Proud Mum

Digger made me proud on Monday. I took both Digger and Peggy to the social club in the morning with my dog walker. Digger was a little nervous at first but as he was on a very long lead we were able to control where he went. He made friends with a couple of other Jack Russells and was soon having fun. After half an hour we let him off the lead and he continued to play and keep close - not like Peggy who legged it over to the estuary with a friend - and he ventured farther afield as his confidence grew. The club lady was impressed and only had to comment once about me petting him whilst he was barking at a dog who was too close; she said I had to walk away from him and give him room and I found he accepted that.

Wednesday the two dogs had a sleep-over at the kennels in preparation for my holiday and again they were as good as gold, so no worries about going away. Thursday I went to Exeter with Maureen to visit the Craft show. Maureen had organised seats on a local coach run by the Ilfracome WI which was quite handy and the only rub was that it was a long day, getting back about 17:00 and boy, was I tired! Although I didn't get what I went for, I managed to find some very interesting bits and pieces and several books (I can hear my offspring start to twitter in the background about my every growing library) that will prove useful.

Today has been quiet so I managed to get a haircut in and do the usual trip with the dogs.

Not much to talk about today because I can't show what I'm doing on the net, people who will benefit are watching!

Not long now...

...Not long to my holiday, that is. I bought a pair of walking shoes today so I could keep up with Maureen (captive playmate) when she hikes round the Isle of Wight. Last Thursday saw me at the market again where I sold my long waistcoat - would you believe it, he wanted pockets too but my crystal ball was at the cleaners! The drawing he had given me did not have pockets but as I pointed out I can put them on the next one (ploy to get more business) then I can have the black one back and add them then - Whew!!!

Today I went to a craft demo at Atlantic Village where I expected too much. I had thought it would be more organised but there was this poor lady on a little piece of the counter trying to demonstrate different ways of making cards. Well, as you now know, I don't do cards, I scrap so I soon lost interest; plus there was mention of a goody bag, but not sign of that either! However, the trip there and back was delightful, the sun shone and the birds sang and the traffic was minimal - wonderful. I finished off with a MacDonalds chicken deli in the garden and a cup of tea.

I have so many ideas buzzing round my brain at the moment that I shall be glad to get started and have printed off pictures of the ideas and articles in case I forget anything.

Next week is going to be busy with taking both dogs to social club on Monday plus the arrival of my BT vision box and the home hub has already arrived (Ed to the rescue here). Wednesday the dogs to the kennels for a night-over and I have to rush there for them on the Thursday morning to get back in time for a trip by coach to West Point Craft fair with Maureen. On Friday I get my hair cut at last, Jodie has been on holiday for two weeks just when I wanted her expertise so I had to hack my fringe myself and she'll be most annoyed with me. Then it will be the weekend of my birthday and Ed is coming on Sunday evening and to spend most of Monday with me - bless him.

I doubt I'll see Bert as he is still quite poorly and having lots of tests at the local hospital although we think he might have Crohn's disease and once diagnosed this can be treated with drugs and diet. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for another week just in case.

My daughter, Stephanie, has just started blogging here http://shellabear.blogspot.com/ and we can keep up to date with her doings on a more regular basis.

Amazing!

I had to put this picture up because I needed to record what a lovely day it was on Wednesday! Also when I look back during the winter and wonder where the summer went, I'll be able to pinpoint a week of it at least. The weather has held for 4 days now and the dogs have been able to go outside to play.

I have been busy this week, with waiting for a man to come and fix my back door because it had listed a bit and was catching at the top. I dashed out to the library and waited all day, but no man; then the next day he phoned about 10:45 and asked if he could come as the people he was supposed to see were not in. Of course I had an appointment that day, but we managed to fit the job in and he also sorted out the front door too, where that had slipped and put a beading round the edge to seal it off.

Wednesday I had an appointment with the vet to get Peggy's last postop checkup and her booster and kennel cough vaccines. Digger had to have his kennel cough too which meant he had to have a muzzle on. I'm not too sure what he might do to the poor vet if he had his teeth free. Kennel cough vaccine is squirted up their noses and not at all pleasant so they get really difficult to keep still whilst it is being done - I almost had to scrape Peggy off the wall when she saw it coming, and I was warned it would only get worse.

Here's a picture of Peggy and Digger using an old cardigan of mine as a tug-of-war rope after demolishing Peggy's sleeping basket. They can get quite rough whilst playing and Digger will insist on diving under my skirt when he's had enough and this makes it very difficult to keep my balance. He is quite proud of his new name tag which arrived this week, as finally he and we have become a family.



Thursday I went to the market and collected a jacket for alteration (I hate these) and an order for a long waistcoat. I had made a mockup for trying on before cutting into the fashion fabric and it fitted OK, so we'll go ahead this week and make it up properly.



Friday was a day of rest (after I had hoovered throughout the house) when I reclined on the settee with a dog at either end and read a book and watched Die Hart 4 and the Bank Heist with Jason Statham. I've not done that for a long time and really enjoyed myself.

Today I am preparing for another Christmas present, collecting paints and papers and sealing pages ready for working on. Again, I have lofty ideas but whether I can transfer these into a visual form is anyone's guess, but I'll have fun trying. I had a try at making Christmas cards and found it is not as easy as it looks. Anyone can stick bits and pieces onto card, but to get the colour and placement right is not easy and sometimes they can look quite dull and cheap. Well, back to the drawing board, and I'll leave cards to those who can and stick to my scrapping.

