What simply gorgeous weather we have had for the last three days (I think it is three!) 25 degrees C, endless sunshine, and the most wonderful clear skies in the evening, there is my favourite blue again. That dress will materialize one day, when I get back to having a figure that is worth a dress.

I have to admit to being a little worried this evening. The day before yesterday the dogs went for their yearly vaccinations along with a little wild male Sparrow-hawk who went for an X-ray. The three dogs are fine, the Sparrow-hawk needs three weeks rest and then should be fine, but Rush had a lump, so yesterday he went back in and had it aspirated – sample taken from it, and after the result late this afternoon, tomorrow he is having it off pronto. It had some nasty cells in it and as it is small and in a good place at the moment, the faster we move the better. But it is never fun to contemplate any of the dogs having something wrong. Here is hoping that the operation will go well and there will be no repercussions.

As I won’t be able to ride early I took Mollie out this evening for the first time in four days, she had a nose bleed on Sunday (livestock!!) and so has had a few days off, apparently her nose is fine, and she managed to get a reasonably good buck in on the way home, and also apparently I am getting better at sitting them out! As I rode through the woods it was marvellous to see the autumn colours, they are stunning already, this morning as Mike and I drove to Birmingham to get the glass for the Hawk Walk doors, ready for the winter, there was a morning mist, the first this autumn, and I suspect we will have another tomorrow.

We had a meeting on Friday about next year’s falconry event, so now, we have a Gladiator weekend the first weekend in August and the Falconry Event the first weekend in September and in May our 45^th anniversary celebrations, so fill up your diary!! We also start the Owl Evenings at the end of next month.

Yesterday during the 2.00pm flying demonstration a somewhat ambitious Sparrowhawk, a juvenile female, came steaming in while Fortina the Peregrine was flying, it spent several minutes chasing her, it was very lucky that the tables were not turned! But it was amazing to see.

We are getting close to having the Hawk Walk ready for the winter and cold weather, we are about to ground the last of the summer flyers and be able to concentrate on the winter birds. Simon’s Goshawk has caught 8 rabbits so far, and we are ready for the autumn months now upon us.

The below stuff was sent to me by Linda, it never fails to amaze me that courts, judges and juries are this stupid, perhaps they should all be made to take some sort of common sense test before being allowed to sit in judgment on others………………………….

It's time again for the annual 'Stella Awards'! For those unfamiliar with these awards, they are named after 81-year-old Stella Liebeck who spilled hot coffee on herself and successfully sued the McDonald's in New Mexico , where she purchased coffee. You remember, she took the lid off the coffee and put it between her knees while she was driving. Who would ever think one could get burned doing that, right? That's right; these are awards for the most outlandish lawsuits and verdicts in the U.S.STELLA AWARDS

SEVENTH PLACE

Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas was awarded $80,000 by a jury of her peers after breaking her ankle tripping over a toddler who was running inside a furniture store. The store owners were understandably surprised by the verdict, considering the running toddler was her own son.

SIXTH PLACE

Carl Truman, 19, of Los Angeles , California won $74,000 plus medical expenses when his neighbor ran over his hand with a Honda Accord. Truman apparently didn't notice there was someone at the wheel of the car when he was trying to steal his neighbor's hubcaps.

FIFTH PLACE

Terrence Dickson, of Bristol , Pennsylvania , who was leaving a house he had just burglarized by way of the garage. Unfortunately for Dickson, the automatic garage door opener malfunctioned and he could not get the garage door to open. Worse, he couldn't re-enter the house because the door connecting the garage to the house locked when Dickson pulled it shut. Forced to sit for eight, count 'em, EIGHT days and survive on a case of Pepsi and a large bag of dry dog food, he sued the homeowner's insurance company claiming undue mental Anguish. Amazingly, the jury said the insurance company must pay Dickson $500,000 for his anguish. We should all have this kind of anguish Keep scratching. There are more...

FOURTH PLACE

Jerry Williams, of Little Rock, Arkansas, garnered 4th Place in the Stella's when he was awarded $14,500 plus medical expenses after being bitten on the butt by his next door neighbor's beagle - even though the beagle was on a chain in its owner's fenced yard. Williams did not get as much as he asked for because the jury believed the beagle might have been provoked at the time of the butt bite because Williams had climbed over the fence into the yard and repeatedly shot the dog with a pellet gun.
THIRD PLACE

Amber Carson of Lancaster, Pennsylvania because a jury ordered a Philadelphia restaurant to pay her $113,500 after she slipped on a spilled soft drink and broke her tailbone. The reason the soft drink was on the floor: Ms. Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend 30 seconds earlier during an argument. What ever happened to people being responsible for their own actions?

SECOND PLACE

Kara Walton, of Claymont , Delaware sued the owner of a night club in a nearby city because she fell from the bathroom window to the floor, knocking out her two front teeth. Even though Ms. Walton was trying to sneak through the ladies room window to avoid paying the $3.50 cover charge, the jury said the night club had to pay her $12,000....oh, yeah, plus dental expenses. Go figure.
FIRST PLACE

This year's runaway First Place Stella Award winner was: Mrs. Merv Grazinski, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, who purchased new 32-foot Winnebago motor home. On her first trip home, from an OU football game, having driven on to the freeway, she set the cruise control at 70 mph and calmly left the driver's seat to go to the back of the Winnebago to make herself a sandwich. Not surprisingly, the motor home left the freeway, crashed and overturned. Also not surprisingly, Mrs. Grazinski sued Winnebago for not putting in the owner's manual that she couldn't actually leave the driver's seat while the cruise control was set. The Oklahoma jury awarded her, are you sitting down? $1,750,000 PLUS a new motor home. Winnebago actually changed their manuals as a result of this suit, just in case Mrs. Grazinski has any relatives who might also buy a motor home.