Tuesday 17 October 2017

Pup On My Pillow!



Got into bed the other night and thought my pillow felt a bit lumpy. Found this underneath it!



That was him looking as if he thought I hadn'tnoticed.



That was when he realised I had!

Saw this chap about to raid a neighbour’s pond! Very hastily taken as he was about to slither out of view. Not that herons tend to slither.



Almost didn't have any photos at all! Photoshop stopped working, the drop down menus were empty and it turned out to be something Windows 10 did on their last update - removing fonts that Photoshop uses. So it had to be reinstalled. Thankfully working okay now.

Last weekend I planned to go to the Sea Shanty Festival. I love it, walking round the old town listening to the music. Something incredibly cheery about a sea shanty and it’s a great atmosphere. It’s about 2.5 miles from my house to the quay and I set off on Saturday with good intentions, but ended up turning home within half a mile of my destination. It was hot and clammy and I was tired. It had been a busy week.

I could have gone on the second day of the Sea Shanty Festival, but I’d already planned to go to the Ipswich Vegan Festival at Portman Road. It’s years since I’ve been to the football stadium and it was kind of nice to be back there.

I’ve never been to a vegan festival before so it was good to do something different.

There was a small queue when we arrived, but it grew longer and longer and once we were in, people didn’t stop arriving. There were so many stalls, Tower Hill Stables Animal Sanctuary, Sea Shepherds UK, Animals Asia, Actions for Greyhounds, Animal Aid, The Humane Research Trust to name but a few.

And there were stalls selling vegan products and books.

I bought some things from the Hunt Sabs stall and Greek Animal Rescue.

You wouldn’t think we’d still need hunt sabs so many years after it was banned, but we need them now more than ever.

I am thrilled it was so popular but once the Sir Bobby Robson Suite started to fill up, I started to get nervy. I’m not good with crowds, I can’t think straight and I get panicky. I felt quite emotional too, seeing all those wonderful people there with their stalls and I would have bought from every one of them if I could. I would have liked to have spoken to more people too, but I go sort of numb once I get in panic mode and can’t think straight.

It looked quiet on the stairs so we went up to the Legends Suite where the vegan food was and it was much quieter. I calmed down pretty quickly and got into an interesting conversation with the Norwegian Bakers. Their stall was amazing! And so tempting! Too tempting.

But I’d run out of money. My other half came to my rescue and I (he) bought some cakes and pastries. It made me realise how far I have to go before I produce anything anywhere near as good as that.

I brought Dusty and Poppy back some vegan dog treats which they said were yummy!


Definitely somewhere I will go back to. I don’t always get like that in crowds, so perhaps next year I will do better and maybe stay longer to listen to some of the talks and music.


14 comments:

  1. My dog used to hide in my bed and sometimes I didn't notice for quite a while - she was a lot smaller than Dusty though!

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    1. Aw that's lovely, Patsy. Dusty's not very subtle :-)

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  2. I'm hoping dusty didn't make the bed dusty? :D

    Yes I can't say I've seen a Heron slithering either. And what would we do without photoshop?

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    1. Dusty makes everything Dusty :-)
      The way the heron started to creep down the roof - I imagined him sliding all the way down on his bum going wheee! Wish I was better with photoshop - maybe I could have made it so :-)

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  3. Dusty looks like a great companion. I have never used photoshop. My iPad has just done an update and I hate it when things change, so I don't use all the facilities as I would get too stressed if things went wrong. Silly really.

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    1. He is, Maggie. With the right training, he could be an assistance dog! He pulls the duvet back for me to get into bed and brings me my dog walking clothes in the morning - usually after dragging them all round the floor and jumping all over them! Then he throws my trainers at me!

      It's not silly and you are definitely not alone. I hate change too and get stressed when things start going wrong. I was so worried I'd have to get used to a different photo program. I've even got Word set up so it looks like it used to because the new version made me go cross-eyed :-)

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  4. I love these pictures of Dusty, Teresa - especially the look in his eye in the second one, trying to pretend he wasn't really there!
    I'm so glad you enjoyed the vegan festival. My eldest daughter used to be vegan and I enjoyed trying out the recipes. We still make the vegan chocolate cake that turned out to be such a surprising success. I was dubious about vinegar as an ingredient, but the texture was so good.
    I sympathise with how you felt in the crowd. I often feel the same and sometimes have the urge to run! As you say, it's the inability to think straight that is so unnerving. Really glad you were able to find a quieter spot and have a fantastic time
    I love the shady character and the hunched-ness of herons xxx

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    1. I do like the vegan cakes, Joanna. I make coffee and walnut muffins and chocolate muffins which always go down well. It's just a completely different way of cooking isn't it. I've been dubious too about the use of vinegar in recipes, but it works so well.
      It's horrible isn't it, that urge to run and sometimes having to just go!
      The first time I saw a heron flying, I thought I was seeing something prehistoric! We always used to know when snow was coming as they'd stand in the fields looking all gloomy and sulky - never saw them in the fields any other time! xxx

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  5. What an interesting day out, Teresa, but what is hunt sabs (sorry!)? Love that second photo of Dusty and the idea that he could go undiscovered.

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    1. He's not often still enough to get a decent photo, Rosemary :-)
      Hunt Saboteurs Association - they monitor hunts and obtain footage of the illegal killing of foxes, hounds causing chaos on the roads, injured hounds etc. at great risk to themselves. I admire them hugely.

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  6. So funny where pets get to!
    I love sea shanties. I went to a sea shanty singalong once on a boat on the Thames, it was such fun.

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    1. They are fun aren't they. I love them. I think I will have to be sure to go to next year's!

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  7. Dusty knows how to get round you Teresa. ;)

    Sounds like you had a very good day at the Vegan Festival, with lots to do and try out.

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    1. He certainly does. They all do! They have me wrapped round their little paws!

      I hadn't expected to be quite so emotionally affected (that's just me - there was nothing horrible there) by the vegan festival, but next time I'll be prepared.

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