Day 112 - Loads of money spent again.

Baggy woke up with a numb hip and a headache to go with her achy back. Calum headed off to work for the week. Clever Bird decided that needs must and phoned the mattress company to arrange for it to be swapped. Yep, to the one that is nearly three times the price. But at least it is in the sale Clever Bird consoled Freda Fretter, so it is "only" two-and-a-half times the price. Oh that's fine then. Silly woman. Baggy is the most delighted though. Maybe she'll actually be able to sleep for more than a couple of hours without waking up. Clever Bird placed the call. No problem. "As the new mattress is so much more expensive we'll wave the delivery charge", said the lovely girl on the phone. "Oh, Bless you. Thanks. That is very kind", said Clever Bird, "Urrrrm, I don't suppose that we could get interest-free credit on the difference could we?" "No, I'm afraid we don't offer that on exchanges". "That's okay, I didn't think that you would". "Just hang on a moment, I'll have a chat with my Manager as it's so much more money". "Oh, thank you". "Well, I'm afraid we can't do interest-free credit, but I can give you £100 off the price". Well done Clever Bird. Baggy just has to manage another twenty days on the current mattress, then the poor delivery guys can fight with two mattresses and Baggy's impossible staircase.

Furry Mama then took Minty out for a celebratory walk in the sunshine. It is a beautiful day. But cold again. So when they got home The Domestic Goddess lit the fire. Baggy decided to rustle up Gloria Gardener. It's so warm in the sun that she decided that Gloria could do a bit of work on the front garden and her little pots. Well it would have been a plan if Baggy could have found any of the hand tools that she needed. Nope. Yes Gloria is as useless as the Goddess. In fact she is probably worse. So Baggy kicked The Goddess into action instead. Baby-rug washing started. Kitchen vacuumed. Baggy left the back door open. Yes bloggees the fire was blazing in the sitting room. A few yards away the back door was wide open. Actually not as daft as it sounds. You see it was actually warmer outside than in the kitchen.

Then Furry Mama realised that the cats were out of food. She decided to take Minty Mutt to the pet superstore with her. Baggy dragged Mint's ramp out of the back of the car. Put it up. Hurt her arm and her stomach. Mint launched himself at it. Slipped off. Landed on his bottom on Baggy's feet. Thankfully there were no cars coming. Once recovered, Furry Mama made him go up it slowly. Okay. Baggy folded the ramp back up. Oiked it into the car. Ouch! It is silly heavy. It has to be to cope with ten-stone of German Shepherd. She got to the store. No panics driving today thankfully. Parked. Got out. Realised Clever Bird's mistake. Got back in. Turned the car round so that the ramp would not be right in the lane of traffic. Attempted to get it out while Mint tried to jump out. There wasn't enough room between the car and the hedge. It had to go on the wonk. Baggy hurt her arm again. Mint hurtled out. Pulled Baggy's stomach as he hauled her to get to the hedge to sniff it. Ouch! Furry Mama made him stay, while Baggy once again folded the ramp up and put it back in the car. Why exactly did you let Furry Mama bring Minty Clever Bird? They headed into the store. Which had only two boxes of the cat food! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! Dog food collected. Dog biccies chosen by Minty. Cat litter lifted into the trolley. Ouch! Lawrence-the-phantom-durmoid-cyst is really hurting today. Heavy dog food and cat litter lifted back out of the trolley to be scanned as Minty hauled Furry Mama sideways to sniff a dog toy. Arm hurt once more. Deary me. Everything put back in the trolley. Minty headed for the door. "Wait". Mint stopped dead. Baggy negotiated the trolley. Mint was in front of it. "Okay, go". Mint set off.

Back to the car. Heavy stuff all lifted into the car while Mint attempted to get to the fascinating hedge. Car locked. Minty and trolley taken back to the store. Back to the car. Ramp out. Put back together. Phantom Lawrence was by now biting Baggy. This time Mint went up it carefully. Ramp folded away again. Lifted back in the car again. Ouch again. Phantom-Lawrence bit again. Baggy's headache was back. Drive home. Park. Get the ramp out, while trying to stop Mint from jumping out of the car. Get Mint out. Let him in the house. Lug all the heavy stuff in. Collapse on the sofa with a cup of tea. Ouch, ouch, ouch. Why on earth did Furry Mama not leave Mint to sleep? Because she loves him.

The Domestic Goddess rustled up lunch. Creative Clara checked her blog. Adverts for 90% off mattresses. Thanks..........

Day 111 - Bouncing around on beds.

Calum dragged Baggy out of bed at 8.30am, even though she wasn't in it until 12.30am. He figured that they should get to the shop to discuss exchanging the "firm" (let's be honest - rock hard) mattress for one that doesn't make their hips go numb, early, so the day wasn't wasted. Dressed in jodphurs and riding boots and enough layers for a very cold day outside, because Grotty Groom wanted to ride Joey later, they set off. Baggy drove. Now Clever Bird is unsure whether Hormonal Hannah is the one to blame, or whether Baggy is still feeling a lot more vulnerable than she realises after her two operations, but for the first time pretty much ever, Baggy suddenly got nervous driving. Odd, because Baggy loves driving. In fact she is a bit of a petrol head. Now admittedly she hasn't driven anywhere much since her operations. She certainly hasn't driven in heavy traffic on a dual-carriageway. And it was very heavy. And very busy.  There were some idiots about. She suddenly felt very unsafe. And unsure. By the time she was off the main road and on the little (still busy) roads to the shopping centre, she was actually scared and feeling like crying for goodness sake. Pathetic. Just why? When a police car came hurtling up behind them, all sirens and flashing lights, she ended up going the wrong way in her fluster. It was no biggy, she just had to go all the way round the next roundabout and go back to where she was, but by then she was in tears. Really helpful when you're not feeling confident. She parked in the massive car park with a massive amount of relief. And breathe.

Once she'd calmed down enough to focus, Clever Bird realised that it was 9.30am on a Sunday. No big shops open that early on a Sunday. They were all well and truly shut. In fact they wouldn't open until 11.00am. Uh huh! "Oh well", says Calum, "let's go and have a coffee in McDonalds. In fact I think I'll have a breakfast burger". Nooooooooooo! Baggy's nemesis. She loves a bacon and egg McMuffin. She has been on this week's diet for two days so far and failed on both days! "Calum, that's just cruel" said Clever Bird. "Well, don't have one then". "Of course I'm blooming well having one. What do you think I am?" "That's my barmy wife" said Calum taking Baggy's hand and leading her into serious temptation. Baggy ate her McMuffin in slow motion and enjoyed every morsel of it.

As they were people watching waiting for the store to open, Calum noticed that one of the carpet stores was letting people in. He had this idea that maybe it would be possible to buy carpet and have it edged like a rug. Clever Bird thought this was highly unlikely, but if it was possible, would be prohibitively expensive. But she thought she'd humour him. Off cut carpets of about the size that would fit the sitting room were just a couple of hundred pounds. Calum asked about edging. No problem. Not that expensive. "Hmmmmm, maybe it's not such a daft plan", thought Clever Bird. So she started looking at carpet samples that she liked and that might work with the new sofa and armchair. Having found six that both Baggy and Calum loved (a miracle in itself) Baggy made a jokey comment about taking them to sit by the sofa that was in the store further up the arcade. "Sure you can", said the Sales Lady. Off they toddled, carpet samples in hand. Chose one. Went back. "So how much would that be edged?" asked Calum. The Sales Lady did some sums. Stated an amount. Baggy had a major hot flush. "Have we by any chance chosen the most expensive carpet in the shop?" asked Freda Fretter. "Yes, pretty much". Baggy and Calum left the shop, quote in their pocket, no order placed. And breathe.

Off they headed to the mattress store which was finally open. Explained. Lay on the mattress they have which is much too hard so they knew what to compare against. Lay on a softer one. Better. Not great though and more money. Lay on a softer one with gel. Better and even more money. Decided to actually lay on one officially described as "soft". Better and even more money. Right, they made a hasty decision first time round. "Let's do this sensibly", decided Clever Bird. So they lay on the soft version of the one they have, but with twice as many springs. Bliss. Calum bounced, Baggy didn't as she had sunk into the memory foam. Calum and Baggy exchanged a glance. "This one?" "Definitely". It's three times the price of the one they have. "Have we by any chance chosen the most expensive mattress in the shop?" asked Freda Fretter. "Yes, pretty much" said the Sales Man. Baggy and Calum left the shop. They have to phone a number to swap the mattress. And breathe.

