Wednesday 28 September 2011

Blue Beer?

If you ask me, today's dragon dinner looks FANTASTIC! It includes Italian heart lettuce, Spanish raspberries and strawberries, British blueberries and grated British organic butternut with miniature orange bell pepper and the cutest carrot ever. Colourful!

Our dinner was a little less fancy, involving hot coals and charred meat. Mmm. Thanks for the eats, Chi!

Though not so much for the drinks. His Lordship was happily drinking the Becks Blue that Chi brought, as it was on offer and very cheap. When he got his second bottle, he noticed the unusual blue label, and commented he'd not seen this variant before... Closer examination of the bottle revealed it to actually be ALCOHOL FREE beer. But genuinely tastes good enough not to notice - I tried it myself.

And yeah, I did mean the cutest carrot ever. I swear on everything, I have not tampered with this carrot or image in any way, shape or form. This is how it came out of the bag.

I was sorry to grate it, but it made for a delicious carrot mash. (His Lordship's teeth are still sore.)

Sunday 25 September 2011

Bright Beardies and Bath Bombs

Tsam has spent weeks trying to get Sandy to be nice to him. Every time he appears, giving it his best stamp and bobbity, she pulls a sooty face and turns her back on him. I took pity on the poor boy, and fished out the good ole sparkly pipe cleaners.

We've always had great success with these, from his favourite angel costume to his "big scary green dragon" costume. Needless to say, his glittery symbol of affection caught her full attention, and she's been much sweeter to him.

We also took advantage of the lovely weather to train Hyph on the big world outside. He's still not good with leashes, but the warm sun encouraged him to calm down and plate out.

Once we got home, I had a lovely bath, and the nice people at Lush made me laugh. I'd bought one of their "toffee apple" bathbombs - when I dropped it in the water, the creamy yellow ball suddenly split in half, and this bright blue, super fizzy ball shot out of the middle. The water instantly turned ocean blue - and the blue ball spat out a bit of paper as it disappeared... It said "BANG!"

Just then, the slower melting yellow shell disintegrated, crackling and popping with fizz candy, turning the water a delicious, clear emerald green.

Thanks Lush, that was awesomesauce!


Saturday 24 September 2011

Having a good soak...

Little Miss Mocha Choca MARIAN is improving in leaps and bounds - she still can't believe that she gets access to water every day! In the mornings, it's a real treat for her to leap in and have a dozy soak before schlepping herself onto her bedlog for a snooze under the heatlamps for an hour or two.

As you can see, she's MUCH cleaner than when she first arrived too, with all her lovely tigery markings on her tail and legs. The mutated claw on her right hand also snapped off, as she had a good dig under her new "table", leaving a nice clean (though clawless) fingertip. This has made it a lot easier for her to dig and run around her tank as it no longer snags on the bark or pokes the underside of her hand - and potentially makes it easier for her outside her tank when she sucks up the courage!

Yeah - Mocha still hasn't learned to explore properly - you fish her out of her tank, pop her in the middle of the room... and she sits there for hours until you rescue her. But she's getting braver!

Better yet, her attitude has greatly improved with the repeated handling, better feeding and freedom. The trust is slowly seeping in - she even spent an hour snuggled in bed with us. I did make the mistake of yawning and she scared the bejaysus out of me by "HUSSSK"ing right in my face. Poor thing thought I was going to eat her! So I popped her to bed - and found this when I checked on her an hour later!

Tuesday 20 September 2011

Greedy guts, the lot of yas!

Goodness me, the dragons aren't lizards, they're PIGS! Hehehe, they've eaten SO much today. I ordered some more of Nature's Grub Dragonfly Larvae in cans. Gamma radiated and cooked, these dragonfly larvae are juicy, fat and soft - and highly addictive it seems!

Tsam was getting seriously antsy whilst Sandy and baby Hyphen were outside, taking turns nomming the squishy brown bugs from my tweezers, but as Mocha didn't want any, I saved the biggest for him. Total dragon heaven: Sandy, Tsam and Hyphen ate the entire can between them... Yummy!

"Awww. All gone? Here, let me have the last of that gravy out of the bottom of the tin..." Whilst they look icky and smell gross, they're so tasty that Sandy stuck her head in the tin to lap up the "gravy", even though she had a drink in the bath last night!

I'm tempted to get some of the "Reptile Mix" next, as it's like a variety can with a combination of crickets, bamboo worms and grasshoppers.

