Day 83 - Go Grotty.

Baggy overslept yet again. She didn't actually drag herself out of bed until 12.30pm! Thirteen hours in bed, although NOT asleep. Clever Bird is pretty sure that Hormonal Hannah is to blame. One thing about Lawrence-the-durmoid-cyst leaving Baggy along with Baggy's ovaries; the menopause, which has now hit Baggy like a steam train, is a proper nuisance. This morning, nope sorry, this afternoon, she couldn't snap out of a proper fug. She felt very grumpy and very down. Poor Calum! So Baggy made Furry Mama take Minty Mutt out for a walk. The fresh air helped. But still, Baggy just wanted to cry and curl up in a little ball. Calum pointed out that there was zero food in the house, so Baggy dusted off The Domestic Goddess and dragged her out to the supermarket. Baggy made her choose lots of fruit and veg. and fish. No cakes. No biccies. No bad stuff at all in fact. Cal bought healthy stuff for his lorry. But still Baggy was very down. Clever Bird decided that whether or not Baggy could do much with her horse, Grotty Groom needed to go and see Wessles and Joey. Good plan.

There was a dressage competition at the yard and it was raining this morning, so the Boys had been left in for the day. Wessles had his new waffle fleece rug on. He looked very cute. He is so ridiculously woolly though and it is quite mild again, so he was quite sweaty. He seemed very happy to see Grotty. Whickered and nuzzled her. Grotty felt the least she could do was to give him a groom. Well over an hour later and having removed the equivalent of about three very fluffy Guinea Pigs worth of hair (the Boy is malting for England), Baggy's arm was burning a little, but Baggy realised that she was no longer feeling tearful or down. In fact she felt really good. Positive and relaxed. Wesley seemed to feel the same. Clearly the massive weight that has been lifted from Baggy's shoulders was affecting Wesley too. Today there was no head-butting. Just gentle snuffling. No "wired" energy. Just a totally chilled vibe. Clever Bird and Grotty know full well how sensitive Wesley is and how much he is affected by Baggy's mood, but what they hadn't realised was just how "wired" Baggy has been for the last few months. No more though! Being with the Boy uplifted Baggy's mood and spirits ten-fold. So much so, that Baggy will now ignore Hormonal Hannah and start to let Grotty spend more time with her Boys again. Time for Grotty to start a bit of loose "dancing" with Wessles again. But perhaps she should build up to that! In-hand work first. Grotty is excited. Things might finally be getting back on track.........

Day 82 - There are two new gang members today.

Baggy slept pretty well last night, although Hormonal Hannah had her worrying about going to bed again, so she didn't actually go up until 1.30am. The wine probably helped her sleep. The rich food on the other hand. Not so great! Serves you right Baggy. Let's just say that half-an-hour of "contemplation" in the bathroom at 5.00am was a nuisance. She then lay in bed for another half-an-hour with her stomach doing Mount Vesuvius impersonations; Bracket insisting on getting in bed with Furry Mama and purring in her ear; and constant traffic noise! Yes Baggy does live on a tiny, single-track, country, back lane, but there's currently a road closure on the main road and everyone is diverting up Baggy's lane. Minty Mutt was not happy. Not that the occasional "woof" woke Calum from his snoring! Baggy still managed to get up at 9.30am though. Tired. But up. Mind you, it is now nearly 12.30pm and she is yet to get dressed. Side-tracked by Creative Clara again. But also by a really lovely surprise!

Meet Mini-Baggy and Mini-Minty Mutt.

 

 

They arrived snuggled up comfortably in a parcel this morning. Mini-Baggy has been lovingly made by one of Baggy's lovely friends, Lettra. She has a hand-knitted hippy jumper. Very smart brown jodphurs. Little black riding boots. And LOTS of hair. And of course her own Mini-Minty Mutt. Baggy absolutely loves them and is extremely touched that someone should go to so much trouble to cheer her up. The Minis are settling in very well already and have already made friends with Minty Mutt. Although Furry Mama did have to explain to Minty that the Minis are hers and not his! (You can probably tell from his expression that he didn't think that this was very reasonable). The new Minis are looking forward to starting their adventures with Baggy and the rest of the gang........

 



Day 81 - So much for Plan A!

Bedroom two, semi-tackled. Then as Cal got home, he dragged Baggy straight off to the furniture store to buy the furniture that we fell in love with last week. He's right. It's a miracle that we both love the same ones. Plus Clever Bird loves four years Interest Free Credit. And sale prices. Furry Mama has two months to train Hinge and Bracket not to shred the furniture! But even if they do, it will be sooooooooooo nice to sit on a comfy sofa! By the time Baggy and Cal had finished ordering their sofa and chair, Baggy was starving. So much for being good and losing some weight this week. Well done Clever Bird. There was a large American chainy-type place near the sofa store. "Oooooo, Cal, shall we go in there?". "Okay". Very busy. Very noisy. Pretty expensive. Can't say that Baggy will want to go there again. However! Dough balls. Two large glasses of Sauvignon blanc. Burger with blue cheese and chips. Caramel and salt cheesecake with vanilla ice cream. Cappuccino. Yep Freda Fretter, Baggy has blown her diet. Again. She can start again tomorrow. Well she can try to anyway. Night, night bloggees, Baggy is pooped..........

Day 81 - Time to have a go at room two!

Baggy dragged herself out of bed. She aches all over from sorting out bedroom one. Went to Fat Club. The less said about that the better but at least she hadn't put any weight on. Headed to a large DIY store on the way home to get picture hooks. Window shopped for other things. What? Well, you know little things. Like what? Well, like a new kitchen. Oh and a new bathroom. Well a Baggy can look can't she? Clever Bird actually remembered the picture hooks! Got home. Got changed. Took The Minty Mutt for a walk. He struggled. Baggy struggled. Getting old is not fun. But then Clever Bird would rather that Baggy got old, than didn't. Got The Domestic Goddess to rustle up some scrambled eggs on wholemeal toast for lunch. Baggy is determined to lose a couple of pounds this week. Now Creative Clara is just side-tracking Baggy by blogging. Good plan. Can't say that she is desperate to tackle bedroom two, which now contains rather a lot of stuff from bedroom one. In addition to the fact that it was even worse in the first place. The only saving grace being that it is a much bigger room! Cat swinging is therefore just about possible. But yes Furry Mama, highly unadvisable.

 

 Right, enough with the side-tracking Clara, The Goddess is taking Baggy in..........

Day 80 - Oh yeah!

It's only taken The Domestic Goddess eleven-and-a-half hours! She's half-killed Baggy in the process. But she finally has a lovely room. Still a couple of touches to do. More picture hooks required. More artwork to put up and keep Creative Clara happy. Clever Bird is still not convinced that the delivery chaps will get the new mattress in. Possibly because the landing is now blocked! Well The Goddess has another three days. Just don't look under the bed bloggees. No seriously, please don't. She did her best.......

Day 80 - Nearly there.

Baggy is unsure whether The Goddess needs a big kiss or a big slap. Clever Bird reckons it's the latter. The Goddess has had Baggy sorting out the bedroom for another five hours today! That's ten so far and it's still not done. Almost done. But not quite. Baggy aches in every part of her body and her arm is burning. She's just having the ubiquitous cup of tea, then she's heading back in for the final flurry. Even when she has finished (which may or may not be tonight), there's still a problem. In order to "finish", rather a lot of the removed "stuff" is now in the way in other parts of the house. It's not now possible to get across the other bedroom floor for instance. Ah well, one step at a time.

