The Domestic Goddess has reappeared - it's a miracle.

Clever Bird decides that Baggy is strong enough to blog again, so what happens? The sticks happens! Living in them, that is. It has just taken Creative Clara over twenty minutes to even get her blog to open, so if this will post, remains to be seen. Baggy and Calum love their little house, they love their little village, but they don't love the nineteenth century facilities! Not having decent (or frequently any) internet access in this day and age, is ridiculous. But Clara will remain optimistic and keep typing!

There were major storms in the little village last night. One of which was directly over the house. The timber-frame actually shook. Freda Fretter lay in bed worrying about the horses who were out for the night, with no rugs on, but Grotty Groom had heard nothing from the yard today, so presumably they were fine. The roads were totally flooded this morning when Furry Mama set off with Minty Mutt. Baggy had her dressed as though it was mid-winter and frankly in the rain and wind, it felt like it. But Furry Mama had promised Minty that whatever the weather he would get a nice long walk today. Minty wanted to go into The Thickets, so Furry Mama let him, as Creative Clara wandered along looking at the flattened cow parsley, the fallen leaves, the fallen twigs, the fallen branches - Clever Bird finally realised that perhaps walking under massive trees in gale force winds, was not the best plan. So they set off on the water meadows walk instead. It was very, very wet.

There were streams where there is normally just dry path. Clever Bird had to stop Mint jumping into the real stream, as it was so deep he would have disappeared under the water. But he still had fun! The Domestic Goddess was not amused when they got home. But at least Clever Bird had a towel ready.

The Goddess then spent the whole of the rest of the day, fighting the house. This is because, in view of Hormonal Hannah throwing dark moods at Baggy, The Goddess had once again used this as the perfect excuse to disappear to who knows where? She has been missing in action for about two weeks, so Baggy was quite impressed that she showed up today. Of course, Baggy is now exhausted and the house is still winning, but battle has at least resumed!

Now despite it being June tomorrow, The Goddess has had the fire going all day! But as she's just run out of coal, Clever Bird has just switched the night storage heater back on, so the house isn't freezing tomorrow. Ridiculous, Baggy was in a sundress two weeks ago! Yep bloggees, talking about the weather is an English national pastime, but is there any wonder? Whatever the weather tomorrow, Grotty Groom will be riding The Boy Wessles as he is having his saddle checked. None too soon either, as it was slipping rather a lot when Grotty was cantering him on Sunday, but Freda Fretter is crossing various bits that it will be dry and preferably not too windy.........

Ready or not - Baggy is back!

She's back! Thanks for your patience bloggees, but Baggy is back in the blog! Yep, there's nothing like Baggy having her husband home for a few days to get her brain back on track. Calum got home reasonably early on Friday, so after Fat Club (where, not surprisingly, as she's been comfort eating, there was a little more of Baggy), she took Grotty Groom to meet Cal at the yard. As there were very few people there, they decided to take the horses into the dressage arena, where the white boards marking out the arena, were still in place from the last competition. Clever Bird decided that it would be a good opportunity to instruct Calum on a few of the finer points of dressage (and the weird language that goes with it). Pretty good plan, except that both horses would have nothing to do with going to the far end of the school. Calum persuaded Joey in the end, but Wessles was having none of it. As it was building up to a drama, they had a rethink and went out on a hack instead. They found out later that there is a foxes' lair underneath the judge's hut, which was probably why the birds in the woodland behind the hut were losing the plot!

All was good with Baggy until she got home. Then Hormonal Hannah reintroduced the black mood of despair that keeps landing on Baggy without warning and for no apparent reason. Baggy had another mini-meltdown and felt even worse about it because Cal was home. But Cal let her talk her little head off between blubs and that seemed to help a bit. Then she got even worse, so at 7.30pm Cal suggested Furry Mama took Minty Mutt out for an evening stroll so that Baggy could get some air. More talking. More blubbing. But it did the trick and Baggy felt better after a good forty-five minute hike.

Saturday had Baggy and Calum up early to go into Sudbury for an appointment at the opticians. They got side-tracked into retail therapy at the rug stall on the market! Baggy keeps doing that to cheer herself up - not big and not clever! But the rugs are gorgeous and The Domestic Goddess is delighted with how the house is coming together. Another lovely hack out for Grotty Groom then home for Furry Mama to take Minty out. On Sunday, Baggy had a lie in, having slept fairly well (without nightmares) for the first time in days. Furry Mama and Cal took Minty out, then went up to Norfolk to visit Cal's Dad and Stepmum.

Today is a bank holiday in the UK, so Cal is home and Grotty and he went on an even longer hack. The weather is a little dubious - very windy, but at least it kept most of the flies off. Both horses enjoyed being out, especially as they had a few canters (even though the ground is now rather hard). It blew the cobwebs away and brought a very large grin to Baggy's face. Hormonal Hannah does keep trying to bring Baggy down, but keeping active definitely helps!

Other facts: marmalade on pickled beetroot and garlic flavoured toast is DISGUSTING. The Domestic Goddess has been sent running to the hills by Hannah (yes, any excuse and she vanishes), but not washing the board before she cut the bread - classic!

Today Calum shut her car door on Baggy (so that he could squeeze past), jet-propelling her head into the door frame! Baggy squealed; Calum said "sorry", whilst choking with laughter for the next five minutes.

Clever Bird nearly had The Domestic Goddess on a trip to A&E. Calum has told her hundreds of times, not to put sharp knives in the washing up bowl under the soap suds!!!! Fortunately, Baggy let go, before the blade cut too deep into her thumb.

Yep bloggees, Baggy is feeling better. Let's just hope that Hormonal Hannah doesn't plunge her back into a dark place when Calum goes back to work tomorrow........

Baggy needs a rest.

Sorry Baggy didn't check in yesterday bloggees. She is okay, but in spite of Grotty Groom and Furry Mama's best efforts, Hormonal Hannah is dominating the gang at the moment. To be fair, Baggy has some pretty stressful stuff to deal with, but that's not really the point. Clever Bird is actually beginning to realise that Baggy might be depressed, despite her denials to herself and everyone around her. Clever Bird has therefore taken the first step and referred Baggy for counselling, although this could take a few weeks. But yesterday, all the legal stuff with Baggy's Dad's house put her into a meltdown and had her up for most of the night. So this is just to let you know, that Clever Bird is making Creative Clara let Baggy have a break for a few days. Nope, nothing as good as a proper holiday, just a break from her blog and social media, as she needs to try to calm her brain down a bit!

So, thank you for your patience bloggees. Baggy and the gang hope that you will check back in when Baggy feels a bit stronger mentally.............

Baggy is managing to beat (up) Hormonal Hannah!

Wow! Hormonal Hannah is popular! Baggy's blog from yesterday has so far had 126 views. Thank you for caring bloggees. After the state that Hannah had Baggy in yesterday, (probably because she had exhausted her mentally), Baggy slept pretty well last night. In fact, she not only slept, but for the first time in weeks, she didn't have nightmares which she woke at the really bad bits of. She doesn't remember her dreams at all, so she woke up bright and chirpy.

Minty Mutt benefitted, as Furry Mama was keen to get out. Clever Bird decided last night, before bed, that she was going to make Furry Mama and Grotty Groom stand up to Hannah! Furry Mama went first and took Minty on the "water meadows" walk. Minty was feeling good too. Hannah had made Furry Mama forget to give him his painkiller, but he was still all bouncy. When he spotted a very large rabbit, he decided to chase it. He caught up with it!!!!!!! It stopped dead and froze in fear. Mint looked down at it, sniffed its back, then licked it! Soppy dog. "Leave it Mint", Mint lifted his head and turned to Furry Mama. The rabbit shot into the nettles. Then another appeared behind Mint - repeat performance. Bless him. Neither rabbit had the dreaded myxomatosis thankfully, both just seemed to be very big and old. Then a few yards later Furry Mama and Minty had an even more interesting encounter! The path was blocked.

