They have three "film" Projector's, all Victoria 5's and one DIGITAL projector that is like, REALLY cool looking. ..They are also a Theatre as well and all of the projectionists are actually techies for the Theatre (they were really excited about the prospect of having somebody who is specifically trained in Projection!!) and they want to employ me on a casual basis to start off with but one of their guys is leaving soon and there is the possibility I could step into a full time job!! And if I do get a full time position there they will train me in Lighting and Sound technical stuff for the Theatre side of things!!! EEEKK!! Shelley is a little afraid that if I do get the full time position I won't want to leave as it'll be like my IDEAL job!!
Oh, and the guy who "interviewed" me was from Hutt Valley and he said "Us Kiwi's have got to stick together" which was really cool :)
So, as soon as I get my National Insurance Number (England's version of an IRD number), which will be happening on Tuesday, I will be getting a couple of "training" shifts to get me back up to speed :) Oh, and also to teach me how to operate a projector WITHOUT AUTOMATION EEEK!!
YAY for incoming money!! (Even if it is only £6.35/hr for casual shifts, it's still better than nothing!!)

It is not a toy

So this was one of the other highlights of Thailand. We went to a place called Fantasea (really spelt like that too) and we had the chance to have a cuddle with this little guy. The reason that it has taken so long for us to post this is because at Fantasea we had to give up our camera and then purchase a professional photo from the theatre. So thank you very much to Mum and Dad (well more dad as he did it) who scaned this photo and then emailed to me so that I could post it for all you lovely people. Just in case you were wondering he was very soft and very warm and he kept prodding amber with is front paws to get her attention and so she kept looking at the cub instead of the camera despite the fact that the people taking our photo were trying to get her to look at them!!

Bunny loves

So today Amber and I were in our bedroom which is on the second floor of Mel and Mikes flat. I was looking out the window which overlooks our courtyard and enables me to see into our neighbours courtyard also. I looked down and saw bunnies hop hop hopping around. Amber and I went running down stairs grabbed the last carrot and some cauliflower leaves out of the fridge and went over to see our friendly neighbours to request to be allowed to hang in their courtyard with their bunnies.

They have four bunnies and two of them were frolicking outside. A big mostly white furred girl named Lilly (but not as beautiful as our niece Lilly) who has one brown eye and one blue eye and a beautiful boy named Fin who is the same colouring as our dearly departed Little One.

Anyway we got to give them lots of pats and we got sniffed and bunny boinked a couple of times. For anyone who doesn't know what a bunny boink is, it's where a bun kinda headbutts you but uses their nose instead. It is usually done by the bun to get attention (or food). Anyway Amber and I had a lovely time with the bunnies and had many chuckles when Lilly tried to hide in the greenery in the garden of course with her colouring she failed completely.

Next time we go to see them I will take the camera.

Loves and bunny kisses to you all.

Random Shiz

Well as we are not travelling at the moment and we are not seeing any new sites I thought I would just post some more photos from all the places we have been.


This photo was taken in Tailand from the lookout that we went to in the rainforest (somewhere) Nat - sorry I cannot be more specific on the details but it was definitely on Phuket :)

This photo was taken as I was thanking the elephants for taking us for a trek. The elephant is about eat a piece of watermelon that I fed him. At one point the elephant that is on the otherside of me helped himself to the fruit from the basket I am holding in the photo and so I fed them both.

This photo is Amber thanking the Elephant that we rode on. When she put her trunk thru the fence to take the food we were able to pat them as well as feed them.
This was something that we came across in the middle of the airport when we were flying out of Bangkok. Odd. Shiny.



Drinking out of coconuts is fun. Sadly these ones were not alcoholic.

Hobbled

Well not really but the sucky thing is that the travels are over for a little while now. Amber needs to get a job so that I can get a residency visa so that I can get a job so that we can make more money and go travelling.
Anyway we have been keeping busy in the meantime. Last Monday night we went to Brighton to a club called Concord 2 to see Jeffery Lewis preform. It was an excellent night.

I am not smart enough to download a you tube video on to here so will have to settle for some lyrics instead.

This is called: The last Time I Did Acid I Went Insane.

