The bangle is done!

I won't bore you with photos of it, ok, I haven't taken any yet, but it looks gorgeous and I love the colour scheme.

Today was only a half day of class and then we have the rest of the day off, or you can continue beading etc. The first year I taught here I worked through the afternoon off. Last year I wandered to this beach. This year I had expected to do the same but the weather is bad and I don't want to spend all my time walking in the rain, a real pain when you wear glasses. So instead I have decided to take a trip to a place I think about visiting every time I am in Earnley but have not made the effort to do so before: The Butterfly Gardens.

This is one of those places I would never travel a long distance to visit, but seeing as I may never be in this part of the World again, I want to make the trip. My decision is sealed when I learn they have giant tortoises there- I am desperate to see one of these in real life.

Off we drive, in the rain, to the gardens and once inside we pay the fee and enter the butterfly enclosure. I must admit I am quite terrifed of most insects and the thought of one of these landing on, or touching, me fills me with horror but they are beautiful- from a distance. I have never seen such a range of butterflies and have fun trying to take close-up photos from as far away as is physically possible. Fortunately my companion is equally terrified, so I am in good company.

Butterflies gawped at, it's time to move on. Next door is a bird enclosure where they fly around. The thought of a bird landing on me is almost too much to bear and our decision not to enter is sealed when we spot a bird sitting just inside the entrance poised as though ready to swoop as soon as we set foot inside. Instead we look at them through the glass, safe and sound.

There are lots more animals here, but before we find them we discover something unexpected: a museum.

It's called the Museum of Rejectamenta and the word alone is enough for me. Discovering that new word is more than worth the entrance fee.

The museum itself is a strange thing. Less a museum, more someone's collection of stuff, and I love it all the more for that. Items are arranged in rough themes in dusty dark corridors and we have a lot of fun spotting items we grew up with. But best of all, and what really makes it for me, are the hand-written signs dotted around the place. They seem to be the museum owner's own personal commentary on the items, but more specifically modern life. I love reading them for their sly comments on the lack of 'norms' in modern society, the expressing of disappointment at the discrepancy between what's on the lid of a box and its contents and particularly the comment that 'SOME PEOPLE THINK TODAYS SPORTS PERSONALITIES HAVE FORGOTTEN TO BEHAVE LIKE HEROES...........' The capital letters and 11 dots are copied faithfully from the original.

I now dream that one day I will own my own museum where I can put items I have found along my way. Throughout I will scatter signs expressing what I like and don't like and also give a voice to the mysterious People of Some.

Or I might just start putting signs on my 'shelf of precious'

All nostalgia'd out it's off to look for tortoises and I am not disappointed. Not only do they have lots of plain old regular tortoises (just the right size to put in my bag and steal, but I suspect the company I am with will disapprove, so restrain myself) but they have one giant, gorgeous tortoise called Paxo. He's an African Spurred Tortoise and looks just as old and grumpy as I had hoped he would. He wanders around looking at us as we stare at him and wonder if he would bite if we tried to touch him.

After a long time of tortoise staring we wander on to look at lizards, snakes etc but none of them can match the excitement of seeing Paxo so after one last look we wind our way back to bead.