Tinkering

I have been tinkering with photos today and changed a few around on this blog and on FB. Loving Juno's bright little face in this pic for the blog, wearing the bandana Han made for her. 
Love my dog!

Little catch up

A sunny Sunday and the washing has been on the line since six am!! Today is for the garden, the house, a barbie with family and a friend.

Yesterday we walked on Ashdown Forest with the dog and Nancy and followed that with a fantastic meal at the Coach and Horses in their sunny garden. 

I was looking over photos of last weekend and have these to show you. 

Dolphins were seen just off the lighthouse on the day this was taken. It is such a lovely area. We walk on the beach every day when we are up north. We met friends in the Rendez Vous cafe beside the beach for tea one afternoon. One, in his 70s, used to line up at the window of the cafe for icecream when he was a small boy...nothing has changed, kids still line up at the window now. 

Hannah's ripple is HUGE and only about 20 cm off its final length. Then there will be the sewing in of ends and the border. But I am so very happy with the CONSTANCY of my work. When I charge up the camera batteries I will post a photo. 

A walk in the woods

Windy weather as The Storm approaches

The Storm, The Storm, is it coming. A tree is down in a neighbouring village. There are about a dozen leaves left on the neighbour's maple.
This morning we walked the dog on the farm. Around the fields, the sky sometimes black, sometimes blue above us. Lots of chestnuts to be found, they go in the oven this afternoon....Keisuke loved the open space, and the wind just lifted everyone's spirits.

We visited a dog kennel as well today as Juno has to stay somewhere when we are away at Christmas. Not bad, a bit whiffy, and for some reason I though it should be cleaner? Having not seen one before it is hard to judge. I will compare a few I think.

Now I am about to start the traditional roast dinner thing with yorkshire puds for our Japanese guest.....he is watching football with Big J. Nice for Big J that he has someone to share that with. 

Outdoor therapy

Walking the dog is one of the best forms of therapy I know. When we are out in the field or on the bridle path, I make an effort to engage my senses. I love to smell what is going on. Right now it is that gorgeous damp earth smell of autumn when some of the leaves have lost their crispness and are being trod underfoot.
I look both up and down. I like the little details in the undergrowth as well as the big skies, be they blue, grey, or like today with huge clouds sweeping across them.
I am no twitcher - so bird song is trickier one. But I recognise the chirps of the robin and blackbird,  the call of a local squirrel which has a very unattractive voice...the pheasants that screech when disturbed and the woodpecker's drumming, to name a few.
The wind gets me though. In the trees and grasses, and blowing on me. It feels almost cleansing.
It is also good to touch things in nature (within reason folks...). Today we (Juno and I) found some fabulous chestnuts, to be roasted soon. Their spiney cases seriously hurt, but wellies are good for splitting them to get the nuts. All manner of little seed heads, leaves and other flora end up in my pockets on every walk we go on. It is a bit like being a chipmunk. I come home bulging sometimes!
And of course there are things that one can eat. The soft berries are all but gone. However, there are rosehips and if you read this lovely blog  there is some great stuff about rosehips on it. Elderberries, sloes, damsons, apples, there is so much out there.
But the walk is also exercise, me time and I can talk, shout, sing, cry or laugh and only Juno hears me.
If you don't have a dog, that shouldn't stop you. Get out there and be good to yourself. 

Love is a sock!

Big J and I are off to JERSEY tomorrow for a few days. Since leaving work on Friday the slow releasing of my shoulder muscles has started.  My mind is happy that I have a week off to do me/us things.
Today Hannah and I walked the dog. The sun was out and it did not feel autumnal, it was very warm. There are however, sloes, acorns and conkers everywhere as well as the displays of red berries that seem to be all around and I have no idea what they are. Rosehips, yes, but there are many others.
I have been wearing my walking boots of late, and they get pretty wet. Here's what happened when I left them at the back door to dry out a bit.