Finally home. Calum drove. Exhausted from the emotion of it all. And cold. Fire lit. Furry Mama and Calum took Minty Mutt for a walk. Got even colder. And now physically exhausted too. "Shall we just stay in and watch daft movies?" "Good plan". Sorry Boys. Sorry Grotty. Fire stoked up. Giant carpet rug area re-measured. Yep, it would have to be that big. Mattress re-laid on. Yep, it is that uncomfortable. "Syns" for Baggy's McMuffin checked. Surprisingly, not a total disaster. Well at least that wasn't expensive! Jodphurs replaced with floppy-about tracky bottoms. Slimming World sausages and chips cooked and devoured. Now to figure out how much interest-free credit we can get. And breathe........

Day 110 - Evening shananigans.

Home again after a lovely evening with friends celebrating an eighteenth birthday. Believe it or not Baggy can remember quite clearly being eighteen. Most scarily of all, it really doesn't seem that long ago. Clever Bird never understood what her Mum meant when she used to say, "The older you get, the faster time goes". She certainly does now. Like the cold, everything is relative, especially time. Six months to the eight year old Baggy, compared with six months to the fifty six year old Baggy. It flies by! One hundred and ten days since Baggy got home from her Lawrence-the-durmoid-cyst surgery. How? But as Freda Fretter just said to Calum as they were driving home, Baggy can't actually remember very much about the first month after the operation. What's more, her memory is blurring the two lots of surgery into one. But her brain has done this since she was a small child. It just blanks out the stuff it can't handle. Good self-preservation, but rather annoying. But that is why Baggy likes Creative Clara's diaries and now her blog, at least she can re-read them. But it is a little odd that she can remember quite a lot more about her nineteenth year on this planet, than she can about the last six months.

Baggy was very strong-willed this evening too. The celebration was at an "all-you-can-eat" Chinese buffet restaurant. Disaster as far as Baggy's healthy eating goes. But she chose very wisely, so hopefully hasn't blown it for the week. Once home. Fire lit, as despite Baggy's intentions, her clothes choice went for style over warmth. A decision she regretted instantly when she realised that it was a ten minute walk from the car park to the restaurant. And it was literally freezing! But at least she looked the other kind of "cool" (according to the youngsters anyway, so Clever Bird was happy to believe them). So now warm and blogging, with a happy Minty Mutt, once he'd realised we hadn't deserted him for the night, Baggy was contemplating bed. She decided to ask Calum whether he liked the new mattress as last night he had chosen to sleep in "his" bed i.e. on his old mattress in the spare room. Well actually, on both our old mattresses, as they are currently double-deckered on the bed.  "Well I do like the softness of the two mattresses on top of one another". "You like the softness?" queried Clever Bird, "but we have a firm mattress because you don't like soft ones. In fact to be perfectly honest, I find the new one too hard". "Well actually, it's too hard for me, it makes my hip go numb" said Calum. "Whaaaaaat? I thought you loved it. That's why I haven't said anything, but it puts my whole side to sleep" said Baggy. "Well, I didn't want to disappoint you". "But I hate firm mattresses, we chose it for you" said Hormonal Hannah getting all stressed. "Well I don't like it at all" said Calum. Aaaaaarrrggghhhhh!!!!!

Now normally Baggy and Calum communicate pretty well. Not so much when one thinks the other will be disappointed though. This is not the first time they have both not said something because they thought it would disappoint the other person. "Right" said Clever Bird, "there was a thirty day comfort guarantee on it, so although the delivery guys will hate us for it, we should be able to change it for a MUCH softer one". Calum agreed. There then followed twenty minutes of frantic searching while Baggy and Calum tried to find the receipt. And totally failed. Until Clever Bird had a vague recollection of putting it in the car glove box. She sent Calum back out into the cold to check. Yep, there it still was. Phew! Guess where they are off to first thing tomorrow..........

Day 110 - Cold.

Calum and Baggy took Grotty Groom over to see the Boys this morning. Grotty got kitted out in her jodphurs and psyched herself up to have a little ride on Joey. The closer they got to the yard, the more scared that Baggy got. She had that feeling you get in your stomach before an exam, or an interview or having to speak in public. You know the one - a combination of feeling sick and panicky. Pointless of course, if unavoidable. Particularly pointless today however as, as we approached the yard, Clever Bird realised that the Boys were out in their paddocks. There was also a dressage competition on at the yard. And it was a big one. Baggy immediately stopped feeling scared and panicky. No chance of Grotty riding after all then. Phew. But interestingly (and this is a jolly good thing), Grotty was really rather disappointed that she couldn't ride after all.

Having unloaded Minty Mutt from the car (down his ramp so that he didn't hurt his leg again), Grotty and Calum went to watch some competitors. They quickly realised just how cold it was in the wind. The wind that seemed to be hoollying down the yard, even though everything was completely still. Much too cold to be standing around in. Yes, the burger van was doing a roaring trade. Baggy was good though. Just had a cup of tea. The same can't be said for her husband! Slightly warmer, they went back to watching the competition. Within minutes, they were once again cold. Clever Bird would just like to apologise now to Baggy's bloggees who live in Scotland, Poland, Canada, Sweden, Ukraine and any other country that has "proper" cold. She realises that cold is relative. But the truth is that Baggy is a whooz and feels the cold a lot. But it must have been pretty chilly because Calum put an extra layer on and then went and sat in the stable to warm up. The Mini's refused to even get out of the car. They decided to give it one last go. It's always good to see the competition that Grotty and Calum will be up against if plans work and they are competing in the summer. Or not! Grotty recognised three different professional riders competing in the Preliminary class that Calum and Grotty would be in. Admittedly on young or spooky horses, but still. Let's face it when it comes to competition, Joey's done none, Wesley's done two. Calum's done none, Baggy's done two. Ah well. Lots of practice will be required.

This was demonstrated shortly thereafter when Joey and Wesley were brought in from their paddocks. Joey was absolutely terrified of the burger van and was refusing to go past it. All well and good except that it was parked right outside their stable block. He wasn't too impressed with the white dressage boards that "live" outside the arena when Grotty rode him the other day either. Lots of training! Grotty walked over to Wesley and gave him a lead just as Joey decided that hay was more important than being scared and set off once more. Grooming the Boys soon warmed Calum and Grotty up. So off they toddled to watch the next classes up. The Novice classes. Quite a lot of the horses were very spooky. One tried to canter backwards out of the ring. Another trod on a white board and tried to buck its rider off. Another looked like an unexploded bomb. Pretty much all down to two things. The photographer and his wife sitting right next to the arena in foldaway chairs, with massive fur hats on, looking down to keep warm. And the judge's car in the arena just past the entrance into the manege. Just as the horses got used to these two scary things, the judge honked the car horn to get the competitor to start. Cue large or small spook from many horses. The photographer suddenly stood up and started clicking his camera. Cue shy, spook or stop. Lots of training. Not to mention the fact that even were Grotty already back in the saddle, Baggy could not get through a four-minute test for love nor money at the moment! She would be totally exhausted after about a minute of "proper" riding! Lots and lots of training. Starting with getting Baggy back to tribal dance classes this week. Shimmy, shimmy.

Baggy is now finally warmed up and sitting in front of the fire while Creative Clara blogs, before Baggy and Calum head off out shortly to go to an 18th birthday party. Time to choose a very warm going-out outfit............

Day 109 - Calum has met his Mini.

Baggy's husband is home for the weekend. Calum has now met his Mini. Yes bloggees this is it:

Mini-Baggy is very happy too:

Mini-Minty Mutt wants to play:

 

But Minty just wants to sleep in front of the fire. Baggy knows the feeling.......

 



Day 109 - Got that Friday feeling.