All sorts happening

It has been a while since I was able to blog and I'm getting withdrawal symptoms. Over the past two weeks I have been able to finish Mum's journal for Christmas and start another one. Digger (Digby) has settled in and been registered with the vet etc. so he is here to stay. Peggy had her operation on Monday and I had to sit with her for 3 days because she has to have a very large cone around her head, bless her. Apparently she has a very long nose for such a small dog - and I though it was her ears that attracted all the attention! This makes it impossible for her to see steps so she cannot get up the garden without help and forget about the dog flap - she is going nowhere through that.

Digger has been marvellous with her except when she arrived home with the cone, he objected quite strongly to it and to the smell of the hospital but that wore off after a day or two and now they are best of friends (!) at the moment. Also something is going through her like a dose of salts and she gets quite distressed during the night and my rugs in the kitchen have had quite a washing cycle. Peggy goes for a checkup this afternoon, and I'll get something to settle her stomach then.


Bert was rushed into hospital last Thursday with a blood problem, but came out during the weekend. He is still having exploratory and blood tests to find out what the problem is, so I don't think I'll see him any time soon, although he is phoning twice a day to let me know how he is progressing. He sounds a little better but also depressed because he is having to sit and be quiet, not a happy teddy.

Yesterday I attended a small workshop at a card factory nearby, with 11 other ladies, and we had a great time making an exploding box. This is my first workshop which takes place on the first Wednesday of each month and we make different things each time. Next month it will be a decoupage card (I think). However, I brought some papers home to make another with a more streamlined box. I did ask how to send these boxes through the post and was told "expensively!" - definitely a giving present rather than a sending one.

Cheeky Monkey

We have all settled down now and I was able to go to the market on Thursday where I picked up 3 orders for waistcoats and 1 for a customised ring pillow. I had asked Kim next door to listen out for any fights or problems, but she said everything was quiet all day, so they must have slept until I came back.

Digger has become quite cheeky in that he will pick up one of Peggy's toys and wave it in front of her nose, then race under my skirt where he thinks he will be safe...not the brightest spark in the pack. Other times he will headbut her then race into the garden with her at his heels where they mock fight and charge round at the rate of knots before coming back to their baskets for a snooze. I tried to get him to sleep with Peggy in the kitchen at night but it is too early yet and I had to relent and let him back into the living room. I was also advised not to send him to social club but to let him have space for a couple of months. He is quite docile when out on walks round the estate, but I have no idea what he would be like in company with a lot of other dogs, so we'll take that slowly. Apart from that, the dog therapist says I am doing everything right and he should be OK. They are outside at the moment, playing with some poor bug that attracted Peggy's attention.

A night's sleep...

The plan went well last night, and I got the first good night's sleep since I left home for Cheshire. There is nothing like your own bed as many people know, and my back makes it difficult to sleep elsewhere. Digby slept in the living room on the settee after I had put a child gate across the bedroom door. He could see me but his bed was on the other side and once he realised I was not going to let him in, he went downstairs and onto the settee. He barked for a while so I went down to him and shouted at him and from then on, he was as quiet as a baby.

Today he has been a really happy dog, playing with Peggy and having little sleeps, and seems to be settling in comfortably. I was able to take my car in for its MOT which, unfortunately, it failed and now I have to sort it out. Mother rang to tell me her cat Silvester had a tumour and had to be put to sleep. I was worried about her being alone and encouraged her to think of giving a home to a rescue cat. She was concerned that if she got a young cat it would have to be rehomed if she died, but as I pointed out, she doesn't have to get a kitten and there must be other cats that need rehoming because their owner has died. She'll think about it.

My third worry is Bert who has had several mini strokes and is well under the weather. He gets his scan results tomorrow and I'm hoping there is something the doctor can do for him. Again, unfortunately he has a low tolerance for the drugs they give him and stops taking them before they have chance to have any effect.

I paid for my holiday today, a week on the Isle of Wight in October with Gareth's mother-in-law, Maureen, so it isn't all bad news and hopefully will get better.

A little darling, a little horror

Digby is a little darling - most of the time. During the day he will play with Peggy, have sleeps in his basket and sit beside me on the settee. However, night-time is a different matter...he is very nervous of noises, especially next door, and barks consistantly for hours. This is not acceptable to my neighbours who have to get up at 05:30 to go to work and I have to find a way to stop him. I called the rehoming centre for help and now have a plan. We'll see if tonight proves to be different because on the whole he is fitting into the family very well.

Peggy went to her social club this morning and Digby missed her quite badly. He searched all round the house then sat in his basket until she came home an hour later. I've arranged for him to join the social club and take turns at going every fortnight with Peggy going the alternate weeks. I think this will help him adjust to playing with other dogs, because it certainly did Peggy good - she is a different dog since she started going there.

At the moment he is trying to drag his large basket into the middle of the kitchen and has scattered all the contents in his wake - not sure why he is doing this, but no doubt he knows what he is doing. He goes on his own into the garden frequently and has learned to get in and out of the dogflap so he is all set for the winter.

I was able to do some more journalling for my mother today and achieved a surprise for her. A doorway that opens and shows her wedding photo (one of those I pinched during my visit). I also finished that set of pages and only have one signature left to complete. I just hope she likes it and takes it lightheartedly as is meant. The words conveyed are Caring and Nurturing. The middle page is Impatient, but I showed that picture earlier on - I think?