Chi had come round this evening to keep an eye on His Lordship whilst I got lack-of-teeth friendly foods, so I did a biiig pot of butternut soup for us all when I got back. I had a little bit of butternut left over, so I did the dragons their own soup without any garlic or onion ingredients; making up for the flavour by adding dried herbs and carrot instead.

And boy, was it TASTY too - all of the dragons, including Miss Mocha, supped heartily of the creamy yellow, warm soup. Mocha's still very scared when I fish her out to feed her, but she's getting the hang of it and now looks forwards to the waxworm or waxmoth reward at the end.

Hyphen was easy to feed (always is really...) as he finds the "soup bug" utterly irresistible - I tuck the syringe into the palm of my hand so just the nozzle pokes out of the back of my fist - Hyph attacks it, bites the nozzle hard, and I depress the plunger with my thumb.

He ate so much, both he and I were genuinely worried he might pop...

Greedy guts, the lot of yas!

Goodness me, the dragons aren't lizards, they're PIGS! Hehehe, they've eaten SO much today. I ordered some more of Nature's Grub Dragonfly Larvae in cans. Gamma radiated and cooked, these dragonfly larvae are juicy, fat and soft - and highly addictive it seems!

Tsam was getting seriously antsy whilst Sandy and baby Hyphen were outside, taking turns nomming the squishy brown bugs from my tweezers, but as Mocha didn't want any, I saved the biggest for him. Total dragon heaven: Sandy, Tsam and Hyphen ate the entire can between them... Yummy!

"Awww. All gone? Here, let me have the last of that gravy out of the bottom of the tin..." Whilst they look icky and smell gross, they're so tasty that Sandy stuck her head in the tin to lap up the "gravy", even though she had a drink in the bath last night!

I'm tempted to get some of the "Reptile Mix" next, as it's like a variety can with a combination of crickets, bamboo worms and grasshoppers.

Chi had come round this evening to keep an eye on His Lordship whilst I got lack-of-teeth friendly foods, so I did a biiig pot of butternut soup for us all when I got back. I had a little bit of butternut left over, so I did the dragons their own soup without any garlic or onion ingredients; making up for the flavour by adding dried herbs and carrot instead.

And boy, was it TASTY too - all of the dragons, including Miss Mocha, supped heartily of the creamy yellow, warm soup. Mocha's still very scared when I fish her out to feed her, but she's getting the hang of it and now looks forwards to the waxworm or waxmoth reward at the end.

Hyphen was easy to feed (always is really...) as he finds the "soup bug" utterly irresistible - I tuck the syringe into the palm of my hand so just the nozzle pokes out of the back of my fist - Hyph attacks it, bites the nozzle hard, and I depress the plunger with my thumb.

He ate so much, both he and I were genuinely worried he might pop...

Monday 19 September 2011

Taking some teeth.

Brought HL breakfast in bed, nutella toast and tea. Poor chap is going to have surgery later to remove some teeth, so he had to eat early. He's not looking forwards to it, but it will be better than putting up with all those damaged/ing wisdom teeth.

We spotted this graffiti on the way through the underground walk to the hospital. I have to say, it's kind of fortunate I did make sure he had a good breakfast, as we were kept waiting for four hours.

But once he came back out, though still VERY woozy from the anaesthetics, he said he didn't care about the wait - that was DEFINITELY the way to have teeth removed. First class service. In fact, so good that, once he'd checked his fingers were still there with hand gestures very similar to Johnny Depp in Loathing, he even said we ought to leave them a tip. And that the anaesthetics definitely weren't a truth drug. "See - I AM the king of Dubai!" He also said that it was a shame they didn't give him a robot jaw. That would have been cool.

Guys, he'll be online later (he thinks!) but he can't at the moment - he's got really, really bad internal lag. His processor just won't handle the ... uh... something. But the toffee yogurt is really good!

Quote of the day: "Hello world! Goodbye teeth..." Freshly woken up. Quickly followed by: "Uhm. My tongue... my tongue it just won't. Won't do. Oooh. My brain is like treacle."

Taking some teeth.

Brought HL breakfast in bed, nutella toast and tea. Poor chap is going to have surgery later to remove some teeth, so he had to eat early. He's not looking forwards to it, but it will be better than putting up with all those damaged/ing wisdom teeth.

We spotted this graffiti on the way through the underground walk to the hospital. I have to say, it's kind of fortunate I did make sure he had a good breakfast, as we were kept waiting for four hours.

But once he came back out, though still VERY woozy from the anaesthetics, he said he didn't care about the wait - that was DEFINITELY the way to have teeth removed. First class service. In fact, so good that, once he'd checked his fingers were still there with hand gestures very similar to Johnny Depp in Loathing, he even said we ought to leave them a tip. And that the anaesthetics definitely weren't a truth drug. "See - I AM the king of Dubai!" He also said that it was a shame they didn't give him a robot jaw. That would have been cool.

