Seeking a Metaphorical Umbrella

So, that little proverb about it never raining but pouring kinda sums up the last week or so.

It all started so well. We had a murder mystery planned to kick start our mini-break away and the weather was forecast to be cold but fair. All looking good.

Then the hubbies work basically blew up and I barely saw him for a week. When I did he was either a zombie or cross at something someone hadn't done and left for him.

Missy added a cracked claw into the mix with her pulled muscle (which is now almost completely better, but we're still being careful).

My sister then dropped the really bad news that her hubby was possibly being made redundant and they didnt know if he was even getting paid this month (update, he got paid, but currently we don't know if the job is safe or not)

So, I felt Missy, the hubby and I really deserved a holiday to take a break from the chaos and take a chance to get ourselves re-centred before going back out and helping support the family again. Not a lot to ask, right?

Fate deemed otherwise.

We got an early call from the Brother-in-Law who had had surgery earlier this year. He had had some stomach pains for a few days and had written them off as a pulled muscle from overdoing things. His fiancee had finally bullied him to go to hospital.

Hubby explained that it was morning rush hour, he should just get a cab as by the time we got there, it would be more than an hour to the house and probably that again to the hospital. Keep us posted.

We get down to Dumfries and stop at our first port of call, Sweetheart Abbey. It was a cold clear day and the first thing we noted was scaffolding. The hard winter had damaged the foundations so you could only walk around it and not into the property. We both quizzed each other as to wether we had seen that written anywhere (it is mentioned on the website under opening hours, but not in the main text, so we had managed to miss that).

Still, it was a nice little place to wonder about, and we explored the graveyard (Missy found no ghosts that we could see, but got very excited in the long grass - hopefully it was just mice!) and then we found our way onto a field where we could then give her a bit of a proper walk.

Next we wandered around the village of New Abbey and found the New Abbey Corn Mill which ironically ground oats, not corn. The site itself doesn't allow dogs so, after quickly discussing it with the nice gentleman in the gift shop, we managed a whistle stop tour in just over half an hour whilst Missy had her lunch and a nap in the car. It was probably the highlight of the day and we really enjoyed the old building and the water wheel. The pond is infested with an aggressive plant so the mill isn't currently working, but there was a video you could watch of it in action which was a nice alternative.

We called the day quits and, after tea and scones in a quaint little cafe, found our Airbnb. Missy instantly hit it off with the hosts dog, Willow, and we found ourselves in the most eclectic little granny flat I have ever seen. Paintings of men playing the piano hung beside sketches of naked women, copper teapots sat on the windowsill behind the bed and there were books on every topic available, from bulldogs to rubber.

There was no signal so we notified everyone that we needed to be contacted online and had an update that the BIL had gotten a bed, so we assumed that meant he was at least being looked at and wasnt sat waiting to be seen still. No worries.

Morning. There were panicked text messages from my mother in law. Missed voicemails that I was unable to achieve enough signal to receive. Hubby had the same. After much panic and trying to balance around the small house we sent the hubby out to try and find signal and see what was going on.

BIL had an abscess on his intestines, was being flushed with morphine and antibiotics. Surgery may be required. MIL was coming down the next day on the bus and didn't know where she was staying. The morning was spent researching how to get to the hospital (he'd been moved to the Western General overnight) and where she was best staying. A thirty minute bus journey from my BILs house won over the 1 hour and 40 minutes it would take from mine and she decided she was not staying at mine.

We decided to scrap our plans of going to a lighthouse as we didn't fancy the 2 hour drive anymore and had lost most of the morning. Lochmaben was scoped as our nearest castle and, whilst we knew there wasnt much of it left, we were surprised at how little remained. Again, that pesky winter had destroyed foundations and we were unable to view or wander about most of it. There were signs for a lochside walk and we decided to give it a shot. 

It started off well. There was a nice boardwalk and a bird watching hut. Then a little fairy garden.  But no signs to say how long the walk was in terms of distance. After half an hour and barely making a dent in the circumference of the loch, we finally spotted a sign - it was a two hour walk. By this point we'd run out of random conversation and small talk and I just turned to my husband.