Much negotiation took place. The cows were going nowhere. Clever Bird decided that Furry Mama should go back the way they had come. Minty Mutt was having none of it. Furry Mama gave in and decided to see if the cows were friendly.

They weren't, as they needed to look after their babies, so they wandered off. Furry Mama and Minty got through and Mint got what he wanted a drink and lie down in the stream. As they were walking along a path that was almost hidden by Cow Parsley, Clever Bird suddenly decided that Grotty should pick some for the Boys. She picked a HUGE bunch and looked ridiculous for the rest of the walk. As they entered into the back garden, Gloria Gardener pointed out to Clever Bird, the copious amounts of Cow Parsley that needed pulling up from the fences! Hmmm! Baggy laid the big heap of Cow Parsley on the outside table while Furry Mama dried Minty Mutt off. Went in and locked the back door, ready to leave the house. Clever Bird suddenly remembered the Cow Parsley. Went back out - carried it through the house and dropped it on the front lawn, while Furry Mama settled Minty Mutt. Baggy locked the front door; got in the car; started the engine. Clever Bird remembered the Cow Parsley on the front lawn. ****ing Hormonal Hannah. Baggy went back and got it; chucked it in the back of the car.

Grotty Groom told Hormonal Hannah, who was getting Baggy in a proper state about going to the yard, to back right off! Grotty adores her horse and wanted to be brave and school him, so in spite of Hannah making Baggy feel sick and breathless on the ten-mile drive to the yard, Baggy kept going. At one point on the drive, the anxiety was bordering on a panic attack, but Baggy started to sing to herself, and kept going. Grotty hopped out of the car and was greeted by a whicker from Wessles. She went over and stroked his nose. Clever Bird remembered the Cow Parsley that Baggy had left in the car. Arghhhhhh! The Boys were appreciative that Hormonal Hannah had lost that battle of remembrance.

Grotty took the Boy Wessles in the main (huge) arena. No one at all was around. Grotty schooled him for thirty minutes. Probably the first schooling session in three years! Grotty is a happy hacker normally. Clever Bird had forgotten just how well-schooled and responsive Wesley is. It was very apparent how on the wonk Baggy is, as Grotty attempted to ride Wessles properly!! Leg yields; when they were supposed to be going straight. Even a beautiful half-pass when attempting to canter up the centre line. Hmmmm! Rubbish. But Wesley was an angel and by the end of the session, Grotty was cantering twenty metre circles like a pro. And riding the full sixty metre length of the arena with no reins, Baggy's eyes closed and the gate wide open (to tempt Wesley out) and staying on a straight line. Yee-hah! Get stuffed Hormonal Hannah............

Baggy has dragged Hormonal Hannah to the Doctor's.

Well Hormonal Hannah has just demonstrated to the Doctor, exactly what kind of influence she is having on Baggy. Baggy cried all the way through her appointment - between blubs and apologies she just about managed to get some of how she was feeling across. She managed to remember to thank the Doctor for having discovered Lawrence-the-durmoid-cyst in the first place. She totally forgot to tell the Doctor that her heart has been being silly again. But she did (well Freda Fretter thinks she did) manage to explain that the biggest problem was Baggy's sudden lack of confidence about anything and everything. Which on some days results in her not wanting to leave the house - or truth be told - her bed. She also remembered to mention (rather erratically), that she might still be grieving for her Dad and even her Stepmother. The Doctor seemed convinced that Hormonal Hannah was the culprit and that the anxiety that she is causing Baggy is making all the other stuff worse.

Before the Doctor could offer Baggy HRT, Clever Bird explained that she didn't really want Baggy on it. The Doctor said that it would treat only the physical symptoms anyway. Well ghastly as they are, Baggy can cope with the hot flushes, the night sweats and even the sleeplessness (because she's used to it). It wouldn't help with the other stuff. So the Doctor asked if Baggy would consider anti-depressants. Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! Baggy has been on them briefly once before and had no idea what planet she was on. So, Clever Bird declined.

The poor Doctor then hesitantly asked whether Baggy would consider some form of "help" in the shape of counselling. Yes, that sounded like a plan. Baggy pocketed the self-referral card. Freda Fretter then asked the Doctor if Baggy was making a mistake declining HRT and anti-depressants. The Doctor was very quick to say that she wasn't. Phew. When she got home, Clever Bird spent half-an-hour filling in the self referral forms on line, only for the blooming system to refuse to accept Baggy's e-mail address as a valid one and reject it totally, so that she could not submit the form. Hormonal Hannah went from tears to fury in a second. Baggy's laptop just survived her outburst! Once Clever Bird had calmed her down, she told Baggy to call the phone number instead, tomorrow. Okay. And breathe Baggy.

The Domestic Goddess just cooked a Slimming World meal, or more accurately, warmed it up in the oven, having found it in the freezer. Good Baggy. Only for Hormonal Hannah to grate cheddar cheese all over it. Bad Baggy. Now she has remembered that she needs to try to do her physiotherapy exercise - how hard can lying straight be? Very hard for wonky Baggy (the sea anemone), especially with a full stomach. And now the pancakes are calling. Sigh.............

Grotty has been riding a Thelwell pony today.

Today has been a good day! Calum had to pick up his new glasses, so after Furry Mama had walked the Minty Mutt, Baggy and Cal drove into Sudbury. Picked up his glasses. Bought Baggy some rather nice sunglasses that will stay on her head when Grotty Groom is being tossed about by The Boy Wessles! Cal's insistence, to stop Baggy's cataract getting bad too quickly. Quick cappuccino and snack before heading to the yard. Grotty hasn't seen the Boys since Tuesday, so was very keen to get there. There was a dressage competition, so there was lots going on. The Boys are used to it now, and take it in their stride pretty much, which is fantastic! To the point where instead of taking the easy option and riding out of the yard, away from all the action, Grotty and Calum chose to ride through it. As Calum had decided that today the camera could go on Grotty's hat instead of his, Clever Bird would like to apologise a) for Baggy's wittering-on (constant reassurance to Wesley and making sure that by speaking she is breathing) and b) Baggy's constant looking everywhere - but you get the gist! Of all the horse-eating things to worry about, the pram was of course by far the most scary for Wesley!

Once through everything and on the fields, the views are beautiful, but the flies were pretty horrendous today, so Wesley did a lot of headshaking as Joey pootled along. Mind you it was Joey being the spooky one! Two quite big spooks - the second one, being at a horse in the paddock, letting off wind! Mind you Clever Bird thinks the horse scared itself too, the way it hurtled round the paddock afterwards.

Wesley just did an impersonation of a Thelwell pony for much of the ride. Grotty regularly found herself heading straight at a delicious bush or tree! Anyone would think that he was starving! Grotty spent a lot of the time trying to get his head out of the nearest plant, or up out of the grass! Just as well she adores the little monkey.

But considering how little work they've been doing they were both beautiful to ride and they seemed to enjoy being out. It's just a shame that the ground is already like concrete and uneven with it, so most of the ride was at a walk. Grotty will get Wessles into the school this week and try to get Baggy a bit fitter by schooling, rather than pootling!

The Domestic Goddess has rustled up supper, now it's flop time. Yep, a really lovely Sunday........

Home again.

Furry Mama, Calum and Minty Mutt went for a lovely walk in Lincoln this morning with their friend Dan and his daughter. It was a bit of a leap of faith, as Dan had no idea whether they would have to turn around and go back the way they had come, or whether a left turn would materialise and allow them to get back to the house, without walking miles. As they were following a river on their right, with a stream/ditch on their other side, it was touch and go!

But Clever Bird insisted that they kept going, rather than turning around and repeating a long route. Baggy hadn't the energy to carry Creative Clara's camera, having had pretty much zero sleep - this time due to Baggy's heart doing the whole boom, boomedy, boom, boomedy, booming thing, for hours! As Calum had been awake for over twenty-four hours, he didn't stir, in spite of Baggy literally throwing herself about to try to stop the erratic booming. It was making her breathless and dizzy and the more that Freda Fretter worried about it, the worse her breathlessness and the boomedy, booming got. So, Baggy had maybe two hours sleep - another thing that Baggy will have to re-discuss with the Doctor on Monday (although, thankfully this is the first time that it's happened in a few weeks). So, as a result, Calum was in charge of the camera. They had company for quite a few parts of the walk.

