Picnic Predators!

Last Friday Amos and I once again embarked on one of our 'life's a picnic' experiences. We met up with a friend and her lovely 2 year old daughter. Armed with a substantial amount of food we went to a local beauty spot on a river bank close to an old mill. The weather was lovely, the grass greener than green, the river babbled along taking it's time on a perfect summer's day. We rounded a luscious green corner and decided to set up our al fresco lunch. The picnic blanket was laid and the plasic boxes came out laden with picnic fare. We had just settled ourselves down to our outdoor feast when suddenly rounding the same corner as we had moments earlier, came a very excited dog who cottoned on to the picnic idea very quickly and descended upon us in no time at all. But we were mums on an eating mission and we were not going to give our food away so speedily. We instantly covered the boxes and I hurredly closed my bag.......I wasn't quite quick enough, the canny canine managed to swipe the homemade bread I'd stayed up the previous night to make and ran off to wolf it down - clingfilm and all. We rescued everything else and went on to enjoy our food, play pooh sticks and pass the time throwing stones into the river - one of Amos' favourite pastimes. Are our picnics doomed? Beware stay at home mums and dads picnics seem like a good idea.........

The police have released a  line up of possible picnic saboteurs.

On reflection the owner of the guilty dog won't have to carry one of those pooper scooper bags around for a while - it should come out already shrink wrapped!

Buses, Tractors and Other Automobiles!

In an attempt to save money - or at least to 'not spend money' Amos and I have been trying to entertain ourselves in the local vicinity (a small Cornish village). It's amazing how much time it takes to get to our local shop with Amos on his little ride on tractor, after that we ride up to see some sheep and cows which Amos absolutely loves. We've also incorporated into our day a regular trip to a footbridge which goes over a busy 'A' road. I must admit this sounds like I'm scraping the bottom of the stay at home mum activity barrel but Amos is seriously in his element, he is thrilled to spot lorries, tractors, buses and motorbikes. We often get waves from bus passengers and lorry drivers which can only serve to add to the excitement of it all. The highlight for Amos is whizzing down the footbridge slope on the way home.

My advice to you, then, if you're stuck for something to do - get down to your local motorway, it's entertainment all the way!!!

Life's a Picnic!

Friday is a special day for Amos and I, it's our 'Life's a Picnic' day. Every Friday we have a picnic somewhere, it may be at the beach; in a park; in our back garden; in a friend's garden or even on the floor of the front room if the weather is behaving inconsiderately. I hasten to say that we are not just fair weather picnicers we have been Friday picnicng from the outset of the year and even though January and February were such cold  months we still wrapped up and had a lot of fun being the only ones crazy enough to have a picnic on the beach.  There is nothing like eating outdoors surrounded by nature. This leads me to send out a warning that although picnics are usually innocent, harmless affairs, often linked with teddy bears, Winnie the Pooh and opera, there can be danger involved - frequently by nature itself. In February Amos and I had our Friday picnic on Looe beach in Cornwall, it was an absolutely beautiful day very cold but a glorious blue sky and a shining sun. I laid out the picnic blanket and set out the food, it was amazing to be able to sit on the beach, eating lunch, watchng the rolling waves of the sea on a February afternoon. It was as I was mulling this over and Amos was tucking into his sandwiches that 'they' arrived, slowly at first - I hardly noticed them -  'they' started calling to their friends as 'they' gathered one by one. Then the incident happened so suddenly that neither Amos nor I had any warning, one of 'them' swooped down for the kill and there it was, Amos'  succulant, 'prepared with love' cheese sandwich had been stolen out of his hands as he was about to take a bite and was now in pieces being demolished by 'them' - the delinquent scavengers of the bird world, otherwise known as seagulls.
How had I forgotten this attack? We went back to the same beach today and it wasn't long before the thieving, bird hooligans were gathering again in Hitchcockesque manner. Amos huddled closer to me and we ate our picnic quickly, keeping all the food under the picnic blanket. I found myself being completely intimidated by these flying criminals - bizarre isn't it?
We'll continue with our Friday picnics, though, they're great fun aswell as beng a cheap stay at home mum or dad activity.

Actually I felt a bit sorry for the seagull I photographed here because he only has one leg!

Do you have any picnic stories? Have you fallen foul to any over-confident animals? I'd love to hear it please write in the comment box.