Veolia Photography of the Year 2011 - National History Museum

Yesterday was our yearly anniversary - it's always so nice to celebrate - especially because Boyfriend took last Friday and today free to have even more fun!

Today we went to see Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2011 at the Natural History Museum. It is one of the most prestigious competitions of its kind, attracting entries from professional and amateur photographers of all ages worldwide. The competition seeks to promote the discovery, understanding, responsibility and enjoyment of the natural world.

As usual we were impressed by the high standard of all of the photographs and we're planning to buy the photo album with all the photographs soon. It was also nice to slowly contemplate them  without being squashed by people as it was last year!

For my dog a glass is always half empty

A recent discovery proved something I knew for a long, long time. Dogs really have their own unique personalities and can be divided into optimists and pessimists. The research was based on the eternal question of whether the glass is half full or half empty. It was exposed that the dogs which are more optimistic rarely wailed and howled when an owner was leaving the house. On the contrary, pessimists were more prone to crying and whimpering, because they felt abandoned and didn't think that owner may come back.

As for my dog - Krecik (this is his Polish name - similar to a famous Czech cartoon called Krtek, or Krteček; English translation is little mole (animal); actually the history of Krecik's name is a story for another post) there are few things you now for sure. He. Is. Always. Whimpering. When. Mother. Leaves. She is a pack-leader as Cesar Millan would say - gives the food. On the other hand, I am treated as a lowest, most insignificant member of the pack, even though I give him treats! I'm someone you go to when you are in a bad mood or the bone/soup (Mother is always cooking for him)/meat does not taste good enough and simply bite - because you have nothing else better to do. Krecik is widely renown in my family for his temper and tantrums. Mother and me often joke that he is a little "character". He is stubborn - the story of me teaching him to give paw is famous in our circles! - and does not forget easily.

His howling is epic. It doesn't matter if he is inside or outside The Mansion, just always the minute Mother disappears around the corner - he delivers. We have very patient neighbours who never complained, but believe me - if around 6-7am on Saturday or Sunday morning something like this wakes you up your life will never be the same. To make matters worse, when I jump out of my bed in pyjamas, rush down the stairs from the first floor, through the corridor with half-open eyes, then down more stairs through the porch and open the door very loudly and he sees me - BUSTED! - he makes an incredibly fast run to his Dog House. And you can't get him out of that. He knows he is doing wrong and he is not supposed to do that. Mother busted him a few times when she forgot something and came back - he was so into howling that he didn't see her coming. If you think this might have taught him something, you're wrong - he pretends he is innocent!

 Krecik: look at me - I'm so cute and innocent!

After speaking with various vets, friends, other dog owners, etc., etc. it turns out he will never stop it. It is too late for him (he is about 7-8 years old) and his stubbornness will prevent any attempts of teaching him good manners. Oh well, c'est la vie - a whole neighbourhood already knows him anyway...

Boyfriend's parents recently adopted a mixture of the Grate Dane and Rottweiler/Doberman called Sara. Being only 4 months apparently doesn't stop you from eating sandwiches off the table! Her paws are enormous and at the moment Boyfriend's parents are desperately trying to teach her not to sleep on the sofa, armchairs and beds. Apparently the minute someone gets up in the morning the bed doesn't even get cold when she's already in it! Love it!

Mouse in da house

Great. I THINK we have a mouse in the house. I haven't seen it with my own eyes, but other person living in the house saw it (small and innocent) in his room. In the room which is on the same floor as ours. How the hell did she manage to get on the second floor completely abandoning nice cosy kitchen downstairs and take on an Everest climb of numerous stairs? Maybe she is a magician mouse sent by mistake and by now she disappeared to an Amazon jungle? Or a special-trained newest-generation spy? Or maybe she just possesses some extraordinary abilities like climbing the wall using her little disgusting tail? Today a trap will be bought and we will try to bribe her with some Cheddar and Gouda cheese. We’ll see which she prefers better.

In the previous flat during 4 years of living there we only once encountered a meeting with a mouse. I remember when Boyfriend wasn't feeling very well and was already in bed when I (perfect girlfriend) went to kitchen to get him some water. Kitchen was small (we didn't even have a table/chairs so we ate in the living room) and dark. The doors were closed because there was laundry going on in the washing machine. I opened the door, turn on the lights and... I saw HER. On the floor, just by the sink. Looking at ME. I shrieked - not because I was scared, but because it was just such a surprise! Then I quickly closed the door in time to catch a glimpse of her running frantically in the opposite direction. We immediately called her Suzy in memory of Phoebe's mouse (from Friends). We even considered keeping her as a pet, but abandoned this idea pretty quickly. We are just DYING to have a pet - especially dog. My little dog is living with Mother back home and I love him and miss him so, so, so much. Boyfriend was always surrounded by dogs, so we are used to have some furry friends. Unfortunately it is impossible for now and will be for next couple of years. But a girl can dream.

Anyway, Suzy was a very polite visitor living her little 'gifts' everywhere in the kitchen and scaring me (almost) to death in the living room when surfing on the Internet. The traps were not really working and she ate insane amount of Boyfriend's favourite cheese which was sent especially for him from Poland. EVERYONE makes fun of him because of that. 

Finally a day came when a trap was moving! But to our astonishment it was not Suzy in the trap, but TWO even smaller mice. Then we realized that Suzy was kind of pregnant when she first visited and now her offspring also decided to become visitors. So the efforts to catch them all (but how many exactly?) intensified. Sometimes in the morning we were finding two in the trap and sometimes no-one (but the cheese was still eaten anyway). Boyfriend was releasing them away from our flat, but always in the same place, because I was panicking that they may never find each other. Once when he was opening the trap to check how many are hidden, one just jumped out on his hand, he shrieked like a tiny little girl (I still tease him about that) and run away. But all good things come to an end and the day came when we caught Suzy. She could barely fit in the trap she was so huge. It was obvious that she didn't loose those post-pregnancy pounds because she looked more like a rat than a mouse. We released her and that was end of it.

I told Mother the story when everything was over. She is just panicking when she even hears that a mouse might have been in the place where she is/lives/visits. She is just so afraid of it that I could never get a hamster or guinea pig, because to her they look exactly the same. I am not personally frightened by mice, although their tail - thin and naked - is pretty disgusting. On the other hand, I am PETRIFIED by spiders, but that's different story.

I hope we will catch our present Suzy 2.0 quickly and release her safely, before she will find this poisonous food in the vacuum cupboard.