Normal service to be resumed asap

Haven't blogged for ages. I feel like my life has been (temporarily) stolen.

Four weeks ago my boss was suspended and I have just heard that he will not be coming back. I am overwhelmed by the amount of work that needs to be done (both new stuff and all the things I am discovering that haven't been done properly). At this point I am not sure how/when everything will be resolved. I suspect the company will want to save money and try to get out of replacing my boss, but I am definitely not superwoman, and am feeling pretty depressed.

I'm finding hardly any time to train Poppy (although I make sure I get to agility foundation training on a Tuesday night), which is a great shame as she was starting to respond really well to the amount of work I was putting in.

So, in the meantime I don't really have the energy to blog or do much else for that matter. As the title says, normal service will be resumed asap.

Walk on the Downs & Puppies

On Saturday Steve & I had a lovely walk on the South Downs from Kingston near Lewes. It was a route I had done about 3 years ago, with Jazz & Becky, but it was Steve’s first time. As usual now for our longer walks, we left Becky at home with Helen, and took the other two.

The weather, which had started out quite cloudy, turned out glorious, with a nearly cloudless blue sky. There wasn’t much wind either, and as the air temperature was about 12 degrees, it felt wonderfully spring like. There were quite a few people out and about (including several families, which was good to see), but our route did not follow the most popular routes, so many of the other walkers were seen from a distance.

Dew pond

Although the walk was only just over 7 miles, we didn’t start it until mid morning, so we took a picnic. I was giving my new rucksack its first airing (Steve says I have way too many rucksacks). This one turned out to be an Aladdin’s cave. As well as zillions of pockets and storage areas, we found it contained a very good sized sit-mat and also a whistle incorporated into the chest strap. Clever stuff!

Old plane trees in Standean Bottom

On the second half of the walk we encountered quite a few sheep and new lambs – another clue that spring is just round the corner. The lambs were very cute, of course, and the dogs got VERY excited (they remained firmly on leads, of course). It was amazing how noisy it got when we walked through these nursery fields, with the lambs calling their mothers and vice versa as we passed. The fields containing the still pregnant ewes were very silent and peaceful in comparison.

"I'm watching ewe!"

Spring lambs - aaarh.......

We got home mid afternoon and did some exciting chores like car washing and housework.

On Sunday, my aunt Anne came up from the south coast to visit us. At Steve’s insistence we went out to his favorite curry house for lunch, and then Anne & I had a fairly quick walk on the Forest before setting off to Ashford to see her Cavalier puppy, Freddie. He is now 6 weeks old, and Anne can hardly wait to take him home in a couple of weeks.

There were two slightly odd things about the experience of visiting the breeders (first timers, private house, pet dog). Firstly they only let us see Anne’s puppy, Freddie, and we didn’t get to see the whole litter together. If it was me buying one, I would definitely have said something, but I didn’t think it was really any of my business. We did see Mum & also met most of their other dogs, who all looked very well cared for and were all very friendly and outgoing.

Freddie

The other odd thing was that I was aware they had 7 adult Cavaliers, and just idly asked them their age range (expecting them to say something like 6 months to 12 years). I was a bit taken aback when they said 6 months to 18 months! They didn’t breed any of them either, or get more than one puppy from the same litter, so they have certainly been doing some puppy collecting!

Anne with Freddie

That said, they seemed very nice people and appeared to have put a lot of time and effort into raising the litter. Anne is absolutely thrilled with Freddie, and his little tail hardly stopped wagging while we were there. I’m really happy for her.

Family Weekend

It had been my intention to pop over to Mum's last Friday evening to have supper with her & Simon, but a rather sleepless night meant I was too tired to go, so rescheduled for Saturday afternoon. Rebecca and the boys were there as well, so we had a nice afternoon in front of the fire, and played a few games too. Sam & Sebastian ate vast quantities of cake (& the grownups ate more modest portions)!

Rebecca with Sebastian & Sam

Proud Nanny

Sebastian with Simon

Mike had arrived home mid Saturday morning, as we had plans to go for a meal with Steve's mum & dad on Sunday at the Godstone Hotel. This was the rescheduled birthday meal for John, as both he & Irene had been unwell back at the end of December when the original occasion was planned. Anna arrived by train mid afternoon.

Steve spent a couple of hours fixing the new blinds in our bedroom & the study. These two rooms are at the front of the bungalow, and we've had the same net curtains at the windows since we have lived there - nearly seventeen years! I have been dying to get rid of them for ages, and at last they are in the dustbin. Good riddance! We also have new curtains on order for the bedroom and some plans to rejig the wardrobe space and redecorate. I have finally got some nice Charlie Waite pictures from work and they are hung behind the bed. I think they look really nice. http://www.trowbridgegallery.com/index

New pictures for the bedroom

On Sunday we travelled to Kenley in two cars, as Mike intended to leave straight from the restaurant for his journey back to Leamington. After a chat and a drink at John & Irene's place, we made our way to Godstone for the meal. We were all pretty hungry by then as our booking was for 2.30pm - they are so busy on Sundays that there are always two sittings, and we were on the later one. John & Irene are regulars at the Godstone Hotel and get on well with all the staff. One of the French waiters in particular was a right joker! It was a very nice meal and John even managed to persuade them to make us all lemon brulee (creme brulee with lemon sorbet underneath), even though it wasn't on the menu.

