I am rapidly falling out of love with my new camera.....

...it's great for pictures of things that don't move..like cotton reels....the detail in the pictures is fantastic.

..but, for things that do move...it plays a little tune, flashes a few lights.....and takes so long to set itself up..

...that who ever I am trying to capture has got up and moved away.  Honestly, I have got so many pictures of bored dog's bottoms since Christmas..

...... and can you imagine trying to stop these two from shovelling long enough to take a photograph...

           .....It's just not going to happen.

So my old camera is back in favour even without a flash, at least I can chuck it in my pocket without worrying about it getting broken

Darsh is getting all excited....

....we went to view the "police lost property" auction yesterday.  It was blooming freezing even though it was indoors, and there was so much stuff, from Tv's, clothes, cameras, Wii's, house stuff, even an Apple iMac computer.  Dad is planning to go back tomorrow, with Alan for another look!  I quite fancy the Amazon Kindle or the DS XL that I saw locked in the cabinet.  Next week there is an auction for "pawnbrokers unredeemed pledges" and even a "goods lost in transit" auction the following week.  I fear we shall need a new garage!

Took a ride to Warwick on Friday, to the Thai of course, the food is soooo good, it might be worth going to live in Warwick just to be able to eat there more often.  We didn't bother taking the dog, cos it was far to cold to even think of going for a walk along the canal, he was hiding behind the chair so it was obvious he didn't want to go either.

   Washed Charlotte's fluffy slippers today, inside out of course, they look just like the cuddly toys we used to wash for homestart.  Note the missing pom-poms, Joe found one and thought it was a mouse.  He spent a happy half hour throwing it in the air and rolling on it before ripping it up all over Selina's new carpet...

...Sara bought Charlotte the slippers, she loves them so much..guess what she bought me for Christmas...

    .....but in a far more practical colour, obviously.  

      We pensioners have started shopping in Aldi, no more M and S and Waitrose for us then.  Actually I like their fruit and veg, as it cheaper and lots more of it is grown in this country.  [If I can believe what it says on the wrapper]  But I also like their flowers and plants- but I'm sure they are brought in from abroad.

         This lovely spray of cut orchids was only £1.99 and they are supposed to last for a few weeks.

......  and these  little Calanchoes were £1.50, and look so cheerful sat in my little coffee cups that I had actually put out for the jumble sale!  They are  on my kitchen window sill, reminding me that spring can't be that far away.

    This clown got himself up on the window sill, and then had a bit of a problem....

         ....cos I was washing the carpet and moved the furniture,  so he couldn't get down and even when he did he was too scared of the carpet cleaner to walk past it.  It does make an awful noise and he is not too good with loud noises...

                  .....but since then he has not only managed to find a way down, but he has raided the dustbin....and eaten all the veggie peelings......if he is sick on my clean carpets!!!!

Had a ride out today....

                   .....and ended up at the Black country museum....

......our annual tickets run out soon so we have to make the most of them.  It wasn't as deserted as I thought it would be,considering how cold it was.  There was quite a lot of people wandering and lots of staff in costume too.  Several coach lots of children from local schools were running round in small groups. 
    We walked into Tipton first and had a coffee and bacon sandwich then walked to the museum, we were in for about an hour then Darsh started to get cold and was ready for home.  Now he is in bed, fully clothed with 2 heaters on, a dog all snuggled up and his mobile phone in his hand.  At least he has taken his hat off - that thing just has to go, he lives in it and even wears it in the house, moaning that he never used to feel the cold like this when he was younger!

Not a very energetic week...

...but it seems to have gone by pretty fast.  Fitted in a haircut, a couple of walks, a wander round the shops at Castle Vale, met up with Charlotte after work and had tea in the 'slug and lettuce' in the city centre. 
   Charlotte fancies renting herself somewhere in the city centre to cut out her daily commute and to enjoy living in the centreof Birmingham.  Selina and Pete flew to the Phillipines yesterday.  They have got 2 weeks off and fancied somewhere different!  Not heard from them, but we don't really expect to, what with all the floods they have had in Aus, Brazil and the PHILLIPINES. 

We felt like we were out of prison....

The park was packed

Joe had to fight his way through the crowds!

....the sun was out for the first time in ages.  So I grabbed the lead and walked in the park-quick-before it went in again.....it was warm and still, the only sounds were my boots squelching in the wet and the crows calling from the trees.  Joe's paws thundered on the wet turf as he chased after me.

          
          Stopped to admire the last crab apples hanging onto their branch, against the first blue sky in ages.

   
         The path down to Banners Gate was tempting to us both, but we had already been out for an hour.....  

     
 ..... and the car was a long way off...You can just see it in the distance, right of the shiny silver one!

Rain, rain, rain....

....so we haven't done much this week except stay in and stay dry-ish. Went for a walk yesterday but the wind was bitterly cold and I came home with tooth-ache. Drove across to Brownhills today for a bit of shopping and a break from the house.

Charlotte is a working girl and seems to be enjoying herself, learning something new and meeting new people. But it is so dark and wet in the mornings when she goes for her bus, it makes a dog want to hide under the bed and hope noone knows where you are!

Getting back to normal...

....the decorations are back in the loft, washing and ironing all done and all the old bits of tinsel and stars vacuumed off the carpets.  Christmas is well and truly over.  The snow has all gone and it is milder than it has been for a long while.  Charlotte and Matt are on their way up from Bristol, ready for Charlotte to start her new job on Monday.  We even saw a bit of blue sky over the house today.

Back from Bristol.....

....we went to Selina and Pete's for the new year.  They got as far as Chester road before the not so smart car broke down, but we had to carry on without them because Ch. had an appointment in Bristol.  We had to go via the garage because we ran over a piece of metal and ruined the tyre the day before and so needed a spare.  It was a rush, but we got there and Ch made her appointment and got herself a mortgage.  Then we managed to get a key from the neighbour and get into Selina's house.  Sand P rolled up many hours later on the back of the AA van-like father so like daughter!

      ....Had a ride to Portishead, walked along the waters edge, watched the boats and bought our New Years Eve feast in Waitrose.   Darsh found 6 litre bottles of milk for 10p, so simply had to buy 18 litres of it.  We had pancakes, milky drinks galore and cauliflower cheese to try and use it all up.
       Spent the evening at home eating, playing board games and watching out for fireworks.  At midnight the sky was full of chinese lanterns, Ch counted 72 going up all together over the valley. 

         

New Years day-we went to Bath