Getting the bird!

In nice weather I like to leave my dining room patio doors open wide. This is not a problem with Honey around to chase off any inquisitive cats but it doesn't stop birds flying in! I was watching the Olympic rowing on TV, with Honey asleep by my feet, when I heard a noise in the kitchen. Honey went on alert but would not go in there! Some guard dog eh? As I entered the kitchen there was a flurry at the window. It was a beautiful young thrush who must have flown in the open patio door and found his/her way into the kitchen.

 I shut the doors so it could not fly further into the house and opened the kitchen window wide but it was at the opposite end of the window sill, in the farthest corner away from me. I grabbed a soft tea towel and managed to throw it over the bird to stop it panicking and flapping about. I got my mini steps and managed to half kneel on the work top and sink and reach the bird with a huge plastic bowl. I moved the tea towel so the bird hopped onto it, under the big bowl. Then I slid a tray under the tea towel and gently pulled the tea towel out leaving the bird trapped under the bowl on the tray. I managed to carry this outside and lifted the bowl off the thrush. It sat and looked at me for about 20 seconds then flew off with some loud angry chirrups. I have now closed the patio door!
I remember the fledgling blue tits I had visit me last year but managed to get them to fly out the open window with the help of their mum calling from outside.
I think it must be the angle of the sun causing bright reflections in the patio doors and they think it's more garden - some fly into the glass - with varying consequences :( and the odd bird flies in through the open door. Most realise and fly straight back out again but the odd one keeps going through to the kitchen then head for the window to get out again.
My knee is now complaining after kneeling on the rim of the sink :( a new bruise coming I think!
I finally managed to get a very short clip of Honey running at Baiter yesterday. I have loads of clips of her walking and sniffing while I waited for her to run and she didn't. This time I got the camera out in time for the end of her run!

She usually does 2 or 3 huge circles round the field but only did the one this time. I'll have to try again some time. She has slowed a lot in the last year or so since breaking her leg, but I am so pleased to see her running again for the sheer pleasure of it.
In doggy years she is the same age as me now and really fit, unlike me!

Doesn't she look good?

This is more like me LOL 'resting' in her self made duvet 'nest'

Have a good day - hugs from me and licks from Honey! xx

Where there's a will.....

Beautiful warm sunny day - and I've been to the solicitor to sign my will! Nothing morbid, just an overdue update and refresh of my old will. I do hope all you reading this have made your own will. You may be young and not think it's needed yet but who knows what might happen tomorrow, a car crash, a madman with a gun, an unknown medical condition, anything can happen at any age so please make sure your wishes are known.
It really is a perfect day here - temp about 22°C with a very light sea breeze blowing through the house. I bet the beach is packed and the car parks full!

Sandbanks in the sun

Last night was pub quiz night and it was a bit strange. For months we have been getting around 8-10 teams and usually our team finish in the top 4. Last night there wasn't a chair or stool spare. It was heaving. We had 16 teams! Ashley who runs the quiz was caught a bit short of supplies and left his bag of playing card packs on his drive at home when loading his car. His wife came to the rescue with a late delivery! The questions were quite tricky at times and the scores reflected this by being lower than usual. It was just Jen and I pitting our brains for our team and we struggled a bit. We finished 5th on the main quiz and won nothing on the pictures or music quizzes. However we had a fun night out and I had a lovely plate of ham and pineapple salad.

Not the actual dish but similar

It was huge and very tasty, apart from the chef being a bit heavy handed with the Radicchio - it's a bit bitter and I had a mountain of the stuff! I left half of it and ate the rest of the lovely salad. The ham was diced into small chunks to make a little look a lot more, a technique I notice they are using on several dishes now - the pork in cider sauce used to be 2 steaks of pork but is now a few chunks instead - barely one steak's worth! One way to reduce costs and maximise profit! I think the kitchen were a bit pushed last night as quite a few people were dining before the quiz.

The newly replaced rotary washing line is fully loaded with 2 loads of washing - still hanging space but I've run out of pegs! Maybe I'll buy another pack next time I shop.

This week is between my daughter's birthday and my son's birthday so we are having a family barbecue tomorrow as a joint celebration. Should be the perfect evening for it. Craig does a mean barbie!

 As this week may be the only real summer we get ,make the most of it while it's here!

xxx

 

Summer's here! But not for long!

