Phone: 07847 427004

         Email: minimonsters@hotmail.co.uk

MiniMonsters Blog!

01/02/10  Belated Happy New Year!  2010 is looking to be a very busy year, so please book early to avoid disappointment!  I'm already very busy throughout February and March.  Valentine's weekend sees a repeat of my annual visit to Oxford Castle, so I'll be having a very romantic time talking about nits, lice, fleas, rats and the like... as well as my lovely gang of course!  Other events open to the public will be sessions on Colour & Camouflage organised by the UEA at the Inspire Centre in Norwich on Saturday March 6th, as well as at the Spring Fling at the Norfolk Showground  (April 15th) and the Schools' Farm & Country Fair on the Suffolk Showground (April  21st)

20/10/09 Well, it really has been a busy year and it's taken a minor op to give me time to sit down and do things like update the website!  Hope you like the new look and the new logo!  I'm already taking bookings for 2010, so it looks like I've got another busy year ahead.  I've also signed up as a 10:10 business, so will be aiming to cut my carbon emissions by a further 10% over the next year.  I already do all of the simple things, like not leaving electrical items on standby and I gave up air travel four years ago, so now I shall have to really challenge myself.  I've had an incredibly successful year on the allotment in 2009, so I hope to increase the amount of food I grow myself further this year and will continue to shop wisely, locally and also supporting fair trade and organic producers.

26/03/09 There have been some new additions to the MiniMonsters gang - two young milk snakes that were born in 2008.  These snakes are kept separately, as milk snakes, like king snakes, will sometimes eat other snakes, even those of their own species!  I've been very busy with lots of different 'hats' so far this year, as MiniMonsters, Bright Green, Sustainable Bungay (voluntary)  and even doing some teaching for the local Pony Club!  It can be a bit complicated at times, but it's also a very exciting and life is certainly never dull! 

31/12/08 2009 is looking to be a busy year.  In addition to the creepy crawly side to MiniMonsters, I will also be working with Lowestoft based enterprise Bright Green on their Low Carbon Futures project.  My first sessions of 2009 are exciting, as I will be running MiniBigFoot and BigFoot workshops at Beccles Library - in fact I'm off to cut out giant feet now!

21/10/08 So perhaps this is to be a twice-yearly blog!  I have just had my busiest spring/summer ever, but have somehow still managed to fit in organising a Car Free Day for Bungay as part of my actions with Sustainable Bungay.   Meanwhile the animals are enjoying the quieter time of year and are snuggling down for a bit of a rest, with the odd interruption to visit a party, school, scout group or WI!

07/04/08  Whoops, it's been a while since I've had time to write as I've had my busiest ever February and March.  Bob's back out of his brumation and paid a visit to Bungay Library last week (while we had nice weather in between the snowy weekends!).  I am now sending out information about my new climate change topics to schools and hope to have good uptake from Autumn 2008.  This is a topic that I have been wanting to tackle as a roadshow for schools for a number of years and am pleased to see that these important issues are now making their way into the National Curriculum.  Sustainable Bungay is also now starting to take shape and we're planning some exciting events for later in the year.

19/11/07  Yuck - it's really winter now and Bob the bearded dragon has quite sensibly gone into brumation (lizard hibernation) - not all pet lizards do this, but every year Bob watches the nights draw in through the window and loses all enthusiasm for a few months!  Sometimes, I think it would be nice to do the same, but the Climate Change Conference in Bungay got me all fired up and motivated again, so now I'm busy developing new sessions for 2008 and looking forward to the first meeting of our Carbon Footprint Bungay group.   Ooh, and I've got lots of baby Giant Thorny Stick Insects, which is excellent, but does make removing the old bramble a bit tricky!

25/09/07  Things have finally got a bit quieter for a few weeks after the summer holidays, but anyone who knows me will be aware that I like having lots to do - so I'm organising Thrill the World Bungay - check out the home page for more info.  It's a great chance to meet new people from the Bungay area, dress up like zombies and learn a dance that's been around for most of my life - Thriller!

24/08/07 Lizard questions: Sometimes I am asked a question that throws me - either it's something I've never thought about, or forgotten, or my mind is working at 'age 5' level.  I'll do my best to research any future questions and put an answer in my blog!  So: for the lady from today, a lizard's tail breaks at a 'weak point' that is actually within a vertebrae (not between), so some tail vertebrae are lost.  The muscles in that area are also arranged so that they will come apart neatly.  Hopefully Bob will never have to experience this personally!  A new tail regenerates, but does not have the same patterning of scales and colour as before.

Also, here is a photo of Bob pulling his 'I'm a big tough lizard, don't mess with me face' - if he wants to look really impressive, he opens his mouth too.  Next time we have a really hot day(!), I'll see if I can get a photo of him doing this in the garden - I supervise him in the rabbit run and he pulls defensive postures if any birds fly over.

10/08/07  Back in the winter, Taco the corn snake was donated to me as an unwanted pet, assumed to be male.  It takes a bit of an expert and a special tool to check, so I grabbed the opportunity at a reptile centre recently to have him examined and it turns out that he is a she!  In July, I took the MiniMonsters to a Fun Day at Waxham Barn.  At the end of the day, I left the animals warm and secure and went for a stroll on the beach.  On the beach we found two groups of seals enjoying the sunny weather.  We sat and watched them from a distance and were amused by the way they lifted their heads and tails when a wave came in so that they didn't get wet! 

02/07/07 What a spring/summer term and it hasn't finished yet!  I am off to a school in Twickenham tomorrow, so I'm definitely starting to push the 'Norfolk & Suffolk' boundaries somewhat!  Some very sad news in June - my beautiful, patient little rabbit Lily suddenly became ill and despite the vet's best efforts passed away.  If anyone has any nice photos of Lily, I would love a copy as she didn't go out very often, but when she did, she was always an absolute star.  I now have a new super-bunny in the making called Bertie, who is Bongo the cheeky rescue rabbit's new best friend and has already been to one school in Norwich to start his training.  The summer holidays are looking to be my busiest ever with some public events (see home page) and lots of playschemes, holiday clubs and birthday parties.

16/05/07 Due to outgoing mail problems with my previous Tiscali email address, I have now set up a Hotmail account as above.  Apologies to anyone who has emailed me in the past and not received my reply.  I always aim to reply to an email within at least 3 working days, so if you do not hear from me within this time, please phone on the number above.  My previous email account is still active and being forwarded on to the Hotmail account.

Older news:

February 20th 2007  Guest speaker at the University of Essex

December 2006 Interviewed for Radio 4 Woman's Hour linked to WEETU & Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank and winner of Nobel Peace Prize 2006.

November 2006 National Enterprise Week - MiniMonsters booked by Enterprise Lowestoft to tour Lowestoft middle schools with a talk about the ups and downs of running a business.