Baggy's been to Fat Club. She still isn't down to the weight she was two weeks ago but at least she lost some. Perhaps eating enough pasta for two people each time The Domestic Goddess makes it isn't the best plan. But her mad, all over the place, "Progress Chart" is at least heading in the right direction once more. Clever Bird might need to get Creative Clara to put a few more photos of Baggy on Facebook that are current though. Yes she is still over weight, but no longer dramatically so. Time that Facebook stopped sending her adverts for over-size clothes. She has enough of those already. Mind you clever, Clever Bird, she'll probably get them on this blog too now.

Baggy got home and took Furry Mama straight out with Minty Mutt. She's happy to report that he seems to be completely back to normal again. Now they're just waiting for Furry No. 1, Calum to get home so that he can meet Mini-Calum. That will be amusing. Creative Clara might have to learn to sew. The Mini's will need other outfits for the rest of their gangs at some point. Clara might have to get Calum to make them each their biker leathers though. She's got a few months to get their C10th outfits sorted at least. There aren't any re-enactment shows until the summer. It's important that they are dressed correctly after all.

But Baggy's pleased it's Friday. Grotty hopes to ride Joey again over the weekend. She isn't ready to risk getting on Wesley yet. Baggy's stomach muscles definitely need to be strengthened before she lets Grotty risk a Wesley "spook". So riding Joey should help. As will having a proper training session on a computerised horse in a couple of weeks time. Baggy will know that she has reached the end of her road to recovery when Grotty Groom is back at work and riding Wesley once more. Little steps........

Day 108 - Part 2 and a jolly lovely part it was.

Full on, very, very loud guard bark from the marvellous Minty Mutt. "Shut up Mint, it's just the Postman". Mint hurls himself on top of the night-storage heater at the window. "Mint, for goodness sake, get off the heater" (before it lands on you or burns your paws - seriously for a highly intelligent dog - can't think who he takes after). Woof, woof, woof, woof, woof. "Right, get on your bed." "NOW!" Woof, woof, woof, woof, grumble, woof. As he heads to his bed. Good lad. Here have some biccies and chewies. He isn't coming to the door, just to the post box at the bottom of the drive". "Don't care Mum, I've got chewies and biccies". Knock, knock. "Oh flip". Not a woof. Not a grumble. Just much munching. "Oh, okay then. Stay there Mint, I'll just shut the kitchen door". Faced by a large furry bottom and more munching, clearly this would not be a problem. The postman is terrified of the mutt. Munch, munch.

"I have a special delivery for you. Sign here". "Ooooooo, exciting. Thank you". Large brown-paper-wrapped parcel. Kitchen door opened. Munch, munch, munch. Baggy LOVES parcels. She doesn't get many. But Clever Bird already knew what was in this one, so Baggy was very excited. Mini-Baggy's gorgeous husband Mini-Calum had arrived with a miniature Joey horse for company in his box.

Baggy and Calum are very lucky to have some wonderful friends and family in their lives. One such is the very lovely lady who made these wonderful Mini's to cheer Baggy up. Baggy is extremely touched by your talent and thoughtfulness Lettra. Mini-Calum has already taken up his favourite position in his arm chair with Mini-Minty Mutt and Mini-Baggy. Baggy has not stopped grinning since he arrived.

Creative Clara has shared him on Facebook so that Calum can see his Mini. Now she's sharing him with Baggy's bloggees too. Hope you like him as much as Baggy and Mini-Baggy do..........

Day 108 - Clever Bird strikes again.

Minty Mutt started doing his puppy-bounce as soon as Baggy put her cardi. on this morning, so Furry Mama decided to try again with a walk. Clever Bird decided that it might be best to go on a short walk. Clever, Clever Bird. So she decided to take Minty out through the back garden to the orchards behind our house. A little twenty-minute loop. She did however decide to take the front door keys with her. That way if Minty wanted to go a little further we could come back through the village, down our lane and in the front door. Clever, Clever Bird. Off they set. Minty was absolutely fine. Very happy to be out. Very happy to be sniffing out the competition and re-marking his territory. Furry Mama let him sniff as much as he wanted. She did keep him on his flexi-lead though, just in case. Clever, Clever Bird.

Beautiful sunny day. Baggy enjoyed being out as much as Minty Mutt. He did want to go further. As he was barely limping Furry Mama let him. Off they set through the village. Clever, Clever Bird. Mint was beginning to limp a little. But not much more than he usually does as an after effect of his bad break when he was fifteen-months old. In fact he was hauling Furry Mama to new sniffs. Happy boy. Clever, Clever Bird. Baggy was in a little world of her own. Then Freda Fretter started wittering in her ear, "Urmm, I know Clever Bird brought the front door keys, but did she take the bolt off?". Ah. Um. Hmmmm. Oh.

"Course she did", thought Baggy, "she's a clever bird". "Really. Are you sure about that?" asked Freda. Well no, actually. Right, best cut through the village shops and go in the back way. Good plan. Except Mint had other ideas. He wanted to go the longer route. Furry Mama gave in. Freda moaned. As they toddled down the lane, Clever Bird visualised getting the keys; Minty Mutt distracting Furry Mama as Baggy tried to put her boots on. Hmmmmm. They walked to the front door. It was bolted. Not so clever, Clever Bird. They then had to walk further down the lane, up a muddy track and round to the back of the house. The twenty-minute short walk ended up being a thirty-minute, not-so-short walk. But Minty seemed to be absolutely fine. Yay.

When they got back Minty was feeling pleased with himself And thirsty. He broke the ice on a bowl in the garden (that the local newt bathes in) and had a drink. Then played with the water. Pawing it out with his bad leg. Clearly not too bad then. Creative Clara was a bit slow, but she caught the end of his play.......

Day 107 - Still fretting.

Freda Fretter is having a field day today. She wishes Minty Mutt could have a proper conversation with Furry Mama. Maybe Psychic Ploppo needs to try to have a chat with him. The boy does seem a little down. He doesn't understand why he's gone from choosing his walks, to not going out for two days. He has seemed fine since this morning. Nary a sign of a limp. So tomorrow Furry Mama will try once more. It just comes on so suddenly though. Presumably the two bits of broken bone are rubbing together, or trapping a nerve. Either way it clearly hurts the poor lad. But if he can't walk tomorrow Clever Bird will take him to the vets, if only to stop Freda from having a meltdown.

Baggy misses her walk too. It was such a sunny day, it would have been lovely to get out. That and Baggy could have done with burning off a few calories. Mind you, so far so good this week with her healthy eating. She has high hopes for Fat Club on Friday. The Domestic Goddess has just rustled up her third meal from scratch in two days. At this rate she might make a half-decent cook, but for goodness sake don't let her know. She'll want a pay rise. Oh no, she doesn't get paid. Phew, that's okay then.

Creative Clara has been writing for a large part of the day. Two blogs. Her diary. Lists. A new "Pros and Cons" for Clever Bird (she does lots of those). Tweets - not sure why she does those. Facebook bits. And her latest episode for her www.Channillo.com series. As a result, not a huge amount else has been achieved today. In fact today has ended up being the "nothing" day that Clever Bird thought was happening the other day.

It's the guilt though. Baggy is finding this doing nothing malarkey very hard. Especially while Calum works his little hairy biker socks off to pay the extra bills. But Grotty Groom is determined to get back on The Boy Wessles in the next few weeks. She's got a better chance of achieving that if she's not hurt Baggy's arm or stomach from taking on her full duties again. See - GUILT. But she is determined. Baggy even had some mad dream last night that Grotty was trick riding on the Boy. It was a totally impossible trick! She was hanging round Wesley's neck with her back on his chest, legs sticking straight out in front of her, in a flat out gallop in a race with Calum and Joey! Totally impossible. But a) Baggy woke up with a big grin on her face and b) it occurred to Clever Bird that Grotty might be feeling more confident than Baggy feels about getting back on her lad. It's all good. Grotty even managed to sneak a favour from the saddler who was at the yard on Monday and kindly checked the fit of Wesley's saddle. It fits! The diet has worked. It's a couple more weeks until Grotty rides a computerised horse to get a feel for how her surgery spots feel, but assuming that goes well.......