Oh how the weeks rush past. It's Monday AGAIN! and July is almost over. The last 2 months have been damp and dreek (grey, cold & wet) but right now the sun is here and it's warm like it should be! Forecast for Wednesday is talking 28°C/82°F for middle England which means a few degrees cooler here by the sea and lovely! My ideal temp span is 21-25°C. I had to dust off my reflective car sun shield today to help stop the car reaching roasting point.
What's been happening here I hear you ask? You didn't? oh well you're going to get it anyway!
I live life pretty much day to day and very quietly. The passing week is punctuated by regular events, pub quiz, bin day, Slimming World, Wimborne Singaround, folk club, then it's the weekend again.
Honey has been very good and got a gold star from the vet at her annual health check and booster shots. She still limps occasionally on her bad leg when she's been running too much but it doesn't seem to stop her doing her daily laps! He checked out all her joints and no sign of stiffness or arthritis!
Just recently my blind friend has been poorly and had 10 days in hospital, so while she was in I had her guide dog to stay! Honey and Yarna got on very well while on holiday together in May but that was on neutral territory. Having Yarna to stay in our home was a different matter and Honey's nose was definitely out of joint at having to share HER home. At least Yarna was happy to sleep downstairs at night while Honey slept next to my bed as usual. Meal times I separated them so Honey could eat in peace and not be pushed around by the always hungry Yarna. We had one or two toilet issues and I had a few wet patches on the carpet :( but we resolved these and mostly all was fine.

Yarna (top) and Honey well at home

It was really funny when I washed out Honey's main 'day-bed' - it's a Value Single Duvet from Tesco with a cheap cover on it. It puffed up nicely being washed and being a full sized duvet I assumed they dogs would share it. Wrong! Honey decided it was hers and spent ages humphing it about and scraping it around to make a Honey-sized puffy lump then lay down on it (see pic). Yarna was most peeved at being relegated to an older less puffy duvet as a bed. As soon as Honey moved off it for any reason Yarna dived on to it LOL. Just like a couple of kids :-)
Linda could not wait to get home once her problems had cleared up and took Yarna back after a couple of days getting sorted out at home. Honey and I both sat down with a big sigh of relief at peace at home again.

I found the time with Yarna exhausting. She was used to getting up by 8 at the latest and needed to go out to wee and poo as soon as she got moving. As she would not go outside alone, I had to take her outside on a lead every time, sometimes in my nightie!
As I could not trust Yarna not to run away when on a walk, I had to use the extending lead and walk much further than usual to give her any kind of exercise every day. Every afternoon I was trekking to the hospital to visit Linda, whose ward was a long way from the car park! Evening visiting was used by other friends and her sons so she had plenty of visitors during her stay. The longer walks and hospital visits were on top of my usual routine and I still had chores and shopping etc to fit in too. No wonder I slept well at night!
I am doing slow and steady at Slimming World, averaging 1lb a week. Some weeks I don't lose anything, other weeks I lose 2 or 3 lbs. I am having to get new bras now, I have gone down a cup size, and now down a chest size! Whereas I used to overfill my bras I am now finding I lack of support as my boobs don't fill them any more :(
I wore one of those pre-formed bras the other day and there was daylight between me and the moulded cups that I used to fill LOL I was so thrilled to get that bra in my size at the time I got it, because they don't normally come in 42G!
Last week at Slimming World I won my 1.5stone  off award (21lbs) and only 2lbs to go to my Club 10 target! Should get that this week! Just another 70 lbs or so to go :( but I don't want to lose that much, nor think I can!
I have come down 2 whole dress sizes and am now starting to fit in the next size down from that! My latest slim fitting jeans are already feeling loose! So nice to be able to shop in 'normal' shops again instead of always heading for the outsize shops/departments. I have had to have a clear out of some of my favourite tops as they are too big and loose fitting now and not suitable for taking in. I have put darts into many of my skirts so I can still wear them while shrinking! It stops them slipping down! A bit of tighter elastic in the waist also helps.
I have had lots of comments from people I only see occasionally as they really notice the difference in my appearance.

It's not long now until my  favourite folk festivals - Cropredy, Shrewsbury, and Swanage! Must dust off the tent and camping gear - get new batteries for the camping lamps etc. I hope my double layer air bed is ok. It's very comfortable!

No that's not me! But you get the idea of how big and comfortable it is!

Time to head out for the pub quiz tonight.

Hope you have a good time too!

xx