So as you can see, Baggy should be very impressed with how hard The Goddess has performed. However. And it's a very BIG however. Had the stupid woman done a bit more housework in the first place this would not be such a big deal. Out of sight, out of mind and all that. Most visitors don't see upstairs, so on the vague occasions when she was in the mood for housework, she focussed on downstairs. Truthfully, if one of those cleaning experts off the telly had come round she would have had a field day. The cobwebs, of which there were dozens of HUGE ones had dust on them. The furniture was covered in the stuff. Even the dust had dust on it. Sadly there were dead butterflies everywhere amongst the chaos. Seriously, it was embarrassing! The reason that Baggy hadn't realised just how bad it was, was because there was so much "stuff" hiding the dust!

But she has now got to the stage where there is enough room to swing a cat (as long as you keep your wrists on your sides). Mind you, try it and Furry Mama might have something to say about it! If The Goddess actually manages to finish it off tonight, a photo will follow........

Day 80 - Off plan already.

Hopeless. Alarm set for 9.30am. Nope not exactly early. Baggy woke at 8.00am. Needed the bathroom. Did she stay up? Course not. She went back to bed. Clever Bird switched the alarm off. Baggy woke up at 10.15am. It could have been worse. No really, on recent performance Baggy might still be asleep now (two hours later). Freda Fretter decided to be on Baggy's side for once. She says that Baggy must need the sleep. At least Furry Mama was as good as her word. As soon as Baggy was dressed, Furry Mama took Minty Mutt out for a nice walk. It is a stunning day.

Now The Domestic Goddess needs to get back into that blooming bedroom! How can such a tiny room take so long to sort out? Clever Bird realises that the answer is in the question. If the room wasn't so small, there would be lots of room to put everything away. Right Creative Clara, enough with the delaying tactics, Baggy needs to get The Goddess back in there. At least it will burn off a few extra calories. It needs to. Baggy has Fat Club tomorrow. She still hasn't got her act together on the healthy eating front........

Day 79 - Overdone it!

So, Stage 3: Start reclaiming the house. Amazingly, Baggy managed to track down The Domestic Goddess. She's not now sure that that was actually a good thing. The Goddess has made Baggy over do things completely!

Last weekend Baggy and Calum went and ordered a new double mattress. The one on Cal's bed (which isn't even a double, it's only 4ft) is about ten years old (at least) and it kills Baggy's back. Too hard. The one on Baggy's bed is eighteen years old and it kills Cal's back. Too soft. So Baggy and Cal lay on some in the shop and found one that works for both of them. It's being delivered next Monday. Clever Bird realised that this would be rather a large problem without some action from The Goddess. The new mattress is going on Baggy's bed. Well it's Baggy and Cal's bed of course, but it came from Baggy's previous house. But it's the bigger bed, so Baggy "won". It is however in the smaller bedroom. Hmmmmm. It seemed to make sense six years ago when they moved in to this house. Both beds had to be "built" in the bedrooms. It was a big deal. So there they have stayed. But you cannot swing a gerbil in the smaller bedroom at the best of times. But in the last few years it has got worse and worse. There is so much stuff on every surface and the floor that you cannot even swing an ant! There was no way that the delivery men could get the mattress in there! Three plastic packing crates of Dad's stuff have been stacked on the floor for over three years. Sitting in front of the wardrobe doors. Yes quite. So in her new positive frame of mind, Baggy decided to tackle them first.

Job done. Well not really! Stuff relocated would be a more accurate description. But at least Baggy could move the empty crates out of the way. Creative Clara will have a new project at some point too. There are so many photos. Just in old shoe boxes. They need sorting. They are of Baggy's family. Clara can feel a bit of delving and a family tree coming on. Oh yeah. But not yet. Too much to do. It has taken The Goddess over five hours so far. You could now possibly swing a Guinea Pig in there. But Baggy couldn't get into bed at all at the moment. There are too many things on top of it. NOT bedding. Back into the fray it is then. Freda Fretter just wishes that Baggy's arm wasn't "burning" quite as much as it is......

Day 79 - As plans go.......

Baggy slept not so much like the proverbial log, more like a blown over Oak tree, last night. Best night's sleep she's had in weeks. So much so, that having said "goodbye" to Cal when his alarm went off at six, she didn't even hear him leave the house. Stage 1 of the plan: set the alarm and get up. Tick. Okay, it was still after nine, but at least it wasn't after lunch as it has been recently. Stage 2 of the plan: get Furry Mama to take Minty Mutt for a nice long walk. Hmmmmmm! It is literally blowing a gale today. The tail end of the terrible American storm. Baggy shut Freda Fretter up. Furry Mama had promised the lad, so she wrapped Baggy up for Arctic weather.

Furry Mama decided to go on the "new" walk she discovered the other week. Mud and all. It's a pretty tough, but beautiful walk. Lots of mud. Lots of hills. (Okay, little ones, not huge ones. But still.) Proper exercise. Minty Mutt had been looking rather down. He had ignored his breakfast. Apparently he didn't even look up when Calum left for work. The moment he saw Baggy putting her warm cardigan on though, he leapt a foot in the air. Did a play bow to Furry Mama. Woofed. Literally ran into the kitchen to stick his nose on his collar so that Mama knew where it was. Wolfed his breakfast down. Then barked continuously while Baggy attempted to put her boots on. It was so windy that Baggy lost her hat at one point, in spite of the chin strap.

Unlike in recent months, where Mint had not been able to keep up with Baggy, now it's the other way round. It's not that Baggy is walking slowly either. Her stomach is now pretty strong and she is marching out nicely. The mud is a bit of a strain, but Clever Bird reckons it must be strengthening Baggy's stomach. No, the good news is that Minty Mutt is also getting really fit.

 

 

Although it was seriously windy, it wasn't cold at all. In fact both Furry Mama and Mint got a little over warm. Mint had the right plan as usual.

 



 

 

Furry Mama and Mint were out for eighty-five minutes all told. Clever Bird reckons that ignoring stops for Creative Clara to take photos, Mint to sniff and paddle, both of them to sit down and admire the view, they probably walked (quite briskly) for around an hour. Tick.

Once home, Clara is blogging, Baggy is sipping tea. Now she needs to find that blooming Domestic Goddess.............

Day 78 - And breathe.

The funeral is over. Baggy is home with her furries. Perhaps life for the gang can get vaguely back on track again now. The service went well. The Vicar did an amazing job. It was lovely for Baggy to see her sister and nieces. Hormonal Hannah almost managed to hold it together. Not quite. But almost. Calum was Baggy's rock, as always. Now he's upstairs snoring gently as he has to head off back to work early tomorrow. Hormonal Hannah on the other hand is refusing to let Baggy go to bed, even though she is wiped out. Chain-drinking cups of tea means that she probably won't get to sleep anyway. Hopeless. But you bloggees know that by now.

But at least now the funeral is over Baggy is determined that the gang will start focussing on their lives again. Starting with Baggy setting an alarm! And getting up. Minty Mutt deserves a lovely long walk tomorrow with Furry Mama as he was stuck at home today. Grotty needs to spend some time with her Boys. But most importantly, Baggy needs to go on a woman-hunt and find that pesky Domestic Goddess! It's time she did some major sorting out. Editing of "stuff". Clearing out of rubbish. Filing of paper work. Maybe even a bit of a rethink of furniture arrangement. Time to reclaim Baggy and the furries' house from the detritus that is our "normal". Time for a new start. Time to make space. Time to breathe. Baggy is feeling positive.........

