Two things...

... that have brightened my return to work this week.

Hoping that maybe, possibly, I might be in with a teeny weeny chance of winning this fantastic giveaway from Silver Pebble.



Her jewellery is so beautiful - do pop over and have a look. Be quick though - I think the giveaway ends tomorrow.

And then I discovered this story on another blog, and it has made me chuckle all day. If you need cheering up then go and read this - I can't get the vision of it out of my head.

We're very proud

Today Lily has graduated from puppy school.

Now let's not get too excited here - this doesn't necessarily mean she is any better behaved.
However, it does mean that I don't have to spend any more Saturday mornings doing my best Barbara Woodhouse impressions in a freezing cold barn.

So, to celebrate we had a nice long walk home (no mean feat when you own the only dog in the world who doesn't really like walking) and admired the snowdrops on the way.

And then baked a batch of rock cakes - something I've not made since I was at primary school.

I've given up chocolate for Lent you see (and coffee) and was in need of a sweet treat to take my mind off the deprivation. I read about rock cakes on somebody else's blog recently (so sorry, but I can't remember where) and it sent me off down memory lane so I scoured my shelves for a recipe and here's the result - rather nice they are too, a bit like cakey scones.

And, having used up the last egg to make the cakes, I then had an empty egg box, which is just what I needed for my next project - chitting my seed potatoes.

Quite a productive day really and tomorrow it's my birthday, so I can be completely unproductive without feeling guilty about it.

The joy of pets

How romantic.

A shared bath, a jug of Pimms...

... a kitchen timer, a bottle of antispetic shampoo and a scabby South American rodent.

Guinea pigs.

They are lovely pets for children. Cute, easy to handle and, though quite prolific in the bowel offerings department, at least they're of the compact variety that are relatively easy to clean up.

However, they can also be rather prone to skin infections.

And, if they get one, you have to bath them.

That's right, bath a guinea pig.

Did I say they were easy to handle?

That's in their unsoapy, unterrified state.

They're still cute though.

Especially when you get to cuddle them dry.