On Monday we went to the village of Wray, just outside Caton, Lancaster to visit this years Scarecrow Festival. It been held every year for the last 40 years and all the people that live in this lovely village make scarecrows and display them in there gardens. Each year they have a different theme and this years theme was 'Childrens TV programmes from the past'. There was other ones there from past years as well. They are not all made from straw in the conventional way, some are made from paper machie and some just stuffed with newspaper - but they are all good.

It was a cool, spitting with rain sort of a day, which was very unusual as each time we have been in the past its been a real hot sunny day. I guess our luck had to run out soon hey! We had packed some sandwiches and taken them with us to have a picnic-style lunch, these were made the night before and on that day it was lovely and sunny. We started looking around and soon came across the local public house, so cold and hungry, We ditched the sarnies for a more satisfying 'hot' pie and chips in the village pub, which also offered a nice warm cup of tea and a roaring open log fire.

This hot pub lunch warmed us up nicely and after we had eaten we carried on walking around looking at the Scarecrows. There was some good ones there this year but not as many as other years. This might have been because they had put a lotof them away with the rain ruining them, who knows?

We all had a nice time, but were glad to get back to the car and get the heater on to dry out.

Take a look below at some of the pics I took in between the showers.

Gz

The old, run down, rotting hutches just had to go, they had housed the rabbits for many years.

This weekend my daughters rabbits named 'Wally' and 'Billy' were lucky enough to agree on a sale of their old hutch £0.00 and move into their brand new, bespoke, penthouse rabbit hutches.

Brand new luxury hutches, the Rabbits were so pleased with them f.y.i Billy lives in the top hutch and Wally in the bottom.

These were made with my own fair hands and assembled this weekend just passed. The old hutches had seen better days and were over 8 years old and had been patched up and repaired more times than I care to think of. They were desperate to be replaced and when we looked at the pet shops, they just did not seem to be anywhere as big as the ones they had been living in and it did seem a little unfair to downsize them as billy, the younger light brown lop eared rabbit, loves to run around with his toy pear in his mouth and the smaller cages would have put an end to this. Wally, white with black patches, is getting an old man now and at 8 years old had slowed down but still apreciates a large cage to stretch out his legs and lie down and sunbathe on a nice day listening to the birds in the garden tweeting away.

When they were finished and had 2 coats of stain, Kelsey and Jemma were really pleased and if I say it myself, so was I The hutches that measure 5ft long and 26" in width were made up with meadow hay and then we introduced Wally and Billy into their new home (just as soon as the new contracts were signed anyway). I know it might sound strange but they were made up and really excited about the move. I guess the new wood must of sent there sense of smell into overdrive as they were wondering around sniffing there little heads off. Brownie point all round for me, the girls were happy and so were the bunnies and Pam was happy that everyone else was happy

Well that was my little weekend task taken care of, may they be both very happy in their new hutches.

Anyone want an old rabbit hutch that's falling to bits? - thought not, I guess I will have to break it down and take it to the tip

Gz

Last Sunday, My daughter Kelsey and I headed off to Grange over Sands to visit the Lakeland Miniature Village where there is over a hundred had made slate and brick miniature buildings that create the Lakeland landscape that we all love about the Lake District.

The man who made all of these miniature houses is called Edward Robinson and he was a loveley man to talk to. No machinery is used to make the houses and they are a credit to him. Mr Robinson says "the model village has been growing over the last 16 years, but it will be a few years yet before it is completed" I recommend a visit if you are anywhere in the area.

Last picture below is the man who makes all of these houses (Edward Robinson. As we were there he was preparing some stone for another building he was making.

Great afternoon out for all, and on the way home I got a few wildlife shots.

Gz

An offer NOT to be missed! I thought this was a hoax at first...

Summer 2009 is almost here. To celebrate this many supermarket stores are giving away free barbecues to all that can go and collect them.

You can get a free BBQ from any of the following stores.

• ASDA
• Morrison's
• Costco
• Kwik Save
• Somerfield
• Aldi
• Sainsbury
• Tesco
• Iceland
• Lidl

All BBQs come with a higher shelf which can be used for keeping things warm!

PLEASE NOTE: Some stores may charge a £1 administration fee.

Hover hover below to see the product.

So go and grab yours today, whilst stocks last, they are very portable (this model has had it's wheels removed though) and you can get plenty of meat on !

Gz