Guys, he'll be online later (he thinks!) but he can't at the moment - he's got really, really bad internal lag. His processor just won't handle the ... uh... something. But the toffee yogurt is really good!

Quote of the day: "Hello world! Goodbye teeth..." Freshly woken up. Quickly followed by: "Uhm. My tongue... my tongue it just won't. Won't do. Oooh. My brain is like treacle."

Sunday 18 September 2011

Persisting it down.

We're all having a quiet morning. The dragons are VERY grateful for their warm, dry tanks, as it's been raining bucketfuls for the last seven hours. Mocha is convinced it will flood and refuses to come down from her table.

Never mind, Sandy is snuggled up in bed with us, where it is going to be a wonderful Sunday - no chores (or at least, they're not getting done!), The Big Bang Theory on TV, followed by the Three Musketeers (never seen it) and then double Simpsons. Oh, and I've prepared warmed chocolate brownies to be served with Thorntons toffee Icecream for breakfast, chicken satay rice with chicken sweet and sour balls for lunch, and then chow mein with exotic mushrooms for tea. How wonderful!

Update: It is oddly quiet now there isn't the thunderous tumult of rain pounding on the roof.

Persisting it down.

We're all having a quiet morning. The dragons are VERY grateful for their warm, dry tanks, as it's been raining bucketfuls for the last seven hours. Mocha is convinced it will flood and refuses to come down from her table.

Never mind, Sandy is snuggled up in bed with us, where it is going to be a wonderful Sunday - no chores (or at least, they're not getting done!), The Big Bang Theory on TV, followed by the Three Musketeers (never seen it) and then double Simpsons. Oh, and I've prepared warmed chocolate brownies to be served with Thorntons toffee Icecream for breakfast, chicken satay rice with chicken sweet and sour balls for lunch, and then chow mein with exotic mushrooms for tea. How wonderful!

Update: It is oddly quiet now there isn't the thunderous tumult of rain pounding on the roof.

Thursday 15 September 2011

Miss Mocha & &.

We finally settled on a full name for Miss Mocha. Her "kennel name" is Miss Mocha-Choca-Marion Asterisk von Munch. Ampersand has formally adopted her as her little sister, to teach her how things work here. I'm glad she's taking care of confused Miss Munch, because things are still very scary for her.

Our Sandy has a lot of sympathy for her, coming from a similar background and having to find her way in a whole new household - it's a daunting experience for any little lizard. She's even gentle with bouncy, boisterous, clueless little Hyphen - Kyle would have clouted him one by now!

Mind you, Sandy doesn't make things easy for Tsam. She doesn't play to the rules he's used to, and now he's all confused. Kyle was easy to bob at and show off to, but Sandy looks at him funny and raises an eyebrow instead of bowing and waving.

This does something very strange to his brain and now he gets baffled when he sees her - a bit like your average Joe Bloggs meeting Natalie Portman.

For example, yesterday he got so het up that he ran round the side of the tank to bob at her... and was thrown when all he found was the wooden wall of the tank there. (It's always been there.)

But today, he really fried his grey matter. He was antsying to come out and stretch his legs, so I put his slope out for him. As he bounced out, he caught sight of Sandy, looking all citrussy alluring in her tank. He bobbed furiously, got so worked up that he did a frantic little dance and then SHOT along his slope. Only to come to a very muddled halt.

Instead of charging DOWN the slope to show off to her, he accidentally ran UP the slope -back into his own tank.

It has made his brain hurt, so he's gone back to bed to think about it.

Miss Mocha & &.

We finally settled on a full name for Miss Mocha. Her "kennel name" is Miss Mocha-Choca-Marion Asterisk von Munch. Ampersand has formally adopted her as her little sister, to teach her how things work here. I'm glad she's taking care of confused Miss Munch, because things are still very scary for her.

Our Sandy has a lot of sympathy for her, coming from a similar background and having to find her way in a whole new household - it's a daunting experience for any little lizard. She's even gentle with bouncy, boisterous, clueless little Hyphen - Kyle would have clouted him one by now!

Mind you, Sandy doesn't make things easy for Tsam. She doesn't play to the rules he's used to, and now he's all confused. Kyle was easy to bob at and show off to, but Sandy looks at him funny and raises an eyebrow instead of bowing and waving.

This does something very strange to his brain and now he gets baffled when he sees her - a bit like your average Joe Bloggs meeting Natalie Portman.

