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Oldest two at school today as roads not too bad here but youngest off with a bad cold so a quiet day in today catching up with some chores and watching movies, probably should get dressed at some point though...

Story of the Blues - Wah!

Well, that is a true piece of history Julie, isn't it amazing to think those sorts of things were still happening in the last century, I suppose it was reasonably common before reliable transport and communications became more common.. I wonder how many lives the mobile phone has saved since it's invention, I won't even go on a dog walk without mine!!

Wow!!!

Devi, you're right, it wasn't healthy at all, he was quite ill when he left the wolves and it took him a while to get himself back in human shape. Madly he did it again years later when he was integrating a new wolf pack at Combe Martin (where he still is now), but he recognised the signs a little sooner that time. I was on his website yesterday and sadly they are threatened with closure at the moment due to some problem with retrospective planning permission/local council issues, I've signed the petition but I think it may take much more that that...

Oh, I'm glad their enclosure was a bigger than it looked, wolves do so need a place to go where they cannot be seen.. I'm sure the grey wolves do exist in Russia, in fact I think they have one of the largest populations of wild wolves, including of course the Siberian Wolves, which are simply stunning!

Sorry just saw this Bree, and no, I haven't read it though it's always been on my radar, how are you finding it? It's now on my wish list and I'm considering getting it for my kobo sometime soon, thanks for reminding me about it! EDIT: I've just downloaded it for free onto my kobo, I'll get to it soon.

How is it? I watched the film last week and loved it but I understand the book is a whole different kettle of fish!

Wow, 534 books, that's a lot, but optimistically there are lots of great books on there! Some of my favourites there are Birdsong, The Hunger Games, Therapy, Memoirs of a Geisha, Guilty Pleasures, I Am The Messenger and of course Rebecca and lots more that I have on my wish list. I noticed a Joyce Carol Oates book too? Blonde? But when I looked it up it was in french, is there an English version do you know? I loved The Gravedigger's Daughter... I am sure you can easily get it down to below 500 in 6 months, who needs a library when you have that many great books!!

Very settled here, a good 3 or 4 inches in places, my elder two have been out for a few hours now, nice casserole simmering in the slow cooker for later! Sadly my youngest is still full of cold so we wrapped up to build a snowman but then straight back in for hot chocolate and to watch the football!

Brilliant poppy, a great idea even if I do say so myself...

Chelsea vs Arsenal, come on the Blues!!!

He had a lovely time!! (Although he refused to wear his coat, typical boy!! I took lots more pics, snow and dogs makes for great photo opportunities!! Maybe I'd best put them on my blog tho...

6. The Wolf Within: How I Learned To Talk Dog - Shaun Ellis (January 19th) 5/5 Amazon Synopsis To wolf expert, Shaun Ellis, wolves aren’t just his work, they’re also his family. An extraordinary man, Shaun has been fascinated by wolves all his life, even living as part of a wild pack for two years with no human contact. What he gained was a unique and fascinating insight into their world, and that of our very own domestic dogs. Shaun Ellis grew up in the Norfolk countryside with a passion for and understanding with animals from an early age. His early fascination with wolves, and determination to understand them, led to him spending years in the US with the Naz Paz Indian tribe, watching wolves, learning to understand their roles and behaviour in the pack and how to communicate with them. He even lived as part of a wild pack for two years, without any human contact. Bringing his knowledge back to the UK, he astonished wildlife experts with his knowledge and insight. He now lives, eats and sleeps with his two wolf packs at Combe Martin Wildlife Park. This is the story of Shaun’s determination to understand these extraordinary animals and how what he has learned can help others to understand their own domestic dogs. Wow, Shaun Ellis is one hugely determined man. This autobiographical book starts with a brief description of his childhood in Norfolk, living with his grandparents on a remote farm, learning from a very young age to respect the land and to be responsible for putting food on the table, shooting rabbits and the like, but only ever taking what is needed and what will least affect the local eco systems, never taking a doe that has babies etc. He spent hours at night sitting in fields watching fox families, working out how they hunted and how they they were vilified by some and misunderstood by many more. His life then takes a sharp unexpected turn into the army which in turn gives him the tools to survive in the future when he dedicates his life to wolves, an animal that seemed a natural progression for him to study after the foxes. When I say he dedicates his life to wolves that is not an understatement in any way at all, he is determined to understand EVERYTHING about them, from how they form a pack, hunt and feed to how they choose a mate, look after and each their young, protect their territory, but mainly he wants to prove to the world that the world is a better place with wolves in it, and that man is responsible for the problems now being encountered with wolves taking livestock and coming onto farmland. Man had destroyed much of their habitats and their ways in and out of their territories forcing them to encroach on farm and public land with the inevitabilities that come with that. Shaun has spent years living with wolves and by that I mean living as a wolf, at one point he spent close to two years in the wilds of Idaho without changing his all weather suit, anything more that a splash of water on his face and hands, no tooth brushing and eating exactly what the wolves ate, predominantly raw meat, the only vegetables he may eat were contained in the stomach contents of the animals that had been hunted and killed by the wolves. (The part of the kill an individual wolf eats is dependent on their rank in the pack). Although this book was a great read for me because I am a big fan and advocate of the wolf I do think this would be a book that would appeal to anyone with an interest in nature and particularly our wonderful canine friends. A big 5/5 for me!!

