Take me away!

I've never been a big car fan. That is - I've never researched them. I've always had a relative idea of what I want to drive - if I ever bother to take the test: a yellow beetle or an old-fashioned mini. And it seems nowadays that we are bombarded with adverts on TV for certain cars.

As far as I'm concerned, unless it looks like it came from the 1980's or has an inbuilt system for churning out free, hot, freshly made pizzas and Olly Murs on tap, a car is a car.

But no advert has struck me quite like this. I go as far to say that it's my favourite advert behind the Aldi one for garden peas!



Audi Quattro. 

I think that the voice over is a work of sensual art! It's fantastic and so applicable.

The weather in England hasn't been great - take that for a surprise! But I don't overly mind. Apart from days like today that have just. Kept. Coming.

One of my favourite lines from the advert is: "When there are four seasons in just one day." I don;t know why, but in that gorgeous voice over the overhead speaker, I can't get it out of my mind.

Forever and ever, it seems that we've been having spring, summer, autumn and winter as a collective. My days function a bit like this.

I wake up and save for a thin white layer of cloud the weather looks promising. So I skip the wholly hat, thermal gloves and rain coat in favour of one cardigan, a fabric coat and a pocket umbrella. I head out and it drizzles. Then it stops. Then the wind takes over and at this point the thunderous applaud of rain decides to return creating rivers and a wet haze that sprays in every direction. Then, as I make it through the wind and rain and cold with soaking wet feet and frizzled hair, the clouds disperse, the blue sky appears and the sun blinks innocently in the sky.

Four seasons in a day - that becoming more and more frequent!!

But, though I moan, I don't mind it. The more it happens, the more I get to hear that lovely voice of the man from the Quattro advert reminding me of the days when: "it's the wrong kind of snow".

Maybe you won't even like it as much as I've said but you've got to listen! Enjoy!!

Day at the Zoo

For as long as I've known, I've been in love with animals and until year 11 I had set my mind on becoming a zoo keeper. So I really can't resist opportunities that let me go to the zoo or the farm.

Like today! :D

When my nan asked what I'd like to do; a toss up between a walk and visiting Amazon World Zoo Park which was, eventually, decided for by the rain, we ended up being the only 2 in the park.

There are very few things I like to do more than spend time with animals and so this afternoon was a real treat.
I tend to go for monkeys. Since my favourite animal is the Orang-utan, primates seem to float my boat!

Yet this trip was surprising and completed by the emergence of 2 Canadian otters. We had been waiting for the ocelot feed but, instead, had been lured by a sleepy face poking out through the hay in the neighbouring cage. The small female gave a yawn, scrutinising our faces, and then stole back the warmth of her hut. But eventually as her mate; a much larger and evermore curious male - who we later found to be named; Fingle - limped out she was tempted to make her debut. 

Fingle, detaching himself from Maple (the female) walked over to a corner and began eating a form of liquid that left a mustard rim under his nose. 

Peanut butter.

The pair wasted no time in fooling around in the (what-must-have-been) freezing water. They were Canadian and so I assumed they could handle it, but still the thought made me shiver. They dipping in, lacing around one another and then taking it in turns to attack the polystyrene 'rocks' of their cage.

They were so fluffy and adorably cute - a rather simplified and childish description. But they were absolutely gorgeous!! So I think I've found my new love and, yet another, obsession: Otters!

Oh...Rainy Days

Rain, rather than symbolising depression and having striking connections with it's synonyms; woe, melancholy and gloom, now signifies healthiness - for me at least. The past 2 years in Dubai have left much want of change and, though I previously despised the rain like the devil, I am comforted by its forced coziness.

My favourite sensation - and; yes, I do have one - is the tingling of a body warming up. Feet frozen from ice feeling the blood rush. A nose, just about ready to drop off, restored to full colour. Hands that, at first, couldn't feel the radiator, now being burned by the warmth.

If 80% of the people of England had their wish, it would rain no more and the earth would be baked by sun rays. And what would ensue would be toilet brush trees, scraggy for want of leaves. Brown rugs of grass targeted by youths for their potential as fire starters. And girls walking the streets in all but a bikini. Green wouldn't feature in our colour range.

Imagine an England without green. Imagine the country without the single colour that epitomises it besides grey. Where would the appeal lie?

For most tourists, if they're not besotted with London, they are with the countryside.

I find England works rather well. Throughout the year, the country is nourished by rain and it's beauty is saved for those glorious summer afternoons where we can appreciate it all.

So, I no longer hold a grinding antagonism for rain. You can pray for the sun, but that won't stop the rain.

Hours spent at the top of the bus

Rain, for all the irony, can be just like fire. It can disfigure like the lick of orange flames. And coupled with the wind, it can reap havoc. But when there is a break, that relief of warm sun, that spread of blue sky, it is all that can be desired.

My favourite bus route is the Number 8 to Sandown. Sitting atop the double decker on a perfect and crisp afternoon, your vision stretches across dales, across yellow pasture and across scuzzy trees leeching the landscape like moss. As of yet, my eyes know no greater beauty than the untouched wilderness of the rural Isle of Wight.
 It's been a wonder, a chance to marvel the English countryside in the dilapidated summer. Though the warmth of the bright sunshine can fool no one, it casts a beautiful sheen over the hills. It's a wonderful sight. I've been getting about the Island lately by bus. It's pretty cheap and roaming the area is a lovely way to spend a few hours!

I always say that when an English summer is like this, there is no place I'd rather be and this stands, somewhat, today. Though I've seen more of the world now than when I made that first statement, it does still hold true. There are a few places I would love to be right now but that's not to say that leaving England wouldn't bring pain. The scenery is absolutely BEAUTIFUL and I get myself so lost in the picturesque. All I long for is to be out in it; to eat sandwiches in an isolated field, to rear sheep and turn out horses. Seeing life from the top of the bus, I long to keep rabbits and walk my dog, to pick shells from a shingle beach and to read with the sting of wind on my face.

That tranquility is outstanding. I've been really blessed and I know it's such a cliche; all everyone in England seems to talk about is the weather. But when everything's going a little bit downhill, the continuance of the weather and it's temperamental nature can fill those awkward gaps and take your mind off a few things.

I'm ever so lucky to have this break; to have the ability to move from scene to scene, country to country watching the world from a different perspective because it true; the weather does direct perception. It does so in such a way that, if this gorgeous sun continues, I'll soon be proclaiming England - rightly and wrongly - to be the greatest country on this Earth! :D