Day 77 - WTF is the matter with people?

As regular bloggees will know by now, Baggy has been in a bit of a mess since her stepmother passed away on December 30th. What you don't know, because Clever Bird hasn't really shared it with you, is that she was Baggy's Mum for over forty-seven years. Baggy's real Mama left Baggy's Dad when Baggy was just eight. Her Dad married her stepmother when Baggy was just nine and very unusually Baggy and her sister lived with their Dad and new "Mum". This wasn't the easiest transition for anyone, as you can imagine, but that was the situation. Baggy's Dad, who was very Victorian in his attitudes (your classic kind gentleman), no longer had to try to look after his two young daughters on his own. Spam, baked beans and Smash (instant mashed) potatoes followed by Angel Delight for tea, pretty much seven days a week, could not have carried on indefinitely. So until Baggy left home to do her first degree at age eighteen, Mum looked after her. So, it's not some woman that Baggy barely knew that has gone. It's a woman who was effectively Baggy's mother for the last nearly fifty years. Losing one Mum is hard enough. Losing two is a bit of a camel's straw, as it were.

Sadly, Mum had suffered from Alzheimer's for some time. Dad had looked after her on his own for years. He did a marvellous job. But being Victorian in his views, in his pride, he also hid her illness from everyone and would get no help. He started to confide in Baggy about how bad things were, some months before he passed away. But even then, he was not totally honest about it and it came as a terrible shock to Baggy and her sister once he had gone. So since Baggy's Dad died nearly four years ago, having tried and failed to get help so that Mum could continue to live at her own home, Mum has been looked after in a wonderful care-home and Baggy and her sister have been Mum's legal deputies. All very sad. Now, hopefully she is at peace and (knowing what she was like), is dancing around the clouds, decorating them so that they are more to her liking. Baggy will be glad when the funeral is over tomorrow.

So to say that Baggy was hurt today when she received a letter from a relative of Mum's first husband doesn't begin to cover it. They won't be coming to the funeral. They would like to be sent some valuable memorabilia though. No condolences that my sister and I have lost our "Mum". Yes, Baggy had another mini-meltdown. But this one was more pure fury than anything. How can people be so insensitive? Baggy is now on the wine (well champagne actually, as there doesn't appear to be a bottle of white wine in the house; loads of red, no white). Clearly deaths just bring out the worst in people. Baggy tries to be a lovely person, but sometimes she just needs to make an exception.........

Day 77 - One more day.

Baggy's stepmother's funeral is tomorrow. Freda Fretter and Hormonal Hannah are being pains. Calum did his "today's" shift last night, so that he wouldn't have the possibility of getting "stuck" away from home tonight. Freda didn't want him to leave yesterday afternoon, hence Baggy's stress and comfort eating. When he did leave, Clever Bird told him to come up and give her a cuddle when he got home, so she would know that he was back. Baggy was so exhausted when she went to bed that she fell asleep instantly and only woke up for a few seconds when the front door opened a couple of hours later. As instructed by Clever Bird, Calum came up to see Baggy before going back downstairs to unwind from driving for a couple of hours. At about 2.30am he came up to bed. Baggy was still awake, with Freda wittering in one ear and Hormonal Hannah sending her back-to-back night sweats, while freaking her out about shadows and noises. Calum was snoring in seconds.

At around 5.00am Baggy finally fell asleep. For an hour. Before she had to get up again. Thanks to yet another night-sweat courtesy of Hannah. Then she was woken again by Cal's alarm at 8.30am. Cal was off out to sort stuff out; including picking up Baggy's dress for the funeral. He woke her up again at 9.00am to say he was off and did Baggy want to come. Errrrr, NO. Baggy woke at 12 noon when Minty Mutt started barking because Calum had arrived home. Well at least that is half a day less to fret Freda! Baggy brushed out her hair, with a view to washing it. BIG job. BIG hair. Then decided that actually Minty Mutt was feeling down. Baggy needed to get Furry Mama dressed and take him out. Because Freda and Hannah have been rather in charge of Baggy, poor Minty Mutt has had only one walk in the last three days. And that wasn't a long one. Even though the weather is mild today, taking Baggy out with soaking wet hair is probably not wise. So, looking like some kind of mad cat-walk model (just the ridiculous BIG hair you understand), Furry Mama took Minty out. Having not walked properly for three days, Baggy and Minty suffered. Baggy's stomach felt as though Lawrence was biting her. Minty needed helping up the steps. Lesson learnt Clever Bird...........

Day 76 more - Nooooooooo!

Calum went off to work after Baggy had got The Domestic Goddess to cook a lovely healthy lunch. Basa with sweet potato chips and corn. As soon as he'd gone, Baggy felt down. And hungry. She drank tea. Still hungry. She drank more tea. Still hungry. She got The Goddess to make her some pasta. It started out healthy. Rigatoni with bacon (no fat), red onions, garlic and mushrooms, but Baggy fancied butter, so she chucked some in to fry with. Then it tasted a bit boring so she stirred a bit of light Philadelphia cheese in. Okay not too bad. Then Clever Bird spotted the Gruyere. Oh dear! Some grated in. Some grated on top to bake it. It tasted lush though. Okay. Not the end of the world. Not exactly on plan. But not too bad. Okay. Good.

An hour later Baggy was hungry again. More tea. Still hungry. Seriously? Clever Bird is sure Baggy must have worms. More tea. Baggy really wants to lose some weight this week. Nah. No good. Hormonal Hannah got Baggy in a state. Comfort food required. Cupboards searched. No cake. No crisps. No biccies. Well Baggy is on a diet. No temptation needed. Clever Bird looked at The Goddess. The Goddess looked in the cupboard - American pancakes with sugar and lemon it was. Ah well, it least it was tea, not wine. See, Baggy is trying really bloggees.................

Day 76 - Baggy mustn't wish her life away.

Sunday. Again. Where did the last week go? At least once next Sunday comes, Baggy's life might feel as though it's getting back on track. Freda Fretter is really not looking forward to the funeral on Tuesday. Chances are bloggees, that Baggy might disappear on you for a day or two again this week. Hopefully she won't have another meltdown, but there's no guarantee. Baggy is a pretty strong bird really, but she's not finding the memories that her stepmother's death has brought up, very easy ones to deal with. Being at home in her little nest with the furries, makes it much easier to stay on an even keel. It's worrying that she's slightly gone into one of her "recluse" modes. She doesn't want to leave the house. The Domestic Goddess is raiding the freezer. Grotty Groom won't go out to see her boys. Today, even Furry Mama doesn't feel like taking the Minty Mutt out. Mind you, it is grey, cold and very damp. So Baggy wishes that it was next Sunday. But as Clever Bird says, "Life is too short and too precious to waste", so Baggy should not wish her life away. So today Baggy will slob about a bit. Tomorrow, she will get through. Tuesday will go. Hopefully, easily and smoothly. Then Baggy will start to get the gang back on track. Calum is off to work shortly, so Clever Bird can watch as much inane telly as she likes (without guilt). That will take Baggy's mind off things. See, she's feeling better already.

