Awol Animals!

I have already fallen off the wagon with updating daily- the problem is too much stuff is going on! Belly dancing was fun!! As was the date night with Irene. Since then both Eddie rook and Titus tortoise have had adventures, but both been retrieved unscathed. I have discovered a funny trick with Eddie- if he is on my shoulder and I lie belly down on the floor he won't jump off, just sits on my back. If I start rolling, he stays on top of my body like a barrel rolling acrobat. Very amusing, will try and post a video at some point.

Had a really great time at the Natural History Museum in London last night catching up with some buddies who I  kayaked across Scotland with this May. NHM runs occasional "lates". This one was called Science Uncovered, and consisted of over 400 scientists doing Q and A sessions, lectures, tours, displays etc, booze, music and a midnight finish. What a darned good idea! We had a great time broadening our minds and feeling like naughty kids for drinking cider in the museum, the people watching was fantastic and we met some really interesting people too. My highlights were getting a beetle that mumfound in the bath this week identified ("Devil's coah horse beetle") and correctly guessing that a particular pickled specimen I saw being wheeled past me earlier in the evening was a humpback whale foetus! I caught up with said specimen later on quite by chance and had a fabulous time chatting with the guys from the cetacean research department of ZSL who were looking after it for the evening. Thanks boys!

When I am grown up...

Today has been a whole lot more productive than yesterday, mentally if not physically. Thanks to my good friend Mr Matthew Blake (round world cyclist and all round good guy) providing me with appropriate "you can do it" type words of wisdom, I started the day off feeling a whole lot less alone. I ploughed on with personal admin (see above)- changing addresses on a million things, renewing animal transport licenses and so on... then went into town to get a job. My first target was Lush, somewhere I've always fancied and friends had recommended to me. As luck would have it they have positions Monday to Friday available, but annoyingly couldn't take my CV without a cover letter, no big deal drop one in tonight and then hope they like me!

Realised I may have developed a caffeine addiction during the course of the latest lot of filming, open day, moving house type activities (arrghhhh) due to the banging headaches I've had the last couple of days when I've made a point of going without the coffee... cue silver lining- went to Clowns cafe on Kings Street (favourite Italian family run place I've been frequenting since I was about 5) to sort out headache with a cappuccino as a reward for potential job success and was served by an unbelievable tall, handsome and well muscled guy who I've not seen working in there before. It's all about the little things! :) On my way back checked out an awesome busker in the town centre- town had a good atmosphere today.

Whizzed back to feed the pony (Maggie) and get the tortoise (Titus) in, give the rook (Eddie) a tea time snack and change for my belly dancing class tonight, with one gorgeous Demelza Fox and on for a date night with my old school friend Irene, who has a night off from the kids. As I walked up the road to Maggie's field, kids were playing on a swing hanging from the tree at the end of the cul-de-sac, folks were washing their cars outside- all a bit cliché but I thought you know what, maybe this isn't going to be so bad after all.

This time I'm really back- the next chapter begins

A LOT has happened since my last post. I left my work at the Zoo in Cambridgeshire and went to assist in the restoration and running of a dilapidated zoo in North Devon. Serious adventure that went rather tits up and resulted in me going back to the Oxfordshire based company I've worked for on and off for about 12 years now (remember the American fella I fell in love with in Peru? That didn't work out), and there I resided for the last two years working as a wild animal wrangler for TV and film, until this month, which has seen me have a bit of a drastic change.

 For the first time in my life I am not a full time zoo keeper. I've moved back into the Cambridgeshire direction and am currently typing from a small caravan parked in my mums front garden, while my pet rook, Eddie, screams "Aaow, NO!" from the back garden. It reeks of mid-life crisis in here and I'm experiencing huge pangs of self doubt. But I do have a plan. Lots of plans actually, but it's going to be a tough few months- I figure getting it all out on here will, I hope, keep me sane- or at least as close as possible to maintaining levels of eccentricity close to what is "normal" for me. Watch this space....