(l-r, f-b) Irene, John, Steve, Mike, Helen & Anna enjoying lunch

In the end Mike took John & Irene home on the way to dropping Anna at the station, whilst we headed straight home as we had to get back for the dogs. They had to be content with a walk round the roads (they did have a walk on Ashdown Forest with Steve in the morning) as it was pretty much dark when we arrived home about 5.40pm, but it was very nice to see how the evenings are beginning to draw out now. Spring will soon be here, and we will be changing the clocks in just over five weeks - hooray!

Eden Valley Path part 2

The weekend before last I walked the second part of the Eden Valley Path with my walking group. Having previously done the short stretch from Tonbridge to Penshurst, we completed the section from Penshurst to Cernes Farm, just west of Edenbridge. Actually, as the parking at Cernes Farm would have been difficult for several cars, we decided to continue a further mile or so to Haxted Mill (something we could possibly have done without, considering the weather we endured towards the end of the walk!).

Leaving Penshurst

Views opening up

We left Penshurst on a small lane, initially under tree cover, but soon good views opened out to the north-west. At Lew Cross Farm Anne pointed out where the back of the barns had been painted to give the impression of brickwork & windows. I wonder why? It must have taken ages!

Lew Cross Farm

Painted windows & brickwork on barns

A mile or so on we climbed up a delightful sunken path lined with sandstone rock walls & surrounded by ancient knobbly trees.

Sunken Path

Path through woods

After walking through some attractive woods on mainly enclosed paths we reached Hever, although the route did not take us close enough to see the castle.

Hever Church

Beacon on Hever recreation ground

Leaving the village we found ourselves on a very muddy path. In the end we had to climb over the fence into the adjacent field to avoid it. Poppy was NOT impressed as she had to walk through it!

"You go that way, we're going over the fence!"

The walk had started in cloudy conditions but gradually the sky was clearing and we were bathed in glorious sunshine.

Here comes the sun

Leaf strewn path

Our route then briefly followed a railway and we passed Penshurst station. The buildings appeared to have been recently cleaned, and it all looked very neat and tidy.

Hever Station

Path through garden....

At Lydens Farm there were several converted barns. The route took us right through the garden of one and very close to the house. I think I would try to get the path diverted if I lived there! There was one barn not yet converted and it was in a rather sorry state of dilapidation. However, as the ‘sold’ sign will testify, people will buy anything, and I’m sure it will be converted into a lovely home with a lot of work (& money).

... and right past the house!

"Fine dwelling in need of a little modernisation!"

We continued through flat stubble fields, and were rapidly losing the lovely sunshine. The sky was beginning to look very menacing indeed!

Dark clouds looming

Passing under the railway line we soon crossed the elusive River Eden (although we were walking the Eden Valley path, the route does not follow the river for much of its length). It wasn’t a particularly attractive spot as recent flooding had left vegetation and other debris high & dry.

Starting to snow

As we continued across open fields the weather became ever more threatening, and finally it did indeed start to snow. As we reached Edenbridge it was just beginning to settle on the grass.

In Edenbridge churchyard

Edenbridge

By the time we left the town, it was snowing much harder, and as we were now in open fields there was no shelter to be had. The wind had picked up as well and was blowing the snow horizontally at us. Poppy thought it was great fun, and tried to bully Zuka into playing. Zuka likes to play, but is not very keen on Poppy’s approach, which can best be described as ‘thuggy’ ie she makes lots of growly noises and mouths at Zuka’s face. If she would only be a bit more polite then Zuka would be much happier to join in.

Leaving Edenbridge across fields

We finally reached the finish point of the Eden Valley path at Cernes Farm, but had to continue a further 1.5 miles to reach our waiting cars at Haxted Mill.

Finish point at Cernes Farm - Anne gets a snowball down her neck!

Fortunately, by the time we got back to the cars the snow had eased off. I had been getting increasingly nervous about possible road conditions for the drive back to Penshurst and then home, but fortunately it was not too bad at all, and I made it back in one piece. This was certainly a walk of two halves as far as the weather was concerned, but it was good to be out in the countryside with friends once more (photos courtesy of Anne Kelly, as usual).

Approaching Haxted Mill

Poppy goes to school

The first two evenings this week have been busy for me & Poppy.