 

 

Other news from Baggy Land. In the middle of the night, when Baggy had to get up to go to the bathroom, as is her way now, she switched the kitchen light on, before walking across it to the bathroom. This is to check that the route is clear of house-invading slugs. Pesky things! It was clear. So she turned the light back off and tottered across the short distance in her bare feet. (Yes, bloggees, that is a very good question. Baggy has no idea why Clever Bird turns the light straight back off, instead of leaving it on so that she can actually see where she is going. Something to do with Freda Fretter not liking to waste electricity. Or Furry Mama not wishing to disturb the mutt. Anyway, turn it straight back off, she always does). Baggy then feels her way to the bathroom, (this went without incident; no slugs), before switching the bathroom light on.  She almost immediately leapt a foot in the air as her foot stood on something cold and wet. A slug! Noooooooooooooooo! They don't usually go in the bathroom and this blooming one was on a bath mat.  That is not on slug, just NOT on...........

  

Day 75 - Some days.

The days are beginning to blur into each other again. Clever bird is finding it a bit difficult to a) know what day of the week it is and b) to cope with the main gang member, Grotty Groom, still being out of action. As far as Baggy's stomach recovery goes, Clever Bird feels sure that Grotty could cope with her duties once more. She still has three more weeks to go before she is "permitted" to safely do so again though. Baggy's arm on the other hand isn't even close to being ready for Grotty's duties. It just all seems to be taking such a long time. But patience as they say, is a virtue. It's so hard not even being able to do anything with the Boys though, so Grotty has barely even visited them. Joey is pretty laid back, but seeing Wesley for just a short while, upsets Grotty and Wesley. Perhaps once Baggy's stepmother's funeral is over on Tuesday, Baggy will feel more inclined to take Grotty over to spend some proper time with them. She could start to do some loose work or long-reining with the Boy if  Baggy's arm can take it.

 

Today though has been a bit of a non-day. Minty Mutt has had a short walk. Furry Mama had planned a long one and dragged her number one furry, her husband Calum along, but it was so muddy that we called it a day after half-an-hour. The Domestic Goddess got the fire going. Then she raided the freezer to rustle up some supper. But that bloggees is about it. Some days are just really not that interesting. The only moment of "excitement" was when Clever Bird spotted a HUGE slug crawling across the kitchen floor. In broad daylight too! They normally only show their ugly, squidgy little faces in the dead of night. Clever Bird was horrified that they might be moving indoors permanently. She decided to remove the little critter and to put him back outside where he belongs, only to realise that it was not a slug. It was a piece of potato peel that The Goddess had dropped on the way to the bin. Some days.........

Day 74 - Cats!

At 5.30am this morning Baggy was woken up; no make that, made to jump out of her skin, by a very loud high-pitched scream. She thought it was one of the grand-kids from either of the neighbour's houses. One of the not quite so great things about living in a mid-terrace timber-framed thatched house, the wattle-and-daub walls are really very thin. Then the scream turned into more of a weird growl/yowl and it occurred to Furry Mama that it was one of the cats. This was confirmed shortly afterwards when there was loud hissing. Baggy crawled out of bed. Clever Bird knew that it wouldn't be one of the cats having a pop at the other, so Psychic Ploppo was a little freaked out. She wondered whether it was the house ghost-cat. Although he usually only appears if Hinge and Bracket are downstairs. So, in Baggy's new scared-of-her-own-shadow way, she crept across the bedroom to switch the light on. (No bloggees, in the light of day the gang have absolutely no idea what Baggy thought she was going to walk in to). But she was terrified. Light on, Furry Mama realised that the now low rumbling sound, was emanating from Bracket. She was sitting behind the blind growling out of the window. Baggy looked hesitantly through the glass. Large cat staring back at her from the kitchen roof. Clearly wanting to come in out of the cold. Phew! Baggy went back to bed. The whining, screaming, growling and hissing continued for another fifteen minutes or so. Just as Baggy was managing to drift off back to sleep, there was another loud squeal and Bracket leapt over the end of Baggy's bed and landed on top of Baggy!

This afternoon Calum and The Domestic Goddess went window-shopping for a new sofa and chair. Wow it's hard work. Calum and Baggy have very different taste. Neither of them are (how can Clara put this politely?) exactly delicate flowers. But most of all, Clever Bird cannot stand the thought of spending hundreds of pounds on furniture that will be scratched to pieces by the cats within hours of it arriving in the house. Trouble is, the only furniture that Baggy and her husband agree on and which would suit our little old house, is not just hundreds of pounds, it's almost two thousand pounds! Add to the mix a very large German Shepherd who looks as though he's had a mud bath every time he is out of the house for more than a few minutes. Plus Grotty Groom who is usually covered in horse hair, straw, hay and the odd bit of poo. But factor in twice more, the cats destroying the furniture, and this is why (even if we did have two thousand pounds to chuck about) it remained just window-shopping. Ah well, we wouldn't be without the furries, so for now we'll struggle on with our ancient, shredded, filthy-dirty, highly uncomfortable sofa and chair...........  

Day 73 - Getting better.

Clever Bird had a chat on the phone with her lovely husband. Result: Baggy has told Hormonal Hannah to go off and play with Freda Fretter somewhere quiet. The two of them sat and had a chat about life, the universe and everything. They realised that Baggy is under more stress than is good for a body and that it might be best if Hormonal Hannah and Freda played on their own for a while and let the rest of the gang have more of Baggy's time for now. So the gang have agreed to keep Baggy busy.

The Goddess in particular has come up trumps. Baggy's house is actually looking quite sparkly for once. The fire is roaring away (yes, Freda, burning money, but at least Baggy and the furries are toastie). Creative Clara is blogging and trying to decide whether to persevere with her series on www.channillo.com. Sadly so far no one has subscribed to it. It is much more in depth than Baggy's blog, so it's a lot of work, if no one is reading it. Clara is wondering if her blog (which is obviously free) is stopping people from paying a few dollars a month to read it (and loads of other books and journals). Or, if as Hormonal Hannah told her in the first place, she's just not good enough to be up against professional authors. But Baggy does not want to give up her blog! Clara enjoys writing it which helps to keep Hannah at bay. So if something is going to go it will be the series. But Clever Bird has told her to persevere with it for a while.

Baggy really enjoys her blog. It cheers her up to know that so many of you bloggees find it interesting enough to keep reading it. It makes it all worth Creative Clara's time. Today it's had viewings from two more countries, China and Israel. Thank you so much for looking in on us......

Day 73 - Love doesn't always mean like!

Baggy loves all the gang. She even loves herself; scars (physical and mental) and all. But that doesn't necessarily mean that she likes all the gang all of the time. In fact far from it. Baggy frequently doesn't like Grotty Groom too much for instance. Baggy is a pretty decent horsewoman. No, she doesn't really compete (Grotty has only ever done two dressage tests; although she got placed both times!). She doesn't do a huge amount of jumping. Although she has done cross-country jumps, she's never done a course of them. But her horse Wesley, is what is known in the trade as, "not a novice ride". More truthfully, he should be called an "Advanced ride". Just because he's very sharp and can occasionally be a little unpredictable. But Baggy keeps Grotty in that saddle through things that would have most people off him. Fact. Baggy has only come off him six times in ten years. Four of which were because he rodeo-bronked Grotty off because his back hurt. When Baggy had a professional rider ride him, (because Grotty couldn't), he had the rider off twice in two days. She decided not to get back on him. But Baggy knows she can sit his (very rare to be fair) daft moments. In fact, Baggy has always found that Grotty was given the "difficult" horses to ride. The ones with foibles. The sharp ones. The ones that didn't get ridden much because most people were too nervous to ride them. So Grotty should not be consistently losing her nerve. But Baggy knows that because Grotty hasn't been able to ride for months and probably won't be able to for another two months, she'll be terrified when she does get back on Wessles. It's very annoying. Grotty can be very annoying! Baggy doesn't like Grotty at all when she gets like that. But Baggy will get Grotty back on the Boy. She'll just put enough protective clothing on for a cross-country round at Badminton Horse Trials. Daft.