Day 107 - Poor Mutt!

So Baggy made Clever Bird set the alarm this morning. Interestingly she didn't need it. Woke up just before it went off. As it's a stunningly gorgeous sunny day, Furry Mama asked Minty Mutt if he'd like to go out. She wasn't sure he should. But Mint started bouncing, spinning and woofing. Okay then. Sunny it might be, but there's a sharp frost on the ground. Lots and lots of clothes put on while Minty mutt waited outside. Furry Mama appeared. Minty Mutt bounced. His leg seemed to be fine. Baggy locked the door. Turned round. Mint was shooting down the short drive to the gate. Suddenly he lifted his right paw. And stopped. Put it down again. Yelped. Noooooooooooooooo! He tried to walk on it. Failed. Bless him. Lots of licking. Tried again. Bit better, but limping badly.

Clever Bird decided that they just couldn't risk going on even a short walk if his leg was that painful. Furry Mama took him back inside. She decided to give him some extra painkiller. He shot into the kitchen. Slipped on the formica. Yelped. Decided to lie on his bed. Bless him. By now Furry Mama was feeling very upset. She put his painkiller into some milk for him. Gave him some doggy biccies. Tried to decide whether to call the vet. Clever Bird concluded that there was no point yet. Sadly she knows that the bones in Mint's leg have broken again. An x-ray would confirm it, but distress Mint. So she'll wait and see how he is in another day or so.

Painkiller and biccies consumed, Mint was once again bouncing around like a puppy. On all legs! Clever Bird decided to take advantage of the frost. She got Furry Mama to go and poo-pick the back garden. Nicely frozen solid poos. Easy to pick up. Not quite so easy to spot amongst brown leaves. For once she managed to stop Baggy standing in any of them. Meanwhile Minty Mutt was breaking the ice on a large tub of water. With his poorly leg! Then pawing the freezing water with it. Daft mutt. Guess the painkillers were working. Furry Mama took him into the front garden with one of his favourite starfish chewies (yes she is spoiling him, poor boy), and gave him a good groom. She feels bad now, because he clearly wants to go for a walk but she daren't risk him not being able to put any weight on his leg half way round. Baggy was looking forward to her walk too...........

Day 106 - Getting a lot done.

It's funny how much one can achieve on a "nothing" day. After three failed attempts The Domestic Goddess got the fire going. It's not rocket science is it? Empty the flipping ash grate and let the air flow! Done. Baggy's hair is once again clean and shiny. That is such a major job it's difficult to explain. A lot of it to contend with. It's still damp. But the fire's going, so hopefully pneumonia can be avoided. Her hair will probably be just about dry before bedtime. Done. The Domestic Goddess got all carried away. Baggy's bored with sandwiches for lunch. Home-made cauliflower cheese soup created and consumed. Delicious. Done. Grotty Groom also got busy. Three pairs of riding boots. One saddle. Two bridles. All cleaned with saddle soap. No longer green. Now clean. Drying gently in the fire-warmed room. Done. They'll be ready to be "fed" later. Numnahs. Gloves. Tail bandages. Face and nose nets. All washed. Done.

Thanks to lovely friends, Baggy now also has a copy of the "lost" lamb passanda recipe, so The Goddess will shortly be going into action for the second time in a day. Will be done. The pile of washing lying about in the bathroom. Done. Car insurance renewal. Done. Filing. Done. Second blog of the day written by Creative Clara. Done. Twitter checked. Done. The point of Twitter understood. Nah. Clearly not done. Clever Bird does not understand Twitter at all. But it's fun trying..........

Day 106 - Nothing day.

Clever Bird is now wondering whether Baggy is ever going to get her correct sleeping pattern back. Once again she has only just woken up. When Grotty is back in action she would have had to have been up at least two hours earlier. Realistically, because the Boys are now used to a very fixed routine, she'll probably need to get up five hours earlier!! That is looking rather unlikely. Time for Clever Bird to start setting an alarm clock and gradually building it back up. Or rather "down" to be more accurate.

As it's another cold grey day and Minty Mutt hurt his little leg so badly yesterday, Furry Mama is having a day off. Minty can rest his leg. Baggy can wash her hair without catching pneumonia. She had that this time last year. Doesn't need a repeat performance thanks very much. The Domestic Goddess has already re-booted the fire. Well, more accurately at present, she has attempted to re-boot the fire, but appears to have smothered it to death. Baggy hears the odd "crack" from it every now and again over Creative Clara's typing, so there's some hope for it. Clever Bird has just told The Goddess to clear out the ash tray. Yep! The Goddess is as on form as usual. Mind you, Clever Bird felt so sorry for her yesterday. She decided to assist Baggy in her weight loss intentions by buying fresh ingredients to cook a lamb passanda. Yummy. She had written the ingredients for a few nice sounding meals in her diary months ago. But of course Clever Bird never remembers to take the diary shopping with her. Drrrr! This weekend she did. All ingredients purchased. Last night The Goddess went through every page of every single Slimming World cook book that she owns. No mention of a flipping lamb passanda. Not even in the little "Curry Night" booklet she had. She checked the website. Nope. It occurred to her at two o'clock this morning that it must have been in one of the magazines. The magazines that she threw away last week in a fit of clearing out "stuff". See, bloggees, this is why she is a hoarder!

Well now another hour has passed. Furry Mama has fed everyone except herself. It's lunchtime. Baggy's hair has not yet been brushed, before it's washed. The fire is still dead. An alternative curry recipe has not been found. The green, mouldy saddle and bridles are staring at Grotty from the sitting room floor. The pile of washing is peeking out from the bathroom at The Goddess. Time to get Clara off this flipping lap top and actually start the day.........

Day 105 - Bad news versus good news - which is better?

Clever Bird has realised recently why it is that newspapers and news broadcasts focus on bad news. It does seem to be human nature to read bad news rather than good news. Sad but true. She doesn't think it's that we want to know bad stuff. Well she's pretty sure it isn't anyway. Well she hopes it isn't. But she realises that whenever Creative Clara puts up a "bad" heading to the blog, or an ambiguous one, lots more people read it. In Baggy's case, she hopes that that is because people do care about her and the gang and the furries. So if she puts up a "bad" heading they just want to check she's okay. If she heads it "perfect day" or "good news" it gets read. But put up a "bad" heading and it gets two, three or even four times as many views.

But it gets Clever Bird wondering too, whether some people don't like hearing happy stuff. Maybe happy stuff makes them unhappy, or more unhappy. If that's true, it's sad. Baggy is the opposite. Baggy is an ostrich really. She stopped reading newspapers about twenty years ago. She doesn't watch the news either. She'll listen to it on the radio if it comes on. Clever Bird realises that this is rather a shallow attitude, but frankly, she hates the constant bad news. So now she has a dilemma. Does she let Creative Clara put bad news in her blog and flag it as bad in the heading? Or does she just get her to write the nice stuff?

No. There is no dilemma. Her blog is real. It's not made up. It happens. So if bad stuff happens and it is potentially vaguely interesting to you bloggees, she will write about it. BUT, she will cut back on alarmist headlines (even though that will drop her viewing numbers). She doesn't want to worry people. So apologies from Clever Bird for the earlier blog. Baggy has not broken her leg. Minty Mutt has not broken his as such either. The bone that has broken shouldn't be there in the first place, so although when it broke it hurt him like heck, he now appears to be absolutely fine. Put it this way, Furry Mama is currently watching him hurtling at full pelt across some meadow or woodland in his dream. All four legs are in full action.........

Day 105 - Broken leg!

Grey day. Calum has left for the week. Baggy slept in. Big time. 11.30am. Thirteen hours sleep. What is the matter with her? Again with the teary, low, pathetic feeling. Minty Mutt was having none of it. He didn't get a proper walk yesterday, so he was getting Furry Mama out the second Baggy was dressed. She put lots and lots of layers on. It's so grey Clever Bird assumed it was cold. It wasn't. Minty was on a mission. He decided we were doing the Dormouse Sanctuary walk. A fairly long and muddy choice. He set off at a proper lick. Furry Mama was soon warm. Hormonal Hannah decided to throw in a hot flush. Now she was melting.

