What would your aristocratic title be?

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Countess-Palatine Charlotte the Contrite of Wallop upon Deane Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

Penguins in popular culture

Here's a nice article about these lovable creatures - beginning with none other than Pingu, of course.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Truth is stranger than fiction - it's a white Christmas downunder!

Fur

Oh dear. The moment someone gets a whiff you like wearing fur, you are immediately everyone's worst enemy.

Now, I hear the reason the PETA people are adverse to this fashion trend is because the animals are killed in a rather unsavoury manner in order to obtain their hides. I object to animals being mistreated. I love animals, as you may be able to tell from this blog. As a kiwi though, I find it hard to get worked up into such a song and dance about it.

You see, one of the many animals which were introduced to our little island nation by the invading colonists were opossums, or just possums as everyone calls them. They are a pest. They kill our native wildlife - many different species; they are not selective - and strip and kill our native trees. They reproduce with fervour, and seeing their carcasses on the roadside is certainly not going to produce any sympathy. We have people dedicated to their eradication, but they're fighting a losing battle. Suffice to say, we kiwis have a somewhat negative attitude towards the blighters.

The little critters also tend to possess their own fur coats. And when they've been killed, we tend to make products out of it - hats, muffs, coats... whatever. It's nice that we can get something positive out of the whole thing. Recently fur from those darstardly possums has been blended with merino from our famous sheep, to make 'merinomink', a luxury brand. Apparently it's quite nice. More power to those who can find something to do with all the extra possums - and their fur.

Tee hee

Last minute gift idea

So we had some FlyBuys expiring next year, and decided to cash in our rather pathetic total. It came down to only two choices - some plastic utensils or a penguin shower radio. Hubby picked up the radio last week.



This little chap is quite something. His goggles are the on/off switch, his flipper control the AM/FM and tuning, and his foot is the volume. He sits on our shower wall and belts out our favourite tunes, increasing the enjoyment of an otherwise tedious activity a hundred fold. We felt a little silly ordering him, but we're so glad we did. If you know someone who would appreciate some music to help their shower-singing along, this would be a great present.

Noel Leeming has it here.

Or you can buy less exciting shower radios...

Summer? Ha!

El Nino makes its presence felt again.

Jane Austen quotes blog

"Daily wit and inspiration from Austen, compiled by Lori Smith, author of A Walk with Jane."

Jane Austen for the 21st Century

Read this interesting article with Andrew Davies, care of Jane Austen's Regency World magazine.

Plus, a quiz about JA parties.

Fabs pressies for book lovers

Click here. I love the t-shirts.

Cute cat link

Stuff like this helps me feed my cat addiction, while I'm not allowed to have one...

http://www.stuffonmycat.com/

Do any cat-loving readers have favourite sites?

Looking for somewhere to stay in Taupo, New Zealand?

Cherry Tree Cottage is a charming escape, just a minute's walk from the lake.

(I don't normally promote stuff like this, but I know the owners and can recommend the accommodation from personal experience)