Anyway, I digress. Substantial time has been spent this evening clearing all the photos off my memory card - some were quite old. It was this act that discovered the photos above, taken by one of the girls when I was not around.

I hope that Jersey provides a lot of subject matter to photograph. It looks interesting. 

Birthday Dog

Juno is 1 tomorrow. The girls want to make it a special day. Special to Juno is a lot of ball throwing, a WALK, a few cheesy sausages cut up into treats, a cuddle with mum or Big J on the sofa at night. We do most of these things most days.

I am sure she will get extra cuddles though. Love that dawg.

Juno

In the sun this morning trying to get in on the photo I was taking of the cardigans......she has her little bit of crochet at her feet, she sleeps with this and behind her is her humpy koala. Just like the name says.....

Zen and knitting

Knitting is really zen. It is the now. Every stitch on every row has to be worked. I love it. I love the rythmn and the slow growth and the tiny click of needles. It relaxes me as much as crochet does.

It has a stimulating side too. Instructions can be complex, confusing and often it is like working out a puzzle.

This is what happend at first with the CHILDRY SCARF.  A friend gave me a copy of this pattern months ago and I loved it, but really struggled with the first few rows. (The pattern is on Ravelry too).  Placing markers was hard. After about 5 or 6 attempts, I looked at some finished works on Ravelry and saw how it was done and from there, I was able to work the pattern, without place markers.

It looks like this:

The yarn is one from the Knitting and Stitching Show last year in Harrowgate, sock yarn and possibly not drapey enough but it is worth perservering for now. The ball of yarn here is small, the rest is in a terrible tangle behind the sofa because Juno got to it about 6 months ago.....Part of the challenge of this piece is to get the mess unravelled.

Also, there are only five more squares to do on baby Tom's blanket before blocking....feeling good.

1 Jack Russell pup x 1 ball of wool/knitting = DISASTER

The East West cardi very nearly came a cropper this morning when I was out doing errands. Juno took it out onto the lawn (she had to get onto the dining room table to do this) and shredded the ball of yarn. I could hardly bear to look as the trail of wool lead further into the garden. There, under the washing line was the little cardi, on its knitting needle, not a stitch dropped. It did look a bit mossy, but the wool.... Talk about tangled. After an hour of diligent unravelling I have three mini balls of wool and a long way to go. Juno spent some time reflecting on her actions in the cage....
Fortunately I am a few rows off finishing the first sleeve and will be able to get the second one done with what has been salvaged.
For some reason this afternoon, I have a very attentive little dog.

Here she is trying not to look as if she would rather be chewing the squares.

Munched Up Hearts and Puppy Farts

Hannah spent hours in the kitchen yesterday making heart shaped cookies, little fluted biscuits and initials, all lovingly and painstakingly piped. In Japan, girls make biscuits and chocs to give away for Valentine's Day and she has done this most years since we got to England. 

Biscuits need to cool and they were duly left to do so in a kitchen empty of PEOPLE. Tragically the kitchen had in it, one OLD CAT and one GREEDY PUPPY. Some time later, Hannah went to box up her biscuits to discover that 16 of them had GONE.

Meanwhile, back on the sofa, the above mentioned puppy was lying motionless, comatose really between her unknowing parents - sad really, I am Mum to the dog... with some rather strange gurgling sounds coming from her very round belly.

Hannah flew into the living room to point her finger and the dog sat bolt upright, a look of absolute innocence on her face.  The movement stimulated something and she produced the most unladylike, very long, whoopie cushion like sound, which actually worried HER. She kept trying to look for the source of the noise. Too much for the rest of the family though. The noise was the least of our problems!! What a smell.

What a blow for Hannah though. And we have all learnt that our little girl really can jump quite high. Time to reconfigure some of the kitchen areas.

Winter Solstice

I love it. It marks the end of long dark days and the very slow beginning of more light. We are a long way from having more warmth, but cold and bright are fine by me.