On Monday night we started at our new pet obedience training club. For a few months at the end of last year we went to a class in Lewes (it was in a purpose converted industrial unit which had a rubber floor - Poppy can't do slippery floors), but they only really taught you for the KC Good Citizen Tests and they weren't able to offer much else. We took our Silver test and are waiting for a date to take our gold.
Anyway, when Poppy was a young puppy, I did a short course at a club at the South of England Showground at Ardingly. The trainer was good and (importantly for Poppy) the floor was concrete. http://www.mgbtraining.co.uk , so I decided to go back. I braved the iffy journey on Monday in torrential rain and we had a good session - just very basic stuff at this stage. Pops looked like she had been trained a bit already (thank goodness!), and coped well in the new surroundings, with unfamiliar dogs. However, the thing I was MOST excited about was that I got her to play tuggy with her lead between exercises. On one occasion when I was watching & listening to the instructor, she even initiated a game herself, by tugging on the lead as if to say "what about me?" All the hard work I am putting in at home, is beginning to pay off! The willingness to play also had the benefit of keeping her more animated for the exercises themselves. Sure, I had a bumbag full of sausage, but there was a definite difference in her attitude - much more focused on me, and more drive than at the previous club.

Then, yesterday evening was our first session at Nancy & Andy's agility school. The Foundation class is taken by the very capable Leah. We were joining in the class a few weeks after its start, but as I had been along as a spectator on a number of occasions, we had been practising some of the stuff at home. Again, Pops was quite keen and focused - she hardly ate any horse poo, actually broke into a run on several occasions, didn't misbehave with any of the other dogs (apart from a few growls when they got a bit close), and played a bit of tuggy as well! . Food is clearly still the greater motivator, but that's OK, and we have only been working on play for about a month so far. Can't wait for next week, and many, many thanks Nancy, Andy & Leah for the opportunity.

Now, I view myself as a moderately fit person - I do a lot of walking, both with the dogs and with my walking group - but this dog training stuff is something else. Since I gave up agility about 13 years ago, I don't think I've hardly ever broken into a run! Even short bursts of training/playing are quite exhausting. I clearly need to get a lot fitter!!!

Health Issues

As a result of his brother's illness - it is quite likely that we have Marfan's syndrome in the family - Steve went for an echocardiogram a couple of months ago. He has finally heard back from the consultant, and it's not particularly good news. He has some aortic root dilation and an enlarged Sinus of Valsarva and it has been recommended that he have more tests - eg an MRI &/or CT scan This will hopefully be arranged within the next couple of weeks.

In the meantime, I persuaded Helen to go to the doctor last week, to ask to be referred for an echocardiogram too. There are many symptoms of Marfans, and it is very easy to look at the internet and decide you have any one of a hundred different conditions, but Helen does appear to have several classic signs of the disease (long thin fingers, unusual stretch marks, cold hands & feet, crowded teeth etc). Even before we got Steve's results back, I was keen for her to get checked out too. Hopefully she will also get a hospital appointment within a couple of weeks. Mike doesn't particularly show any obvious symptoms, other than being tall, but I really must try and persuade him not to play rugby until he has had a check up (or at least we have a definite diagnosis- we are still waiting on the result of Peter's gene marker test), as they advise Marfans sufferers to avoid contact sports.

Poppy the Agility Dog......????!!

I've been visiting Andy & Nancy's agility training club as a spectator on and off over the last 6 months or so. On one memorable occasion I was persuaded to run Leah's very fast dog Link, and I managed to pull muscles in both legs - just 5 days before walking the 28mile Tunbridge Wells circular walk challenge (completed with the help of a walking pole and quite a few ibuprofen)! Anyway, I digress..........

In January they started their new foundation class for beginner dogs, and I hoped to pick up some tips for doing a bit of agility training with Poppy at home. It's a VERY long time since I was involved in the sport (Becky was my third agility dog and I retired her at about 3 years old - my decision, not hers - and she is now 16), and I'm still not sure I want to compete again. However, now I have a bit more time on my hands (reduced working hours) and a fit (if not athletic) dog, I want to get back to training. I guess I've really missed that strong bond you get with a dog when you spend many hours on a one to one basis teaching them stuff.

Nancy & Andy's club has some super dogs (mainly collies of course, plus the Hudson termites - ..er, I mean shelties :-)) and everyone seriously competes, so I didn't feel it was necessarily the right club for a dog like Pops. However, after a couple of weeks, Nancy has very kindly asked me if I want to join the class!!! OMG!!! I actually feel very nervous about it, but I have gratefully accepted her offer on the proviso that I will step aside if I feel Poppy is holding up the class.

Does this look like a top class Agility dog?

Yesterday was supposed to be my first session, but the weather got in the way, so we'll have to wait until next week. In the meantime I will continue to practise some of the foundation exercises at home. A big problem I have is with Poppy's lack of drive - she is also not very toy motivated, and I am now having to teach her to play tug with me. As you can see from the video clip , she has NO problems playing tuggy with Jazz (all the noise is coming from Poppy, aka 'Thug'!).

One more photo I must include is this one below. Now, many people may think me weird, but I think Boxers are beautiful, and my Poppy especially so. Steve is not convinced, he thinks she is VERY cute, but VERY ugly!! :-( However, even I have to admit that this photo does not show Poppy's best side!!!!! Just look at those jowls!! Steve says she looks like roadkill. Charming.........!

Who says Boxers aren't beautiful?!!