Bringing in the Sun

A fine frost coats the dew. The rhubarb is sprouting. My greenhouse is full of little carpets of tiny green plants. The buzz of lawnmowers fills the air.

That's it. It's officially spring in my books!

I will wait a few more weeks for the frost to pass before letting loose the seedlings, but so far it's been a great start on the garden. In the planters I already have garlic shooting up, there's onions peeping out thier tips of thier shoots and the potatoes are slowly figuring themselves out, as they are want to do.

Very excited for the garden this year. 

With the good weather, we had my mum and brother visit, as well as our favourite fur-neice, Maisie. Little miss pouty was in fine form, careering about the garden and bouncing on the tables.

I showed my mum the progress on the dress for my aunt and we're both optimistic that she'll like it. Then it was lunch and a dog walk. 

It was surprisingly warm today, and both the dogs were in thier element. Missy flushed a handful of squirrels before watching, bemused, on the riverbank whilst Maisie enjoyed a paddle in the water. 

So it was warm, but not hot enough in Missys books to risk getting her paws wet!

Some things will never change...

After the walk, I carried on with my potting as we continued to catch up. I was genuinely sorry to see them go, but I will confess that I'm still pretty beat from my dance with covid. I think they picked up on my fatigue and said thier cheerios.

In final news, Missy was selected to try out the @burnspet Senior dog food. As you can see she was very pleased with the trial pack we received in the post (I swear, these days she gets more mail than me!)

That's all for today. Tomorrow is set to be a busy one - will fill you all in next week! 

At the Starting Line

Missy is excited about all the adventures set to unlock from tomorrow (covid willing), don't let the picture fool you!

It's been a week. 

On top of a busy online schedule, we've had a super busy week IRL. 

We had booked Stirling Castle for the  Monday weeks ago, planning a nice date day for just the hubby and I. Following Missy and her combined ear infection and cracked pad, I was reluctant to go out and leave her. We'd already booked her in with the dog walker (who was happy to swap it to a house visit), but I still felt absolutely guilt ridden. 

We got there in good time and made things worse for ourselves by pointing all the places we had previously walked Missy when travelling through for a big adventure up north. 

However, once we got into the castle, we did start to really enjoy ourselves. We had organised for the audio tour (which you now just download to your phone) but had no need of it as there were more staff than visitors, each eager to share the history and stories of the castle. 

The tapestrys were by far the most outstanding thing for me (followed by the wooden heads. I can't explain them, they need to be seen to be believed). A lot of the castle is shut because of Covid, but we still had a great day and were home in time for Missys very slow, very short, afternoon walk. 

Wednesday is typically reserved for role play in the evening. We cancelled it as our friend (who we consider ourselves having adopted after she ended up living with us during the December mini lockdown, and have helped through a multitude of new home teething disasters) had received bad news. As we share a bubble, we bullied her to come to ours and made sure she had plenty of food and ice-cream before she went home. 

I had to get blood tests Thursday. Had a rebleed on the drive home. I was officially over with the day before 10am, and worked an extra 30 minutes for the privilege. (Nothing of concern, got my iron levels checked and it confirmed what we knew, that I'm border line anaemic.) 

Friday was a virtual get together under better circumstances. I shan't share details, but a grand adventure is in the works. 

Saturday was supposed to be a quiet day in followed by visiting our aforementioned friend to help her build a wardrobe (I honestly had never been more excited for a DIY party!). Then it turned into one of those days were one job led to another to another and I found myself with the house even more upside down than it had started and longer to do list. Just as I gave up and sat down to listen to a podcast and stitch my newest project, my phone rang. 

Big sis. Her dog, Wee Ben, had a splinter. He was being super anxious and snappy about it and they were too scared to get it out themselves. 

I looked at the clock. I had to get hubby in half an hour. Then it was the DIY party. Sod them, I wouldn't leave a dog in pain. 

I rang hubby, messaged my friend and made it clear to big sis that I had arrangements, so she had to come to me quickly. 

They arrived swiftly and I looked at the patient. Yep. A giant splinter. Firmly held against me with my elbow, I lifted the paw and pulled the offending article out with only a whimper. BIL was impressed, and mortified his dog wouldn't allow him to do such a simple thing. 