For example, yesterday he got so het up that he ran round the side of the tank to bob at her... and was thrown when all he found was the wooden wall of the tank there. (It's always been there.)

But today, he really fried his grey matter. He was antsying to come out and stretch his legs, so I put his slope out for him. As he bounced out, he caught sight of Sandy, looking all citrussy alluring in her tank. He bobbed furiously, got so worked up that he did a frantic little dance and then SHOT along his slope. Only to come to a very muddled halt.

Instead of charging DOWN the slope to show off to her, he accidentally ran UP the slope -back into his own tank.

It has made his brain hurt, so he's gone back to bed to think about it.

Sunday 11 September 2011

Grr! Ooh, nice. AUGH! Oooooh pretty...

Oh for goodness sake! We walked an hour in to town to see Fright Night (with David Tennant, lovely!) - only to find it has been pulled so they can have six empty screens showing Jane fricking Eyre.

I suppose it could be worse, could be that silly horse faced woman in that yawny "look how hard my life is" crap. Oh... wait, that's also playing on multiple screens. I heard another disappointed would-have-been watcher comment that SJP "looks like she's trying so hard to act. All she is is clothes and makeup and not much else."

We gave up on that idea and headed home, stopping off at Shirabell's petstore on the way past - where we found this funky new table for Mocha. We also managed to find the perfect water bowl for Tsammy there too - it's identical to the one he's got, but twice the size.

I'm sure we'll give him an inferiority complex, because every time I upgrade something, he wakes up and thinks he's shrunk! Though he was very pleased when he found he could fit himself IN this bowl, rather than going in circles with his head underwater and his back legs and tail outside.

AUGH! Getting home wasn't much better. FB so crap that I actually lost my temper after my SEVENTH repost mysteriously vanished like its brothers. Oh, and then FB wouldn't let me post a status until I had accepted not one, not two, but three new pieces of s....ugar that I'm never going to use anyway. Ye gods and little fishes.

Whilst I'm Book-Ranting, the app fails to send me notifications. And fails to connect to FB when on the rare occasions it actually DOES remember that I might like notifying.

Long live GooglePlus, where there's no game nonsense posted all over my stream, where the pages actually work, where I can choose who reads what and what I read from whom, where the Google notifications work perfectly. Consistently. Immediately. And link through to a) Google and b) the relevant post. None of which FB does.

But on a bright note, Doctor Who was good this evening.

Ooh, speaking of which, I found a truly shocking rendition of the Doctor Who themetune. I mean it literally - it's a really good version with a lot of power. Sparks will fly!


Produced by ArcAttack's stage show team using two Dual-Resonant Solid State Tesla Coils as seperate synchronised instruments. The Tesla wave (continuous lightning bolt) it belts out creates a crisply distorted square wave sound - truly unnatural! DRSSTCs can be used for all kinds of fun, my favourite is a home-made rendition of the Super Mario Brothers theme tune.

Grr! Ooh, nice. AUGH! Oooooh pretty...

Oh for goodness sake! We walked an hour in to town to see Fright Night (with David Tennant, lovely!) - only to find it has been pulled so they can have six empty screens showing Jane fricking Eyre.

I suppose it could be worse, could be that silly horse faced woman in that yawny "look how hard my life is" crap. Oh... wait, that's also playing on multiple screens. I heard another disappointed would-have-been watcher comment that SJP "looks like she's trying so hard to act. All she is is clothes and makeup and not much else."

We gave up on that idea and headed home, stopping off at Shirabell's petstore on the way past - where we found this funky new table for Mocha. We also managed to find the perfect water bowl for Tsammy there too - it's identical to the one he's got, but twice the size.

I'm sure we'll give him an inferiority complex, because every time I upgrade something, he wakes up and thinks he's shrunk! Though he was very pleased when he found he could fit himself IN this bowl, rather than going in circles with his head underwater and his back legs and tail outside.

AUGH! Getting home wasn't much better. FB so crap that I actually lost my temper after my SEVENTH repost mysteriously vanished like its brothers. Oh, and then FB wouldn't let me post a status until I had accepted not one, not two, but three new pieces of s....ugar that I'm never going to use anyway. Ye gods and little fishes.

Whilst I'm Book-Ranting, the app fails to send me notifications. And fails to connect to FB when on the rare occasions it actually DOES remember that I might like notifying.

Long live GooglePlus, where there's no game nonsense posted all over my stream, where the pages actually work, where I can choose who reads what and what I read from whom, where the Google notifications work perfectly. Consistently. Immediately. And link through to a) Google and b) the relevant post. None of which FB does.

