The Blue and the Dim and the Dark

Winston's tummy problems have meant that during the dark hours I prowl around the gardens with him and the cats in tow.  We often hear assorted owls calling and the barking of a muntjac deer but it is the night skies which have enthralled me.

From deep within the memory banks I found myself remembering a poem by W Yeats.

Heavens' embroidered cloths

Enwrought with golden and silver light

The blue and the dim and the dark cloths

Of night and light and the half light

Some nights have been deepest indigo, others much lighter.  Walking in the dark, with only the animals for company, has been a marvellous way to put the madness of this world into perspective.   

Last night I stumbled out of bed to check up on Winston.  He was quite contentedly sleeping in his crate, but on hearing me he lifted his head and didn't bother to get to his feet to be let out.  I could almost hear him say 'go back to bed, mum.'  

So I did.   I must admit that I felt a slight twinge of regret at not viewing the night sky but I rejoiced in the thought of my bed and some more sleep.

He is such a sane and sensible young pup, given to a little silliness, but generally a Mr Sobersides and very affectionate.

Here he is this morning, I notice he has snaffled a pair of my socks.  He has form for this, he doesn't chew them but he does like to hold them in his mouth. 

As Fussy as a Dog with Two Tails + Bread Oven Progress

 I have had to write this post so many times, I keep drifting off into commentary on my views about the dangerous direction this country is being 'steired' in.  No use airing my thoughts here, so I shall redirect my thoughts to life with Winston.

I hardly dare say that last night was a good night.  Good in the sense that although I got up twice in the night to check to give him the opportunity to go outside, his bedding was clean for the first time in several nights.  The signs are good...

He had an excellent day yesterday, and was beside himself with delight when Tina, our friend and neighbour, the woman who bred him, called in for a visit.  As soon as she parked up and opened her car door to call out a greeting, he was up at the gate with his tail wagging madly as he stood on tip toes prancing along to get a better view.

He was, as my father would have said, "... as fussy as a dog with two tails."  I had forgotten about that expression but it was certainly apt for Winston's delight.  Tina was delighted to see him and was especially pleased that he hadn't forgotten her.

She took this photograph of Winston (me in the background, trying to keep out of camera shot!) so that she could post in to show the owners of the other eight puppies from the litter (Tina kept the tenth puppy for herself).   It shows just how much he has grown despite his tummy troubles.

The cushion he is lying on is actually his old bed.  It is far too small for him now but he still tries to cram himself in there and ignores his larger bed.  One day I will make it disappear but for now we pretend it is just a big cushion.  

At the moment he is taking a special paste, twice a day, and I am feeding him on half his normal food, mixed with some special gastrointestinal puppy food.  So far, so good.

This morning he was obviously feeling great so I walked him down to the railway bridge and then took him into the barley field and down as far as the second field.  He loved it, so did I.  It took me right back to the two decades I have spent doing just that walk with my other dogs - Pip, Toby, Ned, and Toby Too.  It felt right and we both enjoyed it.

We got back home just before 6am and the lane was very quiet, so quiet that I saw something I have never seen before, a live badger.  This one just popped out of the field and crossed into the woodland over the road.  Not sure who was the most surprised, Winston, or me.

I was hoping to take him out for another little session in the field but the weather has turned rather wet, it is teeming with rain, so that won't be happening for a while.

The bread oven is coming together, great progress has been made but there is still a way to go.

Winston is set for a whole other adventure this weekend as my three grandsons who live in London are coming up to see us.  They have a red Labrador of their own, along with a grey French Bulldog...only the boys and their parents are visiting though.  Phew!  Thank goodness for that.

Village Life: Village Show and Puppy Dog Trials

 

The Village Show took place last weekend.    I will admit that I was rather less than enthusiastic about entering compared to previous years, mainly because I have been so tired from the demands of life with the dear and wonderful Winston.  More of him later.

I had planned to enter a Victoria Sponge, nice and simple, what could go wrong?  Nothing, until I made a rubbish job of turning the second half out of the baking tin.  Disaster! It broke into so many pieces that it was impossible to stick it back together.  No time/energy to make another.