Missy watched from the sofa, clearly glad that, for once, she wasn't the one receiving medical attention. I'm sure I saw a smug glimmer in her eye as I washed that paw with doggy disinfectant, a drama we've endured twice a day all week. 

After much thank yous, they shared with me the quote of £160 that they had been given by the emergency vet. So I have a take out promised to me! Looking at the splinter after they left, I did have to wonder why he never pulled it out himself, it wasn't embedded into the pad, but the fleshy bit between the toes. I suppose I'm just used to a dog that will chew off her own torn dew claw than let me take her to the vets (yes, it was chewed off by the time I booked the appointment). Either that or King Charles Spaniels have no survival instinct! 

Hubby was dropped off by a colleague, we got to our friends and we built a wardrobe. Missy thoroughly checked it for a doorway to Narnia, but alas, no such adventure awaited us. 

Today was different friends, our very good ones with the twins. The kids were super excited to be somewhere different and we had nerf fights and played football and Frisbee. There was hot dogs and pumpkin pie (a homemade treat brought by our guests) and, best of all, lots of laughter. There was a small meltdown at the end when I couldn't promise we'd see them next week, but I did promise it wouldn't be so long a wait until we all saw each other again. 

A last update, as you can see the boys are doing well. Whilst still hand shy, they are happy to come out the cage, have a wee fly about and put themselves back in. Missy is still completely ambivalent:

Let's hope next week is a bit smoother! 

A Peculiar Fortnight

Its been a pretty crazy pair of weeks - we've had heat waves and flash floods and visits have gone into disarray. I had my sister up for a social distanced visit and then Manchester went into lockdown. After panic and deliberation, we decided there was no point in her cutting the visit short and made the most of it.

It was a crazy trip. We did the Rose Gardens and had a big get together - Big Sis turns 40 today and my dad popped over from Ireland for a surprise visit. We went to butterfly world and then go rained off out of the zoo. Strangely, that was one of my favourite days, we had pancakes for breakfast and then I made the kids the most bubbliest bath they had seen. Its the small things I enjoy most, like watching the delight and amusement had by all, child and adult, at picking carrots. There was broad beans and kale too, but lets be honest, the Russian roulette of what colour the next carrot might be was the most exciting part of harvesting the garden. 

Yes. Heritage carrots. Most have been white and yellow, a fair amount of orange and a small handful of purples which I think mustn't be as hardy as the other colours. Either way, carrots are most definitely being planted again next year.

Missy got a big treat from her human cousins, a dried deer leg. Shes been getting it for an hour at a time and its definitely a new favourite for her. I'm not sure what the neighbours think of it, no ones said anything yet!

I didn't get much time for crafts, but I fitted in lots of board games and time to talk and catch up, so for that I'm happy. I also got given some new fabric, and have a list of new projects I want to start, so hopefully there will be some fun things soon to show off. 

A Rambling Sorta 7 days

Another odd little week that's all upside down for me. Wrapped up in this "after work drinks" moment:

"OK everyone, happy Friday!" 

*various waves and goodbyes*

*turns off laptop and looks at Missy*

"It's Monday." 

*hubby walks in* "What's Monday?" 

"Today."

*crickets and a tumbleweed blows past*

"Oh, you mean it's day 1 on, so Monday. Had me confused for a moment as its Friday!" 

So. Been a busy week in an odd rambling string of days kinda way. Got another planter built which is now nursing my broad beans and apart from that it's been work mostly! 

It's mostly been a quiet one, put attempts to wear Missy out is working and she's been enjoying the sun and chilling. I've been ripping apart the lab and shuffling things about to allow for as much social distancing as possible at the different stations, so been pretty tired when I get home. Some of the spectrometers are deceptively heavy!

Sewing wise, I'm putting together a little care package for my sister in Manchester. No, these aren't for the kids but for my sister and BIL! I've a few more bits to sew before sending it down, so my next set of days off should be busy on the sewing machine! 

At least, between all the Skype calls, my social calander has gotten quite busy now everyone has the hang of video calls!