The Brownie is back

Well we arrived a little early to pick daughter number 1 from Brownie camp. We speculated on the way over what reception we would get this time. As we pulled into the field we were greeted by a wave and a smile - good sign. We hung back as we were early and didn't want to provoke the same reaction as Saturday, you know the your embarrassing me look ( when do you go from being the one embarrassed to the one doing the embarrassing?). The Brownies had to get together for one last pow wow whilst we were guided to pick up their belongings.

Well all I can say is hats off to the Brownie leaders, the arts and crafts and actives they had crammed into two days was amazing. We were fully laden with "stuff" and we still needed find the bags and sleeping bags. No surprise it was all organised and waiting for us.

As the Brownies came back across the field I excitedly asked my daughter "how was it?" Reply "fine" Well they say the apple doesn't fall far from the tree and I have been repeatedly reminded by my mother that I also wasn't one for giving much away when coming home from school etc. So I can't be doing with this as I can tell she has had an amazing time. so I say " best not go again next year if it's rubbish". "Oh no " she says "it was great". That was it until we got in the car where I had her contained for 20 mins so I could question her. The result she had had a great time, meeting snakes, cockroaches ( apparently one brownie nearly stood on the boy one!!)visiting the tuck shop and having hot chocolate every night.

She did make it very clear in her own way that she had given it her all and there was nothing left of her but to have a bath and go to bed. Her sister on the other hand wanted to touch and feel everything she had - you can imagine the result.

Now having been a mother for nearly nine years and studied behaviour I anticipated a little fluctuation in mood shall we say. So I felt the best way to deal with this was to pre- arrange some mummy time out on my horse and leave the girls to Daddy;)

So all in all I would 150% recommend brownie camp. I am so pleased my little girl got to have the wonderful experience of being away with all her friends. Roll on next year.

Big day for me tomorrow I am off to the Pet Care Trust awards as I am a finalist in the boarding category of their awards. To get this far is amazing but if I win it I win be on cloud 9

Follow this blog

OMG MOTHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER

So as I mentioned yesterday I forgot my daughters coat for Brownie camp. So as was woken by the rain I felt guilty as I rolled over and hit the "snooze" button. Once I had got up the rain had stopped so I put the rabbits and ducks out to play ( too damp for piggies). Then we made our way over to the camp. We strolled accross the field and as my gorgeous daughter caught sight of Me, her Dad (who had been dragged there after 4 hours sleep) and her younger sisters (who was prematurely dressed for Halloween)the look of horror on her face was amazing. It then suddenly turned into Teenager your cramping my style mode. Honestly you have never seen a child roll their eyes like she did. So I waved the coat like some sort of peace flag, nope she was now looking at us like we were strange weirdos trying to steal her. Thank goodness it's a community event and all the leaders knew us. So I went over delivered the coat and wash bag with tooth paste and a chocolate bar, it was then passed to my daughter who refused to acknowledge us as her next of kin. I fell into line for once and tried to leave without causing anymore embarrassment however one of the leaders wanted to talk dog training with me and as we have already fixed one of the other leaders dogs we had a bit of chatting to do. Any way we left as the reptiles were arriving and took the dogs for a lovely walk. I then returned home to the most amazing customer review which I would like to share.