Once in the sanctuary Minty Mutt headed off on a sniffing mission. Just as Furry Mama spotted two people. With two dogs. Both on leads. Minty Mutt spotted them too. Was about to shoot off. "Don't you dare! Stay!" called Furry Mama. He froze. Good lad. Furry Mama put the lead back on. Headed off through the sanctuary to Ager Fen - a beautiful nature reserve. But rather a quagmire at the moment. Having hurled himself in the stream, Mint decided that we were going on a new route. Against her better judgement Furry Mama was persuaded to let him. She put him back on his flexi-lead again as she was unsure where the path went and it's a nature reserve. Minty set off. Baggy tried to keep up. She had to keep asking him to wait. The path got very steep very quickly. And muddier. And muddier. It was a strain on Baggy's stomach. But what goes up, must come down. Have you seen the viral video of the fluffy ginger cat towing a lady behind her on snow skis bloggees? Well! No snow, no skis, no cat. But Furry Mama was doing a fairly good impersonation, being towed along by Mint. It got particularly interesting when he decided to dive into another stream. Hmmmm!

It was a very, very long route. It finally arrived back at the entrance back into the dormouse sanctuary. Back up yet another hill. Finally back towards home. (Notice the relief of heading "back" expressed by Creative Clara). Baggy was exhausted. Minty Mutt was still on a mission. But it was such a beautiful walk, that Baggy's spirits had lifted.

 

It will be even more beautiful when all the bluebells come out in a few weeks time. Stunning area.

 

 

As Minty headed off for the last bit of the walk, he stopped at one of his favourite spots to eat some grass. Weird dog. As he set off again, he suddenly lifted his right paw in the air and started licking his leg. As he tried to set off again he yelped and lifted his paw. Furry Mama checked his foot. Nothing in it. He tried again. Hopeless. Limping terribly. Then hopping on three legs. Clever Bird was calculating that they were still about fifteen minutes (normal) walk from home. She was trying to figure out a plan. No way could Baggy carry ten-stone of dog! Mint licked his leg. Furry Mama felt it. No heat. They set off again. This time the limping was less pronounced. Okay, maybe they could get home. Within fifty yards Mint was barely limping at all. Phew!

 

Clever Bird realises that poor Mint's leg probably broke again. When he was fifteen months old, to fix his (very badly) broken leg they used an external metal ring, with pins through the two broken bones. Where the pins went through, bone now regularly grows between the two bones, joining them together. It shouldn't be there. Every now and again it breaks! It must hurt like heck. But once it has broken it seems to be okay again. Furry Mama knows from last time it happened that there is nothing the vet can do. Mint just needs the anti-inflammatory pain killer (that he is already on now anyway) and to rest it - that might not be so easy. But Furry Mama is very relieved that he now seems to be fine after his extra chewie.........





Day 104 - Grotty was out and about.

Calum and Baggy went over to the yard to see the Boys. Hormonal Hannah and Freda Fretter had kept Grotty Groom away since last weekend, when Wessles was a bit of a monkey. It doesn't seem to take much at all for Grotty to lose her nerve around the horses at the best of times. But at the moment with Baggy still feeling not quite fully recovered, she also feels more vulnerable than usual. Plus of course, flipping Hannah keeps knocking her confidence, big time. But Calum wanted to get out so Grotty was happy to oblige. Furry Mama took Minty Mutt too, so it was a family outing.

The Boys had been kept in so they'd already been on the horse-walker. As Clever Bird mentioned to Grotty, this was of course exactly like last weekend when Wesley took off! However she was not to be deterred. She even decided not to wimp out and get Calum to take Wesley the short distance to the manege. Wesley followed her like a little puppy. Once again he was an angel. Even though there was another horse also being lunged at the other end of the school. He usually is an angel to be fair. Which is why it's always more of a shock (and a drama) when he isn't.

Once back in his stable he went back to munching his hay. As Wessles was rather sweaty, Grotty decided to give the lad Joey some plaits and a good groom. He does love it. He's so cute too. He lifted his heel up so that Grotty could brush the mud out of his feathers. An entirely pointless exercise in many ways as the walk to their paddocks is a quagmire. But at least they are clean, shiny and flowing for a night. He looked so lovely that Calum decided he needed a hat.

Grotty then decided to check whether Wessles was too fat for his saddle. The good news is that he isn't. What's more the little poppet just stood there with it on his back for ages. Not girthed-up you understand! Just balanced. Bless him. So he too got another really long groom. It's been so lovely to see the Boys two days in a row. Grotty is definitely on the mend. She is also entirely covered in horse hair. Happy Grotty.

Now home to roast beef and Yorkshire pudding (just the one of course - Baggy is on a mission to lose weight this week). And the other two furries.

Pretty much the perfect English Sunday really. Hope you've all having a lovely day as well bloggees......

Day 103 - What a night.

Baggy is up and about. Well, she's up anyway. No it's not early. It's gone ten. Baggy has a bad headache. She blames her husband. Probably unfairly. But she does. Baggy could have killed him last night. Hormonal Hannah and Clever Bird had both had a bit of a pop at her for having put two pounds on last week. Entirely her own fault. Baggy felt deprived that she hadn't had pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, so the stupid woman let The Domestic Goddess make them for her three times last week. Three times. Seriously? Yes, well Baggy kept getting the munchies for something stodgy at 9.00pm when Creative Clara was writing. She didn't have them with lemon either. No, with treacle!! Plus of course Baggy had lunch out on Valentine's Day. She discovered a cake in the cupboard. Well of course she couldn't resist that could she? So. Two pounds. Truthfully, although she knew she had been naughty, she thought she might get away with it. Nope. So Baggy was rather low when she told Calum about it on the phone on the way home from Fat Club. He told her not to worry. Everything has caught up a bit with Baggy. She's finally grieving for her Dad who died nearly four years ago. She can now that her Step-Mum's also finally at peace. She's also well enough to be getting frustrated that Grotty Groom is not back in action. But not quite recovered totally, for her to be able to be. It's all a bit overwhelming. "It's all got a bit much. Don't beat yourself up over a blip on your diet", said Baggy's lovely supportive husband. "Okay. Thank you I won't. I'll try really hard this week."

The Goddess made a lovely Slimming World Spaghetti Bolognaise for supper. Resisted putting cheese on top of it. All good. "What are you making for pudding?" asked Calum. "Well, there's fruit, I could serve with meringues if that's okay", said Baggy. "Yes lovely. But I can do that". "Okay, thanks. Please can I have Greek Yoghurt with mine? Not one of the fattening ones". Calum disappears to the kitchen. Reappears with a massive slice of Baggy's favourite dessert on a plate. Lemon Meringue Pie! No, no, no, no! Just cruelty to Baggys. Wrong, on so many levels. He had bought it on the way home from work as a "treat" for Baggy. Freda Fretter was furious! But also felt guilty because Calum meant well. Clever Bird took control. "Okay, Baggy knows you meant well. Thank you. But that is really not helpful! In fact it's cruel". "Well, I'll eat it then". Baggy virtually threw the mouth-wateringly delicious pie at Calum and stomped into the kitchen to make a fruit salad. Sulking. Muttering. Large child-like. She was so cross, she didn't have meringue with it! Well done Baggy. Point made.

Baggy went to bed. No way was she watching the blood-curdling film that Calum was watching. Calum arrived a couple of hours later. Well Baggy had been sleeping like a baby. She got up to go to the loo. By the time she got back, minutes later, Calum was snoring. Cue hot flush Hormonal Hannah. Arggghhhh! Covers off. Suddenly icy cold, but still dripping sweat. Calum still snoring. Baggy unstuck herself from the sheet. Cal still snored. Eventually, normality started to return. Covers back on. Having shut Freda and Hannah up, Baggy fell asleep. Seemingly very shortly afterwards (to be fair it was over an hour) Baggy had a rude awakening. Calum threw himself at her. No! Not like that. He was still asleep. Throwing covers off. Grrrrrrr! Baggy went back to sleep. Thank you new mattress. Only for a repeat performance a while later. This time the manoeuvre was even more dramatic. Baggy had to leap out of the way. Cue hot flush. And so on. All night. At least thanks to the new mattress Baggy did get back to sleep quite quickly each time. Cal had to get up early to take his motorbike for an MOT.

