On holiday :)

Phoebe and I have been away.

We went over to Oakham for a couple of days and spent lots of time with a very dear friend of mine.

We watched kites flying over head which was very impressive. I hadn't realised they were so far north.

Phoebe was such a good girl and I felt very proud of her as the vast majority of time she was off the lead. We passed sheep, swan, geese, bikers, runners and oooodles of fellow walkers. She wasn't perfect as is very sociable but, for such a young dog she never embarrassed herself. She was also very good in our accommodation, for some reason she chose to sleep under my bed. There wasn't a lot of room.

It was lovely just to have a couple of days off and get away and I shall do it again one day :)

Visitor

Just 2 metres outside our house, sat on the arm of a chair, this cheeky buzzard is taking a rest.

We never used to have rabbits on our land but over the last few years they are everywhere. They consume huge amounts of grass but more importantly they burrow under buildings and undermine foundations to the timber barns. Cute but a nuisance. The birds of pray have followed them of course and I hope he is successful and eats well as I cannot bring myself to reduce their numbers by any other means. Yes, I am a softy :)

Making progress

Despite the dreadful weather we are getting there.
The brick layer, my boys and myself soldered on regardless all week end.

This slab area was concreted Friday and the pillars and walls are now completed.

The electric gates are being made and will be hung in 2 weeks time.

It has been a huge undertaking but will be worth it to improve our security and aesthetics.

Major improvements

We are improving the entrance to our home/Dogs Paws and Cats Whiskers. The is the view from the drive with the highway behind you. This was a grass paddock and will be the entrance. We are installing electric gates which open and close automatically. Set on a timer. This will improve our security. There will be a very discrete CCTV system installed.  

 This View is from within our yard. There will be a brick wall here, leading unto the electric gates. 

These improvement will certainly enhance the appearance, improve our security and give more clarity to those wishing to find our exact location. 

The CCTV system is linked to the internet and will send me an alert whenever the sensor detects movement. So sophisticated and offering peace of mind.

I would just have liked the weather to hold off whilst we completed the digging out as the mess!!!

Sorry for any inconvenience caused but please bare with us though as it will be very worth it :)

My heart lifted

Thursday evening my youngest son accompanied me as we had to take Gemma (Jam Jar) Aged almost 15 years, to the vet. She clearly was very unwell and the enevitable outcome was decided.

A very sad day as she has been with me and my boys almost as long as we have lived at West Farm

Friday morning, after dropping my boys for school I headed off up the M1 to Harrogate for a funeral.
Very sadly a family member aged just 53 years  He was far too young to die.

The M1 was horrific with very dark cloud and heavy, heavy rain. The usual volume of traffic of course.


I am a radio 2 fan and had Chris Evens on in the car, feeling very fed up and downhearted.

His first guest was Gary Barlow who sang live.
It was nice and made for presant listening but my head was still full of Gemma, the looming event in Harrogate etc etc

His next guest was Alfie Boe, some one I had heard of but didn't really know.

He was also invited to sing live and WOW every hair on my body stood up.

What a voice, what power and he seemed a lovely gent too.

The rest of my day and journey back were very sad of course but my spirit was lifted and I shall certainly look him up when in concert :)

After 15 years we are all missed our gorgeous Jam Jar

Golden girls!

Phoebe, Ruby and Gilly have all passed their gold good citizenship kc award.

I along with the other handlers are so very proud as they are all just 1 year old.

We are going to have a puppy party to celebrate :)

All For Dogs are going to continue with our training sessions by introducing some fun classes.
For me, I just love getting her out and about, learning how to be a good, well behaved member of society. The handlers all have a good chat and giggle too.

One of my jobs soon will be to strip the grape vine. It is laden, as always. Full of black, very sweet grapes. Our fruit trees have had a great year too.