Big J and I took Juno for a walk last night. There was a hazy moon and the occasional fuzzy star.

This morning it is pouring, but we have been out in the garden. Juno scratches the door to be let out now. She is on my lap growling quietly as a plane flies out from Gatwick (about 10 miles away.) I suspect the plane is less interesting than her own little growls and half hearted woofs. It seems like a practice session really. It now seems to have kicked off hiccups!

Today is about cooking, last minute shopping, gift wrapping and cleaning. EVERYTHING needs a good going over.

Big J has suggested a morning meeting to plan the day....hope he is feeling energetic.

Enjoy your run up to the holiday.

It has been a while

Just not up to blogging at present. Too many things going on in my head and heart. What really helped this morning was taking Juno for her little walk. Around the close, across the road (she sits before she crosses the road but has NO idea why she is sitting!!) and across the green. That is usually enough. She gets jumpy and wants a carry....just like a toddler. But she has to walk, and on the home stretch, she gets excited and perks up no end.

In that very short space of time, it was nice to see berries on the winter trees, to speak to a neighbour I have never met and her little boy, to hear all the birds, it has been so long since I have been out in the morning and actually heard bird song. In those moments it struck me that taking time out is so very important and just being outside is wonderful.

Juno is now in the cat's basket, (he has a back up basket under the radiator in the dining room which is toasty and away from the antics of the dog and which he seems to prefer) chewing on a plastic spool. Her other favourite at the minute is a whole walnut. Small things!

Hope you all enjoy your day.

Selling my self

Don't you just hate trotting out all the old cliches when describing ones own work talents?  How dull, dull, dull, for the prospective selectors. I have been working at the application on-line today.  The section for talking about what I do now is taken verbotum from my current job description with one or two additions. Apparently, unless the format is used, one scores badly in the selection process. I am now onto the bit WHY do I want the job? It is hardly an all singing all dancing career move, but it is a very interesting job, to me at least. Do I come across as burning with passion and fire for it, or just point out why it appeals and why I think having me in the hot seat might not be such a bad thing? Tough call. This is only being advertised internally so that means that the interviewers will already know the interviewees - you'd think they would all like to forgo this hooha. Still...

It is so bitterly cold today that resume writing seemed almost like a nice way to spend some time. Does not help that Juno is killing her floppy dog that smells terrible on/at my feet with great relish and noise!

She had her last injection today. What a star. The clinic was packed and we had old wiry men and ladies with giant German Shepherds all cooing and clucking and aaahing. Even the vet gave her a little squeeze! She was on her lead and very keen to get to know one and all. But the trip home was a bit much excitement and I am afraid the rug in the back of the car got pooed on - just a tiny bit!!

Here she is this morning having attacked my gym bag and heaven knows where the stamps came from.

and the frost lay all around

this morning it really is deep and crisp and even. The sun is not up yet, but Juno and I have been out on the grass twice. She is a funny thing. Despite being an outdoor dog at birth, she has taken well to a heated bed (hot water bottle with fluffy cover) and the living room carpet is her favourite place to roll around. This morning her bedding and hot water bottle cover went into the wash and new bedding was used. Well! She was not a happy girl. She 'dug' over the bed, completely rolled it and would not accept any of the covers on the bottle. They were all undone and discarded. In the end I found an old t-shirt to wrap it in that obviously smells just right as she is snuggled up having a snooze.

She is a lovely addition to the family. Despite the trail of wicker she has chewed off Bosley's bed, the blackened carrots she loves to bite, bits of loo roll centre, sticky tape, the mouse toy and her fluffy dog she leaves in her wake....

New mothers

It is always more scary with baby number one. Will I be ok? Will THEY be ok? Will I be a good mum? Will I know what they want? It takes a while for mum and baby to bond, to find their stride so to speak....one of the WORST things is the 'baby expert' who tells you all about how to do it the 'right' way (their way). Old wives tales, horrific methods of control, discipline and rules. (Sounds like how I was raised ---LOL)!