It is, and they're doing pretty well, I'm trying to prepare myself for the inevitability of losing them in the not too distant future though When they were younger it was fantastic having dogs of a similar age, it's not seeming such a good idea now! I'm going to try and persuade them to come for a short walk in a while (they have new matching coats!) but I'm not sure they are going to be too keen on the idea as it's snowing again here!

Oh what wonderful pictures Bree!! Please tell me that their enclosure was a lot bigger than it looked though? The pictures I've seen previously of the Himalayan wolves showed them with much shorter coats, were your pictures taken in winter? As that would explain the fuller coats.. Wolf species vary enormously in size and weight, generally according to the terrain and temperatures they live in. More Eastern wolves like the Himalayan, Tibetan and Ethiopian wolves are finer and lighter and can be a light at 35 pounds, about the weight of my Australian Cattle Dog.. the largest wolves are the Grey (Gray) wolves, mostly found in North America which can weigh up to and over 100 pounds - apparently one was found in Alaska that weighed 175 pounds, can you imagine the size of that one??!! Thanks again Bree.

Thanks for the review, I think it's definitely one I'd like to read at some point as I do find The Thames fascinating, as I spent a fair amount of time on and near it as a child with my grandparents, it will be interesting to see if the bits I know are mentioned in there..

Just 2 days in each place sounds like you will spend more time packing/travelling than you do actually seeing places, you'll be exhausted...you may find it better to be more selective with the places you would like to visit and spend longer in those places. For example if you would like to visit Stonehenge, (June, Talisman, I know could give you more info on this) it is a good 2 hour drive from London which would take up a lot of a day, presuming that your entry point to the UK is London of course.

Your shelves look positively lovely poppy, you made me get up and look at my shelves (I am not an avid collector but there's a fair few there) and I was very disappointed to see how dull they looked, and you're right, I have no pink or purple books, mainly black, white, grey, a few flashes of blue and yellow but not much else.. I will keep my eyes open for you.. Have you thought of perusing the young readers sections, I know the Rainbow Fairy books come in many delightful shades! Oh, and a snow pic with The Snow Child would be fabulous!!

I bet the Himalayas are stunning any time of the year, I don't suppose you have ever seen any wild Himalayan Wolves? Unlikely I know as they are generally reclusive. I know they have them at the Himalayan Zoo in Darjeeling but it would be fascinating to see them in their natural habitat. I was reading just today that Himalayan Wolves have been found to be the oldest wolf lineage in the world but like all other wolves they are endangered and are down to the last 350 of their species in the wild.

Thanks BB, they're a few years older than that now but still gorgeous, I feel blessed to still have them at 14 and 15 and still enjoying their walks. Some great kitty pics on here today too!

Great pics Janet, I still have the book and the film to look forward to!!!

I like yours Janet, I must get myself a new one, maybe I'll change mine this week!

Dylan is generally very dignified frankie, Honey pretends to be so but even last year at the grand age of 14 sometimes all you would see was her fluffy tail and she went to look for fox, rabbit, deer, whatever she could find, luckily she wasn't a great runner so never caught anything, kept her very fit though.. In her younger years she would occasionally persuade Dylan to join her, once, while Steve was talking to two lovely old ladies the pair of them (pre Obi days) came back to him each with one end of a deer leg in their jaws! They'd only been gone a minute or two so they clearly weren't responsible for it's removal but Steve had a hard time explaining their behaviour!! Now, aged 15, Honey still has her moments, generally with young male dogs when she turns into the biggest flirt and teases them mercilessly and then tells them off when they try to get too familiar, there are names for girls like her!!! And yes, Obi was probably giggling at the back, but no doubt desperate to get his biccy, he is rather food orientated!!!