It was a night in July,

I think six years ago

Why did I eat the acid? I don't know I wasn't thinking and I wasn't scared

Why did I eat the acid? I wasn't prepared

The last time I did acid I went insane

I was hanging with some friends just getting loaded

When all of a sudden my mind exploded

I had a flash that I was gay and I got paranoid

I was sitting on the floor listening to Pink Floyd

The last time I did acid I went insane

And I was drawing crazy pictures and before I was done

The pictures started pulsing like an alien lung and I said 'oh my god this is just begun

'And it was twelve more hours before I was done

We were up on the rooftop and I'll tell you the truth

I was convinced I'd already fallen off of the roof

And these weird metal things rolling around in outta space Were teleporting me from place to place

The last time I did acid I went insane

So we ran back downstairs where it was better to be

But I was trapped in spiral staircase infinity

And when we got to the door I couldn't go inside

Cos it was the gates of heaven and I had died

The last time I did acid I went insane

And this kid named Graham he punched a cat in the head

He could read my thoughts, that's what he said

And he described what it was like but I didn't believe it

Like lifting a rug and seeing stars beneath it

Ooo-ooo

And the first rule of tripping was

Don't be with people you don't trust

The second rule of LSD

The rooftop is not a good place to be

The third rule is to be prepared

The fourth rule is to not get scared

The fifth rule is to stay serene

Turn off your mind and float downstream

The sixth rule's to have a good friend at hand

The seventh, I hope that you understand

Is not to look to deep into your soul or you might find a hideous, hopeless hole

Of hatred, hunger, infinite, idiot Mindless, meaningless, nothingness, nothingness nothingness, nothingness, nothingness, nothingness Nothingness, nothingness, nothingness, nothingness Nothingness

And that's what I did

And every aspect of life that I selected

Was instantly and brutally dissected

I saw the horrible emptiness within the reasons behind everything and it was at that moment that I went insane

Cos I figured why bother doing anything again I didn't understand my thoughts revealing themselves to be

The truth behind everything I'd ever wanted and believed

Revealed itself to be unwindingI Stood up

I brushed my head I turned

To my right all in my eye

And I said

There are things which we feel to be so terrifically true

That what were all but madness

For any good man in his own proper character

To utter or even hint of them

I've just discovered the meaning of life

I've just discovered the meaning of life

I've just discovered the meaning of life

I've just discovered the meaning of life

The thing that I think I enjoyed the most about the concert was that he had these comics that he had done and he showed them to us and he had lyrics that went with them. If you are interested you could download Jeff's "History of Communism" of You Tube. Very Cool.

The other concert that we went to last week was the Mountain Goats. It was quite a small venue so it was very good.
The concert was in London and after the concert we got back to our car ( well Mel and Mikes) to find that it had been broken into. They smashed one of the side windows to gain entry and then after all of that they didn't take anything. Mels house keys were in the car along with some mail that had the address printed on it, our I pod was also in the car and they didn't take it!!!

So on the off chance (like hugely off) that the same fuckers that broke into Mel and Mikes car happened to be reading this I would just like to say Ha Fuck You. You didn't get anything from us!!!

Anyway now I feel much better.
Loves

Oh Yeah. . .Malta!!

Was beautiful!! And hot. VERY hot. I don't think it got below thirty degrees the whole time there!
We were staying in a hostel so we didn't have any air-conditioning which often made sleeping rather difficult. On the upside the hostel did have a swimming pool and we got to swim in the Mediterranean every day (at least twice a day). Our routine was thus: Wake up, shower, dress with togs underneath, walk to our "local" (a dairy that had air-conditioning and was just a couple of doors down from the hostel) where we would buy breakfast which would either be fresh, delicious Lemon doughnuts (yeah we know, but we were on holiday!) or fresh crusty bread with Peach Ice tea (We didn't have coffee for the whole week as it's just way too hot to even contemplate hot drinks!!); so that was breakfast sorted. We would then continue to the bus stop which was about ten minutes down the road but felt like we'd been trekking for three hours in the Sahara by the time we got there. We would catch a bus to Sliema where we would go for our first swim of the day in a beautiful little bay we discovered on our first day out. We swam there so often we called it "our bay". . .have a look at it:

AND, we had a beautiful view to go with it:
I did find out the name of this church but right now I can't quite remember it. . .it was very pretty though and chimed out every quarter of the hour!!
After our first swim of the day we would catch another bus to whichever area of Malta we were exploring that day. Such as Mdina (The Silent City) which is the old capital city of Malta:

Which had a very pretty Cathedral which was built in 1693:

Oh - the two clocks thing. . .You may be able to tell that they tell different time. One is correct and the other isn't to confuse the devil so he doesn't know what the correct time is. Every church we saw in Malta had them!!
Another place we visited on our travels was the current capital of Malta, Valetta:


As you can see from the top photo; there were people EVERYWHERE. There are also shops, shops and more shops. Shelley WAS happy with this but then we discovered that we couldn't reach the sea and had nowhere to swim. It was so hot Shelley actually said she'd rather be swimming than shopping (shock, horror!!) so we went back to "our bay" for some more swimming.
On our last day there we did a cruise around the island of Malta (which is the largest of the three islands in the archipelago that makes up the country of Malta) to the little island of Comino (which is the smallest of the three islands) and this little place called the Blue Lagoon. We thought that Our Bay had clear water. . .then we saw this place:


