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...