Let me tell you folks, it is the same with puppies. We brought our bundle home thrilled to have her and in the last 10 days I have been beside myself on more than one occasion. She is very young and bouncy and jumpy and mouthy. She is also happy to nip and sometimes growl. I have had people tell me all about their methods, their great dogs, as well as dogs they knew who were not up to scratch because they were not looked after or raised properly.

And there is more and it is even worse. Those who come to the house, pick her up and shake her and poke at her and get her so excited that she wants to bite. Then to be told when I try to calm her down and give her a breathing space in the kithen that she is still a baby and only playing.

All I want for this little dog is for her to have a good, happy life with a family who loves her. I asked a local expert for advice and came off the phone feeling worse. She said she was 'probably one of those puppy farm dogs' and that I should have gone to see the mother. Well we did, twice, and we saw granny and siblings and other dogs in family. She then told me that if she was reared for ratting then she might not make a good family pet. WATCH THIS SPACE!

She is very jumpy and needy, but she is almost toilet trained, can go to bed when asked....comes to her name and is perfectly happy to be interrupted while eating - she never growls then. And she is still only a baby and she needs lots of love.

So as a new puppy mum I am feeling bewildered while wanting to get it right. But I have to say this, nothing is nicer than a happy puppy face greeting me first thing in the morning.

Here she is in Bosley's bed this morning, with Bosley's mouse.......

So over it?

Shoot me for saying this, but our little four legged friend is SUCH a handful. She is willful, funny, very cuddly, naughty, inquisitive, active and really sweet. But nothing gets done. She has taken over the kitchen. It is strewn with toys - including such exciting ones as an empty kitchen roll holder! She is so fiesty and we are very aware that the biting has to stop. Tonight I really thought (after four nights being 'around' all the time) that maybe this was not such a brilliant idea....She was wriggling and biting and snarling and just being horrid in her own little puppy way. We are all clued up on the training and sometimes she responds and sometimes she doesn't......she is not even 8 weeks old, so she is doing fine! But it is a bit like the terrible twos. All noise and palava for very little reason.......
The loo training is going well though. She gets the potty thing most of the time and loves going out onto the patio to sniff around.
Tomorrow we see the vet and she will have her first needles. It is a chance to book her onto training classes and get some info.
Phew.
I love her to bits, but it takes me back to baby days when baby needed something NOW and then got all whiney when they were tired and wanted a cuddle before going to bed.
She is on my lap now, where she loves to be at the end of a good tussle.
I am ready for bed too! x
I miss my crochet time at night....

Peckish pooch

Here she is - momentarily distracted by a bowl of warm puppy food. Boy have we been on our toes today. She loved Hannah's old slippers SO much that H donated one to the Juno toy box. It has been thrashed around, growled at, chewed and slept on.

Bosley did NOT like the intrusion, but very grandly held his ground, snarled and spat and now little miss is less enthused about running at him. I am sure this is just the first of many skirmishes, but she seems to recognise that the mewling noise he makes is not friendly.

For such a little thing she make a huge amount of noise. A cross between a loud porcine squeal with some grunts thrown in and high pitched howl. This happens when she is put in the cage for her nap, the first time it was so bad I rushed to the internet to get some advice....no pup of ours before has ever sounded so terrible. Fortunately as she went back in after her various play sessions - she tires easily, she is only 7 weeks old - the length of squealing time shortened. She is now on her hot water bottle, fast asleep and soon John and I will be leaving her in the capable hands of the girls while we go off partying.....

She has made it to the puppy toilet once so far, and got loads of praise for that so she is doing well.

This is not a blog about a dog

But she is a sweetie. I am over the moon and can't wait until she moves in with us.
Off now to do some crochet -

And her name is.......

JUNO

meaning -protector of women and marriages -

but we like it because it is a lovely name for our little girl.