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Last Weekend: My Housemate’s Hunt For A Cockatiel

By Happiness & Joy, Life, PetsNo Comments
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Steve’s new Cockatiel – Charkuro

 Last weekend my housemate, Steve, and I set out on the hunt for a cockatiel. Steve had wanted a cockatiel for years and decided it was finally time to get one.

We scoured all the local pet shops. Most of them weren’t getting any cockatiels in for few weeks. But then we went into PAWS Pet Shop. They had three, two females and one male. We instantly fell in love with the male, who is cheeky, chirpy and curious.

The staff at PAWS Pet Shop are knowledgeable, genuinely care for the animals (evident by clean cages, fresh food and water and gentle handling) and were more than helpful. In fact they were superb. I should add here that I’m not getting paid to say any of these things. I was just impressed with the small local business and want to spread the word.

We left PAWS Pet Shop with the cockatiel, a cage, some food, some toys, some sandpaper and various other bird-related bits and pieces.

While Steve was trying to think of a name for his new pet, I started calling him Charlie or Cheeky Charlie. Steve made me chuckle by saying: ‘You don’t get to name my pet.’
‘Well what do I call him until you think of a name?’ I replied.
‘The Bird.’
‘Okay. I’ll call him “The Bird.”‘

Luckily for “The Bird,” Steve came up with a name the following day: Chakuro. He’s the newest addition to our household and settling in well.

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Another photo of the extremely cute and chirpy Chakuro.

Blog soon,

Antony

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Friday 30 March 2018

A Visit to Southport Botanic Gardens (Churchtown)

By Adventures, Friends & Family, Happiness & Joy, Inspiration, Life, NatureNo Comments

Yesterday my friend Simon and I visited Southport Botanic Gardens in Churchtown, Southport. It was perfect weather and we had a great time exploring a park bursting with a variety of trees and shrubs from across the world.

Southport Botanic Gardens features include a bowling green, a Cafe, an Aviary, a Victorian Fernery, a Victorian Garden, a children’s play park suitable for all ages and a lake. Here are some photos from our visit (click on any image for full-size):

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Southport Botanic Gardens (Churchtown) Sign.
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Southport Botanic Gardens entrance.
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A short stone tunnel.
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The Cafe & Aviary in the centre of the Botanic Gardens.
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The Aviary houses a variety of birds.
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Victorian Fernery notice board sign.
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Inside the Victorian Fernery is this beautiful fountain.
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Inside the Victorian Fernery is this small Wishing Well.
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Me inside the Victorian Fernery.
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The Victorian Garden (1).
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The Victorian Garden (2).
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The Victorian Garden (3).
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The lake is bigger than a pond, but not really big enough to justify the term lake.

Essential Info:

  • Admission Fee: Free.
  • Opening Times vary so check Visit Southport’s website.
  • Postcode for SatNavs or Google Maps is: PR9 7NB.
  • Free parking is available on the street outside of the Botanic Gardens.
  • Highly Recommended is the reasonably priced Cafe.
  • In the same building as the Cafe is a gift shop. It sells seeds for the birds in The Aviary There is also a gift shop, which sells seeds for birds at The The Aviary, toys & sweets and other seemingly random gifts.
  • Has Toilet facilities.

There were many trees that Simon and I admired, but weren’t able to identify. The only thing that could have been improved was more information about the trees and shrubs. A fun way this could be done is by means of a tree hunt. It would be great if visitors could pick up a leaflet from the Cafe, which directed visitors to trees and shrubs in the Botanic Garden. The leaflet could help visitors identify what species of tree or shrub that they have found and a give a bit of additional information.

Afterwards Simon and I headed home, stopping along the way for tea.

Blog soon,

Antony



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Saturday 27 August 2016

Film Review: Jurassic World – Fantastic, Epic and This Year’s Absolute Must See

By Amazon, Happiness & Joy, Reviews, TV, Online Streaming & FilmsNo Comments
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Jurassic World Logo Copyright © Universal

 Jurassic World is fantastic, epic and this year’s absolute must see.

Jurassic World is set in the near future, a zoo/theme park has been set up on the original Jurassic Park Island with real dinosaurs.

Claire Dearing (played by Bryce Dallas Howard) is the Operational Manager, responsible for the over twenty thousands guests in the park at any one time.

Her nephews Zach and Gray Mitchell are coming to the park to experience it and spend some time with their aunt. But she’s too busy and instead arranges for her assistant to take care of them.

Then a new dinosaur created by merging the DNA of two species, named the Indominus escapes from its enclosure. The Indominus is bigger than the T-Rex and scarier than the Velociraptors. It was created by Dr. Henry Wu and was intended to be the next new attraction.

Owen Grady (played by Chris Pratt) is a Animal Behaviourist and general hero hot guy. When Claire’s nephews disappear after the Indominus escapes, she enlists his help to find her nephews and to try to save the other guests in the park.

Here is the trailer:

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The plot was captivating, imaginative and followed a similar formula of the original Jurassic Park. All of which worked well. The plot left an opening for a further film. Personally, I hope they do another trilogy, especially if they are all up to the same standard as this one. The directing was good and effects were superb. The length of the film was perfect.

I didn’t mind the Coca-Cola product placement, Owen is working on his bike and takes a refreshing gulp of Coca-Cola. I did mind the Starbucks product placement. Claire is in the control centre, asking about visitor numbers and then the camera cuts to her and suddenly, out of no where, she has a Starbucks cup in her hand. From what I could see there wasn’t even a Starbucks store on the island.

I liked the little nods to the original Jurassic Park film including a statue of Richard Attenborough in one of the buildings.

I never, ever expected to write this, and I warn you that what I am about to write is controversial and only my opinion. But in my opinion Jurassic World was better than the original Jurassic Park.

I’ve already pre-ordered my Jurassic World DVD, which is released on 19th October 2015.

Review soon,

Antony



I aim for posts on this blog to be informative, educational and entertaining. If you have found this post useful or enjoyable, please consider making a contribution by Paypal:


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Sunday 19 July 2015
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