Hounded.

I managed to take a half decent photo of Skye a few days ago as she bathed in the evening sunset. She really isn't meant to climb the furniture but if you've ever tried to train a husky to obey you, you'll understand why we gave up. To be honest, we more than gave up - she now has her own chair. I read somewhere once that huskies prefer to be companions rather than pets and they weren't far wrong. Total diva.

Notice how she wears two tags; one blue and one pink? Well that's because myself and Adam had a huge argument over what colour collar and lead she should have. Initially it was all blue which I liked as it has obvious links to 'Skye'. One day I came home from work and everything was pink. Much to my annoyance it turned out that Adam's mum had replaced the blue theme with pink as she believed that blue wasn't right for a girl. Yes she's our dog and yes, I did calmly walk away...... using every last ounce of strength. Needless to say I'm too stubborn to completely give in and now she wears both tags and I switch her lead to the blue one when I take her out. Job done.

Browsing through the app store, I just installed an app called 'Woof' - kind of an anonymous Facebook for dogs. Don't worry, I took a look more for humour purposes than anything else and my preconceptions were confirmed when, after just 10 minutes, a 6-month-old dachshund called 'Macbumhole' added me. Oh the joys of the modern age.

Talking of dogs, I've been walking to and from work for the past several weeks due to the current insane traffic build up. They've shut a couple of main roads  (why they don't just do one after the other I'll never understand) and as a result, the whole city's traffic is trying to get down one road during peak times. I live a five minute drive from work and it was taking just over 50 minutes to get in - absolutely crazy. Now I'm walking, it takes just under twenty minutes; I feel great for it but I have to walk through the dreaded woodland and at this time of year it's comparable to running the gauntlet. Now there's a five minute window in which, if I hit the woods, I walk right into some local guy and his seven yappy Yorkshire terriers. It may not seem a big deal but believe me, it is the trauma of traumas and I curse myself repeatedly if I time it incorrectly.

To begin with, you have no idea they are there until you hear the most deafening whistle and three or four of them dart out from the bushes in front of you. They're soon joined by the others who then circle you at break-neck speed, periodically weaving in and out of your legs the whole way down the track. During this, their owner merrily picks his way through the undergrowth oblivious to the drama unfurling. It adds on a good 10 minutes to my journey time and never fails in further ruining my already sorry looking shoes.

On the bright side, it has become quite the joke at work now and my colleagues have already started keeping tally of our encounters (one look at my shoes provides a tell-tale sign). I suppose the only other alternatives are cycling and public transport?

I think I'll just take my chances with the dogs.

Nettleham Hall.

For those that were worried (humour me), I can confirm that I am in fact not dead, I've just been slightly M.I.A for a while. Not to worry, I'm back now and far more inclined to actually post thanks to my shiny new iMac (a slightly impulsive and extravagant purchase but motivational nonetheless).

On Sunday, we took my new camera for its first real outing as I've been bugging Adam for weeks to take me somewhere worth photographing. I'm not from this county originally and struggle to make my way into the centre of town, let alone discover points of interest.

We ended up at the ruins of the derelict 'Nettleham Hall', situated about 15 minutes from where we live. I can't believe I have lived here this long without realising such a fantastic place existed just down the road. From what I can figure out from Google and Adam's Grandad, the hall itself was the seat of power for the Hood family; more notably John Hood who accompanied General Monk from Scotland in 1660 in attempting to restore Charles II to power. Reports are vague but the hall was 'mysteriously' destroyed by fire in 1937.

I'm not going to lie, it is quite possibly the eeriest place you could ever wish to visit. Smack bang in the heart of dense, silent woodland and overgrown by vines - I can think of nothing worse than visiting at night. Just before the hall itself, is a little groundsman's cottage. You can still make out some of the wallpaper detail in the front room and the remnants of a kitchen. I'd give anything to see photos of what it used to like but alas, it appears no real photos survived.

Not too much exists of the hall itself except the main wall structure, archways, some plaster detail and the cellars. The whole thing has a sort of creepy 'Indiana Jones/Tomb Raider' feel.

I discovered online that it is quite the hotspot for enthusiasts of derelict places (yes there is such a phenomenon) and that many visitors have been chased away by a particularly aggressive farmer. Luckily, we didn't experience that pleasure.

We've toyed with the idea of visiting the abandoned Nocton Hall next but something about visiting a derelict RAF hospital makes me feel slightly uncomfortable. After all, those kinds of excursions never end well in horror films. Watch this space; you never know how persuasive Adam can be.

Now I'm off to catch up on all of your blogs to see how you've all been getting on. I guess we'll see if this storm materialises that everyone has been banging on about. My personal guess is that it won't touch us up here. Damn the sensationalised weather reporting in this country.

It finally arrived!

I guess this means more photos which in turn means more blogging? You never know.

Watch this space.

A not so egg-citing Easter.

I made Moroccan lamb for tea tonight. Adam is working late shifts all week so it's a good time to practice my cooking and try things that I normally wouldn't get to try - he isn't exactly the most adventurous of people when it comes to food. It was nice but I'd probably substitue the cut of lamb for something a bit more tender if I was to do it again.

The bitterly cold wind and snow has finally subsided after what feels like the longest winter of all time. I almost died of shock when I stepped out into the sun this morning and actually felt warmth - I pinched myself several times to make sure I had woken up.

Work is quiet this week, deathly quiet in fact due to the schools being off for Easter. Having said that, there is still lots of stuff to organise and I believe that Gloucestershire go back early next week so the tranquility will be short lived. I can't grumble though, I was relived to go back to the office after a few days off over Easter - I've decided that I really am one of these people that just cannot cope with doing nothing. I was home alone for the entire four day weekend and the one day that Adam was off work, he stayed in bed for 22 hours (yes, 22 hours) complaining of some kind of stomach flu. Don't get me wrong, I can be sympathetic when I need to be but I struggle when it comes to nursing others for the simple reason that I don't think I have ever suffered from an ailment bad enough to warrant total bed confinement. I'm the opposite when I'm ill - I suddenly find a million and one things to do in order to convince myself that I'm okay. Jeez, dare I say it; I'm starting to sound like my Father.

I cleaned the house, tended to the dog, changed the sheets, sorted out the reading room ready to decorate (when I finally decide on the theme), caught up on all my TV shows and finally got around to restocking the pantry. Obviously I paraphrased when asked the dreaded 'How was your weekend?' question as I walked into the office this morning. I wouldn't want anyone thinking I was one of those people.

So that was my Easter and I didn't even have the pleasure of receiving an abundance of chocolate eggs due to the minor issue of disliking most forms of cocoa. Poor old me ay? I hope you guys experienced a somewhat more colourful weekend.

P.S - Though my iPhone does a fine job of capturing most of my daily musings, I'm finally thinking of investing in a decent SLR. It has always been an interest of mine but I just don't know where to begin. I know a couple of budding David Baileys may read this so any advice on a good first SLR and lens would be much appreciated!