Doggy Bathtime

Suky loves a good bath, although we don't do it too often as she takes a long time to dry and is not fond of being damp for long periods.

A good scrub behind her ears is her favourite bit.

Poor little soggy doggy.

Mavis had already had hers and was busy in front of a roaring fire sorting out her feet, and making sure that Dad had rearranged her beard and eyebrows to her satisfaction.

Sue xx

It's Almost Over ....

It's almost over for another year, I couldn't resist taking this photo of part of todays washing!!

Once dry the Christmas T shirts will be packed away for next year.

The contents of my advent calender are now all in the makeup bag that was the final gift on Christmas morning. 

The empty calender is being saved for me to use next year for Alan.  I will keep my eyes open for little gifts to put into the boxes over the coming year, and hopefully M&S will do the same again next year so I can have another one too, as I absolutely loved this.

My favourite gift on Christmas morning was a box made up for us by my older son, which as well as containing yummy things to eat and brilliant items for daily use, included things from my childhood, that had been discovered tucked away in my ex's house and passed on to Simon for giving to me ... saving it for Christmas was a brilliant idea ... it made my day.

Christmas lunch was a quiet affair, cooked together after our daily chores had been completed, and tucked into on our new little table, with Christmas songs playing in the background and the sound of the dogs chewing on new Christmas bones at our feet.

The most successful show of the holiday break was 'Snow Bears'.  The dogs absorbed every minute of the tale of a mummy polar bear trekking across the ice with her twin cubs.

A full hour passed of doggy silence and concentration as the adventures unfolded.

We had quite a television based Christmas this year with the bad weather outside meaning chores were done as quickly as possible and doggies walked as and when we could, but luckily it's been quite good on the old box and I've been drinking in every detail of the BBC adaptation  of Little Women which unfortunately finishes tonight. 

Our Christmas isn't completely over yet though, as my youngest son is coming for a quick overnight visit between shifts from work this weekend.  As an emergency services worker, his Christmas dinner on the actual day was a hastily grabbed and very solitary bowl of pasta, so I think an action replay of our dinner would be a grand way to end our festive celebrations.

I hope each and every one of you had a wonderful Christmas, and can I just say a massive thank you for all the Christmas wishes on the comments on the last post.  It was so lovely to hear from so many people all over the world.

Sue xx

It's a Very Merry Christmas from ...

It's a very Merry Christmas from ... Ginger.

... from Mavis

and from Suky

Ginger proving he can still eat his dinner even while wearing a Santa hat.

The chickens have been a victim of their own success. 

Egg sales have been fantastic and we are wiped out for Christmas, so it's time to shut up shop for a couple of days and build up some supplies again, and talking about shutting up shop ... I'll be back blogging in a few days too.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas

from 

Sue and Alan

Suky, Mavis and Ginger

 Jack and his ladies.  xx

"Can I take these off now please?"

Doggy Sick ... and Sheep

Yesterday was a busy day from the start ... and not in a good way.

The day started with Alan going to down to make us a cup of coffee, only to find copious mounds,  splats and puddles of doggy sick.  Christmas presents strewn all over the conservatory ... and the cause of the sickness epidemic ... missing chocolate Santa's bought for the grandchildren!!

So the washer was put straight into service washing dog bed liners and towels, two very guilty looking pooches didn't know where to put themselves and Ginger the cat ... who is the only one who could possibly have knocked the bag over containing the presents ... was his usual 'I'm a good boy aren't I ' self.

Much cleaning, present wrapping and little jobs later we were suddenly distracted by the sight of five sheep running past the conservatory doors, then tucking into our laurel bushes near the shed.  We pulled on our wellies and then spent an hour herding the very energetic sheep this way and that until we managed to get them contained in the paddock.

They had wandered in through our open gates as we were expecting Will the farmer with his gift for Alan .... half a sheep!!

We thought they were Thomas' sheep, the farmer that owns the field opposite so we gave him a ring, he turned up half an hour later with a trailer to collect them.  As it happened they weren't his sheep at all,  the sheep I thought were missing from his field had just been hiding in the trees there.  Will, showed up while Thomas and his brother were chatting to Alan, so three Welsh farmers and a Scottish engineer had a bloody good laugh about things and set the world to rights.  

 Thomas' trailer being there though turned out very useful, as we had our old sofa in the conservatory that we have been trying to find a good home for ... and he has a bunkhouse that needed some seating, so it was loaded up but not in the way we had originally expected.  While the guys were chatting two of the sheep leapt out of our paddock over the fence and had to be chased back in ... not good.  We made good the escape route and hoped for the best.

This morning we were awoken by the sound of Mavis barking, so Alan rushed downstairs only to find the sheep once again passing by the conservatory.  In his dressing gown and wellies he managed to get them round the house but they made for a gap in the hedge and out on to the main road.  He could have herded them back in if it wasn't for a very mean spirited motorist who refused to stop his car, and spooked them into running off up the main road.

So the sheep have gone, hopefully for good.  They are no doubt at this very minute munching on someone else's garden, and for those of you who follow our frequent sheep exploits they are owned by the same farmer who's sheep (including Ethel) are routinely found roaming the area in search of their own grazing.