"Bye bye, my angry walrus". "Your what?" asked Calum. "Angry walrus", muttered a very tired Baggy. "You've been jumping about like one all night". "Oh right, yes, I felt trapped by the covers. Too hot". Clever Bird managed to stop Baggy from pointing out how much sugar he had consumed from half a lemon meringue pie before coming to bed. Enough to give anyone a hot flush! She just went straight back to sleep.......

Day 102 - How do you write a really good blog?

Fat Club this morning. Baggy Body went. Well, there's always next week. Clever bird is blaming Hormonal Hannah and Freda Fretter. They really are taking up too much of Baggy's time at present. Take last night for instance. Yesterday Clever Bird decided to do a little search on t'internet about how to write a good blog. Better late than never eh bloggees? By the time Baggy went to bed, Freda Fretter and Hormonal Hannah were having a full-on bickering session and kept Baggy awake for hours. Here's why, this is what vaguely stuck in Clever Bird's head:

Stage 1: Research your market and identify your niche.
No, Clever Bird did not do this. In fact she wasn't at all sure what a blog even was (hmmmm, quite). But a few friends had read her Facebook stuff and declared "You should write a blog".

Stage 2: Write without stopping - 1500 words.
Easy peasy. Well the first bit is. The flow just comes for Creative Clara. 1500 words. Well no. More. Less. But probably never 1500. Apparently though that is the ideal length to keep bloggees' attention and interest. Ah well.

Stage 3: Always head your blog with a question people will want the answer to.
See above. For the first time ever. Oh and probably the last.

Stage 4: Use sub-headings.
See Stage 3.

Stage 5: Use photos, videos and pictures.
See Freda, one point for Creative Clara.

Stage 7: Promote your business, art, craft, hobby, something important.
Oh.

Stage 8: Don't use "I" a lot.
Well at least Baggy doesn't do that does she? There's too many in the gang. It's more of a "them". Clever Bird is just kidding. She knows full well it means the blog shouldn't be about the individual. Ah well.

Stage 9: Be very clear who your target audience is and write to suit them.
Okay bloggees, so who are you? Baggy knows some of you (her friends and family), but those of you in "foreign" climes? Nope. No idea. Young, old, men, women, rich, poor, happy, sad, professional, unemployed, creative, practical. No idea. And Baggy worked in marketing for over twenty five years, so she knows her "demographics".

Stage 10: Enjoy it.
Yay, yay, yay, yay. Now that is easy. Phew. Creative Clara got a stage right.

So, want to know who won the argument in the end bloggees? Clever Bird did. She listened to Freda and Hannah upsetting Baggy. She watched Baggy's confidence being knocked badly. In fact Hormonal Hannah freaked her out so much that she didn't want to leave the house this morning. No confidence at all. Panicky, worthless feelings. Old and ugly person looking back from the mirror. Nothing to "give". Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. Two outfits later and a dusting of make-up (a very rare occurrence) Baggy left the house. But Clara digresses. The point is that despite what Freda was saying to her, "You're doing it all wrong". And Hannah was saying to her, "Who do you think you are? You've no right writing a blog. And one all about Baggy at that!" Clever Bird said one thing, "Baggy Body bloggees!!!!!!"

And that my friends is surely the point. Baggy is not trying to promote anything or sell anything, or give advice. Creative Clara likes to write and if her ramblings brighten Baggy's day that's a good thing. If they also brighten the day of a bloggee or two, then that is a brilliant thing. If they brighten the day of lots and lots of bloggees, just wonderful. So, clearly all the "How to" information you can glean on t'internet is great and very accurate if you want to make money out of a blog. But if Baggy's blog was as pointless as Freda and Hannah were trying to argue, there would be no Baggy Body bloggees. So thank you all..............

Day 101 - Blooming fat cat.

The Hinge has decided to un-housetrain herself. Apparently it is perfectly okay to "go" wherever she feels like, as long as it's not in the litter tray. Furry Mama can understand this when the litter tray is, what shall we say, smelly? But it isn't. It's clean. In fact it's even got special soft paper litter in it. Clever Bird wondered if the other stuff was hurting the "low slung" one's feet as she is so heavy, so she swapped onto this stuff. See, she does try. But apparently paper litter is not "right" either. The Hinge would rather find somewhere else to go. Not outside of course. No. Inside. Just not in the litter tray. So now Clever Bird has to keep an eye open for suspiciously rolled-over mats. Tread on one at your peril Baggy. It is likely to contain something warm and distinctly smelly. Yuck.

The only saving grace is that Hinge seems to have decided that the best place to go is on one of the mats in the bathroom. Like the rest of the house there is a selection. Five in fact. Without them, the tiled floor is like ice. But they are bath mats. So at least they are easily washed. Two of them have just been put into the washing machine. So annoying. But as Clever Bird pointed out the main furries "go" in the bathroom. All three minor furries follow them in and watch. Maybe The Hinge thinks that's the place to "go". Perhaps Furry Mama should move the litter tray in there. Or better still train Hinge to use the loo. Now that would be a sight. But how can Furry Mama possibly get cross with that face?..........

Day 101 - Staying up-beat!

Baggy once again woke up in a "funny" mood. It must be Hormonal Hannah winding her up. Clever Bird realises that it's high time that she checked out the symptoms of the menopause. She spent months, even years , thinking that Lawrence-the-durmoid-cyst was a menopause symptom. He clearly wasn't! She needs to make sure that Baggy's panicky feeling, lack of confidence, tiredness and so on are actually the menopause and not something else. Today, Baggy was sorely tempted not to leave the house. Minty Mutt had different plans. The moment that Baggy was dressed he started to bounce about, woofing. Furry Mama persuaded Baggy that the fresh air would do them both good. Good decision. Really lovely walk. Very hard work on Baggy's stomach muscles, squelching through the mud, but she realised how very lucky she is.

Lucky to live in such a glorious part of the world. Lucky to be alive and well. Lucky to have such a lovely life. Way too lucky to be letting Hormonal Hannah bring her down...........

Day 100 - Feeling a bit low.

Really beginning to think that Baggy does feel low when it's a grey dull day. She's struggled today. Hormonal Hannah has had a large influence on her. She just "can't be bothered". No energy. No will to do anything. Feeling sorry for herself. She's also making Grotty Groom feel really guilty about not wanting to go over to see the horses. But she can't face the cold. Or, truth be told, the "atmosphere" that will undoubtedly be there. Baggy is brought down very quickly by other people's moods. As hers is a little low today, it seems silly to risk it getting lower. She also doesn't want Grotty to worry her sensitive little sausage a.k.a. Wesley. So, she's staying put. And warm.

 



Creative Clara always cheers her up though. She hopes that Baggy's bloggees' ads are as relevant as hers are. She has her eyes on a rug and a hand-painted chest of drawers now! Very lovely. She's also earned a quid from having the ads on the blog. Clever Bird is just a teeny bit worried that she is the one earning the money for herself! Of course that isn't allowed. Mind you the chest of drawers is hundreds of quids. Hmmmmmm! Perhaps Baggy needs to step away from the ads............

Day 100 - Some people!

Furry Mama sees a man approaching with two dogs on flexi-leads. She moves well out of his way. The larger, shaggy, mongrel starts pulling towards Minty Mutt. "Are they friendly?" asks Furry Mama trying to hang onto Mint who wants to say "hello" to the rapidly approaching dog, tail like a flag - NOT wagging! "Yes, well this one is". Which one? The one snapping its head off and barking at Mint? Or the large shaggy one heading straight at us. Too late the large mongrel is now impossibly close. "It's just that Mint has been attacked a few times so I worry". "What, that dog. Really?". "Yes". By now the mongrel's nose is on Mint's nose. "Really, well mine has attacked a couple recently, but he's never been attacked", says the idiot man with a grin on his face. Fortunately on this occasion the dog clearly decided that Mint was okay. Tail wagging ensued. Baggy's heart rate dropped back to vaguely normal. Minty turned his back on the mongrel and walked off with his (in tact) nose in the air, like the pedigree that he is.