 

But today it's Hormonal Hannah that she doesn't like at all. Ever since Baggy had her Lawrence-the-dermoid-cyst surgery, the menopause has hit Baggy like the proverbial ton of bricks. Being an old bird, Baggy was already in the menopause when Lawrence was found. In fact she had ignored Lawrence for a very long time, because Clever Bird had thought that the pains that Lawrence was causing, were just the menopause. So it didn't occur to Clever Bird, that having a hysterectomy and a bi-lateral oophorectomy would bring Hormonal Hannah to the gang. But whereas before surgery Baggy's menopause symptoms were just the infuriating hot-flushes. The ghastly night sweats. And the crazy mood swings. Since surgery she has Hormonal Hannah to contend with as well. Her current party trick is to make Baggy "scared" to go to bed. Baggy has always been totally relaxed in this house when Calum is away at work. Not so anymore. She doesn't feel safe upstairs on her own. Fortunately she usually isn't on her own for long. Bracket kat sleeps on, or even in bed with Furry Mama pretty much every night. But Baggy's also lost all her confidence again. She's struggling. This morning she woke up in tears. Seriously, Hannah back off, Baggy is good and doing well, please do not knock her off track.........

Day 72 - Ouch!

Baggy slept in really late again, so the moment she was dressed Minty Mutt did his demented puppy act to persuade Furry Mama to take him for a walk. Meanwhile Furry Mama had deliberately shut Hinge and Bracket out, so that they did some exercise for the hour that we were walking. Hinge (a.k.a. the low-slung one) can now with some confidence be called, the not-quite-so-low-slung-as-she-was-before one. BUT, she's still huge! All the toys that Furry Mama bought them are now being played with. Albeit of course, Hinge tends to watch Bracket while Bracket plays with them. Bless The Hinge, her idea of exercise is to head-butt the Minty Mutt. Or to wander outside and sit on our bench. But Furry Mama must be doing something right because they have both shrunk a tiny bit.

 

 As Clever Bird suspected would be the case, when Furry Mama and Mint got back home, Bracket was in the garden hunting. The Hinge was sitting on the kitchen roof waiting to be let back in. Ah well, Furry Mama tried. Then she remembered that she had forgotten to buy them more "diet" food, so she headed off to the pet superstore. Had a chat with a baby Bearded Dragon. Stroked a lop-eared bunny. Smiled at the fish. Spent a fortune on cat and dog food. Headed back home.

 

It's only 2 Degrees Centigrade today. But so far Clever Bird has stopped The Goddess from lighting the fire. Why? Because Freda Fretter finds it difficult to watch money burning! Unlike electricity which you can't see eating money, with the fire it's all too obvious. The bag of firewood that cost £4.50 - gone in a few hours. The £12 bag of coal - gone in a couple of days. Scary. So Clever Bird has stuck an extra jumper on Baggy! Calum also realised that the front door (which is probably an eighteenth century one) lets a gale in because it is slightly warped. Doing the bolt up cuts out a lot of the draught. So Clever Bird locked and bolted the front door.

 

The Domestic Goddess then remembered that tomorrow is bin day. Bearing in mind that she has forgotten this little detail for the last two weeks and the bins are therefore stuffed to exploding stage, Clever Bird suggested it might be a plan to put it by the road while she actually remembered. She grabbed the recycling bag from the kitchen. Whilst trying to negotiate the over-sized Minty Mutt who always gets hysterical (for no apparent reason) when The Goddess goes to the bin. So she's at the front door. The locked and bolted front door. The front door that's covered in hanging coats. The front door that's only about three feet from the dining table. Bag of recycling in her left hand. Seven-stone German Shepherd barging her legs trying to save Baggy from being eaten by the dustbin. Baggy unlocked the door, which immediately "pinged" open a bit. Then, with her still painful right arm, she attempted to undo the now "stuck" bolt. It moved, just enough to nip the skin from her middle finger in it, where it got totally stuck! Ouch, ouch, ouch, blooming OUCH! Baggy dropped the bag of recycling. All over the dog and the floor. She then attempted to get the bolt to move, with her finger still trapped in it. Eventually she managed it. Some people shouldn't be allowed out. Nope. You're right bloggees, Baggy wasn't out.............

Day 71 - Clever Bird is on form as usual.

Baggy was doing so well on the Slimming World plan before she found Lawrence-the-durmoid-cyst. She had managed to lose two-and-a-half stone. Since Lawrence made his presence felt (literally) last September, she hasn't done quite as well. She was still vaguely following the healthy eating plan, but struggling. Plus of course, Grotty Groom couldn't look after the Boys, so Baggy was suddenly doing over three hours a day less physical exercise. Etc, etc. Excuses, excuses. However since Baggy's surgery for Lawrence and Baggy's arm, things have gone a tad more pear-shaped. Then when Baggy's stepmother died, that was it. Baggy has been comfort eating. Consequently she has put over half-a-stone back on. Freda Fretter doesn't want Baggy to pile it all back on again. The intention was for Baggy to restart her healthy eating last Friday. Well that failed!

Yesterday she managed to stay totally on plan for the first day. Just. Baggy struggled. So she decided to chivvy The Domestic Goddess up. She required The Goddess to make her some Butternut Squash soup. Simple enough really. Bit of a faff for The Goddess. All went well with the chopping and simmering. Except it simmered for ten minutes longer than it should have because Creative Clara got side-tracked on Facebook. Not a disaster though. Then it had to go in the food processor to turn it from a vegetable stew into a soup. The Goddess set the processor up. She looked in the top of it. The pressy-down bit wasn't in the hole. So there was just a hole. Disaster waiting to happen. Soup straight out of the hole up onto the ceiling. She searched the bowl that all the spare blades etc. live in. It wasn't in there. Searched the table. Nope. Searched the bowl again. Nope. Checked the floor. Nope. Moved the Minty Mutt's toys and bed from under the table; searched. Nope. Checked the cupboards. Nope. Searched the bowl again. Nope. Clever Bird called her husband. "You know when you made me soup when I was poorly, do you remember what you did with the pressy-down bit?" "It's in the hole." "No, it isn't". Dog's bed moved once again. Nope. Clever Bird wondered if she could use cling film. She started to put some on. The pressy-down bit moved in the hole!!!!! Oh well done Clever Bird. Stupid woman.

The Goddess poured the "stew" into the processor. Switched it on. Lots of noise. Lots of spinning. No mushing of the stew at all. Really? After all that, the blooming thing is broken! Swearing quietly to herself, The Goddess tipped the stew back out and into the pan, while trying to work out a way of mushing it up to turn it into soup. Just as she was about to give up and bin it, The Goddess noticed that Clever Bird had not put a blade of any description in the processor. Sometimes, just sometimes Clever Bird..............

Day 70 - New!