As you can see, it was clearer than clear! It was like bath water or something, it was absolutely beautiful!! A bit disconcerting though as we're so used to only being able to see the bottom in shallow water so we kept thinking that it was really shallow and that we'd be able to stand on the bottom. We were wrong. We're not sure exactly how deep it was as we couldn't actually sink enough to touch the bottom. We really didn't want to leave there. And actually, while we were there we discovered what we wanna do when we grow up!!
We noticed a boat going around the lagoon, stopping to "visit" other boats and then continuing along again. It had this logo on it:
We thought it must have been a coincedence or something, but then we saw them actually giving ice-creams to some of the people on the boats. They were boat ice-cream sellers!! Imagine that for a life. . .Staying in a beautiful bay, selling ice-creams, visiting people, swimming in the Mediterranean when you want. . .That's what we want to do when we grow up!!!!
So anyway, that was our trip to Malta. Beautiful, hot, lots of swimming and GREAT food!! (woopsies, I haven't mentioned the food yet!! They have these FANTASTIC outdoor eatery places that are set up permanently, you can smoke in the outdoor places (not that many people reading this will care about that) and no one will glare at you as if you are a nazi and the food that they bring you is. . .I'm not quite sure how to spell it but picture Homer Simpson dreaming about Doughnuts. . .Fantastic Pizza with crispy, amazing, bases. Wonderful toppings with lots of Mozarella and Parma Ham and Proscuitto. . .mmmmmmmmmmm. . .and the WINE!!! Oh, the wine!!! And cheap!!). . .
Our next stop will hopefully be Turkey, but we have to get. . .jobs . . .first.

WTF???

Ok, so let me set the picture for you. It's a hot day, we are wandering around Malta's capital, Valetta shopping, we step into an air-conditioned shop (bliss) and decide to wander around it a bit and have a look-see at stuff. We're upstairs, we turn the corner and bam, we see this:

For those of you that don't recognise what this is. . .It's an EXTREMELY old Projector. . .as in, movies, big screen, reels of film. . .
We stood, we stared, Amber poked around a little (what a surprise), Amber discovered it had moving parts and got very excited and wanted to steal it and see if she could figure out how to thread it. . .we stood and stared some more. . .we took more pictures:

We then spent the rest of the day going "Why?", "WhY?!", "WHY?!?!?!?!?"
So please, if anyone can explain why this isn't living with a collector or in a museum somewhere but is instead collecting dust in a shop and being used to display gift boxes, soft toys and flowers, please PLEASE tell us. . .And then help Amber to figure out a way to steal it. . .

Craziest thing ever. . .

Mmmm Cake

Today It is raining.... which is okay by us because tonight we are going to Malta. My geography is so very bad that I actually had to see it on a map because I didn't know where it was but as soon as I learned it was in the middle of the Mediterranean I was more than happy to go there for a week.
We have been celebrating birthdays over here as Mel's birthday was last week.
Much fun and drinking was had by all.
Oh and that reminds me this is the yummiest recipe for a cake that I have come across in a long time!

Tropical Treat A moist cake with a hint of the exotic. Makes 12 slices. Ingredients 175g (6oz) margarine 125g (4oz) caster sugar 3 eggs, beaten 200g Cadbury Bournville chocolate 125g (4oz) self raising flour 50g (2oz) ground almonds 25g (1oz) desiccated coconut To Complete 227g (8oz) can pineapple rings 80ml (4 Tbs) Malibu (A coconut Liqueur) 200g cream cheese 50g (2oz) icing sugar 284ml (1/2 pint) double cream Also, you will require Two 19cm (71/2 inch) sandwich cake tins, greased and base lined A piping bag and star nozzle A grease proof paper piping bag Cream the margarine and sugar well, then slowly beat in the eggs. Melt half the chocolate, beat in with the flour, almonds and coconut until smooth. Divide mixture evenly between the tins. Bake in a moderate oven Gas Mark 4, 180°C, 350°F for 30-35 minutes until cooked. Carefully turn out and cool on a wire tray. Drain pineapple, mix juice with the Malibu then use all but 2 tablespoons to soak both the cakes. Whisk the cheese, sugar and reserved juice together until smooth. Now add the cream and whisk until spreadable. Reserve 11/2 pineapple rings, chop the remainder. Sandwich the cakes together with some cheese mixture and the chopped pineapple, lift onto a plate. Spoon 2 tablespoons of mixture into the piping bag, spread remainder over cake. Mark the top into 12 portions then pipe whirls on each and one in the centre. Grate the reserved chocolate and press onto sides of the cake. Melt any remaining chocolate, fill bag, snip off end and pipe on zig-zag lines on each portion as shown. Complete with pieces of pineapple and the chocolate decorations. And if you feel like it, it goes down a treat with Mead! I felt a little guilty as this recipe came off a Cadbury website and we made it using Green and Blacks which is possibly the nicest chocolate ever made!