Furry Mama sees a woman approaching with two small terrier-type dogs. One is on a lead. One is off. "Are they friendly?" "Yes, very". "Okay, that's good" says Furry Mama as the off-lead dog hurtles straight at Mint. "Mint is much better off the lead when dogs come at him, as he doesn't feel he has to protect me if they go for him", said Furry Mama. "Yes, well they all are aren't they?" said the woman. "I'll let him off then". Furry Mama takes Mint's lead off watched by the woman and the little terrier. Then Mint goes over to see the other dog. "Oh no, get him away from me". "Urrm, sorry, I thought you meant it was okay", as Furry Mama grabs Mint by the collar. "Oh the dogs are fine, but I'm terrified of big dogs". "Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!" No, not Minty Mutt! Furry Mama under her breath. Furry Mama and Mint march off at a pace to get away from the woman, only to realise that the off-lead dog is keeping pace with them and is yards away from the woman. And breathe Baggy............

Day 99 - And The Domestic Goddess rocks.

Baggy managed to keep Creative Clara off the laptop long enough to track down The Domestic Goddess! The Goddess was about to make a run for it. She had seen the state of the kitchen and knew what Baggy had in mind for her. But it had to be done. Her vanishing act for the last week had meant that the kitchen was once again a bit of a health hazard. Baggy blames Furry Mama as much as The Goddess. She seemed to have let Hinge and Bracket rearrange their litter tray into some kind of imitation of a gravel driveway across the kitchen floor. The very very cold kitchen floor. The floor that slugs come up through! It appears to be a thin wood, a slug-filled (cold) air gap, then cold earth. Chilly. And mucky. But at least once The Goddess had vacuumed and washed it, she could easily see where she had been.

Then Creative Clara and Clever Bird had a bit of a chat. Rugs. Rugs. Rugs. Warm the floor up by covering it with the little rugs. The Goddess has washed twelve of them so far. A few have been relocated. Yep, the house is getting nuttier by the minute bloggees, but Clara rather likes it. And more to the point, Baggy, who will insist on walking about with bare feet, hasn't got freezing tootsies. As plans go of course, it will undoubtedly fail once the cats start to recreate their gravel driveway. But for the moment, enjoy the madness..........

Day 99 - Minty Mutt rocks.

What an absolutely glorious day in little old Suffolk. Cold. But bright. A perfect day for Furry Mama to go out with the Minty Mutt. He now has a new phrase in his repertoire of English that he understands. "You choose". Yes, lovely day for a walk. Just as well. Every "junction" Furry Mama arrived at she said, "You choose". Minty Mutt raised his big soppy eyes up to Mama's face, flicked his eyebrows up, double-checked. "You sure Mum?" "Yep". "Okay, we'll go this way then". Quick check over his shoulder to make sure Mum was following. She was. Carry on. At a rapid pace! Further and further. Much further than normal. Omega 3 and anti-inflammatory painkiller daily has now added Minty Mutt's outer puppy to his inner puppy! It was Baggy who began to struggle.

 

But no way was she going to disappoint Mint on such a glorious day. So on they went. Mint got home, had his favourite chew and promptly fell asleep and started to snore. Baggy, with the muscles pinging in her legs, was tempted to join him. She resisted. The Domestic Goddess had been spotted and needed to be put to work before she sloped off once more...........

Day 98 - Getting warmer.

Baggy went out into the cold to meet a friend for coffee this afternoon. Lovely catch up. She had every intention of taking Grotty Groom over to see the Boys afterwards, but it was just too cold. They would have been snuggled up for the night, so she decided to go home and snuggle up in front of the fire instead. As she drove up the little country lane to her house, Hormonal Hannah had a bit of a sense of humour failure. Why, oh why do people keep parking in front of Baggy's drive? It's so annoying. Baggy parks on the road because half the time she can't get her car in or out of the drive, because people have parked in "her" spot. Baggy muttered. Well, she swore to herself. While hoping that there was a space to park a little further along the road. It was only as she was pulling past the aforementioned annoying vehicle, that she realised it was Calum's pick-up truck. Work is a little quiet, so he was home for the night.

So Baggy walked in to a proper fire and a lovely warm sitting room and all her furries. The rest of the house is still freezing, but you can't have it all..........

Day 98 - Wow!

Wow! Almost one hundred days since Baggy got home from her Lawrence-the-durmoid cyst surgery. Over three months. Actually though, Freda Fretter thinks that it seems to be even longer than that. Bizarrely, Baggy's arm operation seems even longer ago. Clever Bird realises that it's because Baggy is feeling guilty that Grotty Groom has still not gone back to work. Baggy does feel that she could manage the heavy duties. She's probably wrong though. It's two-and-a-half months since her arm surgery. Grotty went back to work two month's after her left arm had the same operation. She lasted a week. Then made her arm bad and had to stop again. Then went back and a couple of weeks later after a check-up at hospital, caught pneumonia. So Freda, enough with the fretting. Baggy needs to go back when her arm is not constantly painful. But the guilt! Hormonal Hannah is having a field day. It's so expensive having two horses looked after. Stop it Freda!

But wow! It is so cold today. Winter has decided to arrive. A little late. But with a vengeance. It even snowed for a while last night. It must be cold as Hinge and Bracket are refusing to stay outside for more than a few minutes. Furry Mama put extra layers on this morning to walk the Minty Mutt. But the cold still got in Baggy's bones. And more obviously, her healing muscles. Her arm is particularly painful. But then that operation cut through bone and muscle. So once more with feeling Clever Bird. Baggy is still not strong enough for Grotty to go back to work yet. Particularly as Wesley (as he demonstrated yesterday), is feeling rather well.

The Domestic Goddess has lit the fire. But wow, the house is freezing! Calum and Clever Bird bought the largest fire they could. The intention was that it would warm the whole, very little house. At least that's what the salesman said. Not true. It heats the sitting room beautifully. But heat rises. It rises above the very low seventeenth-century doors and doesn't go through them. So it doesn't spread into the kitchen. Or upstairs. There is no form of heating in either of those areas!!!!!!! Wattle and daub walls are fun too. Put it this way, Archaeologist Annie entirely appreciates why such walls were always covered with hanging tapestries. Now there's a thought. Perhaps it's time to replace the paintings with tapestries, or the modern equivalent. Meanwhile, The Goddess is supposed to be tackling the kitchen. No chance. Way too cold. So Creative Clara is blogging in front of the fire instead.........

Day 97 - A Red Letter Day in more ways than one! Grotty got back on top.

Happy, happy, happy Valentine's Day. Baggy had a very early night last night. She needed it. Clever Bird does keep telling her that she is still not one hundred percent fit. The obvious clue to this fact being her tiredness. But she's definitely almost there! She slept well anyway. The new mattress is definitely a winner. So was Baggy's lovely gift from her number one furry! Spoilt Baggy.

Furry Mama even persuaded him to come out for a walk with her and Minty Mutt. Oh boy oh boy is it cold today though! Well, cold for little old England anyway. It's been so ridiculously mild that it comes as a bit of a shock. Anyone would think that it was winter. Oh yes, so it is.

Well it might be cold, but it's dry and bright. So Grotty Groom was determined to do something with her Boys today. They were in for the day as it's a Sunday, so while Calum groomed and tacked up Joey, Grotty took Wesley in to the manege. Hmmmm! Rewind Clever Bird. "They were in for the day". Yes, but they had already had a long session on the horse walker, so they should be vaguely tired. That would be why you led Wesley Number 6 into the school would it Grotty? (Number 6 being the Advanced - sharp - taking your life into your hands - highly spooky Wesley). Yes, but Grotty was determined not to give in to Freda Fretter and come up with an excuse not to work Wesley. So into the manege she went. Admittedly, it wasn't just cold. It was also quite windy. In fact the wind was causing the jumps that were set up, to emit a loud whistling sound. Even Baggy had to double-check what the noise was. Little 15' 3" Wesley rapidly grew to 17'. Every muscle in his body was tense. Ears pricked. High alert. Full flight mode.