Calum got some shots that Creative Clara would have been quite chuffed with.

Fortunately, Clever Bird insisting that they went "just a little bit further", paid off. There was a left turn shortly after their wander with the ducks, and a cappuccino shop awaited! Well done Clever Bird (for once). Of course Calum got carried away and bought cream slices all round and Baggy had to eat it.

They drove home this afternoon via the scenic route along country roads, rather than along the main major roads that they'd gone up on. It took longer but was a much more pleasant journey. Hinge and Bracket were totally over excited to see Furry Mama - mainly to get fed packet food rather than the dried stuff, but at least they were pleased to see her!

The Domestic Goddess just rustled up a chilli con carnie. Even Hormonal Hannah is feeling chilled.....

Baggy has abandonment issues.

Baggy is with Calum and Minty Mutt in Lincoln for the night and tomorrow, visiting friends. Clever Bird has tried her phone and two laptops to produce her blog and finally figured out a way of doing it. (Laptops really don't like people other than their owners using them, do they?) Creative Clara wasn't going to bother, as Baggy is rather tired (and now on the wine), but having seen that more people have read yesterday's blog, than any previous one, Clever Bird has insisted that Clara writes something, so that bloggees know that she is fine. Yesterday was tough, the menopause is definitely not pleasant, but thanks to friends' helpful comments on Facebook about Baggy's blog yesterday, Clever Bird has acknowledged that a lot of Baggy's issues are likely to be as much about her grief over her Dad and Stepmother's deaths as it is the menopause - Hormonal Hannah is just compounding the situation. Baggy has abandonment issues (as Calum discovered to his cost when Baggy called off their wedding the first time they planned it - another story for another day)! These issues clearly are still not resolved and she is finally recognising that particularly her Dad's death, has affected her badly and Baggy has not dealt with it all. (Thank goodness that Calum is such a good bloke, or Baggy would be in serious trouble again).

In previous bereavement counselling when Baggy's real Mum died unexpectedly, Baggy was told that she had an attachment disorder - long story, but bloggees might see why from previous blogs.  She basically has abandonment issues and unfortunately was abandoned (big time) by her previous partner (probably inevitably) shortly after her Mum's death and this particular counselling!! Oh the irony! So, Clever Bird has finally (with the help of friends' and Calum's comments) realised that perhaps her Dad's unexpected death and her Stepmother's recent death, have raised all of these unresolved issues once again. BIG TIME.

So now, on Monday when Baggy goes to see the Doctor about her menopause symptoms, she is  going to be sure to talk about how she is feeling about her Dad and Mum's deaths, because she has a sneaky feeling that Baggy's feelings about this might actually be a much bigger factor, than Hormonal Hannah is, on Baggy's mental state at present (and that isn't great, truthfully). Now, please do not worry bloggees, because Baggy is a very strong old bird, and she will get through this, she always does, but she does recognise that she is rather unravelling at the moment, so it's very good to be away for a day.........

Hormonal Hannah seriously needs sorting out.

Well, time for Creative Clara to be honest (as Baggy promised she would be), about how the menopause has been affecting Baggy. Clever Bird could just use one word here: badly! Today was a bit of a classic. A solicitor called to speak to Baggy about the "dispute" over the ownership of the garden of her Dad's house. She seemed quite positive about it all, unlike previous conversations with other solicitors from the same practise. She said she needed as much evidence as Baggy could find about how long the garden had been enclosed. Now Baggy had done all of this four years ago, including getting photos together. But could she find them? Could she heck! Hormonal Hannah got her into more and more of a state over it. In the end she lost her temper and gave up looking. She had just decided that maybe they were in one of the crates in the shed, and Calum (who was home for the afternoon) had offered to help her look, when Psychic Ploppo merrily grabbed a file on the spare chair. Yes, bloggees, it was the one that she had just spent the previous hour searching for. So, how did Baggy react? Lots of whooping with joy; laughter; relief? Nope, she burst into hysterical sobs and couldn't stop crying. The more she tried not to cry, the worse she got. The nicer Calum was to her, the more upset she became.

When Baggy tried to figure out why, Clever Bird realised that it was because she just feels overwhelmed by it all. Hormonal Hannah has kicked her confidence so far into touch, that she doesn't think she is capable of sorting out the issue. Mind you that's not as irrational as it sounds considering that during the search, she found an invoice already paid to the solicitor for over £1,200 for this to be sorted three years ago! At that time they said the exact opposite of what the lady said today! However, Baggy is going to trust that the new lady might be right and pray that it doesn't cost thousands more; as she seems to think that there is a good argument in Baggy's favour. But all Hormonal Hannah can think is a) that she can't cope and b) that her Dad would be horrified that she's having to deal with it. Even typing that has got Hannah so worked up that Baggy is now literally the colour of a beetroot and shiny with sweat. At least Baggy's appointment to see the Doctor about taming Hannah is fairly soon..........

Furry Mama is relieved.

When your children have four legs and fur and don't speak terribly great English, it's very easy to over worry about them. Furry Mama has been doing precisely that about Minty Mutt. It's a sad fact of life, that furry children are likely to die before their Furry Parents, but that doesn't make it any easier to accept. Minty Mutt is now nine years and two months old, so in human years he's seventy-three and he's definitely been feeling his age. Since he's been on Metacam, the anti-inflammatory painkiller, he is loads better, but Freda Fretter has been worrying Furry Mama that perhaps it is just disguising his pain, and he has been getting worse without her realising. Well today was Mint's annual check-up and injection day, so it was with some trepidation that Furry Mama got his car ramp out, to take him to the vets. Fortunately, Minty loves going to the vets and in the car, so was quite happy to get a move on, when Baggy realised that she had been faffing about so much trying to decide what to wear, that she was late!

The excellent news is that the chief-honcho vet, who has met Mint a few times and prescribed the Metacam, is delighted with him. He agrees that Minty has found his inner puppy. He also reassured Freda, that Metacam could not mask the pain if it were something really serious, like a bad back. He also said that his boss, years ago, used to swear by the stuff and took it himself! He reckoned that it was better than anything the Doctor prescribed him. The vet did say that he hadn't tried it himself though! Clever Bird then asked for three large bottles of the stuff - while promising a) not to over dose Mint and b) not to take it herself; although Baggy is seriously tempted!!! Haha.

Furry Mama was so pleased with the news that she decided to take advantage of being in beautiful Long Melford and take Minty for a long walk - just as it decided to absolutely chuck it down. Baggy's faffing had resulted in her putting on a nice outfit, suitable for a warm, DRY, spring day. An hour later Minty and Baggy were totally soaked and Baggy was positively frozen. Good reason to go and get a cappuccino in Baggy's favourite café. Furry Mama did mention that they were a bit soggy, but Clever Bird had failed to notice the black river-mud dripping from Minty's under-belly, from where he had dived in, nearly taking Baggy with him, as he was still on the flexi-lead. But there is a reason why it's Baggy's favourite café; not only do they do the best cappuccino going, they didn't mind the wet, black water that we left all over the floor - well at least it was a hard surface,  not a carpet.

Home again, at least Furry Mama remembered to dry the lad off, so The Domestic Goddess didn't have to swear at her when he sprawled out on the lovely new, old, Afghani rug. Fire lit, (eventually, it took over an hour to get it going), just in time for Hormonal Hannah to give Baggy a full-on hot flush. Baggy fed. Creative Clara has tweeted (she now has over three hundred followers - who'd have thunked it?), written her latest www.channillo.com Journal Series entry (and realised that she had another new subscriber to it), written this blog and will shortly be getting on with her novel. It's definitely an indoor day. Tea required...........