While ever Grotty Groom is still not monopolising most of Baggy's time, Furry Mama will continue to make the most of it. Since Baggy's sister Debby re-found Minty Mutt's inner puppy, Furry Mama and Mint are going on longer and longer walks. Today Furry Mama chose the route. She had a vague plan. As we got to the end of Baggy's lane there was a neighbour on top of a shed or summer house he is building. His two spaniels came charging at Minty and Furry Mama, barking their heads off, very aggressively. They literally threw themselves at the fence, baring teeth at Mint. Normally, Mint just looks at them, as if to say, "Really? You seriously want to take me on in a fight? Pah!" Today, all his hackles went up, his ears went flat on his head and he hauled Furry Mama up the road out of the way. Clever Bird wondered if it was because yesterday on our walk, two spaniels (completely separately, over an hour apart) also tried to attack Mint. Because (fortunately) on both occasions they were on leads, Mint just looked at them with the disdain that they deserved. Sadly though, he's actually been attacked a few times. He never retaliates if he's off the lead or away from Baggy. But if he's on it, he will protect Furry Mama and in an instant, pin the aggressor to the ground. Because of the new laws in this country, even though Mint is no threat to anyone (unless they threaten his Mama, then he would be) she tends to keep him on the lead. Clearly this is actually not ideal!

After chatting on the phone with Calum about it, Clever Bird concluded that maybe today he was just thinking, "Right, I'm not taking two big dogs on and Mama is weak, so I'll get her out of here". Clever Bird really does wish that people would train "small" dogs not to be so aggressive though. It's the big dogs that have bad reputations, but most of the time it shouldn't be! If they do it out of fear, then they should be muzzled. Mint has quite a few scars on his face from separate attacks. Sorry, bloggees, rant over.

 

So Furry Mama set off past the dogs on her planned walk. Then she noticed a footpath sign that she had not seen before. Change of plan. Baggy and her furries have lived in our house for over six years now, but in the last few weeks, Clever Bird has discovered quite a few new walks. Clever Bird is not sure how far the walk today was, but we were out for over an hour-and-a-half. Part of it was through fenland so was really muddy, which was a strain on Baggy's healing stomach, but it was just soooooooo beautiful.

 

 

 

The hills were quite steep too (Suffolk is not flat, no matter what people say), so Baggy was trying to walk and do inner core strengthening exercises at the same time, to protect her back.

 

 

 

It's amazing how therapeutic being out in the stunning Suffolk countryside actually is, for body and soul............

 







Day 69 - Baggy lives!

So sorry for vanishing lovely bloggees, but normal services are now (pretty much) resumed in Baggy-land. Last Tuesday Baggy had a bit of a meltdown (actually it was a total one, if she's being honest). For a while there Freda Fretter actually wondered whether she was having a breakdown. But thankfully not. Clever Bird realises that it was probably long overdue. In the last few days Baggy has run the gamut of emotions, from incredible "hurt" to a blinding anger that she didn't even know she was capable of. But during it all she actually grieved. Not for her stepmother who died on December 30th 2015. Although her death and organising her funeral (which still is ten days away) caused the meltdown. No, she finally grieved for her father who died on Father's Day three years ago. Without going into the very traumatic details, suffice to say that now Baggy's stepmother is finally at peace, Baggy could grieve for her Dad.

Every day during this last few days, Furry Mama has taken Minty Mutt on long walks. Every day during this last few days, robins have followed her for different parts of these walks. Every day during this last few days, Psychic Ploppo has therefore been very aware of her Dad's and even more so, her real Mama's presence with her. (Baggy's Mama died nearly eleven years ago). By the third day, Baggy felt really numb. Then later on, while Furry Mama walked Mint on what was an absolutely glorious cold, snowy winter's day, Baggy realised how good it was to be alive. She wandered along talking out loud, to herself, Minty, her deceased parents, God, who knows? Two robins were alternating flying around her. Then a perfect rainbow appeared on the other side of the field that Furry Mama was walking round and Baggy suddenly realised that she was at peace. For the first time since her beloved Dad died, she was truly at peace.

That night Psychic Plop decided to get her divining crystal out. She has never used this one before. She usually uses an amethyst. But this one asked to be used. It was very powerful. She had a bit of a chat with her Spirit Guide about it, then she asked him her key questions. Baggy's stepmother was at peace. Baggy's Dad was at peace. Baggy's Mama was not. The crystal can only help the Spirit Guide to answer "yes" or "no", so trying to ascertain why Baggy's Mama was not at peace took a bit of doing. Then it suddenly occurred to Clever Bird that Mama was worried sick about the state that Baggy had been in. Clever Bird knows that neither her Dad or Stepmother are ever likely to "visit" Psychic Ploppo, whereas her Mama has always done so when Baggy has been particularly upset by something. She was around quite a lot when Baggy was in hospital having her Lawrence-the-durmoid-cyst surgery. So it made total sense that it was Baggy's Mama who was there for Baggy when she had her meltdown. It took a couple of days but Baggy finally convinced her Mama that she truly was okay.

 



Having done so, the sense of relief was overwhelming. Baggy was able to think clearly once again. Her husband Calum was, as always, there for Baggy. It is always harder on her though when he's away in his lorry, as he was during these last few days.(Although Baggy did go and sit in his lorry and bawl her eyes out while he was having a break at his yard on "meltdown day"). But when he got home on Friday, he came home to a much more relaxed wife. Some of the stuff that he's been saying to her for a while now, (but had his head taken off for his troubles by Hormonal Hannah), suddenly made a whole load of sense to Baggy. That was when she truly realised that she had never recovered from her Dad's sudden death.

So today, Furry Mama took Minty Mutt on a really really long walk. His choice of route completely. Admittedly Baggy's stomach and arm hurt quite a lot, but Clever Bird knows that that is the after effects of Baggy's "banana" fall in the car park. Plus the effect of the cold getting to her. But now she is home with the fire blazing. Creative Clara is blogging whilst watching some sci-fi movie on the telly. Calum is off in his lorry again, even though it's Sunday, looking after his family. Baggy is one very lucky woman. She's glad to be back bloggees. Now she just needs to persuade The Domestic Goddess to vacuum that filthy rug...........

Day 64 - Bye bye for now.

Dearest bloggees, Creative Clara hasn't been entirely honest with you for the last few weeks and for this she is sorry. The truth is that Baggy's step mother died on December 30th. Clever Bird thought that Baggy was coping, but she isn't. Today, Hormonal Hannah has taken over and Baggy has had a complete meltdown. She must have lost at least four pounds in the weight of tears. Please don't misunderstand, Baggy's stepmother had Alzheimer's so it's a relief that she has gone and hopefully is now at peace. However, Baggy isn't! It has brought way too much stuff up from her past. Really not good stuff. The truth is that Baggy is a mess and needs some time out.

The gang love sharing their adventures with you all in this blog and hopefully you all enjoy them, but at the moment Baggy needs to be realistic. Creative Clara making light of things is actually harming Baggy's mental well-being at present.  So for the time being the gang need to have  break from blogging. Thank you for your understanding. Watch this space. We'll be back. Hopefully sooner rather than later...........

Day 63 - Hopeless!

Baggy took Grotty Groom over to see her Boys again today. Wesley had his three-monthly physiotherapy check-up. Yes, he needs it. He's as big a crock as his Mum sadly. Since his last check up of course, Baggy has had two lots of surgery. Therefore he's basically been on holiday. He was being ridden four or five times a week. He hasn't been ridden once in three months. He's also been eating rather a lot of very nice hay. Plus of course, the grass is still growing because of this nutty weather we've been having. So to say that his waistline has expanded would be a bit of an understatement! Joey's too. But that's not such a dramatic problem as with Wesley. Wesley has kissing spine. So his back has to be watched very carefully. The reason that he had Grotty off him three times in the space of six months, was because his saddle wasn't fitting properly and it hurt his back. Well the lad's put so much weight on that his saddle definitely won't fit at the moment. He's also lost his muscle through lack of exercise, so sadly he was in a bit of a mess.

