Tonight there is a full moon; outside the air is calm and the last blackbirds have gone to bed.
The two dogs I have staying this week are sleeping - an elderly Lurcher of 14 and a German Pointer of 9, Penny and Smudge.
Angus, my wee Scottish Terrier, has had all his last jabs and checks and tomorrow night will be on the eurotunnel back to England.
My favourite Son and Heir (being the only S&H) is inconviently flying into Stansted tomorrow afternoon - and then having to make his way to Gatwick where GW will collect him.
Tomorrow night I will have the Husband, the Boy, the Dog and the Two Visitors here.
The Scot is smelly.
The road to the cottage
Thursday 14 July 2011
Wednesday 29 June 2011
Thinking of you!
A message to my wee black Scottish bestest friend who is stuck in Brussels at the moment waiting for his Mum to get over to bring him home. Miss you, Angus!
Taken in Brussels when Angus was in Sapper mode. He will have serious competition from the bantams though!
Thursday 23 June 2011
I love the NHS
Not much happens in this little village, so the sound of a siren is headlines. Either it is an ambulance coming to take someone to hospital or the police chasing someone through the twisty lanes as they drive 'the backway' home after drinking that extra pint.
The siren this morning came straight here and it is a most pleasing noise. GW felt a tightening across the chest and constriction in his throat.
- I think I'll drive to the A&E in Dorchester.
- Mmmm ... I think not. I will call you an ambulance.
- Let me think about it.
- You have three minutes.
(Three minutes later)
- Perhaps you had better ring them.
So ring I did and got a comforting and competent voice on the 'phone asking for details and then asking if it was possible to talk to GW. In the meantime the ambulance was on its way. In under 10 minutes it arrived, the crew jumped out, collected all their bags and within three minutes he was hooked up to the ECG machine, blood pressure and lots of other beepy machines. Half an hour later off he went to the hospital.
They ran tests on him through the morning, he is now in a ward chatting to everyone (I'm sure they will discharge him just to get rid of the talking!), and he is waiting for more blood tests to be done this evening as apparently the enzymes peak at 6pm - don't ask me, I know nothing about it.
He is staying in overnight as something did show up on the first lot of blood tests and they might even keep him in for a couple of days.
I am delighted he is in hospital as that is where one needs to be and funnily enough I am not too worried - if he was feeling dodgy at home I would really be panicky. He has free local 'phone calls, he was studying the menu and wondering whether someone would bring him a wine list, so tomorrow I will either collect him or take in grapes!
Thank you the NHS - you have been brilliant, caring, efficient and kind.
The siren this morning came straight here and it is a most pleasing noise. GW felt a tightening across the chest and constriction in his throat.
- I think I'll drive to the A&E in Dorchester.
- Mmmm ... I think not. I will call you an ambulance.
- Let me think about it.
- You have three minutes.
(Three minutes later)
- Perhaps you had better ring them.
So ring I did and got a comforting and competent voice on the 'phone asking for details and then asking if it was possible to talk to GW. In the meantime the ambulance was on its way. In under 10 minutes it arrived, the crew jumped out, collected all their bags and within three minutes he was hooked up to the ECG machine, blood pressure and lots of other beepy machines. Half an hour later off he went to the hospital.
They ran tests on him through the morning, he is now in a ward chatting to everyone (I'm sure they will discharge him just to get rid of the talking!), and he is waiting for more blood tests to be done this evening as apparently the enzymes peak at 6pm - don't ask me, I know nothing about it.
He is staying in overnight as something did show up on the first lot of blood tests and they might even keep him in for a couple of days.
I am delighted he is in hospital as that is where one needs to be and funnily enough I am not too worried - if he was feeling dodgy at home I would really be panicky. He has free local 'phone calls, he was studying the menu and wondering whether someone would bring him a wine list, so tomorrow I will either collect him or take in grapes!
Thank you the NHS - you have been brilliant, caring, efficient and kind.
Sunday 12 June 2011
Sunday reading
I recently discovered Parma Violet Tea's blog - sensational stuff. If you need to fill in a few hours this evening and want a laugh, do go and read it. You will have to go back a bit in order to follow the plot with the men who appear in her life, but it is worth every moment I think.
Saturday 11 June 2011
Thursday 9 June 2011
Country Life
A knock at the door.
