A wild day

Almost time for bed, but I've a busy few days coming up so I'm taking the chance to share some photos of a lovely day. Also to say thank you for the lovely birthday cards that I received over the last few days.

Heather had suggested a visit to the zoo - somewhat depending on the weather of course! It was pretty iffy this morning but we decided to brave the showery downpours and go anyway, especially as it was so warm. I spent my last birthday assisting with a funeral so I was looking forward to having a more fun filled day.

Before that I had some parcels to open though,and look how lucky I was.....

 ....the cushion was one that I'd seen and wished I'd bought at the time - when I went back to the store they had all gone but Heather found one at another branch! The gift bag is full of Yankee candles and incense....very relaxing. There's some lovely Champneys goodies too, so the house smells gorgeous one way or another! A special treat is the tag that's tied to the theatre leaflet....it's a "save the date" tag for November when we'll be going to the Grand to see Madam Butterfly.....wow! Heather has never been to the opera and, when I suggested going to see one she really wasn't keen at all so I'm really chuffed that we're now going and I can't wait to see what she makes of it. David and I loved going to the opera, not that we could afford to go too often! Madam Butterfly is one of my favourites and I'll need to take a stack of tissues!

And the boots.....

...check these beauties out!!! Another sneaky gift from my lovely sister.....I'd tried these on when we were window shopping a couple of months ago and I really fell for them but I really couldn't justify buying them. Last time we went to town I saw them again but Heather was being very dismissive of them....turns out it was because she'd already got them for me!

There were treats in store of a different kind when we got to the zoo. Blackpool zoo has a great reputation for its conservation work and the latest success is the very recent birth of two tiger cubs. Needless to say we were hoping we might get a glimpse of them as it's been left up the mother as to if and when she brings them out. We were very lucky and got really close to them and I managed to get some pics and a short video clip....

 ....the other cub was in the corner where mum had just plonked him!

Another big highlight was spotting a creature perched rather precariously on a fairly thin branch which I realised was one that I'd wanted to see since reading Gerald Durrell's books many years ago where he described these adorable animals....

 ...they're tree porcupines and I just love the waddly walk. They look as if they were made of bits that were left over - a cross between a monkey, a koala bear and a normal porcupine

This one did get safely down from the rather spindly tree, though not very gracefully! Here's a close up of another one that waddled into the little cabin that was part of their spacious enclosure...

,,,how adorable is that? A moment after I took the photo he suddenly dropped out of view as he fell over! Not the most elegant creatures but just gorgeous. If you want to see a really cute tree porcupine, check out this video clip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMeuwYvlBI0&feature=youtu.be which features a rescued animal from a slightly different species...I almost cried it's so cute!

Not sure if those two videos have uploaded properly so will check tomorrow and try again if they haven't.

Another big thrill was going through the Lemur wood where we had some really close encounters...

 ....they were so nosey and I had to keep a tight hold of my bag to stop them from diving in! Their fur was like thick velvet. Oh my gosh......

....a Ring Tailed Lemur held my hand! By this time my heart was near bursting with all the wonderful encounters! Far too many photos to share (I think I took a couple of hundred!) but we saw just about everything from parrots to penguins, kangaroos to keas, tamarinds to tapirs and everything in between.

Of course,to exit the zoo you have to come through the shop which gave me the chance for a couple more photo ops! With "pith" helmet and a very savage lion........

 ....and then wrestling with an exotic snake!

Heather pointed out that I was right under the security cameras at the time and wondered what on earth the security people would think if they saw me! I was determined to have a bit of fun today though, so I didn't care what I looked like!

It was sad to wave goodbye to the animals but we had been there for about five or six hours! So then it was back to Heather's where we watched a Michael Buble concert that she had recorded followed by a lovely meal of steak, root mash, green vegetables and a mushroom and onion sauce - yummy!

I came home in time to see Alfie Boe performing at the Edinburgh live concert so that was a rather nice treat too!

Tomorrow morning is a slight change from the usual Church service as I'm puppeteering at the last Sunday school of the summer. We're doing a story, a song and the Lord's Prayer - mostly with camels! After that we all rush round to Church in time to take communion and then I'm staying behind to tidy away and set up for the next service. It's a busy day as it's the annual hog roast in the afternoon! It doesn't involve roasting a hog, but there will be lots of food and a really good get together for members of the Church and friends - pity the weather is so unpredictable so we're hoping for a bit of sunshine.

Needless to say this has taken so long that it's now gone midnight and officially the day after my birthday as this is posted! No time tomorrow though as I need to have an early night for an early start on Monday....I have to catch a train at 5.20am....ouch!!! I'm off to two garden centres, Woodthorpe near Alford in Lincolnshire and then, on Tuesday, Brigg, also in Licolnshire. I'm making displays boards for them as well as being there to demo and answer questions of course.

Oh yes....a rather large box arrived late on Friday afternoon which contained all my new Christmas stamp sets! So, I'll be getting cracking with those next week and will share some creative photos for a change once I've made a start! 

I'd better get to bed now - it's 12.40am!