Good News, Depressing News, Doggie Routine Notwithstanding

I've spent most of the last week hunkered down at home nursing a virulent bug. Now that I have to take nasty, chemo type medication, every time I catch something like this it hits me hard. There was some good news on Wednesday though. I couldn't attend my hospital appointment, so the consultant phoned me to say that my latest scans show a decrease in the size of my tumours. It was the highlight of the week. Seems if I can persevere with the treatment, it is working ok.

Apart from that, there hasn't been much to write about, not that I've felt like posting anyway. I did manage to keep up with my writing schedule and now have four of this month's articles drafted. On Thursday I did go out to vote, then came home and collapsed on the settee again.

I didn't vote to leave the EU and am shocked at the result. I am worried for the future of my grandchildren and their children. I doubt I will live long enough for it to bother me, and my children are already set on their paths, but the next generations will have to fight more for their opportunities. I just hope I am wrong about that.

None of it bothers the dogs. They still want to follow their routines - eat, sleep and go for walks. Rafi has his mad half hour with toys while Jade sits and looks on as if she is an old lady indulging a child, even though she is only 18 months older than him. She just wakes up when it is food time, barking at him to let him know she is top dog and gets first pick.

A Walk to George's Seat

It's 1.30 am and I can't get to sleep so thought I would get up and write a post to see if the activity helps.

Today I took the dogs to George's seat. It's next to where we scattered his ashes so I call it his seat. I go and sit on it sometimes and feel close to him again for a little while. To get to it, I drive to the viewpoint car park which is inside Rockley Park, a holiday park full of mobile homes. From the viewpoint, there are several footpaths over Ham Common and down to Rockley Beach. The seat is off one of these at the edge of the cliff. The dogs are oblivious to my ruminations. They mooch around sniffing and wait for me to get up and resume our walk.

The common is lush at the moment and threatens to overwhelm the path with its fast growing vegetation. The foxgloves are out again, and on the steps we take to get back up to the car park, 

I spotted some little dog roses peeping out from all the greenery at the side. I had to stop for a bit at another seat once we were at the top and watched a brave magpie that stood its ground as Rafi found a piece of wood to gnaw quite near to him and Jade chewed on the grass.





It's funny how the dogs seem to be slower when they go out with me. They don't run around like my daughter says they do when out with her. I guess they pick up on our energy levels and follow suit.

A Day at the Beach

I'm smarting a little from sunburn after yesterday. It was roasting at the beach and we were enjoying it so much we stayed for four hours. The 20 factor sun cream just wasn't enough, as I discovered once we were home and showered. I am now slathering creams and lotions on the burnt bits - chest, hands and feet - every couple of hours.

It was worth it though. The first wonderfully sunny day of the year, and we didn't have any work that couldn't wait. We chose to camp near the quieter far end of the dog beach, taking our two with us and building them shady corners where they snoozed most of the day away. I sat in a folding chair and we had a pop-up tent to get changed in lying down. We had a sandy picnic and cold drinks, then ice lollies from the ice cream boat that came along about lunch time. Quite a few people were swimming but I didn't have a swimsuit so contented myself with dipping my feet in and paddling.

Also I actually played  badminton for about 5 minutes before I was too out of breath to continue. Sadly, these days I can't walk far let alone run and jump, so I have to make the most of what I can do. Fortunately I have my lovely daughter to ferry me around and generally watch out for me.

I wouldn't say the beach was peaceful at our chosen spot. We were very close to the harbour entrance and there were so many craft buzzing around, some silently but others roaring at us. We watched the grand Condor ferry heading out for the Channel Islands with most of its passengers standing on the deck and near enough to wave to us, while the much smaller chain ferry that crosses the harbour entrance sat and waited for it to pass.

In the picture,  you may be able to make out some of the water scooters that are also very loud as they zip along. At one point there was a fleet of them moored near to us. The little figure at the waters edge is me getting my feet wet to cool down.

So all good things come to an end, and we packed up and drove home pleasantly tired and ready for a cool shower and a rest once we'd sorted out the detritus of the day.

A Quiet Week!

I was expecting a quiet week as daughter and granddaughter have been away, so it was just me and the dogs living here. In fact it was pretty busy. Saturday saw me meeting my friend, Kim, at the doggie fundraising bazaar. It was buzzing with dogs. You can see pics of many of them, including my two and Kim's two here. Just scroll down and click on the album of the PPAR May Bazaar. Go through the pics and you'll find one with four dogs in it. That's Kim with our lot. They have individual mugshots too.

Sunday saw me out for a carvery roastie with my son and his girl. On Monday I was invited to a meal at a friend's house in Bournemouth. The dogs came too and were a great hit with the family there - all except the cats, who kept well out of the way. They obligingly posed for a photoshoot.

I bought my pal Mo home after that and she spent three days here in which we walked the dogs, shopped for clothes and food, visited a garden centre, chilled out and drank prosecco. I was the head cook and she was the bottle washer.  We also had my son here for a couple of nights and he had to be catered for too.

The week flew past and everyone is now back to normal but we are expecting more guests in an hour or so, I thought I'd better catch up with a blog post while I have a chance.