The House Husband

This morning we were sitting on the newly cleaned patio furniture that Carmen had decided to decorate with her paw prints, when Mirinda said, “Let’s go to Frensham.” This set poodle hearts a-racing. Mirinda went upstairs to change while I slowly prepared things downstairs.

Although I tried to time it a lot better, the puppies and I were ready heaps quicker and were sat in Sidney waiting. Every time there was movement from inside the house, two little heads would turn in that direction from the back seat.

Carmen & Day-z waiting (im)patiently for Mirinda

Eventually we set off.

We love walking around Frensham Pond. Not quite as much as Hankley but it’s a close run thing. One of the things I’m not that keen on at Frensham is its popularity. There is always too many cars parked there. Today, for the second time in a row, we were forced to use the second car park while we much prefer the first.

I’m not just being churlish about this. Logically, the more cars there are, the more people. It’s crowds I’m not keen on. Fortunately today they all seem to have been down by the water’s edge, upsetting the fishermen because we didn’t see any hordes.

We did see a few dogs however and the poodles were totally embarrassing, as they generally are with other dogs. But not this time, the swans, who managed to glide around without attracting undue attention from Carmen Swanchaser. A family were actually feeding the two swans and two ducks from the wall that Carmen leapt from last time we came to Frensham so perhaps that’s why.

Ducks and swans at Frensham

We had a lovely walk; even the burnt bits looked lovely today. And, most importantly, the gorse has started to bloom. Ah, spring is sprung.

The English test cricket side gave the Aussies a lesson in how to play the Adelaide Oval today. Kevin Pieterson managed his double century and the final score, after rain mercifully stopped play was 4/551. All very depressing.

Here’s some ducks…something the Australian batsmen are all too familiar with.

The Dural ducklings crossing the drive

What a lovely weekend we had! First the Chawton visit on Saturday then a lovely relaxed day at home with the garden and the puppies. We rounded it off with a very long walk around Frensham Little Pond yesterday, visiting late in order to avoid the sun a bit. As it turned out, we could have left it later as it was still hot.

On the way home we stopped in at The Barley Mow at Tilford for an icy cold beer (yes, I had a lager) and a cider, enjoying them in the gorgeous countryside that surrounds the beer garden. The cricket match had just finished on the green and the spectators were lined up on the benches outside the pub, beers in hand. It was idyllic.

Before we left, we popped down to the fence to have a look at the river that I claimed wasn’t there. On a small island made from bits of mud and foliage, were huddled a family of ducklings. Mum wasn’t far away, keeping an eye out as her brood squished up together on their tiny bit of land. It was so cute, I had to take a photo.

Huddling ducklings behind the Barley Mow, Tilford

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We watched two films this weekend which I want to share. On Saturday night we saw Avatar. I tend not to believe the hype around big blockbuster movies. I wait to see them myself and judge then. If anything I’m turned off by something that claims to have cost extraordinary amounts of money and to be the biggest selling movie of all time. Especially when I’ve seen some wonderful films that cost very little. However, I thought Avatar was brilliant. At 2 hours 40 minutes, it’s long but not once did it falter. The story is engaging, the acting superb, the special effects…well, they are so incredible I thought it all looked real. You forget you are watching CGI. The Na’vi are so real, so utterly convincing, that you feel their pain and their love for their planet. A masterpiece of cinema. I couldn’t fault it at all. I particularly liked the Na’vi Rough Guide! Cute.

Last night we watched a very different movie. We watched Did You Hear About the Morgans?. It, honestly, could not be more different. It stars Sarah Jessica Parker (who I normally can’t stand) and Hugh Grant and is a RomCom. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. Apart from the two assistants, I thought it was very witty with Parker and Grant playing well off each other. The two second leads (Sam Elliott and Mary Steenburgen) were wonderful and shone a little brighter. If you like a RomCom, you’ll like this a lot. Even if you don’t like Sarah Jessica Parker!