Scones, then.

Fruit scones and then a batch of triple chocolate scones, just for fun and because they are unusual.  I was so caught up in following the recipe for the chocolate scones that the fruit scones were left in the oven for far too long.  They looked good, but I thought they would probably be more like rock cakes. 

The chocolate scones looked wonderfully decadent although rather large.  No idea what they tasted like because they contained quite a lot of cocoa powder and that is something which triggers migraines in me.  I drizzled them with a top coating of chocolate and entered them anyway.  Let the judges find out at their taste test.

The sour cream bread loaf was a little better, not quite as puffed up as normal, but it still looked reasonable.

Three entries would have to do for the Baking classes.

Produce classes were out of the question, because we have had a really bad year, everything is either late or just not up to standard.  Fresh garden herbs and garden flower arrangement, then.

As you can see, I am just a cut and squish into the vase type or arranger, no finesse at all!  I don't have the patience to actually 'arrange'.

The flowers got bunged into an old pot and the herbs I simply tied with string to turn them into the requisite bunch.

The herbs, a huge variety from all around the garden, the smell was simply wonderful.

Done!  

A quick trip down to the hall to fill in the entry forms, hand over my money and then I had time to  have a quick yarn with everyone and a sneaky peek at the opposition!  At 11am the hall had to be cleared ready for the judges to do their work.

Just as I was about to return to see how badly I had done, we got the opportunity to have a video call to see our lovely little grandson, William.  No contest.  William wins every time.

Later in the afternoon we had a surprise visitor bearing my vase, some award certificates and a plaque.  To say I was stunned is an understatement.  I won first and second place with the scones, first with the bread loaf, first with the summer arrangement of flowers and a first for the bunch of herbs.  The plaque was for best in show for one of the categories - either the baking or the flowers/herbs section.  I haven't checked.  

Winston has had another bout of ill health.  A very tricky tummy.  No need for details, but it has meant a huge amount of vigilance and cleaning up, despite getting up to let him outside every couple of hours through the night.

I followed all the advice, he would seem to recover, then the problem would come back.  After almost a week of this we decided that another trip to the vet was required - quite tricky to arrange given the state of his digestive tract.   

That was three days ago and, touch wood, things are calming down.  I may even risk only letting him out once tonight...still debating that one.

We still don't know what caused the problems, could be something he ate, some green stuff snatched and gobbled which irritated his tummy, perhaps, or it could just be the hotter weather, or an allergy.  For now, all is almost well and I am thankful.

A New Arrival, the Village Show, and Winston

 Young Master William came into this world just one week ago.  His journey was a traumatic one, but mother and son are both doing really well and are now back home.  Home is Shanghai, for now.  

They may be many thousands of miles away but thanks to modern technology we are able to keep in close contact and have lots of photographs of him.  He has a wonderful head of jet black hair and weighed in at over 8lbs, a very handsome young man.

When his father, my youngest child, was born things were very different.  Telephone calls were very expensive and quite difficult to arrange to Saudi Arabia, which is where my husband was working at the time.  We had one short call once a week, if available.  Jonathan was several days old before my husband knew he had been born and six weeks old before he came home and saw him.   Thank goodness things are different now.

Talking of young men, Winston is also thriving and has certainly brought a new energy to this place.  It would be true to say that my husband is as fond of him as I am, and that certainly couldn't be said of my other dogs.  I think he has finally got the puppy he didn't know he had always wanted.

I am  in slight panic mode, the village show is on Saturday.  So far all I have prepared is a fruit loaf.  Time, and Winston, permitting I will bake a loaf of bread, a Victoria Sandwich and a couple of batches of scones so they can go into the auction later to raise funds for the village hall.

As I type this Winston is fast asleep in a corner by the door, he is a restless sleeper and migrates from bed, to dog chair, to floor, all the time staying virtually asleep, then snoring deeply immediately he has found his new position.  At night he sleeps in his crate and is perfectly happy to do so, which is just as well given the restless nature of his daytime naps.