Grotty chatted away to him. Calmly. Well calmy-ish. It's quite difficult to stay calm when it is clear that the Boy is likely to take off at any second. She walked him round the school. As close to the jumps as she dared. Explaining about the noise. Obviously, not very well. He decided to trot. Okay fine. Then to canter. Alright. No problem. He stayed on a large lunge circle. Not pulling Grotty at all. Grotty walked in lines, so that Wesley was on a huge oval, rather than a tight circle. He cantered and cantered and cantered. Clever Bird began to appreciate just how fit he is. Grotty asked him to trot. He did. For a few strides. Then he cantered again. This time, "over-blowing" on every stride. A sure sign that he is very fit! Perhaps a little fitter than is ideal for Baggy to be getting back on him. But he seemed to be enjoying himself. A little too much perhaps. Definitely spooked. But at least not trying to run away. But Baggy felt quite vulnerable next to him.

Then Calum brought Joey out of the stable. Clever Bird suggested that he should take him into the other manege as the one Grotty was in was so spooky today. She omitted to take into consideration how Wesley would feel about this. Calum headed off as instructed. Wesley panicked. Baggy panicked. Grotty just about held onto him having opened the gate. Baggy had to trot to keep up with Wesley who towed her after Joey. Oh dear. Once in the other manege, even with Calum and Joey, he wasn't much calmer. Grotty walked him around for a while, but it became very clear very quickly, that she was likely to lose him. Right, best put him back in the stable. Clever Bird got Calum and Joey to come too. Well it should have been a plan. BUT. "They were in for the day". No grass eaten. Lots of grass outside the manege. Even more in the hay field a few hundred yards behind the manege. Well that is obviously what Wesley was thinking as he finally saw his chance to take off. And take off he did. The little monkey. The very, very powerful, really not so little monkey! His first opportunity to show his Mum that he really does not like being left by her. Suddenly, all Grotty could see was his very powerful bottom cantering away from her. All Freda Fretter could think was: there's a young girl (the yard owner's daughter) riding in the other manege; Calum is on Joey just behind her; that is a massive hay field if Wesley gets to it; he has a long lunge-line attached to his bridle; major (series of) accident/s waiting to happen! DO NOT LET GO! She also heard the yard owner shout the same thing. Some how Baggy found the strength to get Grotty to hang on. Thank goodness for the bit in Wesley's mouth. He realised Baggy was using all her weight and strength and pulled up. Then spun to face her rendering the bit completely ineffective. Freda panicked. "Don't you dare!" As she realised he was about to canter backwards away from her. Yes, he got told off. A sharp jerk on his bit. Not something she would normally do. Not something that she was proud of. But it stopped Wesley in his tracks and prevented one or more accidents. And him from hurting himself. Sometimes!

Wesley knew that he had pushed it too far. He walked back to his stable relatively calmly. Then he realised that Joey had gone back out to the manege. He lost the plot. Spinning. Whinnying. Kicking the door. Drama Queen. But Grotty was on a mission. Riding boots on. Hat on. Out to the manege. Calum hopped off Joey. Grotty hopped on. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Grotty was back on a horse for the first time since last September. For her first time since Baggy's Lawrence-the-durmoid-cyst surgery. For the first time since her cubital tunnel surgery. Admittedly pretty nervously, with Calum walking beside her. But she was on top! Joey is such a good horse. He's not been ridden since last October, but he might as well have been ridden yesterday, he is so calm. There is a reason why Grotty got on him, not on her Boy. There's also a reason why she doesn't ride Joey very often. He is such a good lad and so comfortable to ride. He always looks after his rider. Wesley on the other hand! Well Wesley is just Wesley. Just as well that Grotty absolutely adores the Boy. But stage one of the plan to get Grotty back on her Boy is complete. She may only have walked and done a tiny bit of trot, but Baggy's stomach was okay. Wesley on the other hand looked as though he had taken a shower, he was so sweated up when they got back to the stable. Highly strung? Yep, just like his Mum.........

Day 96 - Happy St. Valentine's Day to all of Baggy's bloggees!

Yes bloggees, Baggy is a day early, but she likes to be different. Hope you all have a lovely day whether you're in a relationship, single, with furries, whatever. Love comes in many forms. Baggy is very lucky to have it from a wonderful husband. Furry Mama is very lucky to have it from the home furries. Grotty is very lucky to have it from her gorgeous horses. But even old Hormonal Hannah and Freda Fretter get lots of love from Baggy's friends and family, and the furries and horses. They put up with a lot really. But if you are on your own today, Baggy is sending love and thanks for following her blog. She appreciates it a lot. She spent many a Valentine's Day on her own, so she knows it can be a bit hard.

Baggy has as usual been spoilt though. Calum gave her a lovely present (yes a day early, neither Calum or Baggy have much patience with waiting for presents). Plus Baggy was treated to lunch out. Of course, even though she did make a vague effort, once again the healthy diet went out of the window. So tonight, as the day has been blown, she's having wine and pizza. It's all good. She'll be back on form tomorrow. One glass of wine and she's sozzled. BUT the bottle is now open! She's getting Creative Clara to write this before it all goes horribly wrong!

At least quite a few calories were burnt before lunch. Furry Mama walked Minty Mutt before Baggy and Calum went out. Then quite a few more were burnt after lunch. Grotty Groom went and cuddled and groomed The Boy Wessles. It's amazing what hard work that is, when the lad has been rolling in the mud and is still moulting small animals worth of hair. Grotty had hoped to work Wesley, but frankly it was freezing! Hopefully tomorrow will be better. She still hopes to sit on a horse.................

Day 95 - More of it.

After Fat Club Furry Mama took Minty Mutt for his daily meander. In her new attitude of letting him choose the route she opened the front gate and waited. Much to her surprise he hauled her down the road towards the very steep steps. Clever Bird is beginning to think that she should let Baggy take some of his anti-inflammatory liquid if it's making him feel that much better. Baggy was the one needing help to get up the steps today. Power-walking wasn't keeping Baggy up with the lad. It's lovely to watch though. He even almost got over the stile on his own. Not quite, but he gave it a whirl.

When Calum got home he was bouncing around like a large puppy, whimpering. Minty Mutt that is sillies, not Calum. Mind you, Calum was bouncing around like an even larger puppy, happy to be home after a long week away at work. The daft cats on the other hand both shot upstairs like idiots. Just in case a stranger was about to enter the house. They too were soon back downstairs purring their soppy little heads off having a cuddle from their Dad.

Baggy always feels a lot better when all her furries are at home. So much so in fact, that if the weather is okay tomorrow she may actually let Grotty Groom sit on a horse! Watch this space.......

Day 95 - Fat Club today.

Even though Baggy wasn't exactly one hundred percent on her healthy-eating plan this week, she still tried hard on five days. Plus Furry Mama and Grotty Groom have done a fair amount of exercise. So Clever Bird was optimistic. Mind you Clever Bird usually is optimistic. About many things. And is frequently wrong. But Baggy looks forward to her Slimming World meeting. She has lots of lovely friends there now. Yep, maybe she does see them only at Fat Club, but they're still friends. Very supportive ones at that! Not just over the whole losing weight thing either. Nope, they've supported Baggy every step of the way through her operations and during her recovery process. They are a lovely bunch. So Baggy had a little skip in her hobble, as she went to Club this morning.

Last week Mini-Baggy went with Baggy. She encouraged Baggy to fill in a "Food Diary" this week. Good girl Mini-Baggy. Baggy had lost two pounds. She is almost back down to the weight she had got down to when she discovered Lawrence-the-durmoid-cyst. Clever Bird is fascinated by the whole Food Diary process. When she doesn't keep one, she "thinks" she's being good. When she does keep one, she "knows" she's being good! Or not as the case might be. But at least she knows. It works well. Baggy is determined to get back down to the weight that she was when she met her husband. Contentment is very interesting on the waistline. So Food Diaries are the way forward. This week Mini-Baggy is also going to help Baggy to plan ahead. Well let's be serious about this, Mini-Baggy can't be putting weight on, now can she.........