"Do you want to go home?"

"What? No, you deserve a nice holiday."

We are both bad for that. Making ourselves miserable to make others happy. I pointed that out and was countered with a very vague shrug.

"We're just trying to kill time, neither of us are actually enjoying it. Lets go home."

He conceded and agreed it was for the best. By the time we got back to the airbnb and had the car packed (I messaged the host to explain the situation), he seemed in a much better mood. We had both agreed it was better to sit about and be anxious in the comfort of our own home than it was to be stressing about no phone signal and that something may had come up.

I cant say we were very happy about the choice, it was meant to be our holiday away together having a nice time with Missy, but at the end of the day it was only one night we lost out on, the plan having been to come back the following day originally.

Its been a weird little week. I was kinda thankful to get back to work on Thursday for the normalcy of it all if nothing else. And thats really been it. We've fitted in lots of nice local walks, but the focus has been on being on hand if we were needed.

BIL is now on oral antibiotics, and provided he keeps them down and doesn't have a seizure (I had it explained that this was the most common side effect, so they had to wait just in case) should be out in a day or two.

And that's been it. As a family unit, we're fine, its just the world around us is in chaos. It seems to calming down again, but I'm now on anxious alert mode for more trouble.

Does anyone have a sturdy umbrella I can borrow, just in case?

Dancing and Spooky fun

Its October and time for all things Spooky! Today's post is a little backwards as I'll start with Sunday first. 

I had my Manchester based sister and her family up for the weekend and, after a very late Saturday, we decided to check out the Halloween festivities at Almond Valley. They had a scary skeleton pie making diorama that was a little too scary for the six year old so Missy helped solve it instead. 

They have now introduced alpaca feeding as a paid for event at the farm and it was a delight to watch my neice and nephew get close to the animals. 

So, as I've already said, todays post is actually a litle backwards as Saturday was the main event - my mother's 60th birthday. She was in the loop for the whole thing and, after some stresses (like having to find a DJ last minute), it all came together perfectly. Everyone had a lovely time, we all saw people we hadn't seen in years and, most importantly, everyone behaved themselves and my mother loved it. 

It was a fancy dress affair of dancing through the decades and here is my ensemble - fully hand made following the vintage 40s pattern for Rosie the Riveter. I was surprised at how few people recognised it, but those who did thought it was brilliant. 

And of course I had on the red head scarf! 

Just a very short post, it's late and I'm still trying to catch up on sleep! 

High Impact

It's a term that's been used to describe Missy on multiple occasions. 

When she tore her fourth claw in a two month period: high impact injuries. 

After our eighth insurance claim in six months and I was sheepishly commenting that they must think I'm horrid to Missy: No, no, it's all high impact injuries, clearly you take her for lots of walks! 

Being told she had arthritis at 5 years old: not surprising for such a high impact dog.

And now that she has pulled a muscle and is incapable of jumping: it's a high impact injury, age obviously isn't slowing her down!

So Thursday continued my string of bad luck. I got home, took Missy on a quick walk and then had to nip off out again for my hairdresser appointment. She hadn't been left long all told, hubby has a late start on Thursdays, so I was perplexed at how clingy she was when I got back in. I invited her on the sofa, she crouched, squeaked and scrambled awkwardly up the cushions. Then stared at me and whimpered.

I almost died there and then of a broken heart. My instant panic was that this was an arthritis flare up but somehow in both knees. Or maybe her back and hips? 

My friends childhood dog has hip displacia and I could hear her clear as day trying to put on a brave face saying that her dog could no longer get on the sofa. Missy just stayed put, looking morose for the rest of the night whilst I tried to book her into the vets as soon as possible. She wasn't an emergency, at least not by the vets standards, and I had to hone back my helicopter parenting desires and accept Saturday would be the first opportunity to get it checked. I reorganised her dog walk to a visit (my dog walker is always amazing in an emergency) and watched her like a hawk.

