Various animals

So, I got up this morning with thoughts of what to blog about buzzing inside my head.

I didn't blog yesterday but we (self, the BM, The Offsrpring and his Lovely Girlfriend) went to York for the day. The was my birthday treat. The main part of the treat ws to have afternoon tea at Bettys but also to see if I could find something that I could point out to the BM and say 'That is what you are buying me for my birthday'. This is a technique that worked wonderfully well with the cream silk jacket I wore to the RNA Awards last week and which was much admired - both the present slecting technique, and the jacket.

The birthday isn't until tomorrow. but we didn't fancy trying out the York and Bank Holiday combination on the 7th and I didn't find anything to point the BM in the direction of, but what the heck - we had fun and Borders bookshop did very well out of the visit. And the tea at Bettys was, as always, well worth the trip in itself.

So that's why I didn't blog yesterday - and this morning I woke up with a very different sort of blog in my head. But as I did my usual wander around the blogs I read I found something that totally distracted me and held me fascinated and delighted for six wonderful minutes. And in connection with various items that arrived in the post, it seemed appropriate to leave the topic I had in mind for another day and instead to use this blog to update on various animals and then get back to those wonderful 6 minutes.

As you already know, I love animals the cats, especially one Cat in particular tend to feature most on this blog. Regular readers will also know of 'my' tiger, Roque and the lionness Achee, adopted through the Born Free Foundation . The latest update I received tells me that they are both thriving. Roque (pronounced Rocky) who was found in a Spanish pet shop as a tiny cub is now a majestic fuly grown tiger who lives in a large jungle enclosure at the Bannerghatta Tiger Sanctuary in India. And the young lionnneAchee has befriended another lionness (Ma Juah) in the Shamwari Wildlife Reserve in South Africa where she now lives after having been rescued from a snowy car park in Romania.

In the same post came a 'pupdate' on Uffa the guide dog puppy I adopted (and share with Mags - Hi Mags!) He has grown a lot from the tiny puppy I first showed you., and is now a very handsome young dog who is doing very well in his early training to become a valuable guide dog. He walks very well on his lead and has learned to sit, stay and wait on command. Now he's about to learn to stop at stairs and doors in preparation for the next stage of his training.

Cats? Well, you all know about Sid so to make sure there's no favouritism, let's give the other guys a mention. The 'Old Gentlemen' as Redford (Bob) and Spiffy are now affectionately known have been enjoying the early spring sunshine. ( Bob is almost 18, Spiffy is 16 so they are into 'retirement age', though Bob is still so active you wouldn't know it.

And (specially for Biddy) Dylan - Dylan the Villain or Dyl the Vyl

refuses to act like the 13 year old he is. Even though he is officially an 'elderly' cat, he is still the wicked hunter he has always been. Just last night he tackled a collared dove that was almost as big as him and would have had it for supper if I hadn't distracted him to give it a chance to fly away and offered him some extra crunchies instead.

So there you are - the animal updates.

But now I'm going to add one extra critter into this. A horse. I don't write much about horses as my furry friends take up most of my time these days - but I love the beauty and intelligence of these wonderful creatures. and nowhere is it better shown than in this YouTubevideo of a Danish mare called Blue Hors Matine. This is what distracted me this morning and gave me six minutes of pure delight - so if you have 6 minutes to spare, believe me, it's worth it - don't leave it halfway through because the last few moments are sensational.

And my thanks to Trish Wylie who posted this on her blog, otherwise I never would have seen it - and I wouldn't have missed it for the world. Thanks Trish!