A Small Dose of Village Life and Miss Read

 Last night the heavens opened and Lincolnshire got soaked.  The back garden drainage is rather poor (clay soil) so this morning when Winston dashed out, he got quite a surprise to find the whole lot was under an inch or two of water, with just a few 'dry' islands.  He wasn't quite sure what to do, until necessity spurred him on.  

I almost decided not to bother going up to the village coffee morning but in the end I pulled on my trusty Wellies and a raincoat then plodged up the road.  I will admit to enjoying myself, the water was still cascading down the road in places and I took childish delight in jumping in some of the puddles and then cleaning my boots off in the flowing water.  Luckily there was no traffic, no one to witness this silly (but most enjoyable) behaviour.

By the time I reached the village I was back to normal, sane, sensible.  Boring.

Coffee, tea, cake, raffle and plenty of chatter.  

I enjoyed a good long chat with Miss Read, she is 93 years old now and still as sharp as a tack.  Her eyesight is failing rather badly and she can no longer read or paint but she can knit straightforward things.  She knits blankets, lots of blankets.   When she has a big pile of them they are donated to care homes, charities and anywhere there is a need.

The village show will take place in less than a fortnight.  Eeek!   We may have some decent tomatoes then and the cucumbers are ripening but other than that our crops are pretty dismal this year, so I don't think we will be entering many things in Produce.

Perhaps a bit of baking, just to show willing.  So different from previous years when the show really got us fired up and entering as many classes as we could manage.   I hope it is well supported, I know from past experience just how much work goes into organising it.

Winston has lots of toys but his favourite items are a stick which he carries around with him, an old woollen sock which he loves to play tug with, and the old baby bath.  He uses this for drinking, so much nicer than his water bowl, apparently, and for washing his feet -  makes the water much more to his taste.

Enough of my babbling.  I have a young pup wanting some attention.  Time to clip on his lead and take him around Owl Wood.  Grandson No 1 has strimmed us a pathway around and through there.  Winston thinks it is the most exciting thing ever, so many scents, sounds, distractions.  He loves it. 

Later:

I love it too.  It is a short walk, perfect for a pup of his age but, because he gets sensory overload, he is totally worn out when we reach home.  Nap time for him, peace and some time to catch up on things for me.

The last few weeks have been busy.   Looking after Winston has drastically reduced the amount of time I am able to spend on my laptop, so no time for reading your blog posts, sorry.  Luckily, I have found that I can keep a reasonably close eye on him while reading a book - years of practice have gone into that!  It is how I have retained some of my sanity, although, thinking about the jumping into puddles...

Don't Forget to Wash Behind Your Ears

 When a young puppy gets a little too frisky, or too big for his boots, there is only one thing to be done.  Calm him down by flinging yourself on the ground and have a jolly good wash. 

This was the lesson Sparky chose to teach Winston this morning.

He couldn't believe his eyes.  He was stopped in his tracks and simply stood and watched her, until she decided that she was clean enough and he learned that cats do what cats want, when they want, and puppies count for nothing.

Millie decided that she preferred to have the fence between her and the puppy, but she had a wash too.

This old fencing was hastily thrown up to help contain Winston in a manageable area once we found out just how enthusiastic he is about digging, eating anything green, muddy, or dead and decomposing.  I had to put the bricks down under the gate when I caught him shimmying underneath, just as he had seen the ginger cat do - Sparky is so slender that she simply slips through the gaps...Millie is a little more pear-shaped.

The year is rumbling on while I spend all my time with the cats and the puppy.  The village show is looming, the schedule was popped into the letterbox this week.   Eeeek!   I doubt that I will be entering many classes this year.

I noticed that the blackcurrants are large and almost ripe, so I may make some blackcurrant curd, scones and a Victoria Sponge Cake.   Perhaps a loaf of bread, we will see.

As to the vegetable categories - the signs are not good in the vegetable garden.  Nothing seems to be doing well.  I guess some years are like that and little Winston has definitely diverted our attention away from our normal routines.

He is worth every moment.  

He is the most adorable and cheeky little chap.  

He would be perfect, if I could just find a way to stop him trying to eat everything in the garden.  🐶👮