After some treatment on his withers, he felt much better and was much more flexible. So that was good. Now, he too is on a bit of a diet. Grotty is not permitted to let Baggy start riding Wesley again for at least another month. Her stomach won't be strong enough until then. Realistically, it will be at least two more months as Baggy's arm won't be up to it. So Baggy and Wesley have two months to lose some weight.

Wesley currently looks like a shaggy Gypsy cob. Fat, sweet and innocent. How deceptive looks can be. Grotty has never seen him looking so woolly before. She gave him a jolly good groom after his treatment, but Baggy's arm was struggling. Interestingly though, now she's home, it's Baggy's stomach that's really hurting. Ah well. But Heaven help us, she's hopeless. Three times, Baggy returned to the stable block, with the intention of getting Grotty to check the Boys' saddles. They are in our little metal tack lockers, but they haven't been touched for months. Chances are therefore that they are going to be going mouldy. Baggy can't decide whether to blame Clever Bird or Hormonal Hannah but whoever is at fault, Grotty did not remember to check the saddles. Grrrrrr! Hopeless!

At least Clever Bird managed to spot that Baggy was driving her car on fumes. One disadvantage of living in the sticks, is that you have to remember to plan ahead to fill up with petrol. One doesn't just drive past a petrol station. The nearest is about six miles away. So Baggy came home via the petrol station. It just happens to be next to a very large pet shop. Furry Mama can never resist going in. So today Hinge and Bracket acquired another catnip rat (so they have one each) and a new scratch post. Not that they're spoilt at all. Furry Mama needs the Hinge cat to use it, but of course so far it's Bracket kat who is burning off the extra calories playing with it. Hopeless.......

Day 62 - Lazy.

Today Baggy has decided to take "The day of rest" literally. Freda Fretter has realised that Baggy did more harm to herself than she had realised the other day when she fell over in the car park. Walking Minty Mutt the last couple of days has been rather painful on Baggy's stomach and back. Clever Bird doesn't think it's anything serious, but she does seem to have jarred Baggy's neck. So this morning she had a major sleep in. Now Furry Mama has done a deal with Minty, that we have a slobby-about day. He gets an extra "starfish" chew and we go on an extra long walk tomorrow. So today, we lie about in front of the fire.

Hormonal Hannah is finding things pretty tough at the moment. Baggy is under quite a lot of mental stress as well as still recovering from her operations. So, having a day of doing nothing much seems like a jolly good idea. Clever Bird reckons that Baggy should make the most of it. It won't be too many more weeks before Grotty Groom is back in action, then there won't be any days lying about doing not a lot..............

Day 61 - Men!

Furry Mama walked the dog with Calum and our friend Dan. It poured with rain last night. The wetlands are a muddy quagmire. Why oh why would anyone encourage Minty Mutt to get even muddier than he already was  by letting him go into the stream again? Right Clever Bird of course they wouldn't. So Furry Mama told Minty "No", as he headed down into the very muddy stream. Mint obeyed and headed back across the little footbridge. Furry Mama's number one furry, Calum, then headed down into the stream. "No", said Furry Mama. Nothing. Totally ignored! No response.

 

Seriously?!? Men!!!!! It's not as clean as it looks. Minty Mutt, "Hang on Mum, Dad's in there. I'm going in". "Noooooooooooooo". "But I must".

 

 

 

"Oh for goodness sake Minty". "But Mum, it's lovely". "Really! Is it?" "Yes, Mum, it is. I need to lie down". "Noooooooooooooooooooo!". "Oh yes".

 

 

 

 

"Oh for goodness sake Minty, you are filthy". Lots of amused chuckling from Calum. Meltdown from The Domestic Goddess. "Right, well you can shower him down and dry him off when we get home". Chuckle, chuckle.

 

 

 

 

Men!!!!!!!!! Clever Bird knew very well that Furry Mama would be the one sorting out the chaos when we got home. But Minty was happy, Calum was amused and Dan was bemused, so what can a Furry Mama do, except smile in despair and let Creative Clara take photos?

 

 

 

Once home, Furry Mama dried Minty off. The Goddess suggested lunch out (as a treat). It saved her having to do it. No confidence, making food for friends! Then Grotty Groom insisted that she needed to see her Boys. The hunt had been at the yard today and she wanted to check that they were both okay.

 

 

They were. They had clearly been stressed as they were both sweated-up. But they were fine. Grotty decided to groom The Boy Wessles over the door. Then against her better judgment (and Calum's advice) she decided to go in the stable with him. That lasted about fifteen seconds. She realised just how "wired" he was and came out again to stop Baggy from getting hurt. More grooming over the door commenced.

 

 

But oh boy was she happy to spend some time with her horse. Lovely day..........











Day 60 - Baggy needs to get her act together!

Baggy woke up this morning, relieved that her dramatic fall in the car park yesterday didn't seem to have done too much damage. So as she was okay and can drive again, she went off to Fat Club (her lovely Slimming World group). It's the first time that she has been able to go since the middle of November! Freda Fretter was worried. Clever Bird knew that it wouldn't be pretty. Baggy was very optimistic that she had only put on two or three pounds. Seriously Baggy? Grotty Groom is not doing her duties. No mucking out. No lugging hay nets and buckets of water. No walking the Boys in and out (forty minutes a day). No pushing wheelbarrows full of muck a few hundred yards to the muck heap. No riding. No changing rugs. No grooming. Creative Clara hasn't been allowed to go to Tribal dance classes. Even Furry Mama had weeks of not being able to walk Minty Mutt. And as for The Domestic Goddess - well actually, no change there then, pretty much as useless as always. So, really not much exercise.

Then of course we can add two weeks of living with Baggy's sister. Wine every night. Lovely home-made cakes. Nibbles. Well, you get the picture.  Then Christmas. Hmmmm! Bearing in mind that in the Baggy household, there were still mince pies, chocolates and various other goodies, like brandy butter to be consumed, as recently as yesterday. Correction. Today. Plus, Clever Bird had convinced Baggy that all the extra calories were being used up healing Baggy after her two operations. Well maybe they were for a while. But Baggy is now pretty healed. So. The scales.

Yes, well the less said about that the better. Okay, if you insist. For the sake of honest transparency, Baggy had put seven-and-a-half pounds back on. Ooooooops! When Clever Bird got home, the certificate on the fridge that Baggy was so proud of had to come down. After all she has no longer lost two-and-a-half stone. In fact realistically she has put much more than seven pounds on. Lawrence-the-durmoid-cyst weighed at least five pounds. No idea what all Baggy's hysterectomy bits weighed too. So, Clever Bird is now forgetting all of that. New Year. New start. Baggy is eating healthily once again.

When Baggy got home, Furry Mama was keen to get her out. Mint fancied the dormouse sanctuary walk. That was a good forty-five minutes of exercise. Yep Baggy's back on track.......

Day 59 - Baggy is a total disaster!

Baggy started her day with a lie in. She thought until 9.00am. Only for Clever Bird to look at the clock properly and realise that it was 11.00am. It was so dark though! Furry Mama persuaded Baggy to take Minty out. She did the "wetlands" walk again. Having omitted to factor in the torrential rain that occurred for most of last night. Even the road was a river. Within ten minutes Baggy's feet were soaked through her split boots.

