Daryl & Heather Overland

Last weekend we went to Torquay to stay with Heather's friend Ruth. On Saturday the sun was shining so we had fish and chips on the beach and then went to Paignton Zoo. This is where Ruth works, so it was free, but if you are in the area, it is totally worth it even if you have to pay. Heather caught up with some old friends (she visited for a couple of days last October), especially the gorillas, which Heather seems rather unnaturally attracted to, even going so far as to live with one (that was a joke at my own expense so I hope you appreciate it). I, on the other hand, was attracted to a different kind of primate, and he or she seemed rather taken with me too, as you can see below.



The next day the weather took a turn for the dreadful, and we were forced indoors, only venturing out to run from the car to the nearest doorway. I was told that we were going to the House of Marbles. The prospect did not excite we very much. Heather and Ruth seemed suspiciously excited by it, and I couldn't help but picture an old man showing of his marble collection. Something along the lines of...

"Now this one's a Johnny Blue, I've had that since 1953. I won it off my cousin Charles. Oh, and here's my favourite, the Jolly Masher. I won a few keepsies with that one, I can tell you, heh, heh, hurgghough."

Fortunately for all concerned the House of Marbles is actually a pretty interesting marbles and glassware factory, museum and giftshop, and it has - possibly - the world's biggest marble run (so big it couldn't even fit in a photo!), and - possibly - the world's biggest cream tea. We were in Devon, so it was a legitimate Devonshire tea, to boot.



Sorry about the scarcity of postings of late. I'll try and be a bit more regular now that I'm having a bit of rest from my movie blog and I'm eating lots of fibre. I'm a bit worried about Heather, though. She has become a bit jaded by the whole blog thing, and is wondering what the point is, because she doesn't think anybody reads it anyway. I, on the other hand, have been keeping an eye on our visitor stats, and we're averaging 1.5 visitors a day, which I think is pretty good considering we only post about once every three weeks. So, if you are one of those 1.5 people, leave a comment and let us know what you think of our wacky adventures, and maybe I can get Heather keen again. She's gone into London today to deliver a package and pick up a mobile phone for me from Gary and Lucy, so maybe she can tell us all about that - I'm sure it would make fascinating reading.

And the bonus for today is a video of Meerkats we saw attempting to tear half a rabbit to shreds at Paignton Zoo. This a form of environmental enrichment, designed to stimulate natural behaviour in animals in captivity, i.e. to stop the Meerkats going crazy. It's a bit gross, but pretty cool.

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