Is it okay to have favourites?

Baggy has been having a bit of a think today, about whether it's okay to have favourites. Should you have a favourite child? Probably not; but do you have one anyway? Furry Mama thinks that she can honestly say that she doesn't have a favourite. She loves them all equally, but for rather different reasons. Well let's get real here, if she loved Calum in the same way that she loved Minty Mutt, that could get a little weird.

But she has decided that some of her gang members are much more likeable than others. Truthfully she feels a little guilty about this, but there you have it. No prizes bloggees for guessing who her least favourites are. They are the trouble makers; Hormonal Hannah and Freda Fretter. But Baggy does love them anyway - she has to, they are a very large part of her and neither of them are that bad really. Freda has been with Baggy all her life, so she's used to her worry-mongering. Hormonal Hannah is the newest member of the gang, thanks to Baggy being an old (well, middle-aged bird), and more to the point, thanks to Lawrence-the-durmoid-cyst making Baggy have a hysterectomy and an oophorectomy, but she is a proper nuisance. But Baggy is going to get some help in handling the old bag fairly soon. So yes, least favourite is Hannah, second least is Freda.

The favourites are fairly obvious too - Grotty Groom and Furry Mama keep Baggy happiest. Baggy is never happier than when she is with her furries or her horses. She is by far her happiest, when number one furry Calum is with her and her other furries, or the horses. Simples.

But today, much to Baggy's surprise, she realised that Gloria Gardener is becoming a bit of a favourite too. The garden has been cut and weeded once more today and is almost beginning to look like a garden, rather than a tiny hay field. It's a rain and sun and Gloria miracle. Creative Clara is obviously a favourite too, she's loving blogging and writing her novel. Clever Bird couldn't decide who comes next, certainly not her! Probably Archaeologist Annie, although she doesn't manage to do much these days, but even this morning, Annie finds it impossible not to "field-walk" when Furry Mama is out with Minty Mutt; she found a lovely Mesolithic hand axe.

Baggy loves Lady Eadwynn too, as although she only generally appears in the summer months, when she does appear, she always has Calum and sometimes has Minty Mutt with her, as well as lots of good equally nutty, re-enacting friends.

Next, another one who tends to only make an appearance in the summer, Hairy Biker Hen. Baggy has mixed feelings about her, but she's okay. Baggy is not sure that she'll be strong enough to let her loose with her Kawasaki this summer, but she's sure to give it a go, as she's a determined bird.

Now Clever Bird! Well bloggees you might be wondering why she is down there with Freda and Hannah, well that's simple really, yes she is highly intelligent, but crumbs can she be stupid?! Letting The Domstic Goddess lift aluminium foil off a boiling pan, being a classic Clever Bird manoeuvre - days and days of bandaged fingers!

Mind you she did then find a way of getting Lady Eadwynn to disguise it!

Of course The Domestic Goddess is low in Baggy's ratings, not because Baggy doesn't like her, she loves her; she just hates her duties, which is why she rarely bothers doing them. But, favourites or not so favourites, Baggy loves them all. Where would she be without them after all?.............

Hormonal Hannah and computers are NOT a good combination!

Clever Bird has been meaning to say for quite a while now (but Hormonal Hannah keeps making her forget), that she would like to apologise to any bloggees who have posted a comment on this blog and not had a response from Baggy! It's not that Baggy hasn't tried to respond - she has on numerous occasions - but she can't. No idea why, it used to work perfectly, but Baggy is now no longer able to post comments on her own blog. So, apologies. Clever Bird suspects that bloggees probably can't comment either, which is a bit of a shame, as Baggy would love to hear from you, but despite talking to the BlogSpot.com help lot, it still doesn't work. Sorry! Very annoying, but whether Clever Bird switches her cookies on or off, she can't get it sorted.

Mind you, it's nowhere near as maddening as Baggy's bank. She tried to make a payment online, it advised her to download some more software for security reasons, so she did. It then told her to enter the four-digit code from the card reader, after having inserted her card in it. What blooming card reader? Baggy has never been sent one. So she decided to phone and ask - yes right, fat chance. There is no phone number on the entire website. It's a miracle that Baggy's laptop lived to tell the tale, as let's just say that Hormonal Hannah was getting a little irate! At one point she typed into the "contact us" search box, "Just give me your f***ing phone number". No they didn't. She gave up. When is the world going to accept that not everything can be done on-line? Especially when your internet connection runs at baby-snail pace. Cheque in the post it is then. Grrrrrrrrrr!

Grotty Groom did get to hack once again today though, so that calmed Baggy beautifully. Creative Clara has to be honest, Freda Fretter wasn't a hundred percent certain how it would go, as Wesley has not ridden out with any other horse than Joey since last September. As you will realise by now, Wesley can be a numpty. On previous occasions when this situation had arisen, Wesley has pranced and whinnied pretty much through the entire ride and that was with horses that he'd ridden out with previously. Today's hack was with a horse he hasn't even met before. But, as he's been doing since Baggy's surgeries, he looked after her beautifully. They just walked, but both horses were perfectly chilled out. Good lads. Grotty will be doing the same again tomorrow, but on a longer route.......

Lovely Sunday for the gang.

Baggy Body had a well-deserved lie-in.

Furry Mama and Calum took the Minty Mutt for a walk.

Clever Bird persuaded Baggy to get The Domestic Goddess to rustle up some brunch.

Baggy took Grotty Groom and Calum over to see the Boys. Groomed The Boy Wessles; took all his plaits out and scratched his neck like it was going out of fashion.

Grotty and Calum went out for a reasonably (for Baggy) long hack, of over an hour. It was wonderful, both Boys couldn't have been calmer. Well, Wessles could have been calmer, but the poor sausage was suffering big time because of the pollen and flies. But despite this, they even had a bit of a canter. Please join us for a minute if you fancy it bloggees!

 

Clever Bird was anticipating the sudden nose to ankle scratches today, before Wessles did them, so after the first one, there was no danger of Baggy going through his ears, as Grotty had pushed her legs forward! Having said that, the one that Wessles decided to try in a fast hunting-trot was a tad disconcerting.

Joey munched cow parsley all the way round the ride. Grotty would not let Wessles do the same - let's just say, "Give him an inch....". So when she got back she went and picked him a bunch to eat in his stable. He was very grateful - but he deserved it.

The Domestic Goddess has got the roast pork supper cooking.

Creative Clara is blogging and will shortly be getting back to her novel writing.

Gloria Gardener has watered the pot gardens.

A Sunday, as Sunday should be. Very happy, very lucky Baggy.......

Baggy is going to need more surgery.

Getting old is an interesting process. Baggy's brain is still young. Very young lots of the time, for instance she is currently watching The Smurfs and loving it, having just watched Lawrence-the-durmoid-cyst on his new adventures in The Dark Crystal. Yep, Baggy is in charge of the remote control until Calum gets hold of it to watch The Eurovision Song Contest. Sigh! But the rest of Baggy seems to be aging annoyingly (well, not that annoyingly really), at least she is aging and is pretty fit, but Clever Bird wasn't quite expecting all the aches and pains, and bits wearing out! It is (to her at least), amazing how weak she still is after the Lawrence surgery. But for once, she is doing the physio. exercises she's been given. (A minor miracle frankly). She only has two. For the first, all she has to do is to lie on the floor in a straight line; so, easy, right? - she still can't do it, until "moved" into position by Calum. The second is to "use" the muscle that runs between her pelvis - she has to hold it for 110 seconds. She can just about manage 15 seconds, after a week of doing it! So, getting there, slowly, BUT, getting there.

