A reindeer shaped mini adventure

Oh dear, life is happenning faster than I can write about all the perculiar happenings that keep occurring in my world!

I have had a hectic week and weekend- I work at the zoo sunday-thursday every week, and when winter happens our hours get reduced (because it gets too dark to see the poo we have to pick up) so it becomes neccessary to get a "weekend" job in order to keep things running smoothly financially, and help out with the whole Christmas thing. Happily, I have secured a friday job at Burwash Manor Barns Christmas Marquee. Check it out http://www.burwashmanor.com/ or even better, if you're local, come visit me on a friday! My mum works on a more full time basis there in addition to living onsite with our ponies and we know the family pretty well (I used to run the toyshop on the weekends) so it's a nice little set up to be a part of, and I can take advantage of mums caravan to cook my lunch in (or even better, have her cater for me- she made a great stew this week that I traded for a slice of my homemade carrot cake). I had my first day this week and it was pretty alright, but a massive temptation being around mo many pretty sparkly things all day that I want to spend my money on!

Yesterday I was scheduled to fit in an early morning road trip to Ikea with my friend Alex but instead of getting on the London train that calls at Royston (just 25 mins up the line), I somehow managed to get on the direct London train, that only stops at London (some 50 minutes away). GREAT!! So that was an expensive mistake as had to pay 18 quid just to get back on a train to go back, setting us back surprisingly by only an hour. We made it and had a nice time, and got back in time for me to whizz to my next appointment, a snake job- photoshoot with Lottie Ettling, luckily at a location not far from my place. Went well, but having effectively done a 7 day week I am thinking I really need to work on getting some early nights in!

What I really wanted to fill you in on was last weeks adventure. Fyf is back in the country and needed some help with a reindeer job for posh department store harrods, in London. Fyfs family own the Cairngorm Reindeer herd you see, and at this time of year, tour all over with the reindeer for festive displays and such(inc visiting Burwash Manor next month). http://www.cairngormreindeer.co.uk/ Lucky for us the night she came to Cambridge it was Guy Fawkes night, so there was a big firework display in town, which we pottered along to, despite the hammering rain, and it was rather good, despite the hammering rain!

Basically, Harrods organise a huge xmas parade every year to mark the opening of the xmas section in their toy department, and this parade tours around the outside of the ginormous building (takes about 30 mins or so to do a lap), with fake snow confettii pouring down on everyone from the roof tops, loud music, entertainers, about 10 horse drawn carriages including one with santa riding, 6 reindeer in all their bells and stuff, and loads of people in big fluttery carnival costumes. Pretty good fun really, but an early start for us, we loaded the animals at 3.30am from Birds Farm in Barton (Cambs) where we'd stopped over the night, to get to harrods for a 6am call time (the lorry has a restrictor on it so does a maximum of 45mph).

It was too hot for the reindeer to stay in the lorry in the harrods loading bay (which is basement level) so we took them out and tied them to the railings of a house on Russel Square. Quite bizarre a sight really. And it was still dark! The animals behaved superbly, even the two 6 month old calves, who's first time it was to be off the mountains and wearing harnesses!! We got some amazing looks from passers by, we really made a lot of peoples day! We did the parade and then Fyf and Heather (the other reindeer girl) took the furry gang back up to the highlands, leaving me in London to make my own way home... I'd done a days work and it was only 9am!! Flaming knackered but managed to meet up with an old frind and do a bit of sight seeing, and the money I earned working was the exact amount I owed my sister Daisy for a sub she'd given me last weekend- easy come, easy go!!