She was actually better come Saturday morning having been put on strict short walks and lots of rest (she destroyed her bumblebee toy in protest) and the hubby and I finally put the jigsaw pieces together. It was probably a muscle, she wasn't stretching right. I was the last to see her run and that was trying to get up a tree after a squirrel. 

Typical Missy. 

The vet confirmed a pulled muscle, gave us some really useful advice on using the pain killers and stretches she should do. She recently learned spin and turn which perfectly fit the side stretching requirement and have been told to teach her beg and, once better, bow, for the other muscles in her back and legs. 

That's right guys, Missy needs to do some yoga! Once she's better. Her moping about sore and bored grates on my soul, so I'm praying for a speedy recovery.

As always when I'm stressed and/or stuck in the house, its been baking and sewing this weekend! I've finished all the sponges for my mother's birthday cake (after a detour to Falkirk today to get eggs from my sisters hens) and completed my niece and nephews costumes:

A poodle skirt would not do for Felix, so I made her a "pipistrelle" one instead. And Inkling is going as a punk rocker, so needed some skinny leg tartan trousers. His outfit is all about accessories, so I've cut up an old t-shirt of his into a tank top and will add some braces and some chains (plastic, of course!)

Missy did get out this weekend, we all went to the aqueduct at Muiravonside today and yesterday we did the Linhouse loop. Hopefully a nice quiet week and she'll be in much better shape for our visitors! 

It's probably a good thing she isn't allowed to my mums birthday party - pretty sure she would win best fancy dress! 

Things come in threes

What a week of disasters this has been! I am hoping it stays true to the fact these things come in threes:

Firstly, after the Kelpies, the brakes started making a horrendous noise. Turns out that the brake pad had "degloved" and it was metal-on-metal. Two new brake pads, a brake disc and two new calipers required, literally before payday. 

Secondly, I noticed a puddle under the fish tank. Any type of water found free roaming near the tank puts me in a panic. After some investigations, it was discovered that the sump has a tiny slow leak in the connector. New one ordered and it arrived today (thanks Amazon!).

Then the icing on the cake. Went to run a well deserved bath last night, waters cold. Heating wont switch on. Boilers just clicking and not igniting. Call up and organise for the boiler to get checked and they came today.

Anxious hovering.

Its not the boiler. Boilers in perfect nick. You've got no gas.

No gas?! Back on the phone again, ringing the gas and electricity all ready to point out that I've paid my bills, so wheres the gas. More than 30 minutes on hold and an engineer is coming out.

...I may have told a little white lie and said I ha some very elderly relatives coming to visit....

Meters gone. Dead. Kapoot. Turns out, when you change supplier, your old one will disconnect the smart meter whilst your new company makes you wait a month before you can install a new one. Something to be said for analogue I suppose. Engineer was very nice and put an aalogue one in as a temporary solution until I arrange my new smart meter.

Cautiously glances at the electricity smart meter.

Will be making that call first thing tomorrow, just in case.

On the back of all the bad news, there is one good element to being trapped inside (literally when the car had gone, I was terrified to drive it), I've made a dent in a big craft project:

So this year is my mums 60th (big party is planned!) and she has been hinting for a while now that she would like a quilt. Everytime she spots one of mine they are fondly stroked and well admired - I even got a perplexed look of want over the dogs many, many quilts. I think it was the log roll border on one of Missys that did it and I found myself defending the technique as practice! So, with it being a big birthday, I thought I would push the boat out and include:

Elephants! My mother's favourite animal. And in addition to the four main elephants, there's a parade of them on the larger squares. I wanted to emulate an old fashioned charm quilt, the sort of thing her grandmother might have made, hence the squares made of tiny squares. At a king size quilt, it should be plenty warm enough for the oncoming winter! 

