more dog tails

" No "

"no I cant take it Off" 

"Ow"

"stop hitting me with it"

"just lay down"

"stop ramming me on the leg with it"

Yesterday Morning we had to go back to the vet. As the Spaniel was still paying a lot of attention to a certain area of his body. He has over cleaned himself and made himself sore. He now has to wear a collar for the next 5 days. 

We had a fantastic walk to the vet. There was an abundance of wildflowers around and that was lovely. In the vet, now the Spaniel went in and the Labrador would not move from outside the door to the consulting room. It was so sweet she was tilting her head from left to right listening to what was going on. 

Now he is blind, daft and wearing a collar. Therefore he is hitting his collar against everything including any human he happens to come across. He has managed to scrape both mine and LSP's legs as he has been rubbing it against us. last night we had a friend over so both dogs were confined to the kitchen for the evening. 

This friend did an amazing thing on Friday night. She walked 10 km across Cardiff at midnight in her pyjamas. No she was not drunk,  She was doing a sponsored walk in aid of Ty Hafan. Ty Hafan is a children's hospice in Wales and hundred's of women put aside time to walk in the freezing cold and rain for 2 hours in their Jammies to raise funds. 

Now when she arrived at our house, it was in chaos. Me, LSP and my sister had some of the contents of the loft in the sitting room sorting through charity and car boot stuff. We took 4 full bags of clothes to the charity shop and 6 boxes of car boot stuff to go to my sister. She is going to do some car boot sales in June and I am happy for her to try to sell our old junk. We were nearing the end of the sorting so having already walked 10 miles at midnight she then helped us move our stuff between houses. 

Whilst we were loading and unloading a young man arrived at our gate with a bunch of wildflowers. He had brought them for our youngest daughter, she was not here as she was not back from work and he could not stay as he had got a taxi to bring them. (how lovely) 

We had a nice evening of chatter over spag bol and trifle before she became our first guest in the spare room. This morning we have had a leisurely breakfast before starting our Sunday.  

Shopping and Heroic Dogs.

Well yesterday was the bank holiday in England and Wales. In the south west of England we had some light rain. So we drove to Wales where there was much more rain!

We went to Cardiff, Instead of seeing the sights we headed straight for the st Davids centre and went shopping.

We were mainly shopping for OD and YD. We went round lots of clothes shops! However some of the display's were interesting.

(how cute) 

When we were not in the clothes shops we were here. 

yes the apple shop.....

It was a good morning. It was so nice just to have time with both of the children together. 

They are so busy with University, it is nice to get a full day together. 

In the afternoon we went visiting. 

While we were visiting, we learned the story of a hero dog. 

There are 2 dogs that live in the house we were visiting, Alfie and Mojo. 

Alfie and Mojo are very lovely (but can be a little bit naughty) 

Alfie and Mojo were taking their people for a walk in some woodland. 

As they were walking they came across a family who were upset,

 they had lost one of their dogs. 

They had been looking and looking but could not find the lost dog. 

Alfie and Mojo's people said they would also look while they were on their walk. 

Some time later, Mojo ran off suddenly, without warning.

Now Mojo's humans thought he was just being naughty. 

They followed Mojo as he ran though the woodland.

Mojo came to a stop at the bank of a stream.

Mojo, barked, and barked and barked.

As Mojo's humans got closer Mojo continued to bark. 

Mojo was frantic, barking and clawing at the edge of the bank.

The bank at that part of the stream was sheer. 

And there in the water was the lost dog. 

The dog was exhausted he was old and blind. 

Mojo's male human (being tall) climbed down into the stream. 

He passed the lost dog out of the stream.

He then had to wade downstream until he came to somewhere he could get out. 

Mojo, Alfie and their humans took the very cold and tired lost dog 

to its people, who were very grateful.

Animals are amazing. 

Nurse for the day.

Today I Have been a nurse. Not for my partner, or my kids but for the dog.

At 3am this morning she wake us up as she is hot, panting and very unsettled. So we went to the vet this morning . She is hot and lethargic and so we have to keep an eye on her for the next 24 hours and if she does not perk up, to go back. She is not often unwell, Despite needing injections for her arthritis, we are not often at the vet with her. So today, I have been doing just that.

The weekend was quiet but still busy, Yesterday Morning we awoke to the most amazing sunrise.

 I noticed we had new neighbours.

They are so lovely.

While I was in the garden looking at what we could do in this coming year. I heard a scream. At the same time I saw a bird fly out from a window ledge... I can only presume that the 2 events were linked as they appeared to have come from the same place. I did smile at the thought of someone innocently showering and a bird looking on.

The rest of yesterday was spent whipping around town collecting children, shopping etc. In the evening we went to see The Best Exotic Marigold hotel. The was the 2nd film we had seen last week. The first one being "The Artist" Now lots of people have raved about The Artist. YD really wanted to see it. I was keen and LSP came along reluctantly. Well, who'd have thought it. LSP loved it and I fell asleep. (yes properly with snoring).  It just did not do it for me.

Unlike The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, It was fantastic. At times it was a bit cliche but overall a fab film with some great stories. One thing I liked was the wrinkles.

Yes these people are ageing and they look beautiful. Dame Judi and Maggie Smith look so devine, They are a real advertisement for how women are supposed to look as we age. No facelists, skin peels or botox.

Well LSP is home now. complete with a cold. This was our lab this morning and now she is on the rug at home.
Hope you all had a good monday.

one sick puppy.

Ok, so dog 2 is not a puppy. however he is not feeling at his best tonight.

This morning, Dog 2 needed to go to the vet's for his operation to remove a tooth, he is an old dog and a cocker spaniel and they do have quite weak teeth.

