Birthday animal treats!!!

Hurray! Now I know what my partner had been plotting when I wasn't around!!! My main birthday pressie is............ a trip to a London theatre tomorrow night to see The Lion King!!!!! Hurray!!! I've wanted to see that for years- ever since I saw a clip on TV about how the actors do all the different animals. Brilliant!!! I can't wait.

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My birthday itself was quite a sleepy day. We had toyed with the idea of going out for a meal in the evening, but instead we had a curry indoors. We were at my mum's from mid-afternoon and just had a lazy weekend all together, eating too much :)

But look what we found on the way to her house.....
.....just a minute or two from mum's place, we spotted a wee hedgehog just ambling along, beside the road, in broad daylight. Well, we had to rescue him-

-some hogs are having second litters in the summer months, but they don't always reach a big enough size or weight for hibernation, so they don't survive the winter. This one wasn't a baby, but at most was a young teen! No way was he big enough. And they should NEVER be out and about in the day- that always means something is wrong.

Now, I don't think I ever mentioned that I owned a woolly hat. Why would I? Let's just say it was a sort of Beanie type hat, but one worn by 40 year olds. (Can't say if a 41 year old would wear it, as I never had the chance.) So! I jumped out of the car, scooted across the road and ran along behind the hog, knees bent, with said hat opened in both hands. It must have looked a bit odd. I slipped the hat over him like a tea-cosy and scooped him up. Et voila-

One be-hatted hog.We stopped at mum's long enough to explain and to get her to come with us to a RSPCA woman in the next town who takes in strays of all types and sizes. Mum is hog mad, so wanted these souvenir photo's taken :) It's a pity we didn't keep the camera on us, because in the warmth of the car he began to relax and unfurl, sticking his nose out above the hat, and very soon we were all being observed.

Now, have you ever noticed that some animals get smellier the longer you hold them???? Rabbits are like that. And guinea pigs. Yes, definitely guinea pigs, in particular, I think. Do you know, when he lived in Ecuador, my partner ate a guinea pig? But that's another story and not at all cute. Anyway. Yes. The hedgehog is right up there with his guinea pig/hog friend. Phwar!

OK he was still cute and scrummy and loveable, just from a greater distance, that's all.

We dropped him off at the woman's house.
Another birthday present of mine had been a £10 note, slipped inside a card by my aunt. Well, I gave this to the woman as a donation towards his keep, not that I suspect it will go far, as she ends up with so many hoglets in the Autumn.

He was quite snotty, and, as I had held him on the journey, I had felt his breathing was a little laboured, and I could feel his lungs seemed a bit gravelly, like when you have a chesty cough. Never mind. He is in safe hands now; she said that she would go and put him straight under a heat lamp.

As we turned to go, she asked, "Would you like your hat back?"
I passed.

I think this close encounter was my best present of all.