Then this morning, Calum and Baggy had to go and have their eyes tested. Baggy finally realised this morning, why Freda Fretter had been putting it off. Clever Bird knew that Baggy had a cataract growing on her left eye, Freda was worried that it's dramatically worse and will need an operation. Well, it is worse (but not too dramatically) and she will. Apparently, she has 60% vision out of it, but although it could be operated on now, she can't face a third operation in under a year! So she has to go back in twelve months and get it checked again. If vision is down to 50% she will have to have the operation whether she wants it or not. What Clever Bird had not realised is that a trauma to the head can cause them in the first place and make them considerably worse, so Baggy will try to make sure that Grotty Groom doesn't give Baggy another concussion. She also didn't know that UV light makes them worse (yep, this is Clever Bird after all), so she has to try to wear sunglasses when she's out and about. Well, at least Baggy will look cool! She might even dig her sports ones out for Grotty to ride in (as if she doesn't already have enough "safety" items to put on). The good news was that as she only wears glasses for close stuff, she didn't have to buy new ones.

So, because she was so relieved that she'd avoided an operation, Hormonal Hannah got involved and decided that the money that would have had to go on glasses, could go on something else instead. Yes, well we all know that the woman is a nightmare. Correct bloggees, there was no money available in the first place - plus Calum  did have to buy glasses, so really they should just have gone home. Instead they toddled to the market. To be fair Baggy has been on a rug search for a while because Furry Mama needed to stop poor Minty Mutt's callouses on his elbows from getting worse - remember the rag rugs bloggees? Then a few weeks ago Calum and Baggy bought a rug at auction, but without having checked how thick it was - well it's as thick as toilet paper! They had also assumed that it was wool. It isn't, it's synthetic. So although it looks lovely, it has actually made poor Mint's elbows even worse. So today they rectified the situation by buying a wool, hand-knotted, Iranian antique rug. Much rearranging of furniture later, the rug is down, the gaps have been filled by little Afghani rugs (used by the women to kneel at their ovens) and Creative Clara adores the nutty effect and Furry Mama is hoping that Minty may now be comfortable. Not that the mutt is spoiled at all.......

Baggy has had a very difficult day.

Truth be told, Baggy has had a very difficult day. Clever Bird reckons that it's why Freda Fretter has had Baggy stuffing her face with rubbish all week, she's been dreading today. Silly really, as it should have been exciting, but it wasn't. Three things were happening today: Fat Club, visiting Dad's house and Calum going to the doctor's. So Freda Fretter has got herself in a state all week and had Baggy comfort-eating.

So stage one, go to Fat Club. Baggy had given herself a target last week of two pounds for this week. Unfortunately, Clever Bird mucked that up nicely - losing two pounds was the target, NOT doing what Baggy did and putting them on. No surprise really, just disappointing. Calum offered to drive to Dad's, as Freda had got Baggy in such a state that last night she couldn't sleep, and then kept getting hiccoughs! All day today, she has been struggling to swallow properly. Rubbish. They got to Halesworth really early, so had a bit of a mooch and went to the brilliant Hideout Café that a couple of Calum's cousins have opened. Cappuccino consumed and a friend of Baggy's Dad and Stepmother bumped into, Freda Fretter then realised that they were running late to get to Baggy's Dad's house (or to be more accurate, Baggy's house, as it now is).  Calum and Baggy were to meet the tenant and wanted to check out how the house was, as Baggy hadn't seen it for over a year.

Soul-destroying is how it was!

Baggy realised why Freda Fretter was so stressed about going. They knew that it had damp problems, but had not realised how bad it was. But it was seeing it, that was so upsetting for Baggy. She has not been there since her Step-Mum died last December and it hasn't really been very well looked after, since her Dad died (nearly four years ago now). Baggy's Dad always kept it looking immaculate outside and her Mum kept it looking immaculate inside, so it was a shock. Outside needs painting and quite a few building repairs. Inside has black mould growing in places and lots of ruined bits where the roof has leaked. But the worst thing was the garden that was Baggy's Mum and Dad's pride and joy. Long story short, it is a near vertical bank up to a field and although the garden has been fenced off as part of the house for over thirty-five years, apparently it did not belong to the house!!!! While Baggy's Dad was alive the farmer bought it (not that Baggy's Dad knew, or was informed)! Then days after Baggy's Dad died the farmer sold some of it to a neighbour! So there's been a bit of a "dispute" over it ever since, but Baggy has had no legal right to go on it. It is now a bramble jungle! She is working on trying to buy it for the house, but in the meantime it will get even worse. The tenant seems a nice chap, but he is a bit of a hippy and the place looked like a student bedsit, with a very large dog who had beds everywhere. So Baggy got upset. Very upset.

But as Calum said to her, "It's just a house, one of many that they lived in". True. Most of the work that needs doing (although going to be expensive) is cosmetic. Baggy got upset that her Dad would be upset, but that's equally silly. He would probably just be happy that it is now hers and that at some point in the future they may choose to live there. In the meantime, the tenant and his Giant Schnauzer, love it and are happy to cope with the damp. So Hormonal Hannah needs to stop making Baggy stress over it.

Most importantly, Calum is okay. Baggy just needs to get him and her on an even healthier diet, so that he stays that way. Now she somehow needs to stop stressing over everything and remember that she is very fortunate to have her own health, happy furries and her Dad's lovely house, that just needs some TLC to get it back to how it should be........

Out and About.

Calum has the day off tomorrow and got home early enough today for Grotty Groom to go on a hack with him. Much as Baggy adores her husband, he is a nightmare! She has been struggling all week with her diet - even resorted to the ubiquitous pancakes last night, to which even Calum called her hopeless - SO, why did he come home with a piece of takeaway Victoria Sponge Cake for her? When Clever Bird asked him precisely this question, he said, "To prove that I think about you every second". Ah well, Baggy will shortly be enjoying it with a cup of tea. She is now dreading Fat Club tomorrow - she is just hoping that all the exercise might let her get away with a very bad week! Hmmmm, Clever Bird is not entirely sure that Baggy did enjoy that - serves her right that she now feels a bit sick!

Anyway, Grotty and Calum had a lovely hack out, apart from whatever it was today that was causing Wesley's head-shaking! Probably everything actually, wind, flies, bright sun and extremely high pollen count. But he still looked after Grotty beautifully. Admittedly she did nearly go through his ears a few times again, poor sausage has a sudden desperate need to rub his nose on his hoof and it throws a weak Baggy forward out of the saddle; note to Clever Bird: there's a reason why Grotty had shortened Baggy's stirrups right up and ridden "short" for the last few years! But Grotty really wants to ride with longer legs, so she will persevere. The full body shakes are also a little disconcerting when Baggy has no core strength to sit them, but Wessles will always be Wessles. The good news is that Grotty's confidence is very high nonetheless and although these "moments" do make Baggy swear rather loudly, they also make her laugh, rather than panic. It is just bliss to be well enough to be riding the Boy again.

It was almost too hot for Minty Mutt, so he decided to do a full roll in the stream when Furry Mama took him out. Of course he was then covered in mud, but the lad was happy. In fact Baggy seems to have very happy furries all round at the moment. Even the Hinge cat actually seems much happier since she had her tail end amputated, so Furry Mama is very content.......

Grotty is trying to get Baggy fit.

Grotty Groom persuaded Baggy to muster up the energy to go and see the Boys. There is nothing like knowing that you have an "end point" to aim at, to create a bit of urgency. The 24th July will be upon Baggy before she knows what's happened if she doesn't get Grotty riding. So once again Grotty took Wesley into the indoor school. All the poles and jump ends were still in there, but had been totally rearranged, so Grotty could get Wesley to chicane round jump ends, as well as go over poles. The rain had stopped before they went in today, so it didn't sound anywhere near as scary. Wesley was totally chilled; so chilled in fact that after a while Grotty decided to risk a bit of trotting.