But on a bright note, Doctor Who was good this evening.

Ooh, speaking of which, I found a truly shocking rendition of the Doctor Who themetune. I mean it literally - it's a really good version with a lot of power. Sparks will fly!


Produced by ArcAttack's stage show team using two Dual-Resonant Solid State Tesla Coils as seperate synchronised instruments. The Tesla wave (continuous lightning bolt) it belts out creates a crisply distorted square wave sound - truly unnatural! DRSSTCs can be used for all kinds of fun, my favourite is a home-made rendition of the Super Mario Brothers theme tune.

Gone to the Goosefest!

We attended the Goosefest!

One of His Lordship's EvE friends decided as it was his girlfriend's birthday and she'd just come back from abroad, he'd throw a huge party to celebrate - and invite as many people as he could think of to come stand in a field for the evening.

In the middle of nowhere.

Thankfully, another of HL's random EvE friends was going, and loves any excuse for a good hammer down some motorways, so was more than happy to drive all the way here to take us there (bless him)! Better yet, Mauler's parents kindly let us stay the night in one of their spare bedrooms as they're just down the road from Goose's farm, saving us having to sleep in a tent, in a field, in the rain.

They're lovely people and have, quite frankly, a gorgeous house. His mum recently re-did all the kitchen, picking seaside colours and matching the warm orange from a tropical clam shell. The "island" worksurface was seriously cool, with a kettle tap (ayuh, a tap that runs through a kettle mechanism) and a pop up chrome cylinder containing extra plug sockets. And a glass fronted wine fridge. And hidden cupboards. And underfloor lighting.

Anyway, I digress. The party was a lot of fun - a wide range of people came from all over to Goose's farm, even though it was pounding down with rain. He'd had the brilliant idea of telling everyone to bring their own stuff in return for setting up a marquee to keep the barbeque, us and the food dry, as well as a MASSIVE yurt - complete with a projector and eight foot cinema screen!

As it got dark, we managed to run some lights into the marquee (the Yurt was already rigged) but we couldn't get them out to the barbeque in the rain - so Goose's Girl came up with a wonderful idea, and lent His Lordship a headlight. The moon was shining so bright, it cast shadows - once the rain finally cleared.

Without being too bragworthy, we brought the most delicious stuffed mushrooms in foil; wedged full of onions, garlic, mozzarella, cheddar and Lurpak salted butter. Oh, and some tasty pork with caramelised red onion sausages and a few boxes of Koppaburg - but everyone overdid it - Mauler bought chinese pork ribs, huge boxes of chicken drumsticks and Crabbies ginger beer (which is delicious by the way, I hadn't tried it and now I know what I was missing out on!), whilst someone else brought a box of 100 Lincolnshire sausages. People brought burgers, buns, crisps, Goose's Girl made massive, tasty bowls of potato salad and coleslaw, mixing bowls full of the stuff.

The cinema screen was a marvellous idea, because when the kids weren't learning how to drive the Landrover round the field (private land, it's what farmer's kids do here.) they were tucked away watching Toy Story 1, 2 &3, followed by the same of Ice Age. We grownups watched Shaun of the Dead later on, being somewhat a favourite amongst the Zombie Slaying Gamers. So much so that the game "Killing Floor" has a Shaun of the Dead map, complete with the Winchester pub!

Gone to the Goosefest!

We attended the Goosefest!

One of His Lordship's EvE friends decided as it was his girlfriend's birthday and she'd just come back from abroad, he'd throw a huge party to celebrate - and invite as many people as he could think of to come stand in a field for the evening.

In the middle of nowhere.

Thankfully, another of HL's random EvE friends was going, and loves any excuse for a good hammer down some motorways, so was more than happy to drive all the way here to take us there (bless him)! Better yet, Mauler's parents kindly let us stay the night in one of their spare bedrooms as they're just down the road from Goose's farm, saving us having to sleep in a tent, in a field, in the rain.

They're lovely people and have, quite frankly, a gorgeous house. His mum recently re-did all the kitchen, picking seaside colours and matching the warm orange from a tropical clam shell. The "island" worksurface was seriously cool, with a kettle tap (ayuh, a tap that runs through a kettle mechanism) and a pop up chrome cylinder containing extra plug sockets. And a glass fronted wine fridge. And hidden cupboards. And underfloor lighting.

Anyway, I digress. The party was a lot of fun - a wide range of people came from all over to Goose's farm, even though it was pounding down with rain. He'd had the brilliant idea of telling everyone to bring their own stuff in return for setting up a marquee to keep the barbeque, us and the food dry, as well as a MASSIVE yurt - complete with a projector and eight foot cinema screen!