'You missing any bantams?'
'Yes, actually, the four of them - the fox got in whilst we were away and that was the end of my Girls'.
'I've got one in my summer house if you'd like to come and collect her'.
Rush down the lane and there in the summerhouse is my Darling Grace - after her miraculous escape she has now become Amazing Grace.
We were away for a few days and the Meerkat Boy moved in tohave a break from his father to look after the Girls ... he was sleeping in the spare room at the front of the house and the Girls are in the garden at the back of the house which our bedroom overlooks. So when the f***ing fox chewed its way through the wire, the Meerkat Boy slept on ... so George, Bessie and Felicity are now in bantam heaven. The Meerkat Boy was devastated - you look after someone's animals and they die ...
Rang Mr. Bantam who told us that bantams/chickens get lonely and pine away if they are by themselves - or if we didn't want more Bantams the trick was to put a mirror in the garden and con Grace into thinking she wasn't alone. As Grace had proved herself to be a most smart Bantam, I didn't think she would be taken in by a mirror trick for too long, so three replacement Girls were purchased. They don't have names - I hate to say that we can't tell the difference between them and perhaps it would be tempting fate to give them names, so now it is just Grace and the Girls.
We now have a fox trap in the garden - so far we have caught three magpies (possibly the same one) and yesterday three of the Girls strolled in and the door shut. No fox. After capturing the magpies, we rang round to see if any of the gamekeepers wanted one - apparently they are put in a Larson trap to attract other magpies and the gamekeepers then blast them to smithereens. Anyway no-one wanted one so we were advised to hit it over the head and be done with it. Both of us cringed at the idea so the magpies live to fly another day! Waiting for another rabbit to be delivered to use as bait - if not I will have to go and get some dog food.
We have an allottment in the village about three minutes from the house - all planted and growing and this is definitely how I like gardening. I have been waiting for it to rain so that I can plant some things here at the house, but apart from a bit of drizzle we have had no rain for months. The one advantage is that we don't have to mow the lawn, as there is none left to mow.
Tomorrow we are off to the Royal Cornwall Show to see what goodies are on offer in that far away place on the road to America, and probably go and stroke a few pigs as one does.
My beloved wee Scottish gentleman in his black coat will be here within about 10 days, so I must go and make a Welcome Home banner.
'You missing any bantams?'
'Yes, actually, the four of them - the fox got in whilst we were away and that was the end of my Girls'.
'I've got one in my summer house if you'd like to come and collect her'.
Rush down the lane and there in the summerhouse is my Darling Grace - after her miraculous escape she has now become Amazing Grace.
We were away for a few days and the Meerkat Boy moved in to
Rang Mr. Bantam who told us that bantams/chickens get lonely and pine away if they are by themselves - or if we didn't want more Bantams the trick was to put a mirror in the garden and con Grace into thinking she wasn't alone. As Grace had proved herself to be a most smart Bantam, I didn't think she would be taken in by a mirror trick for too long, so three replacement Girls were purchased. They don't have names - I hate to say that we can't tell the difference between them and perhaps it would be tempting fate to give them names, so now it is just Grace and the Girls.
We now have a fox trap in the garden - so far we have caught three magpies (possibly the same one) and yesterday three of the Girls strolled in and the door shut. No fox. After capturing the magpies, we rang round to see if any of the gamekeepers wanted one - apparently they are put in a Larson trap to attract other magpies and the gamekeepers then blast them to smithereens. Anyway no-one wanted one so we were advised to hit it over the head and be done with it. Both of us cringed at the idea so the magpies live to fly another day! Waiting for another rabbit to be delivered to use as bait - if not I will have to go and get some dog food.
We have an allottment in the village about three minutes from the house - all planted and growing and this is definitely how I like gardening. I have been waiting for it to rain so that I can plant some things here at the house, but apart from a bit of drizzle we have had no rain for months. The one advantage is that we don't have to mow the lawn, as there is none left to mow.
Tomorrow we are off to the Royal Cornwall Show to see what goodies are on offer in that far away place on the road to America, and probably go and stroke a few pigs as one does.
My beloved wee Scottish gentleman in his black coat will be here within about 10 days, so I must go and make a Welcome Home banner.
Monday 30 May 2011
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