This morning was a bit of a rush so I found myself, outside with the dog, late and without my jacket. So dog 2 and I ran (well jogged) to the vet. It was v v cold. I was wearing a t shirt and a cardigan and shoes with no socks. We arrived 2 minutes early (yay) and then waited 20 minutes for the vet to check him in. En route to the wet we walked past some woodlands and I was eye to eye with a Montjac deer. (the wind meant that dog 2 could not smell him) Now I did not have my camera, but it was still a magical moment. me and the deer looking at each other, before he turned and ran away.

Now dog 2 was confused. 1) he had no breakfast. 2) he was out for an early walk 3) he was at the vet again!
Dog 2 does not always think he is a dog, sometimes he thinks he is people. and as he thinks he is people he does like to sit on, sofa's, beds, chairs, benches etc. now sitting on seats is not allowed at the vet and as dog 2 does not like dogs (he is old, blind and antisocial) I try to keep him away from other dogs as the result involves lots of barking. (I must just point out he is a lovely dog and we love him very much, he gets on well with dog1 but as he cant see he does get loud when faced with other dogs).

So on the floor, he barks and he is not allowed on the seat. Guess who sat on my lap for 20 minutes!

Dog deposited.

Go to work. (not a great day)

Collect Dog.

Pay Bill.
(ouch....bill was double the estimate as he needed some more work. a serious amount of money)
(yes we have insurance but does not cover very old dogs dental)

Dog is now sore and dopey, he has had painkillers and something to keep him calm. He is lying on his bed half awake and half asleep.

We love him so much and want him to feel better soon. x x x

Today I made Cheese Biscuits, They were supposed to be Cheese Scones!

That would be a scone fail!

I will try again tomorrow! Today started off well, we took YD to work this morning then had breakfast out. 

I had the strawberry and yoghurt granola with a capaccino 

lush breakfast. 

a bit of light shopping and then home. 

The dogs had some bones to chew on....

This afternoon I turned my attention to the dinning room cabinet. I love it, its my favourite piece of furniture in the house. It was our wedding present, we asked for vouchers and this is what we bought. We have had it 5 years now and I love it. it gives me so much pleasure and it is stuffed full of lovely things. 

a lovely variety of napkins, place mats, napkin rings and table cloths. 

and nice shiny cutlery. 

In the Sales we treated ourselves to some new glasses. 

We now have matching glasses for 6 people that is not Crystal (it has its place) we now have red wine glasses and white wine glasses, I feel so grown up. 

We had a lovely Christmas present of some amazing tea, with a teapot and cups. So I have cleared a shelf for them. 

How amazing is that!!

the teapot has pride of place in the cabinet.

The frost is hitting the garden and the colour is going. 

My Geraniums are finally being effected by the frost. 

So today was going so well, if you read this weeks posts you would know that I was planning to go to a party tonight! that was before LSP started to feel unwell. so we have shelved our Party plans and have our feet up in front of the sofa. I am watching "Take me out" Its nice no brainer TV an a laugh. 

my nice calm day tomorrow has also been scuppered by the toilet handle breaking. 

So its off to B&Q in the morning and a bit of DIY from LSP, (who has already sorted out a temporary solution) 

Well , I am off to put the kettle on and have a nice cup of tea and a biscuit 

(chocolate not cheese) 

happy weekend x 

A walk in the park!!!

I am sitting here looking at 2 tired but happy dogs.

We had to do a favour for my BIL in London so, on the way home we went to Windsor great park.

I love it there. If you want pretty you can go down to Virginia water's  or to Savil gardens and admire the plants. We would have done Virginia Waters today however, As the PGA was on at Wentworth we felt it was best to stick to the Windsor side.

If you squint really hard you can see the castle in the background!

We were careful with our speed!

(not 30 mph or 40 mph or even 35mph)

We walked round Russell's pond, which was blissfully quiet. We only saw 2 people the whole time we were there. The wildlife however, was in abundance.  Unfortunately we only had my camera so no amazing close ups. (more squinting required)

This is a Kite,

You can just see the fork in the tail. It was amazing to see it flying around! 

We also saw a buzzard and some Mandarin Ducks, both of which were to quick for me! 

We did see 2 Canada Geese and some gosling's...

The light was bad so there are no good arty prints today! This was quite nice though.

The star of the walk however was not the view's or the wildlife but the Spaniel! 

For those of you who do not know our Spaniel is Blind (and a bit stupid).

So he only very rarely gets allowed off the lead. As today was very quiet we did let him have a run. He loved it.

(look no strings)

We put him back on the lead after a gun shot sent him running in the wrong direction. He is very skittish. 

Well it was a good job we did as he managed to launch himself into the Pond! 

We rounded the corner and he fell into a ditch, luckily it was a dry ditch, so we hauled him out.  

we walked around the pond and on the way back he fell into the same ditch!!!!

 Once we were passed the pond we let him off the lead again for a short while. Now do you remember I mentioned there were only 2 other people there today, well the Spaniel took a liking to one of them. A strange woman walked past us and the spaniel followed her! well we managed to get him back put him back on the lead and the rest of the walk was pretty uneventful. 

Near to the car park was a heard of long horned cattle. I have a liking for cow's of all breeds. they are such lovely animal's.

 I grew up in a small village and the farm nearest to my house had a small herd of dairy and beef cattle. I used to love going over there. I would help with the milking and getting the cows in. I used to love watching the steers as they grew up and was heart broken when they went for beef. (did not stop me from eating beef) 

I have a strong affection for cattle. I take photo's at any opportunity. 

Sorry for the lack of Blogging I have been so busy since I went back to work. Well its a combo of work and tiredness!! We have another trip planned so I will put the camera battery on charge!!