And just a footnote, the dogs are both fine after their consumption of a chocolate Santa  each, if there hadn't been so much sick everywhere we would have taken them to the vets, chocolate is very poisonous to dogs, they don't realise how lucky they are!!

Sue xx

A Snow Day

Pristine snow when we first woke up ...

Minimal traffic first thing.

Going over to let the chickens out .... dressing gown and wellies, usual weekend attire before the first cup of coffee :-)

Only one chicken even peeped out first thing ... they point blank refused to walk on the 'white stuff'.

The view from the front door.

No sign of the hills opposite .... it's a complete white out!!

Perfection ...

... but not for long, the dogs couldn't wait to get into the paddock  :-)

Suky loved it.

Pretty bushes laden with snow.

Suky and Mavis finding little bits of grass under the bushes.

Gorgeous.

The view back to the house.

And up the hillside.

Hi-jinks in the snow.

Little Puggy footprints.

And that virgin patch of snow from the very first photo .....nope I just couldn't resist  ;-)

Stay safe, stay cosy and I hope you are having a nice snow day too.

Sue xx

Taking a Step Back

Our living room revamp is done and now we've had a few weeks to get used to it I can honestly say it's the best thing we've done for a while.

The old look was crisp and fresh and suited us at the time, but this new look suits the house and how we use it day to day.  You don't know this when you first move into somewhere but you learn and adapt as time passes. 

As you can see from this selection of photos we didn't rush the process, deciding instead to do it in stages.  The chimney breast was wallpapered with our bargain buy brick effect paper.

The rest of stage one was a quick coat of white paint on the ceiling, walls and woodwork.  It didn't need doing anywhere except round this window where the rain had poured in the other year, but you can't do one spot and leave the rest .... unfortunately  ;-)

The large low bookcase that used to stand under the pictures on this wall was no longer needed after our big book sort out of last year so that went out into the workshop leaving us an expanse of floor space temporarily occupied by this diddy lamp bearing table.  We had a plan for the space but we had to wait for just the right thing to come along.

While we waited we used our car boot sale profits from last year to pay for a fitted carpet, the chilly laminate and ever shifting rug just had to go.

But it wasn't too long before just the right thing appeared in our local second hand shop. 

A small drop leaf table that holds the lamp we have lit every night.  It can be used for one or both of us to work on with one leaf up or for impromptu meals in the cosy living room if we don't want to eat off our laps.  It also matches in perfectly with the age of our cottage ... and with my Nana's little bedroom chairs that I have always loved.

The next piece of the puzzle was a new comfortable sofa and matching chair. 

Not to the age of the house this time but bought to add a lovely retro pop of colour to the downstairs, which luckily fits in quite well with our beloved green at the back of the fireplace and on the built in cupboard doors.  As you can see from this photo and the one on here the other day, the animals approve of the new cosy furnishings, although if you look closely you will notice we have bought some cheap matching fleeces to put on the seat cushions to protect them from moulting furry bodies. 

The fireplace wall was finished off with the return of ...

... the flying Pugs.

Now resprayed a more Pug coloured creamy colour instead of their former brilliant white which jarred with the new 'brickwork'.

  Our overall plan was always to go back to the age of the house a little bit more, it is a relative youngster compared to a lot of our neighbours houses but at well over a hundred years old it's nice to give a little nod to it's past with some cosy touches.

Sue xx

Monday Morning Cuteness

Because sometimes on a cold, wet Monday morning all you want is a bit of doggy and pussycat cuteness.

I'm glad the new chair sets of the colour of Mavis and Ginger so well  ;-)

Sue xx

You never know what you'll find on an Aga ....

You never know what you're going to find on the Aga, yesterday for instance it was this weeks huge pan of homemade soup.

It was just cobbled together from pickings and trimmings from the polytunnel and net tunnel with an added onion or two and a couple of slices of celery from the fridge salad drawer.  I even found a marrow that I didn't know was still left in the net tunnel when I was having a tidy up of one of the beds.  I didn't manage to fit it all in the pan so half of the chunks were popped into the freezer for next weeks pan of soup.

I've recently started adding some beetroot to most of my soups, it gives the whole pot this wonderful deep reddish colour.

Of course the Aga is not just a giant soup maker ....

... this morning it looks like this!!

I think Ginger brought a mouse in over night, and the kitchen and conservatory bore the tale of a frantic mad chase of said mouse by a cat and a Jack Russell.  My wellies were knocked over and this one had obviously been used as a refuge, although why it was soaking wet inside I'll  never know ... sometimes it's best not to dwell on these things.

Once it's dried out I'll have to stick the lining back to the rubber and put the whole incident out of my mind.

Sue xx

Suky in a Hat

Mum bought Suky a couple of hats from a charity shop a few weeks ago.

  She likes seeing Suky in hats.  But it's a real challenge to get her to wear them for modelling purposes so the other day when she was cosy in her bed, all alone with Mavis upstairs with Alan in the office, I snuck up and put the first one on.

She hummphed ... but was resigned to being photographed ...

... so I got the other one.

She just looks resigned doesn't she  :-)

So I put the first one back on and got another shot.

Sue xx