The other thing I've managed in my time stuck inside (apart from take photos of Missy looking stupid) is making a crack at all the easily freezable (or in the case of the tablet, long lived bits for her big birthday. We decided to split the buffet across siblings, my brother is providing tubs if sweets (as prizes for best dressed as well as the buffet), one sister (who is travelling up for it) munchies like crisps, myself the cakes and my last sister the mains (which I am a touch concerned about, but I honestly can't do everything so must delegate. I think there would have been a mutiny it I had passed baking to said sibling in order to do mains!

For those interested, I've unintentionally made a rather Scottish start to the affair - tiffin, classic tray baked shortbread and super crumbly tablet. If you are unsure of what tablet is, then when you do look it up, yes, the Scottish have found a way to add more sugar to neat sugar and call it a treat!

Fingers crossed for a more successful week next week! Missy hasn't minded a quiet one, her knee had begun to bother her again and she's now walking much better after a few days on shorter walks. I mean, two short walks is still almost two hours, but compared to the walk time she does when out at castles, that's nothing! 

Expect more birthday teases next week! 

Busy busy!

It's been a busy couple of weeks! The blog posts have been staggered so I've not written about the last two weeks despite regular updates. 

I was away last week to Alton Towers as a girls holiday- the hubby is one of the honorary girls, which gives us all a good laugh and my sister managed a cheeky wee day off to join us too. We may have broken one friend (note, spinny rides do not agree with everyone!). It was all good fun though.

Missy was not left out, the in laws kindly house sat for us and Ruby came to visit. Despite best efforts I did not puppy proof the house as well as I thought I had - Ruby was very, very, *enamoured* with a fleecy cuddly sheep and ate half my coasters. Lesson learned and they are easy enough to replace! She got to keep the sheep, after seeing the poor thing being humped a dozen times she was more than welcome to it!

Ruby is not so little anymore!

Then it was home, a quiet weekend and a busy busy week at work. Friday was a reprieve as I got to go play with greyhounds at the Greyhound Rescue Fife - my company does a corporate volunteer scheme where we get two days paid volunteering, and I always make sure to use them! I saw a puppy greyhound for the first time and met some absolutely lovely dogs. If Missy were not so happy as an only dog she'd have been at high risk of a new sibling. As it was she insisted on spending the evening hugging and cuddling me, just to make sure I knew who I belonged to!

The weekend was wrapped up with a catch up with friends at the Kelpies. It's the last hurrah of summer and, at 21C, the place was mobbed. I made sure to keep Missy on the grass and got her in the water to be safe, and she was happy to trundle along with us.

I tend to share my sewing and not my artwork here, but I couldn't resist finishing with a few sketches. I finally got my sisters birthday present to her - a scrap book of our Disney holiday together. She loves holiday scrapbooks but with a young family has no time to make one herself. I really pushed the boat out and made sure every page was covered in doodles and little mementos we had picked up. I even included little cartoons of those moments you never catch on camera, like Donald Duck stealing my hat, or the kids on the Small World ride who adored every second whilst their parents were terrified on the cheesiness! So I'll leave you with a few of my favourite moments:

Inchmahome Priory revisited

Missy has previously done Inchmahome Priory (back in 2017!), but we weren't going to turn down a puppy play date just because we've been before!

It was my brother and Maisie, my mother, Missy and myself. My brother kindly offered to pick me up from the house and we were soon on the road. He was looking forward to trying Maisie on a boat, as she hadn't been on one yet, and he was hoping she would prefer it to the steam train. 

I just laughed and told him that I would have thought for her first boat he would have done a proper big boat. 

I swear, if he could have stopped on the motorway he would have. I was drilled as to what kind of a boat it was and, thinking he was concerned about Maisie, tried to play it cool by describing it as a rowboat with a motor.

Would we be given life jackets? He asked with some alarm.

Life jackets? For the dogs? Then it clicked. My brother cant swim. 

Yep. Enjoy the irony - I, the scuba diver, has a dog who will actively avoid water whilst my hydrophobic brother has a dog that will find any excuse to leap into it. The more I think of it, the funnier it seems!