Furry hotel review


If you are pondering over whether Madeleine and the small furry hotel is the
best place for your pets holiday then please read on...
I met Madeleine just under a year ago after we had adopted two rescue guinea
pigs on a spur of the moment decision. Shortly after adopting we realised that
due to the nature of our jobs we needed someone reliable to look after the
cavies when we were working overseas etc. At the time we had no idea that such a
facility existed and after some research we found a couple of carers of small
furries, I went to visit the first as it was my closest and was completely put
off the whole idea due to cramped living conditions, piggy & rabbit runs on the
lawn with 3 dogs running around scaring all the animals etc. I was therefore a
little wary about the idea but decided to take the 50min drive over to the small
furry hotel to investigate- what I came across was the complete opposite of the
last place I had seen. Tranquil, rural, spacious, clean, green and friendly. On
first impressions your only thoughts are Madeleine must be bonkers to have the
bravery to look after all these animals, but within 10mins you realise she and
her family are committed, animal loving people who are the perfect people to
look after your pet.
Our piggys - rhino & Darwin have been staying with madeleine at the furry hotel
for roughly 7 days out of every 30 for the last 12months due to the nature of
our jobs; she gives us the ability to be able to keep our pigs without either
neglecting them by leaving them under the neighbours part time care whilst we're
away or by having to make the choice not to have pets at all.
Going beyond this, as we have two male pigs they started to scrap about 4 months
ago, the fights got worse and we ended up with a bit of a blood bath one
evening, not knowing how to deal with the situation I have to admit I text
Madeleine to ask her advice, within minutes she had called me back offering
advice, calming us down and giving us the contact details of an excellent vet.
All I can say is that goes beyond anything I could ever have expected. But it
doesn't stop there! A decision was made to castrate our piggies to reduce their
testosterone levels with the hope that it would stop any future fights (it has)
- unfortunately their were complications with Darwin and he struggled with
swelling and had to undergo a second very challenging operation to relieve the
issues, whilst going through the procedure they also found that he had kidney
stones (fairly common in boars). All of these decisions/choices and vet visits
occurred in the run up to some big and frequent work trips that we just couldn't
change. The pigs were already booked in to stay at the furry hotel during these
periods prior to any operations so a call was put in to madeleine to ask her to
take care of our special boys during this traumatic period for them.. Not only
did she say yes, but she kept them inside in the warm whilst they recovered,
gave Darwin his medication twice a day, syringe fed the poor little chap every
2-3hours as he was unable to eat for himself and to avoid the possible killer
during these periods of gut-stasis, she weighed him as per our request on each
feeding to make sure he was keeping his weight up.. Darwin would not have made it as far as he did without the love,
care and commitment of the newly named 'Aunty Madeleine'.
Sadly a few weeks later when we thought Darwin had nearly recovered a new swelling appeared so we took him to a specialist in Andover
and he had to undergo another huge operation to repair a herniated bladder, sadly he did not come through this operation and
being left heart-broken and with a pining and lonely Guinea pig we were lost as to what to do. Madeleine put us in touch immediately with
Waggy Tails rescue who had a few guinea pigs waiting for adoption, she spoke to them on our behalf convinced them that we
are good piggy parents and we bought home a pair of girls yesterday.. now the bonding process is just begining and fingers
crossed it will work out and poor Rhino will have some new companions, in the meantime whilst the bonding process is underway he has the company (through wire mesh) to
keep him active and not so lonely.
Without Madeleines suport and commitment to all things furry we truly wouldn't have been able to give the care and love to our
piggys that we have done and do. I wouldn't trust anyone else to not only take great care of them but to consistently go beyond the call of duty to help them (and us!).
If you are pondering as to whether or not this is the right place for your pet, then i hope that this review has stopped any doubts you may
have had.
RIP Darwin our beloved Piggy 14/9/11

www.smallfurryhotel.com

Follow this blog

I

The big week

Well it came and passed.........

The first week of school for my baby.

It has been full of up's and down a real roller coaster of emotions for me. My baby was superb Sunday night was like Christmas eve. The uniform was laid out and re laid out several times. Then at 6.30am I hear "Mum, Mummy can I get dresses now". We managed to keep her contained until school opened. She was a bit like one of those horses at the races waiting for the gates to open. Well Big school door was opened and she was straight in no messing. I was left to get tearful in the car park, I managed to hold it together but it was more the bulging red eye thing.

Well she has flown through the week, tiredness has been a little issue. Bless her she has started full time straight away which appears to have worked well. However I did remember her sister was tired right up until half term so we haven't arranged any after school activities, which seems to have helped.

So that's it as I enter a new era of my life being a Mum to school Children and not pre schoolers or babies I will look back fondly at the wonderful times I had with my babies and look forward to the next stage of their lives.

Which has already started with Brownie camp for the eldest one tonight. I have dropped her off and left her with about 40 very excited girls. Her excitement has developed into cheekiness's at times over the week as she has developed the well I old enough to go away for the weekend and therefore I could probably leave home too as at the grand old age of 8 I know it all attitude!!!!!"

So I am going to enjoy a weekend with just me and my baby while the elder one is at large with nature. Mind you we have to pop over tomorrow with her coat!!! You know how we strive to be a good mum? Well I ironed everything today including neckachife things, wrote her a little note etc but forgot a coat!! So I approached Brown Owl like a moody teenager and said "right! I have tried to do the good Mum thing I have even ironed her knicker however I have forgot her a coat!! "Never mind" she says "you can drop one over tomorrow" Thing is I would have like to have just once got the whole thing right and been the classic organised Mum........Perhaps she doesn't exist?!!!

Follow this blog