Now it's not Hormonal Hannah talking, when Creative Clara explains that this was, well, just totally terrible! Clever Bird is pretty sure that because Baggy has absolutely no core strength, she therefore can't keep her position, so is tensing up. Wessles then, either tenses up himself, or is in pain (not sure which), but he arches his back and sticks his nose in the air until Grotty resumes walk. So they walked again. Then as Baggy's back was beginning to hurt, Grotty decided to let Wesley stretch. He always does things to the extreme and started walking round, pushing his nose in the sand! So Grotty decided to see whether she could steer him with no reins (just her bottom). She did! Clever Bird had forgotten just how responsive the Boy is - he was totally over-reacting, turning-on-a-sixpence in fact, so Grotty reduced her movements. Managed the chicane with no reins. But no core strength equals no leg strength either, so the circles were more ovals, but Wesley did everything he was asked. Grotty just wasn't getting what she wanted - because she wasn't asking properly. It was an interesting reminder of what a well-schooled horse Wesley is, but if he is not ridden correctly, he lets the rider know!

Having received this reminder, Grotty decided to trot him once more, with no rein contact whatsoever - he trotted like a diamond! Clearly her stress was being transported down the reins. Confidence built up, Grotty decided to walk the lad around the yard. She set off down the car park, Wesley started to stress that he was going for a hack on his own. Grotty turned him back up the yard. You could hear the sigh of relief. Grotty rode him up to the lorry park, Wesley started to worry again, especially when Joey started calling to him, but mission accomplished, she turned him round to head back to the indoor school. Wessles then did a Wessles, Grotty was suddenly hurtling through the lorry park in a fast canter - a sparrow probably gave him a funny look - but Grotty asked him calmly to stop, and he did. She wasn't worried and she wasn't unseated at all.

All in all, she thought that she was riding for about fifteen minutes again, but actually it was over thirty and she loved every second of it. Yee-hah..............

Soggy!

Grotty Groom dressed Baggy this morning. The millisecond that she was dressed, Minty Mutt started bouncing about like an over-sized puppy. Yesterday, when Furry Mama walked him on a short walk, he chased after some rabbits at the speed of lightening, like he used to do in the old days, so Clever Bird decided not to give him any painkiller to see how stiff he was. Well he's had none for two days now and is pretty okay, so Furry Mama took Baggy over. Minty chose the walk: The Dormouse Sanctuary, followed by Ager Fen (over an hour). Clever Bird had once again omitted to check the weather, although the heavy grey sky would have been a bit of a clue, if she'd had Baggy's brain in gear.

It was a lovely day in terms of the birdsong, which at times was virtually deafening it was so loud and so varied. Baggy is very spoilt to live in this stunning area. Minty Mutt was sniffing everything, as always, but even Baggy's comparatively non-existent sense of smell, could detect the wild garlic. Apparently, sticking your nose in it is not that great a plan; a sneezing fit ensued - no bloggees, Minty Mutt, NOT Baggy - seriously, how daft do you think she is? Nope, don't answer!!! For a clever mutt....

Well, the grey clouds that had been a feature all the way round, decided to empty themselves at the furthest point of the walk (naturally), so Baggy was sporting the drowned-rat look rather fetchingly she thought (not).

So as a result, Grotty is now soaked and trying to decide whether Baggy has the energy to go over and ride the Boy Wessles once again.........

What a difference a day makes! Grotty rides again!

Fact 1: Baggy over did it yesterday.

Fact 2: That is no surprise at all.

Fact 3: Baggy has made up for it today!

Yesterday she was up before 7.00am. Today she didn't emerge until 10.00am. Yesterday it was in the twenties degrees Centigrade and sunny. Today it is twelve degrees and has not stopped raining. That's little old England for you! Baggy dragged herself out of bed and flopped about for a bit, then, after her morning phone call with Calum, decided that she needed to take Grotty Groom over to the yard to ride the Boy Wessles. If Baggy is to have any chance of making the most of Grotty's July trip to Ashen Equestrian Centre, she needs to ride and get her core strength back. Now this is a BIG deal for Baggy. Hormonal Hannah has no idea whether she is repeating herself - if she is then apologies bloggees - but Wesley is not the innocent little coloured cob that he looks. He is very very sharp and due to his kissing spine (a very painful back condition), he has put Grotty in hospital four times, when it has hurt and he has felt the need to bronck Baggy off his back. Along with his over-spookiness, this is a disaster waiting to happen, so Grotty doesn't usually ride alone - just in case. The Boy has a "quirky" personality, but he doesn't have a bad bone in his body and when things do go pear-shaped with him (very, very rarely, to be fair), it is never nasty, but frequently dramatic! But needs must, as all her hacking partners have left the yard! As Calum pointed out, unless she rides often, she will not get her muscle memory back.

So Grotty was determined, in spite of the pouring rain, that she was going to ride! Clever Bird decided that rather than Wesley and Grotty getting soaked, they should go in the little indoor school. Remember folks that this is a Clever Bird decision! Wesley has only ever been in there about five or six times and only once since he returned to Boyton Hall eighteen months ago! Plus Baggy was nervous. Plus it was pouring with rain and pouring off the roof out of the guttering, down the wall. So Grotty decided to switch the lights on and leave the doors open, mount up (in the rain) on the yard and ride him in. The arena was full of cavelletti-jumps (a long line of little jumps in a row), so Baggy dropped all the poles to the ground before they went in. Because Baggy was nervous, Wessles wasn't too sure either, but he went in. He was a little lively, but listened to Grotty and Baggy soon realised that she was being an idiot. Wesley has been looking after her ever since her operations - he definitely knows that she is not totally fit. So she relaxed and although he still was a bit nervous, from the constantly flicking of his ears, he was paying attention to Grotty while he fretted about all the spooky noises. At one point he did exit the school completely, to check why horses were going past, but he went straight back in again when asked.

Grotty decided that as Wesley was being so good, she would check out how wonky Baggy was, by aiming for a coloured panel on the jump poles that were on the floor with her eyes shut! This required riding for about ten yards holding Wesley in a straight line from feel alone i.e. if she didn't sit straight, he would not go straight. On the first two attempts Grotty had steered Wessles about three feet to the left. On goes three and four she hit the spot perfectly. Yee-hah! Little things! Baggy loves that horse so much! It is hard work schooling when you're out of practise, for horse and rider, let alone a "recovering" rider, so after fifteen or twenty minutes, even though they had only worked in walk, they stopped. Baggy hopped off. Wesley just stood, even though he was completely loose, with an open door, while Grotty undid his girth. She is very proud of the lad. Baggy drank tea then took Grotty over to groom Joey, who you couldn't really see for mud (he had a lovely roll last night!). The metal tool that Calum had bought, made the job so easy, that Grotty decided that Wessles needed one too. Good excuse to visit Long Melford on the way home.

While there, Baggy decided that she needed a new bra. All this weight loss means that Grotty is bouncing her around rather a lot when Wessles trots! The shop however, was shut for lunch. As Baggy's favourite café is next door, it seemed sensible to go and have a cappuccino while she waited. Then of course the Heavenly sausage rolls screamed at her and she just had to have a bit of lemon sponge! Well she had earned it. Fat Club will be interesting this week! But life is short and Baggy wanted to celebrate Grotty's success............

Clever Bird might just be a little bit cuckoo.

Hormonal Hannah is something else! The woman will insist on giving Baggy a devastating "night sweat" at around 5.00 to 6.00am every day. Today Baggy woke at 5.30am, Hannah struck; Baggy was still awake at 7.00am having waved Calum off to work at 6.45am, so she unpeeled herself from the sheets and got up. Yeah, unheard of bloggees. By 8.00am, The Domestic Goddess had done last night's washing up, (well you didn't seriously think she would have done it last night surely?), put a load of washing on, brought yesterday's washing in from the line (Clever Bird repeats, you didn't think she would have done that yesterday did you?), made Baggy some breakfast and vacuumed the kitchen!

Furry Mama had fed everyone and was out with Minty Mutt by 8.05am!!!!!! Clever Bird had made error number one of the day, she decided that as it was once again beautiful, she would get Baggy to wear a summery outfit. BIG mistake. Baggy is really not very keen on May flies, they give her the creeps, Freda Fretter seems to think that they will hurt her somehow (although Clever Bird is pretty sure that they don't bite or sting), but regardless, Baggy does not like them! So why oh why did Clever Bird choose to dress Baggy like a giant yellow flower? She had her own eco-system as she walked along and the blooming things followed and dive-bombed her!