Well, I wouldn't be writing the blog if we never made it. So despite his panic, the boat did not sink and even though I insisted I wouldn't judge him, he declined the offer of the life jacket. Maisie enjoyed it more than he did.

We got onto the island with no fuss, got our tickets and stopped for our picnic. Now, like everyone else, I'm trying to reduce plastic and waste and picnics are one place I find myself still seeking some plastic sandwich bags - not anymore:

Tada! A sandwich wrap (more photos on my instagram @missdaisysewing) - just simply put the rolls in the middle and assemble the velcro the right way and voila! I made a few earlier in the week so was pleased to road test it. Missy and Maisie were keen to share the spoils as we all enjoyed the unexpected beautiful weather.

The priory is a complete ruin. The foundations are completely intact and some of the buildings have most of their walls, but there is only one roof and that's the chapter house (Missy went on point in the completely empty, dark and chilly room so we didn't linger, just in case she had spotted a ghost).

What does remain is beautiful. Stone arches and tall plinths which are perfect for having dogs pose on (Missy and Maisie would not cooperate together, I have lots of nice photos of them individually, but they wouldn't sit nicely together!

As with all sites across the central belt, there is a lot of fuss about Mary Queen of Scots (she seems to have visited just about every castle - I'm waiting for the day I find a privvy with a sign stating "Mary Queen of Scots had a wee here") and there is a boxwood bower it is said she planted. My brother isn't a fan of the priory's and abbeys, much preferring the castles, so his highlight was the grounds of the island and its abundant trees. Despite only being half a kilometre long, there is a sizeable portion of 'woodland' which both dogs enjoyed.

Missy made friends on the boat ride back and Maisie decided to nap, a far cry from her excited barking going to the island. I was sat in the back with both dogs (they were harnessed in, Missy normally has the boot to herself) and they both fell asleep on the ride home. Definitely a worthwhile day out.

Trains and Rosettes

The 1940s and 50s day at Bo'ness had been on my radar for a while. I originally spotted this advertised when taking my friend to the railway earlier this year and have subsequently stalked Bo'ness and Kinneil railway through all their social media channels since. Ironically as I hated it as school, I've developed a real love and passion for history of all kinds in my old age and try and get along to all the reenactments that I can. This was obviously not a reenactment but a celebration of the time period with live music, dance displays, both steam and diesel engines and, of course, encouraging everyone to dress up. I love dressing up. Which is funny as I'm always in dog walking trousers, walking boots, a baggy jumper, tatty baseball cap and an obnoxiously bright hi-vis coat. My own mother today told me how lovely it was to be seen in a dress and my response was that they just aren't practical when walking the dog. But still, any excuse to embrace something bright and fun and I am there!

So, I've already said I wore a dress so the post today is a little back to front:

I actually made this nearly two years ago. It had not seen the light of day until now - not because I wasn't happy with it, I adore that I made something with a vintage pattern and the trials and tribulations I had as a novice at sewing at the time, but it's just so...fancy dress. It's bright and colour blocked and really in your face, which is exactly what I wanted until I realised that I had no opportunity to wear it! It was a vote two to one against a 40s vintage pattern outfit I've made (I'm keeping that for later!) and so off I went whilst wondering what I'd let myself in for.

My mother and I arrived in time for the first train of the day so we caught that and had brunch whilst the rest of the place was set up. We were both pleased to see three other women dressed up in our carriage having had a moments hesitation in the morning (whilst I don't care what other people think, the weather was changeable and I was concerned everyone else would be sensibly attired in macs). Missy had on her party collar and all three of us received compliments and we equally gushed over the other outfits.

Once off the train we jived a little and watched the dance demonstrations. We had already decided to skip the second train and decided to go warm up a little with some tea in the cafe. The staff all had on poodle skirts which I thought a wonderful touch. As we had our tea my eldest sister and her two (niece 14, nephew 10) arrived. I swear my birthday doesn't seem to be ending this year as I was handed pressies.

