Fabby Day

Mick's been working away for a couple of days this week. He travelled back from London last night and decided that he'd worked enough hours this week and would take today off. He couldn't have chosen a better day, it's been glorious.

After a leisurely start to the day and a late breakfast we headed off to Lotherton Hall which I wrote about in an earlier post. We did the Boundary Trail walk again, which isn't far but Eleanor decided she needed a break half way round.

 It's been a really warm day and Archie was soon panting.

We didn't go in the bird garden when we went to Lotherton Hall last time, but this time we decided we'd take a look. Mick stayed outside with Archie as dogs aren't allowed in. What a surprise I had. It's been quite a few years since I've taken a look round the bird garden and what a difference. I don't remember half as many birds last time I was there, but it's definitely worth a look now. To think that the admission is free too. I was aware that Mick was waiting for us so I hot footed it round, but I shall certainly return to wander around at my leisure as it's certainly worth it.

I do love Flamingoes. They're known for standing on one leg. Some people believe that the reason for this is that they're able to allow one side of their body to sleep whilst the other half is still awake, but this has never been proven.

The Andean Condor is the largest bird of prey in the world. It has a wingspan of over three metres and a weight of over twenty five pounds. They're a species of vulture and come from the Andean mountains of South America.

The White Naped Crane breeds in Mongolia, China and Russia. This one was so cute, following us around it's enclosure, though there were two barriers between us as apparently they can have a vicious bite.

Just look at this Superb Starling. Doesn't it have beautiful colours, so different to the starlings we see in our gardens. I think the name Superb Starling suits it perfectly.

The Channel-billed Toucan comes from South America, and although it looks like it's bill is very heavy, it's actually made from the same material as our fingernails and is hollow so it's not quite as heavy as it appears.

Bleeding-heart Doves get their name from the vivid red patch on their chest which, at first glance, appears that it's been wounded. They rarely fly and spend most of their time on the ground.

Yes, I'll definitely be taking another trip to the bird garden at Lotherton Hall, and if you're close by, or you fancy a trip out, I would certainly recommend it.

After wandering round the bird garden we headed back to the car and got out the fold up chairs and ground mats. Eleanor had brought her nail polishes with her and wanted to paint my nails. I'm not a huge fan of nail varnish, although I don't bite my nails I tend to keep them quite short as long nails only get in the way when you're doing housework. Mick and Daniel were throwing an American football around, so I compromised with Eleanor and allowed her to paint my toenails.

Hmmmm, which colour to choose.

Eleanor decides.

Eleanor concentrating whilst applying polish.

All mod cons were brought with us, even a nail dryer.

It's all too much for Archie.



We left Lotherton Hall at about 4pm and have spent the rest of the day in the garden doing lots of tidying up. Mick cut the grass and I've sorted out the border. I need a couple of new plants to replace ones which I've taken out which weren't working, so I feel a trip to the garden centre is imminent. Fingers crossed that the rest of the weekend is as glorious as it's been today.