 

Minty Mutt had the right idea, escape them and the heat by hurling yourself in the stream.

 



Baggy did hear her first cuckoo of the year. Then fairly soon afterwards, her second. And, no bloggees, it was NOT Baggy, although Clever Bird might well be a little cuckoo. The bluebells are still in full flower and all the birds were singing their little hearts out. It was good to be out.

Furry Mama put the hose in his leaky paddling pool for him when they got back. It cooled him down and more importantly, got the stinky river mud off him. The Domestic Goddess had a sense of humour failure with Furry Mama though when Minty decided to shake said water off, not in the garden, no, in the middle of the sitting room. Gloria Gardener then persuaded Baggy that she should have priority today as the weather is due to go pear-shaped again. So by 11.30am all the pots were watered, the front and back lawns were cut and the little flower bed weeded. Now regular bloggees might be wondering how Gloria cut the front lawn, rather than strimming it; as Baggy lives in a mid-terrace house. Well, Clever Bird got Gloria to take the lawnmower through the house - her second error of the day! The Domestic Goddess had a second fit when she saw how much grass was on the rugs and the kitchen floor that she had previously vacuumed. Then she realised that the new rug is soaked where Minty had laid on it. Ah well, situation normal in the Baggy household then!

Clever Bird did see her neighbour shortly after this drama and requested that the right-of-way that Baggy has through their garden be made so that she can actually get through it, because The Goddess may well kill Gloria if she makes that much mess on a weekly basis. Not to mention that Baggy seriously struggled to get the blooming mower through in the first place. Time for her to do those physio. exercises........

Grotty Groom rides again.

Clever Bird was well aware that t'internet is the biggest spy machine on the planet and it really doesn't bother her that much. Baggy doesn't put stuff on, that she isn't happy to share. But even Clever Bird hadn't totally appreciated the spying level! The other day she had a personal message conversation in a small group on Facebook, with a friend who wanted to get hold of a chicken coop. Okay. Clever Bird thought the key was in the word "personal" i.e. she thought that it was private. Silly Clever Bird. The next day, on her blog (not Facebook) she had three different adverts for chicken coops. Hmmmm. Of course now, she'll have even more, but Furry Mama has always fancied having a few chickens, so she will read the ads. And why not, since she also gets paid for reading them? She was added to a group conversation about crocheting too - she doesn't crochet, so left the group, but Clever Bird awaits the ads for crochet hooks with interest.

Baggy totally overslept today. She only woke up because she was having an absolutely awful dream that Joey was dying from a heart attack. She woke just as she had reached his head and the man who was about to shoot him. Ghastly! So of course Grotty wanted to go straight to the yard to check that he was okay. Furry Mama walked Minty Mutt first. Then Calum and Baggy took Grotty over to the yard. The Boys were happily munching straw - yes straw - totally ignoring their hay! They had a lovely groom. Then they all set out on a hack, in the midday heat. Grotty did dress Wessles as a zebra, to try to keep the files off, but he was still head-shaking for England because of the pollen presumably. Interestingly, he was much worse when we headed straight into the wind. But Baggy felt a little stronger today, so they went quite a lot further. By the end of the ride, Grotty was almost trotting in a good straight line and Wessles as always recently, was totally chilled out. Well until he spotted a pony in a shiny "cape", then he freaked out slightly, daft horse. But they were riding for over an hour and Baggy felt okay, which was a relief. More to the point, despite it being over 24 deg. Centigrade, neither horse was sweating very much at all, so they are a lot fitter than Baggy or Calum (all that work on the horse-walker), which is good, because Baggy's dream is obviously due to Freda Fretter wondering whether they have time to get fit enough for their three day's training at the end of July. They do, and they will. It was a lovely ride.

After they had cooled down in their stables for a while, whilst Calum and Baggy had a cup of tea, Grotty decided both of them deserved a nice refreshing cool shower. However the water was freezing! Wesley's stomach was tucking right up and he was flinching, trying to break away from his tether, so it was obviously unpleasant. So they both ended up having a hot shower as there is no way at the moment of putting a tiny bit of hot with the cold, so it could be warm. Silly! Ah well, they enjoyed it and it got a lot of sweat, dirt and hair out, so they needed it. Much mane, tail and feathers brushing later, both Boys were almost sparkly. Just ready to be turned out so that they can have a lovely roll in the dirt overnight.........

Baggy had to kiss a lot of princes to find her toad!

Firstly, apologies for the lack of blog yesterday bloggees, but Baggy was way too busy for Creative Clara to get a look in! She was up at 7.30am (yes, quite - unheard of, but she really was), and Furry Mama was walking the Minty Mutt by 8.00am. She then shot off to Fat Club, with a serious amount of trepidation, but it was fine; amazingly. Then she shot back home again and played with Minty Mutt for a while before heading off to her reunion with her four best friends from school. The reunion was at Ali's house and despite the fact that she lives only thirty minutes drive away, the last time Baggy saw her was about nine years ago! Baggy last saw Rosie and Sue, maybe eleven or twelve years ago! Hilary, she has seen recently, having got back in touch with her last year, so it took a few moments for Clever Bird to "recognise" her school friends, but only a few moments. Really good friends, like these girls are to Baggy, have so much history together (seven years of secondary school), that they soon were reminiscing and filling in the gaps of the missing "adult" years.

After home-made soup and yes, home-made cake, they then went for a "short" walk. Three and a half hours later, having walked through Constable country to Dedham Mill (where Clever Bird suddenly remembered that Baggy and Sue had competed in a canoe-slalom competition forty years ago!), they arrived "home" again. Baggy struggled a little after her physio. on Thursday, combined with the fact that all the others knew they were going for a "little" walk and had hiking boots on, Baggy was wearing hippy sandals. After photo viewing (through the ages - literally), and assisting with supper preparation (a vegetarian feast), the Prosecco appeared, Baggy declined as she had to go home. The others moaned, "No, stay". Baggy phoned Calum to see what time he would get home, realised that Minty would be fine, asked if he minded if she stayed. Course he didn't. He even offered to drive over once he got home, with stuff for her to sleep in etc, but Hormonal Hannah didn't want to put him out, so she told him not to worry. Prosecco consumed. White wine opened. And consumed. More white wine opened and consumed. The meal was just going on the table when Calum called asking where Baggy was. She told him. He was already only about a hundred yards away, with all her night stuff. Bless him. Baggy was by now sozzled. "You didn't bring any wine did you?" "Urm, no, I could go and get some". But the village shop was closed by then, so Baggy waved him off. They had sat down to eat the delicious dinner, when Calum appeared in the room (nearly gave everyone a heart attack), clutching three bottles of white wine and a large box of chocolates. They was so much yacking and laughing going on, no one had heard the doorbell, knocking or yelling. Bless him. Baggy had to kiss a lot of princes to find her toad, but she got there in the end!

The vegetarian dishes were really lovely and healthy, although a couple were a little spicy for Baggy who doesn't normally consume jalapenos. Baggy loved the black beans that she had never tried before. Puddings (yes plural) and more white wine were consumed. More yacking. Music selected. More wine consumed. It was 1.00am. Bed time. At 3.30am Baggy discovered that although she had loved the black beans, they had not loved her back. Baggy blimp lived once more! An hour later, she was doing noisy impersonations of Mount Vesuvius in full explosion mode. Clever Bird knew that it was the black beans fighting back when she spotted a couple of the pesky blighters simming about in the cistern!!!! Yuck! Not much sleep was achieved, so at 7.30am she gave in and got up. More yacking and laughing over what could have been a really healthy breakfast, but how on earth was Baggy going to resist home-made American pancakes? Then Baggy headed home to the furries.