As it got dark, we managed to run some lights into the marquee (the Yurt was already rigged) but we couldn't get them out to the barbeque in the rain - so Goose's Girl came up with a wonderful idea, and lent His Lordship a headlight. The moon was shining so bright, it cast shadows - once the rain finally cleared.

Without being too bragworthy, we brought the most delicious stuffed mushrooms in foil; wedged full of onions, garlic, mozzarella, cheddar and Lurpak salted butter. Oh, and some tasty pork with caramelised red onion sausages and a few boxes of Koppaburg - but everyone overdid it - Mauler bought chinese pork ribs, huge boxes of chicken drumsticks and Crabbies ginger beer (which is delicious by the way, I hadn't tried it and now I know what I was missing out on!), whilst someone else brought a box of 100 Lincolnshire sausages. People brought burgers, buns, crisps, Goose's Girl made massive, tasty bowls of potato salad and coleslaw, mixing bowls full of the stuff.

The cinema screen was a marvellous idea, because when the kids weren't learning how to drive the Landrover round the field (private land, it's what farmer's kids do here.) they were tucked away watching Toy Story 1, 2 &3, followed by the same of Ice Age. We grownups watched Shaun of the Dead later on, being somewhat a favourite amongst the Zombie Slaying Gamers. So much so that the game "Killing Floor" has a Shaun of the Dead map, complete with the Winchester pub!

Friday 9 September 2011

Little Miss? More like Little Madam!

Pose of the day win!

I found this big old stick in my "beardie spares" cupboard! It stands in a very stable fashion, ideal for young dragons to scamper up and down and, best of all, it was free! It was a leftover item amongst many that came with the TripleTank I bought some time back (and is still waiting for us to move house before setting up. It's big.) There are some other branches, but I don't know how this new tank will progress yet.

I also discovered that her bad temper isn't down to the fact that it's new and scary here, it's actually due to the complete lack of training - she's utterly antisocial and has been "husking" at me all morning. This is a low down, drawn out, hunkered beardie hiss that goes "huuuuuuscccckkkk", serving as a threat. We've also had some magnificent beards and plate walking too.

Beardie face of DOOM! "HUUUUUSK!"

But no fear - I am confident I can train her out of these bad habits. She is too used to getting her own way and people backing off when she tells them to. Thankfully she's not inclined to bite (or hasn't thought of it yet.)

Her happy colour is a deep, textured brown, a little paler than coffee cake and her "warm colour" reminds me of rain sprinkled ashes, or coal dust in wet sand - very similar in colour to Tsam, if a little more chocolatey.

Oh, and I forgot to say; the RSPCA people hadn't realised I'd had TWO collection jars. They later found the second one in the stickers/posters crate - bringing the total raised to over £450 that day! For the WIN!

Little Miss? More like Little Madam!

Pose of the day win!

I found this big old stick in my "beardie spares" cupboard! It stands in a very stable fashion, ideal for young dragons to scamper up and down and, best of all, it was free! It was a leftover item amongst many that came with the TripleTank I bought some time back (and is still waiting for us to move house before setting up. It's big.) There are some other branches, but I don't know how this new tank will progress yet.

I also discovered that her bad temper isn't down to the fact that it's new and scary here, it's actually due to the complete lack of training - she's utterly antisocial and has been "husking" at me all morning. This is a low down, drawn out, hunkered beardie hiss that goes "huuuuuuscccckkkk", serving as a threat. We've also had some magnificent beards and plate walking too.

Beardie face of DOOM! "HUUUUUSK!"

But no fear - I am confident I can train her out of these bad habits. She is too used to getting her own way and people backing off when she tells them to. Thankfully she's not inclined to bite (or hasn't thought of it yet.)

Her happy colour is a deep, textured brown, a little paler than coffee cake and her "warm colour" reminds me of rain sprinkled ashes, or coal dust in wet sand - very similar in colour to Tsam, if a little more chocolatey.

Oh, and I forgot to say; the RSPCA people hadn't realised I'd had TWO collection jars. They later found the second one in the stickers/posters crate - bringing the total raised to over £450 that day! For the WIN!

Thursday 8 September 2011

Meeting Mocha

Little dragon is very worried about the bath - it's big and wet and noisy - but he's looking much better after good scrub with my special formula dragon soap. The toothbrush (for scrubbing) was also quite scary, but very efficient at lifting off some more of that horrible gunk from between the scales and toes.