 

The fact that it was cold and absolutely soaking today did not stop Minty Mutt from needing a drink en-route. Ignoring all the convenient puddles, he shot down into the little stream. Freda Fretter had a bit of a worry, thinking that he might not be able to get back out. There was no way that Baggy was getting in to get him. Prior to Baggy's sister re-launching Minty's inner puppy, there is no way he would have made it out. But today.

 



 

When we reached the stile however, it was a different story. We tackled it from the opposite side today. It's higher. Mint got stuck. Baggy had to lift him over. Ouch! Clever Bird reckons he used up all his energy getting out of the stream.

 

Once home, Baggy needed to go into town again. As she's driving, this wasn't an issue. Just as she arrived at the car park, the Heavens opened. It absolutely poured down. Proper torrential rain. Bouncing back up off the car park. So Clever Bird got Baggy to sit in the car until it reduced itself to a gentle drizzle. She set off to the shops. As she walked across the car park, her right boot suddenly slipped forward from under her. In seeming slow motion, just like one of those "comedy" banana-skin skids, Baggy suddenly found her feet above her head, and she landed (hard) on her bottom. Fortunately the car driver who was coming round the corner was paying attention and stopped before running Baggy over. The very lovely driver got out to check on Baggy and offer her a lift home. Baggy said she was okay. Just shocked. She made it as far as a bench, before Hormonal Hannah caught up with her. Meltdown. Just as well it was raining to hide the tears.

 

Baggy then needed to go to another town. Once she got there she decided that it was high time that the split boots were replaced. Clever Bird treated Grotty and Furry Mama to some very nice waterproof boots, that are nice enough to also wear around town. She did (she left them on). Another fall was not needed. By now Baggy's stomach and arm were extremely painful. Cue nice stuffed croissant for lunch with two cappuccinos and a huge bit of Victoria sponge. Ah well. The Slimming World weigh in is not until tomorrow. Grotty went for a cuddle with her Boys on the way home. Joey totally ignored her, until she produced a treat. Wesley would not stop head-butting her over the stable door. He clearly is missing her a lot. Well she misses him too.

 

 

 

So Baggy is now on the wine to numb the pain of Grotty missing her horse and the physical pains of her fall. The bath is running with soothing bubbles in it. Baggy should clearly not be allowed out........  

 

 

Day 58 - Lost track of time.

Clever Bird has lost all track of time. She doesn't even know what year it is, let alone what day. The truth is that Baggy has too much to contend with at the moment. And yet, not as much as usual to do. It's now two months since she had her Laparotomy and Hysterectomy surgery to send Lawrence-the-durmoid-cyst off on his new adventures. One month since she had her Cubital Tunnel surgery. As far as her recovery goes, Clever Bird thinks that Baggy is well ahead of schedule. Her stomach generally feels pretty normal. That is until she does something stupid, like slipping. Then she realises that perhaps it's not quite right in there. But of course she knows in reality that it can't be fully healed. If it was, why was she not even allowed to restart her Tribal dance class until this week? And it's another month before Grotty Groom is permitted to ride, or to look after the horses. But the wound is healing very well. Generally it no longer gives any pain. Although there is still a weird dip in the middle of the wound. And the top of Baggy's stomach is still swollen. Mind you as Clever Bird pointed out to Baggy, that could just be fat! She is still in Christmas over-eating mode. Although she did just polish off the very last ("waffer-theen") mince pie! Slimming World on Friday to check the bad news. Hmmmm!

As far as her arm recovery goes; Baggy drove today. Yay! Only into the local town (about five miles), then back again an hour or so later. But she drove. Her elbow didn't start hurting until she was nearly home. Then there was a bit of a stabbing pain. But nothing too bad. Baggy can almost (but not quite) straighten her arm. It's still slightly swollen. It still hurts a lot if it's knocked, or if Baggy forgets herself and leans on it. But if she was in the United States, it would not even be out of plaster for another two weeks! So again it's doing really well. Freda Fretter is concerned that Baggy can't close her fingers properly, but Clever Bird is hopeful that it will be fine once the swelling has gone. So, really Baggy is a strong old bird. Definitely doing well. She just has to contend with flipping Hormonal Hannah who is finding it hilarious to bring Baggy out in massive hot flushes at the most awkward of moments. Mind you, the gang are on top of Hannah as far as the "feeling pathetic" trend is going. That is with one exception.

Hormonal Hannah is still preventing Grotty Groom from going over to see her beloved Boys. She knows that Grotty will get upset, seeing them, but not even being able to groom them. Plus she's convinced that Grotty will just upset them too, turning up for a few minutes and then vanishing again. But Grotty misses them terribly. So now that Baggy can drive, she will be going over to see them at some point this week.

 

 

But you see. There's the point. It's Wednesday. Clever Bird thought it was Tuesday. Creative Clara completely forgot to blog yesterday. (Sorry bloggees). The week is virtually over. But all the days are blurring. It seems like months and months since her arm surgery, let alone her Lawrence surgery. It really isn't that long. Baggy needs to learn some patience, or she's going to set herself back...........

Day 56 - The Boy's a Genius.

While walking Minty Mutt this morning, Clever Bird decided to keep Baggy's brain occupied. She tried to work out how many words Mint understands. She lost count. And track.

Mint
Okay
Wait
No
Good boy
Clever lad
Heel
Don't pull
Slowly
Gently
Sit
Down
Stay
Lie
Settle
Back
Over
Move
Out
In
Off
Now
On
Bed
Chewie
Ball
Find
Cheese
Sausage
Starfish
Collar
Wee-wee
Doo-doo
Go
Quiet (although this is generally ignored, unless Calum says it)
Shut up (likewise)
Come
Here
Quick
Shake
Mind
Stop
Enough
Dad
Fetch
Bring
Drop
Leave
Drink
Food
Paw
This way
That way
Go straight
Round
Over
Through
Up
Jump

And sign language for a lot of those commands. Not just the obvious ones like sit, stay etc. either. Ones like, off, down, enough. Contrary to some "experts", he also understands when Furry Mama points at something, or in a direction.

He also understands full sentences. No really he does.

What's this?
Who is it?
Go on your bed.
Get out of the way.
I'm just going to do the Boys now (cue hop on his bed and wait for a chewie)
Would you like a cup of tea?
Make your mind up.
Would you like a tummy tickle?
What are you doing?
Really? I don't think so!
I won't be very long.
Do you want to come with us?
Anytime now would be good.
Your decision.
That (noise) was me.

He'll even make a decision when given choices.

"Do you want to go on your bed or go out? I don't care which, but please get out of my way".
"Either lie down here, or go into the other room, Minty, or you're going to get trodden on".
"Do you want to go out or would you rather stay here and have a chewie?"

And more that Clever Bird will remember as soon as she posts this blog. Furry Mama is very proud of the lad. He is not a mutt at all. By definition he isn't, as he's a Pedigree German Shepherd. But neither is he as far as brains go. He is a seriously clever dog. A lot of what he understands, Furry Mama did not teach him. He's picked it up because she speaks to him all the time and clearly repeats herself a lot. Yes bloggees, Furry Mama is very proud of her mutt.

The Domestic Goddess just wishes that he had a self cleaning device in his fur. Especially when it's as muddy as it is at the moment. But she wouldn't change him for the world............