I will not cry.

Lily, my foster-Lurcher, is off to her forever home on Sunday.

I know she is going to be very happy with her new family, she's met them and made herself right at home when we went for the home visit and she got on really well with their lovely old lurcher boy, Mungo.

The first foster is always the hardest to let go, so I'm told. I have to remember that it's right for her. She relaxed more with them in an hour than she's ever done here. She's never been entirely comfortable around The Lurchers.

I shall miss her terribly.

Croak

I wandered into the kitchen without putting the light on.

In my stockinged feet* I almost stood on something.

Fortunately I stopped before putting my full weight on it.

I bent to pick it up.

It moved.

It was a toad**

Why is there a toad in my kitchen?


*What a lovely old-fashioned phrase that is!
** Stockinged feet. Toad. There has to be a joke in there.

I am fed up

I have tried to post an epic photo-blog of The Lurchers and have failed miserably because Blogger keeps messing with my layout and leaving gaping holes all through the blog or puts text in the wrong place.

So I have thrown my toys out of my pram and stormed off in a fit of pique.

You'll just have to make do with this small blog instead:

Blogs from the Dogs posted a thread about Lurcher talons and laid down a challenge to beat the length of theirs. Well, you be the judge, but I rather think Lurcher No.2 can ably meet the challenge!

Trudi Canavan up-date

Especially for Dakota and Sarah......

I've started reading the Age of The Five and it's not gripping me quite as much as the Black Magician - but then Black Magician is a lot to live up to so don't take that as a negative comment. It's still a very good read and I am enjoying it but it's taking me a little longer to warm to the main characters than it did Sonea. Alngside the main plot there is an undercurrent of devotion to gods warring with "alternative" healers (putting it into a modern context) which is going to be interesting as it plays out.

I think this might be a slightly darker series - there's a war looming with some nasty sounding characters - but I don't think you'll be sorry if you buy it!

Reading matter

It's not very often that I feel compelled to recommend an author or a particular set of books. Books are such a personal thing and what one person thinks is a book that should be read by the entire world population, another person thinks is fire fodder. And people read for many different reasons. Some to learn more of a subject or to better themselves intellectually, others for sheer escapism. Those that fall into the latter category will also be split into the different types of fiction.

That said, there is one book that should be read by the entire population and that is The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. Possibly THE best book ever written.

But I digress as that's not the one I want to tell you about . I read for escapism so my taste lies in Science Fantasy, something I read almost exclusively, so if that's not a genre (what an up-your-backside word that is) that interests you, you might want to stop reading now!

I can frequently be found trawling through the virtual shelves that are Amazon looking for the latest by the authors that make it to my preferred list and, occasionally, I venture into the collection of books that Amazon recommends I might enjoy, given my previous purchases. Which, thinking about it, is a bit scary really. A bit of computer software is learning my tastes and preferences. But I'm digressing again.

One of the recommendations was Trudi Canavan and her Black Magician Trilogy. I bought the first, started reading and very quickly ordered the other two. It's classic Science Fantasy with magicians and and a young heroine from the slums made good in the world of magic. But there's something about the way Ms Canavan writes that grips you in from the first page and keeps you held there by the throat until you've finished. Much as I love reading, it takes something very special to make wake up early in the morning so I can pick up the book because I so desperately want to know what happens next.

So if Science Fantasy floats your boat, go buy them now!

My Daemon

Let's get another bandwagon on the roll!

HNT #1

Here's a question....

...should lawyers be considered sexy? And if not, why do I think mine is?

Do I need therapy?

(I'm speaking of the male variety on this occasion but feel free to consider the female variety as well if you're male.....or not, as the case may be. )

I am.....

...still alive and in one piece but very very busy, hence lack of recent bloggage. However, as I have now reached my target weight I am considering, just considering mind you, my first ever HNT featuring....drum roll please....the Playboy knickers!

Just don't hold your breath.

Oh, and Lurcher No.2 is broken again. He caught his first rabbit last night and as he twisted to catch it he hurt his leg. He opened his mouth to squeal and said bunny made a hasty departure quite unbelieving at his luck in being caught by the wimpiest lurcher around.

And for those of you easily offended, I don't usually allow The Lurchers to chase and terrorise small cute furry little bunnies but this one took the kamikaze decision to run out right in front of Lurcher No.2's nose as we cycled home. Game on I'm afraid.