He smells much better now too; even after yesterday's bath in the drinking water marathon, he was still leaving muddy trails in the water as the months of dirt and mess rinsed off - I'm amazed, there's really rather pretty patterns under there, having turned up looking a funny yellow grey colour, there's all these lovely angular patterns and the stripes up his legs were a surprise!

We also clipped his nails, discovered he is a she and gave her a nice big dinner of superworms and endives. We were intending on calling him Alphonse, but not really suitable for a girl - but Mum saved the day with "Mocha".

Meeting Mocha

Little dragon is very worried about the bath - it's big and wet and noisy - but he's looking much better after good scrub with my special formula dragon soap. The toothbrush (for scrubbing) was also quite scary, but very efficient at lifting off some more of that horrible gunk from between the scales and toes.

He smells much better now too; even after yesterday's bath in the drinking water marathon, he was still leaving muddy trails in the water as the months of dirt and mess rinsed off - I'm amazed, there's really rather pretty patterns under there, having turned up looking a funny yellow grey colour, there's all these lovely angular patterns and the stripes up his legs were a surprise!

We also clipped his nails, discovered he is a she and gave her a nice big dinner of superworms and endives. We were intending on calling him Alphonse, but not really suitable for a girl - but Mum saved the day with "Mocha".

Wednesday 7 September 2011

Lizard 'lert!

Ooh heck, there might be a lizard turning up - just got a text asking if I could take him on! I haven't a clue of anything about it other than they think it's male, he's a beardie, supposedly "citrus phase", but that's all I know... Oh, and pparently his name is Mr Munch, or Munchee. Might need to give him a first name.

Update: Arranged to collect, 30 mins to lizard o'clock... looks a bit bare, bit we will work on that later.

Later update: I'm not taking pictures this evening, because poor thing was filthy, scared and tired - it's about 9pm. I have to say though, the little guy is surprisingly cute, with a stumpy tail and dinged fingers. Desperately needs a good bath, but that can wait for tomorrow. It's all very scary right now.

Hah, scrap that, he just discovered the water bowl - I don't think he's ever seen water before - and he's spent a whole HOUR taking big drinks and giving himself a good scrub. I had to change the water twice because it was so filthy, it was the colour of strong tea each time I emptied it... still smells funny and is a bit mucky, but can have real bath tomorrow.

Apparently his old owner was told that his stumpy tail and dinged fingers was due to "temperature fluctuations" in the incubator. Uhhh, no. Poor little sod has been attacked by bigger lizard.

No worries, the big lizard here won't bite.

Lizard 'lert!

Ooh heck, there might be a lizard turning up - just got a text asking if I could take him on! I haven't a clue of anything about it other than they think it's male, he's a beardie, supposedly "citrus phase", but that's all I know... Oh, and pparently his name is Mr Munch, or Munchee. Might need to give him a first name.

Update: Arranged to collect, 30 mins to lizard o'clock... looks a bit bare, bit we will work on that later.

Later update: I'm not taking pictures this evening, because poor thing was filthy, scared and tired - it's about 9pm. I have to say though, the little guy is surprisingly cute, with a stumpy tail and dinged fingers. Desperately needs a good bath, but that can wait for tomorrow. It's all very scary right now.

Hah, scrap that, he just discovered the water bowl - I don't think he's ever seen water before - and he's spent a whole HOUR taking big drinks and giving himself a good scrub. I had to change the water twice because it was so filthy, it was the colour of strong tea each time I emptied it... still smells funny and is a bit mucky, but can have real bath tomorrow.

Apparently his old owner was told that his stumpy tail and dinged fingers was due to "temperature fluctuations" in the incubator. Uhhh, no. Poor little sod has been attacked by bigger lizard.

No worries, the big lizard here won't bite.

Friday 2 September 2011

Reptile Rescuers for the RSPCA!

As it is one of my rare days off, I decided to go in to town to raise money for RSPCA. I took Sandy with me, as she is both an RSPCA rescue herself, and VERY tolerant indeed - probably good job, because she had enough fussings and pattings to last her the next two years! Mind, it was all worth it, we drew big crowds, gave out simply PAGES of stickers and had to get new collecting tub because the first one got too heavy and the string was digging into my arm.


Final total for us street collectors came in at £413.50! Woohoo!


Went in afternoon and got my Kyle tattoo done, like I promised her. Only the middle stung like a b*tch. Was really really good! Progress! Didn't even swear.


I wanted a simple lizard shape, no accuracy required, because it's the colour that's important. Is not pretty, perfect or tidy - but neither am I and neither was Kyle, so that's exactly what I wanted.



