SlodgerBlog

The layout of the main page with article excerpts has been somewhat erratic, with the excerpt text sometimes appearing alongside the icon as it is supposed to and sometimes underneath the icon. (more…)

For those times when you need to let off some steam, vent your frustration or just satisfy a thirst for random violence, what could be better than an innocent sheet of bubblewrap. (more…)

Whilst shopping in Preston market Sue spotted the ‘nut stall’ and bought a small bag of hazelnuts to see if the squirrels like them. I put a handful out with the usual pile of peanuts outside my window and watched for the first visitor. (more…)

I regularly put out seeds and raisins on our bird table and we see a wide range of birds including robins, blackbirds, blue tits, great tits, coal tits, collared doves and wood pigeons, plus the usual flock of starlings!

As the weather has gone colder I have supplemented this diet with peanuts which has had the added benefit of attracting squirrels to the garden. (more…)

This year we were privileged to be hosts to a family of blue tits who selected our nesting box as the location to bring up their brood.

We were treated to weeks of frantic activity by both parents, venturing to our bird table for seed and fat, whilst the squeaking noises from the box grew in intensity. All the while we were desperate to see what was happening inside the box as the chicks grew and finally fledged. (more…)

Aardman Animations is mourning the loss of most of its history following a blaze in its victorian wharehouse in Bristol.

The majority of the sets, props and models used in its Wallace and Gromit, Chicken Run, Morph and Creature Comforts films, plus awards and storyboards, have been lost. Fortunately none of the negatives were affected and the sets and models from their latest film - Curse of the Were-Rabbit were safe on display at a Bristol exhibition. (more…)

One of the only forms of exercise I manage to do regularly is playing squash at my local sports club on a Sunday night.

Squash is one of those sports like golf where you have to be able to play before you can play (if that makes sense). You need to be fairly proficient before you can actually play anyone properly in order to practice and improve, it’s a chicken and egg situation. (more…)

Those of you in the know will recognise the quotation used for the tagline on this site.

It is, of course, the stunningly optimistic statement made by Wallace to Gromit on settling into his armchair at the end of ‘The Wrong Trousers’, a claymation film from the hands of Nick Park and Aardman Animations. (more…)