Minty Mutt nearly flattened her he was so excited to see her. It is after all unusual for Calum to get home and Furry Mama not to reappear. Grotty Groom then persuaded Baggy to ignore her hangover and go and see the Boys. It has been so hot here today, more like summer than spring, grooming was hard work, but the horses loved it. Calum and Baggy went for a little hack and then into the school. Grotty struggled big time! Clever Bird is now very conscious of how badly Baggy is affecting Wesley, so she is making Grotty build the work up VERY slowly. Wessles was once again a total poppet. Gloria Gardener has watered everything. Creative Clara is blogging. Calum has headed off on his motorbike to get a tattoo. Hairy Biker Hen is wondering whether to persuade Baggy to get her motorbike out tomorrow, to ride to the yard, for Grotty to ride again. Clever Bird thinks that Hairy Biker Hen might have to wait a while...........

It's official - Baggy is seriously wonky!

Well Baggy has seen the physiotherapist. Clever Bird now realises that she should stop blooming Hormonal Hannah from making Grotty Groom feel so guilty that she is still not looking after the horses. Apparently Baggy has less than 10% of the core muscle strength that she should have to hold her pelvis etc in place. It explains lots. It explains why when Baggy was last seeing the physiotherapist (over two years ago), she could not do the strengthening exercises that she was given for love nor money. They involved using her inner muscles to hold a leg in the air - no chance - she could do it easily, but only by using her "six-pack". The key muscle she should use is almost non-existent in Baggy because it never had a proper chance to develop because of the half-stone, 15cm, hairy, toothy lump, that was Lawrence, who sat in the way. Hence Baggy had incredibly strong "six-pack" muscles, but zero inner support, which meant that every time the physio. put Baggy's completely misaligned pelvis back into place, it pretty much immediately came out again. Now of course Baggy's "six-pack" has had a vertical cut straight through it, so all that strength has vanished as well.

 

The other interesting thing, was just how on the wonk Baggy is. When asked to lie on the floor in a straight line, her head and hips were literally inches out of line! When Baggy was in the correct position she felt as though her left hip was sticking about six inches out sideways! No blooming wonder Grotty Groom rides on the wonk - Baggy has spent years compensating for Lawrence-the-durmoid-cyst and now he's left her she's got even wonkier because she isn't balancing that half-a-stone lump. Poor little Wessles! So now Baggy has six weeks to try to a) lie straight and b) engage "the" muscle for 110 seconds (as opposed to the 11 that she can do now - having spent 15 minutes even trying to identify said muscle in the first place). It also explains why Baggy's back is in constant pain and in serious pain if she walks, twists or rides; referred pain apparently. So in a bizarre way, Baggy now feels better. At least she can try to improve things. The physio. also confirmed that the lumpy bumps under the scar are nothing to worry about. She also said that it can take over nine months to recover fully from general anaesthetic and of course Baggy had three lots of it for three lots of surgery in 13 months, so she needs to stop feeling guilty. It's still only five months since the last op. and six months since Lawrence went on his new adventures. So it is official: Baggy Body is still on the Road to Recovery!

Hormonal Hannah went into action after the physio. Tomorrow Baggy is spending the day with her four best friends from school, Baggy decided to try to sort out something to wear. One-and-a-half hours and fifteen outfits later, Baggy decided that she looked a pile of poo, old and ugly in every single outfit. It's all well and good losing loads of weight, but she now has wrinkly, crepey skin and no matter how many times she looks in the mirror all she can see is an old bag looking back at her. Baggy seriously dislikes Hormonal Hannah. She is however looking forward to seeing her old friends..........

Well done Clever Bird - you really shouldn't be allowed out!

Furry Mama took the Hinge to the vets to get her stitches taken out. Baggy could barely lift her carrying crate without her in it, let alone with! Clearly Baggy is not as strong as she thinks she is; before her surgeries she could lift it with BOTH cats in it. But it's all good, she was an angel and the stitches are out, so she can go outside. She does seem to be suffering from the same lack of confidence that Baggy had after her surgery though - it took her over half an hour of sitting by the open door before she dared to venture as far as the patio. But a moment ago she was on the grass sunbathing, so that's all good too. Clever Bird has realised that perhaps the Hinge's deformed tail was actually hurting her after all, as when she had it, if she was stroked anywhere near her hips or tail, she obsessively groomed her front legs or chest. She no longer does that. When Clever Bird mentioned it to the vet, she said that she might well have been doing that as it did hurt, but she couldn't reach it to lick it. Poor sausage, so maybe the amputation has been a good thing.

Furry Mama then offered to take Minty Mutt for a walk. He didn't want to go!!!!!! Nope, he decided that he would rather she played ball with him, so that's what she did. It's beautifully warm today, so Minty and Baggy were soon overheated. Minty had a solution!

Baggy was quite tempted to join him. The Domestic Goddess on the other hand was furious. Ah well, soggy carpets all round. Whilst Minty cooled down, Gloria Gardener made an appearance - the woman is getting positively keen! She cut both lawns, pulled up a load of nettles and watered all the pots. Next door have now removed the "eyesore" from behind Gloria's pot garden, so Hormonal Hannah is feeling terrible that she may have offended them with her comments - she hopes not - but she's very pleased that it's gone. A shed will be replacing it apparently, so Baggy will have a bit more privacy. So that's all good too. Then Baggy's other neighbour asked Gloria if she would like another wall pot that she has had for ages and not used. Very kind - of course she would! Just need Calum to fit it for her. More goodness!

Grotty Groom seems to have successfully organised her transport for July too, so Freda can stop worrying about that. So Baggy was just waiting for her physiotherapy appointment, when it occurred to Clever Bird that Baggy was going to have to lie on the rug for her treatment - the filthy rug, covered in Minty Mutt fur and bits of dog chew. After a bit of yelling, followed by a motivational talk with The Domestic Goddess, it was quickly vacuumed. She even boiled the kettle to be ready for when the physio. arrived - only for Clever Bird to realise that she was late. Now the thing is she is never late! And on the rare occasion when she is going to be, she always lets Baggy know. Then Clever Bird had a vague recollection that she had asked if Baggy could change the time of the appointment. Clever Bird checked Baggy's phone messages - almost right - the time hadn't changed, the day had! Baggy's appointment is tomorrow. Ah well, everything else has been going well today......

Thank you, lovely bloggees!

Clever Bird has just noticed that as of this morning, Baggy's blog has been viewed over 8,000 times. So thank you so much for your support, it means a lot that you are interested enough in Baggy's little life to keep reading Creative Clara's ramblings about it. It also helps Hormonal Hannah no end to write it, but more importantly, to know that you bloggees are reading it. So thank you, thank you, thank you!

Clever Bird got Baggy up much earlier than was necessary this morning. Furry Mama has to take the Hinge cat to the vets to have her stitches taken out. Freda Fretter is rather worried as they are really not easy to see. Mind you hopefully the vet has eyes that work properly, unlike Baggy with her cataract - oh yes bloggees, that will be the next operation at some point, probably. But Hinge is terrified of everyone except Furry Mama, Calum, Minty Mutt, Bracket kat, our friend Dan and our lovely next door neighbour who regularly cat sits, so Freda does have a right to fret about her. But fingers crossed it will be quick, easy and not too stressful, bearing in mind that just getting her there and back stresses the living daylights out of her AND Baggy.

Hopefully all will be well though and she'll be able to be go out today for the first time in ten days. Meanwhile Grotty Groom may have sorted the transport out for Calum and Grotty's adventure to Ashen Equestrian Centre in July. She received a text last night and another this morning from the company that she hadn't been able to speak to - clearly a very busy lady, so fingers crossed, because Hormonal Hannah is getting into a ridiculous state over it! A friend and bloggee has also recommended another company too, so if this one fails, she has another to try. Phew! Today is looking rather more promising than yesterday. Now Psychic Ploppo is praying that that is not "famous last words", but Freda Fretter wouldn't let Clara un-type them in case that makes them even more powerful. Waaaaaaaaaaaah.............