It’s the month of love, so these dragons caught our eye when googling a city that a friend in our book group visited this week. Do you know where they are?!
Busby has been finding out why humans love pets.
He says, “Well, I have long known that when looking for love, I am the perfect match for my people. However, I was interested in this list that backs up my own experience.”
- No small talk necessary to bond
- No expectations beyond food, love and walks/ time outside.
- Non judgmental company
- A constant source of comfort
- A great conversation starter
- A great excuse to go home
So true, Busby, so true.
Older readers can read the full (non-scientific) article, here: https://introvertdear.com/news/introverts-pets-perfect/
Cartoon credit Shutterstock from: https://www.rd.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/excuse-me-excuse-me-what-s-that-you-are-eating.jpg?resize=768,649
We have been baking…
flapjacks that really work, using Mary Berry’s recipe. We also enjoyed a very lovely dark chocolate fruit cake, topped with marzipan and more chocolate (melt Galaxy with butter).
You can find Mary Berry’s quick and totally foolproof flapjack recipe here: https://thehappyfoodie.co.uk/recipes/fast-flapjacks/. The cake recipe is here: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/chocolate-fruitcake
We have been watching some animated films for older children – one of us from behind the blanket in his dog basket.
Spirited Away (PG) from Studio Ghibli and Pinocchio (PG) by Guillermo del Toro.
They are beautiful, but dark for children. Common Sense Media gives Spirited Away (left) a surprisingly low age rating (8+). You can watch the trailer, here, and make your own mind up: https://youtu.be/ByXuk9QqQkk
A gentler introduction to Anime would be The Secret World of Arrietty, for more sensitive children though. Also from Studio Ghibli, it is based on The Borrowers by Mary Norton.
Busby says that since watching this version of Pinocchio, he has decided that he is now happy about his Fairy Tale Character Quiz result being the wolf.
He explains, “As much as I believe myself to be a ‘real boy’, I hadn’t actually thought about the reality of life with wooden nose. Where would the joy in that be?!”
You can have a go at drawing a Manga character face, here:
We have been thinking about the skill of song translators.
Imagine having to stay close to the text and managing to make things rhyme! Have a watch of Let it Go from Disney’s Frozen in German or French. Why not have a go at singing along?! It is good for your brain!
You can have a lot of fun with this. The best translations are found by putting the original title, the language you want and Disney in your search engine. Here’s one to make you smile https://youtu.be/A70xUvyPA_c
We are keeping up our outside for 23 in 23 challenge…
Recent cold, sunny weather has made it a lot easier though, and keeping our paws warm has helped a lot. This first picture is of the moon. It has been cold, but spring is on its way!
If you have a resolution that is not working, or that you have abandoned, don’t worry! The 28th February is Determination Day. Confused? Older readers can listen and find out more, here (at 5 minutes 45 seconds in): https://gretchenrubin.com/podcast/417-celebrate-determination-day-start-a-no-homework-book-club-and-go-outside-or-read-about-it/ Or you can read about it, here (ignore the different date – any time in February will do!): https://gretchenrubin.com/articles/slowing-down-on-your-resolutions-use-determination-day-to-re-evaluate/.
Missed January 1st, but want to start a new habit or resolution? Don’t despair -you can join in the fun at any time! Older readers can quickly get some actionable ideas from this podcast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09by3yy/episodes/downloads (also available from the Apple App store). You will see a whole list of great ideas, presented in a 15 minute podcast. Some can be adapted for younger readers.
Because, generally, we manage what we measure, think about tracking your progress – either use a paper chart like this one: https://busyb.co.uk/pdf/Year_Planner_2022_02.pdf or this one: https://gretchenrubin.com/resource/go-outside-23-in-2023/
You can also use an online habit tracker. Gretchen Rubin has one on her free App. Take a look, here: https://thehappierapp.com/ You can put any goal in. Adults can also help research by downloading Professor Tim Spector’s Zoe App and choosing a health goal: https://health-study.joinzoe.com/blog/zoe-health-study-habit-tracker
We have been taking part in the Cornell Great Backyard Bird Count.
If you are quick, you can too. Monday, 20th February is the last day. It is very easy to join in if you download their Merlin App. Find out more about the App here: https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/And the bird count, here: https://www.birdcount.org/
This App has featured here before, because I love it. It really is like magic! You hold up your phone and it identifies the birds it can hear. It identified sixteen different type of bird this morning in the fifteen minutes Busby took to wander around the garden. They included linnet, bunting and partridge – amazing!
This is a male linnet and you can find out more about this bird and listen to its song, here: https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/linnet/
Finally, last month’s picture of Busby’s dream -how was it produced?
It was produced using DALL.E by Open AI. We haven’t used it yet, but we are keen to try. Given the unpredictability of the results, it’s something adults should try first. Here’s the link: https://openai.com/blog/dall-e-now-available-without-waitlist/
Thanks to Levi for this great picture.
Thank you…
everyone who has signed up to follow this blog. Every time we see a new name, I feel great and Busby feels (p)awesome.
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