I noticed very quickly my niece didn't seem right. It clicked as we watched a group of flapper girls laughing in front of the pack of photographers - I had been actively trying to encourage all my family to dress up. My mother and myself were the only two to do so (credit to my nephew he wore a waistcoat and a flat cap to look a bit vintage) and had spent most of the morning explaining what we were wearing and that they should join in. My niece is at *that* age. She is very fashion conscious and doesn't like to break free from the herd and be different. She clearly expected my mother and I to be the only muffins dressed up and had instantly regretted that she had missed such an incredible Instagram opportunity. Those dressed up, I could see her little mind thinking, were clearly getting the most attention and having the most fun.

My sister had wanted to get me afternoon tea for my birthday but had lost out to two things, firstly that the buffet car is the only place you can have it and it's also the only place Missy is unwelcome, and secondly, you have to book months in advance. Even on days were there are no events it sells out right away. She had therefore decided to bring a picnic and we all enjoyed that on the next train. The ride was fun, my sister blagged me a shot on the foot plate at Manual saying it was my birthday and I got to hang out and play pokemon with my nephew.  A good day all in all!

After the excitement of the 40s/50s day, it was a day for Missy as we went to the Paws at the Prom event held by the Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home. We did this last year and had a great time and, with the promise that this year was to be bigger and better than last, hopes were high.

In the car and off we went, picking up the entourage on route - my mum was coming as was Maisie; she was getting a wee day out without parental supervision owing to my brother working. We arrived in good time - I parked in Portobello and we walked over to the home, and both dogs were keen to say hi and meet new people and other dogs. They have recently built new paddocks on site and were using these as zones (Education in one, shopping another and so on) in addition to the arenas and stalls in the main field. It meant that even though this year was definitely busier than last (the good weather was most certainly the reason for that), it felt less crowded.

Gotta love a photobooth!

Neither Maisie nor Missy placed in Bonniest Girl and we decided to commiserate with lunch at the burrito van. My mum particularly loves the golden oldies category and, waiting for it to start, I got chatting with the "paw"rent of one of the competitors. I think they appreciated me checking if the dog was human or dog nervous owing to its harness being bright yellow with "nervous" stamped across it, and was told that it was a "generally everything" type nervous. We cheered them on, although we were pleased that a very elderly 17 year old dog won.

Following on from Missy completing her level 2 training, I had decided to place her into best trick as well. She decided that instead of spin and turn she would much rather lie down or give an unenthusiastic paw. Humiliated (but in good humour, Missy wasn't the only one to get performance shy), I returned to my mum and had to laugh that our new friends had stayed to cheer Missy on.

Maisie watching the competitions very seriously

We then went to the QandA session they were running at the Education Area and got some good advice to pass onto my brother about Maisies reactive barking. Then it was back to the main paddock for the last competition I had entered Missy in for: Best Rescue. The day had turned warm and the sun was out and Missy had decided that she didn't want to stand or sit pretty, she just wanted to lie down, sunbathe a little and have her belly scratched. Which is absolutely fine, but in a paddock full of dogs within a field full of dogs, certainly gains a lot of attention!

With the judges going through the names, I complied to Missy and gave her belly a scratch and she stretched comfortably and made herself very at home. I could hear people laughing at scene, even the DJ, when he clocked sight of us as he called out Missys name, laughed and said that she was clearly relaxed and enjoying herself. The judges deliberated for a while before announcing third place to the dog on my left, then second to the dog on my right. They clearly weren't going to pick all three dogs from the one corner so I was shocked when they called out Missy who "was clearly embracing her life as a rescue and showed perfectly just how wonderful a rescue dog could be".

Absolutely overwhelmed. Missy got to pose with her rosette and clearly didn't understand what the fuss was about. An over-proud doggy-grandma, my mum insisted we return to hers and celebrate (with tea, I was driving!).

Missy was glad to get home and fell fast asleep on the sofa (after I had put away the spoils of the day, you know, just in case I dropped some of the free sample dog biscuits). Her rosette and certificate are by her bed - a perfect end for the weekend.