I still have to get the other three done: Tsam in charcoal grey/brown, Sandy as citrus orange and Hyphen in rusty red - but there's no rush. This one was the important one; well, Kyle left a mark on my heart, my mind and my soul (and occasionally the carpet, haha), so it seemed only reasonable to finish the collection!


Mind you, chest runs risk of looking like Escher painting once added all lizards...

Reptile Rescuers for the RSPCA!

As it is one of my rare days off, I decided to go in to town to raise money for RSPCA. I took Sandy with me, as she is both an RSPCA rescue herself, and VERY tolerant indeed - probably good job, because she had enough fussings and pattings to last her the next two years! Mind, it was all worth it, we drew big crowds, gave out simply PAGES of stickers and had to get new collecting tub because the first one got too heavy and the string was digging into my arm.


Final total for us street collectors came in at £413.50! Woohoo!


Went in afternoon and got my Kyle tattoo done, like I promised her. Only the middle stung like a b*tch. Was really really good! Progress! Didn't even swear.


I wanted a simple lizard shape, no accuracy required, because it's the colour that's important. Is not pretty, perfect or tidy - but neither am I and neither was Kyle, so that's exactly what I wanted.



I still have to get the other three done: Tsam in charcoal grey/brown, Sandy as citrus orange and Hyphen in rusty red - but there's no rush. This one was the important one; well, Kyle left a mark on my heart, my mind and my soul (and occasionally the carpet, haha), so it seemed only reasonable to finish the collection!


Mind you, chest runs risk of looking like Escher painting once added all lizards...

Thursday 1 September 2011

Relocation, Relocation...

As Kyle now has a pretty pine box with a brass sign and her stack of gold and jewels on top, I rebuilt her tank so Sandy could move in as Ky would have wanted. It didn't seem right to have a dark, empty tank at the bottom of a vibrant stack of lizards.





In this pic, Sandy has just found the "secret room" at the left, with the roots from her old tank and fake ficus leaves. Kyle used to have her grapevine there and was her favourite spot for some peace and quiet, as the partition made it feel like a separate tank, whilst keeping it a little cooler than the main. The partition is also helping distribution of weight from the two tanks above.


Sandy spent the morning sat on Kyle's swing (having always admired it and shared it with her before), before having a poke round in the corkbark hut behind Ky's favourite old log. Hyph's got her pingpong ball as she requested, and Tsam has her big blue diamond.


Tsam spent day being very sad when he realised Kyle no longer lives in the tank under him. But not sad enough to put him off his dinner. Hehe, bless. He's got used to the idea now, and was delighted to introduce himself properly to his new neighbour. BOB BOB BOB LOOK AT ME SQUAREHEAD! Sandy rolled her eyes and waved at him.


Went out for dinner to F&Bs as we couldn't get to Cafe Rouge in Bath today (Kyle's favourite restaurant, they used to give her free salad!), and then went to watch Inbetweeners Movie. Very good, cringe inducing. Most amusing bit: the little old lady sat in the next row with a face like an amused bulldog. Apparently it was her cup of tea!

Relocation, Relocation...

As Kyle now has a pretty pine box with a brass sign and her stack of gold and jewels on top, I rebuilt her tank so Sandy could move in as Ky would have wanted. It didn't seem right to have a dark, empty tank at the bottom of a vibrant stack of lizards.





In this pic, Sandy has just found the "secret room" at the left, with the roots from her old tank and fake ficus leaves. Kyle used to have her grapevine there and was her favourite spot for some peace and quiet, as the partition made it feel like a separate tank, whilst keeping it a little cooler than the main. The partition is also helping distribution of weight from the two tanks above.


Sandy spent the morning sat on Kyle's swing (having always admired it and shared it with her before), before having a poke round in the corkbark hut behind Ky's favourite old log. Hyph's got her pingpong ball as she requested, and Tsam has her big blue diamond.


Tsam spent day being very sad when he realised Kyle no longer lives in the tank under him. But not sad enough to put him off his dinner. Hehe, bless. He's got used to the idea now, and was delighted to introduce himself properly to his new neighbour. BOB BOB BOB LOOK AT ME SQUAREHEAD! Sandy rolled her eyes and waved at him.


Went out for dinner to F&Bs as we couldn't get to Cafe Rouge in Bath today (Kyle's favourite restaurant, they used to give her free salad!), and then went to watch Inbetweeners Movie. Very good, cringe inducing. Most amusing bit: the little old lady sat in the next row with a face like an amused bulldog. Apparently it was her cup of tea!