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.  🐶👮

Drying Octopuses on my Washing Line

 I was removing the washing from my line and thought of you Linda, aka local-kiwi-alien.   Who would have thought that I, too, would have to dry octopuses on my washing line.  All thanks to young puppy Winston, of course.   He is particularly fond of the green one, it gets dragged all around the garden with him.  Those tentacles also come in handy for a game of tug-of-war.

I indulge him.  He has been a poorly boy.  The last week has been something of a nightmare, for him and for me.  Winston developed cystitis, and needed, or felt that he needed, to be let outside every couple of minutes.  I won't go into the details.

A couple of visits to the vets, two injections and a daily dose of anti-inflammatory and painkillers and he is now feeling much better.  The only amusing part of it was being asked to collect a sample of his urine, not easy when all that was coming out was dribbles!   I managed to lull him to sleep and by some miracle I was able to keep him asleep for over an hour, by which time he was more than ready to dash outside.

This morning he is so much brighter, simply weeing for Lincolnshire, rather than for England.  He is calmer, so am I, now that we are not having to dash outside quite so often.  His appetite has returned and he is back to being able to play and enjoy all those puppy games again.

I  have not had time to read blogs, so apologies.  My whole focus has been on this little chap.  Even old Sparky was concerned about him and took time out of her busy schedule (mouse/rabbit hunting) to spend time with him.  Yesterday I found Winston fast asleep in the porch with Sparky sitting on the bench just above, watching over him with a benevolent eye.  

How to Lose Weight without Dieting

Lose weight without dieting?  

How is that possible?  

Get yourself a puppy!

Sweet, cuddly, adorable?   Absolutely!  

My little tyke is all of those things, but he is also hell-bent on trying to kill himself.  

  

He snatches at daisies, lavender, buttercups and, generally, any flowers he can reach.  He is also rather partial to munching on big chunks of moss, snatching up twigs, sticks, large pebbles, small pebbles,  pheasant droppings, hedgehog poop and tiny fallen apples, cat litter...to name but a few forbidden delights. 

The cats have been very clever.  They spent the first few days steering clear of him at all times, however, they simply observed.    Then they took action, deliberately taunting him, secure in the knowledge that they can simply turn around and hiss angrily at him, or jump out of reach.  This stops him in his tracks and he romps back to me.

Everything Winston does is done at pace, of course!  So I have spent much of the last couple of weeks charging around in hot pursuit, ready to scoop him up to remove him from danger.  

I have begun training him and he is very receptive, except when he is not!  

He takes several naps throughout the day - for which I am truly thankful, for young Winston has turned our peaceful lives upside down.  The gardens and the house have all been zoned into accessible/safe-ish areas.  Thank goodness we have internal stable doors for when the cats require feeding, but Winston is awake and on the prowl.  

'See it, eat it!' is his motto.

Organised chaos.  Long days and short nights.  My house and garden are constantly evolving as we strive to make them reasonably puppy-safe.     Luckily, he is easily distracted by a squeaky toy, or a thrown ball.  But, he doesn't forget, he goes back for more fun later.  

I adore the little chap, but I am worn out.  

Most of it is down to Winston, but there have been other things going on at the same time - our dear DiL, MingMing, was in hospital in Shanghai for a week.   Thankfully, all is well, but it was a worrying time.  At the same time, our oldest grandson has been/is doing his GCSE exams, which means that often a lift to/from school is necessary.   The school bus is generally pretty good, but it doesn't always arrive on time and no one needs the extra stress of that before an examination.

As for the title of this post - well, Winston has been with us a little under three weeks and I have shed half a stone.  An unexpected benefit, but I'll take that.

His latest bit of mischief?  The safest area of the garden (newly fenced, especially for him) also happens to contain the old hurdy-gurdy washing line, a horrible contraption, but useful.  This morning just after I had pegged out a wash load, young Mr Winston came along and pulled one or two of the longer articles off the line.

Another job to add to the 'To Do' list.  Buy a new washing line and site it in another area of the garden, out of Winston's reach.    Meanwhile, the vegetable beds have now all been enclosed in new fencing because Winston has show a great desire to get stuck into them.  The polytunnel has some old fly-screen doors pressed back into use to act like stable doors and prevent him from getting in and poisoning himself with the tomato plants, etc.

He keeps us on our toes!

I haven't had any time to read your blog posts or do any of my usual internet reading.  This post has been typed up over several days, so apologies if it is a complete mess.  No time to correct anything.  Winston is finally asleep and I need to get some food organised for when the school bus brings the grandchildren home.

Bye for now.