The other thing I have been doing for the last few days (much to Amber's annoyance) is playing the greatest game ever invented. Its called Katamatri Damacy and it is just about the best thing the Japanese have ever made. So good!


About Katamari:

The primary story in Katamari Damacy deals with the aftereffects of the planet-sized King of All Cosmos' binge drinking spree that wiped out all the stars and other celestial bodies from the sky. The King charges his 10-cm-tall son, the Prince, to go to Earth with a "katamari"—a magical ball that allows anything smaller than it to stick to it and making it grow—and collect enough material so that he can recreate the stars and constellations. The Prince is successful, and the sky is returned to normal.

A side story follows the Hoshino family as the Prince works at his tasks. The father, an astronaut, is unable to go to the moon when it is wiped out by the King, and the daughter senses the Prince's work. Ultimately, the family, along with their house and town, are rolled up in the katamari that is used to remake the moon.

Latest adventures

Hello all.
This week we went to the GLOBE! Also we visited the Tate Modern and Hever Castle.
For those of you who do not read Philippa Gregory or pay much attention in history class, Hever Castle is where Anne Boleyn spent her childhood. (you know the second wife of King Henry the 8th, who was convicted of treason and then beheaded).
The highlight of the week was definitely the Globe. I was a little disappointed that there was no show the day we went so I had to be content with a tour instead. At least I got to sit in the theatre and gaze about me and the gloryness of it all (wait is that even a word?) And now for some photos....

As you can see they are currently undergoing a few changes to get ready for the new show which was to start there next week I think. According to our tour guide the play is Liberty which is a new play about the French Revolution. Timon of Athens is currently playing and that is why there is a net fixed up at the present. Actors dressed as vultures are going to come out of the top window you can see in picture number 3 and then are going to swoop down thru the holes in the nets you can see in picture 3 and 4. This is designed to freak out the groundlings who are supposed to get rather nervous that they may not have a short enough wire and that they may have a vulture dive bomb them from above!!!
They are also performing A Mid Summer Nights Dream which would be my preferred play to see, but to be honest I am not that fussy, I will see anything going! Unfortunately there was no matinee on and we were only in London for the day to meet up with April so we couldn't see anything while we were there.
After the Globe we headed to the Tate Modern which for those of you who don't know is an old power station that was converted into an art gallery and is just awesome. It's a really huge space that can have these huge art installations and still feel like it's got heaps of space to fill up!
We then went on a little walk around the Southbank of the Thames and found a moving statue (and I don't mean the street performer type either, this one is literally a statue that moves. . . .don't believe me? Click on this link: http://arts.guardian.co.uk/video/2007/nov/20/1 )
We also found a really cool food market called Borough Market which we want to go back to when we are hungry. . .

And now; some photos of Hever Castle:




Unfortunately we didn't get any photos of the Yew maze which was mega cool and which we found the centre of (we may have gotten a little lost trying to find our way out, but at least we found the centre!!). The third photo is actually a sundial standing in front of a topiary chess set done in the style of chess sets from Henry the Eighths time. The gardens there are very pretty!!

So, that was the normal part of the week . . . Now for the surprise. . .On Tuesday, we fly to MALTA!! For those who don't know; Malta is a set of three islands just off the coast of Italy (sorta below the boot when looking on a map of the Mediterranean). We will be staying on the largest of these three islands for six nights!! We weren't going to go anywhere, we were going to be sensible and find a job for Amber and look at getting a residence card for Shelley, but then we decided we wanted to go somewhere sunny and within two minutes found that flights to Malta were relatively cheap and then they were booked. We'll settle down when we get back. . .
Lesson number one for travellers: BEFORE booking non-refundable tickets to somewhere; check availability of accomodation so you don't start thinking that you might have to sleep on the beach. . .Thankfully we eventually found a hostel which had a twin share private room available for the six nights needed AND that does Airport Transfers (this is important when you are arriving at 3am and therefore will have no public transport). So, no need to worry, we will NOT be sleeping on the beach (very happy about this, just imagine the sand!!).
Will write more when we get back from Malta!!