Day 2 - Grotty Groom got carried away!

Having walked Minty Mutt this morning Furry Mama realised just how much Baggy aches from the very lovely, but marathon-length walks in Kent. Well okay they were six miles not twenty-six but you get the gist. The good news was that Minty seemed okay though. Clearly he is now fitter than Baggy. Baggy left him with chewies, the telly on and Hinge and Bracket cats for company and drove Grotty Groom to the yard. Wesley was due his three-monthly physiotherapy check. Freda Fretter was rather worried after his last check-up when he was very overweight and seriously lame. Grotty got there early enough to give him a good groom. They had been left in for the day after the major storms of last night so their beds had been left up. Freda Fretter is not a fan of this old-fashioned practise. She gave both Boys a cuddle and another haynet just as the Physiotherapist turned up.

It was good news. He's lost lots of weight. He wasn't lame. He did need treatment but it wasn't too major. Grotty now has to do some physio. exercises with him to build up his abdominal muscles. Yes - the irony! Grotty struggled big time to manage these exercises as her own stomach was not strong enough! So she has booked Baggy Body her own session with the Physiotherapist in four weeks time. The joke is that although Baggy will be sure to get Grotty to do Wesley's exercises, she probably won't do her own.

After the Physio. had left, Grotty decided to put the Boys' beds back down. Not a huge task really. Skip out the poos. Pull down the piles of straw from the corner of the stable and spread it across the floor. Then put two new bales of straw in Wesley's stable and one in Joey's. But it nearly killed Baggy. Grotty has been wanting to get back to her duties for a couple of weeks now. Calum keeps telling her that she's not ready. Clever Bird didn't believe him, so Hormonal Hannah was making Baggy feel guilty. Calum was once again right. Tonight her stomach hurts and her arm is burning. Ho hum.

But she's good. It's just because she has spent three days in a row, over-doing it. But it's because she is pretty much mended and that's great. Baggy is very very happy to be back in action.......

Day 1 - Totally new start!

Firstly bloggees, apologies for not blogging yesterday, but truly, Baggy was having such a lovely time in Kent that she ran out of day totally. So today, Creative Clara will start with yesterday. Yesterday being Sunday, which Clever Bird has decided to declare as a totally new start. Yesterday is therefore Day 1 of being pretty much back to "normal".

Baggy must be almost there or there is no way that she would have made it to the top of the ridiculously steep hill that they all went up on Saturday! This was the steps about halfway up. On Sunday Debby decided to take everyone on a "flat" walk from Shoreham to Lullingstone Castle. Minty Mutt was up for it. Baggy was ready. Calum was persuaded. It was a beautiful warm sunny day so they set off at about 10.00am.

It was around three miles to the castle. It was flat, but there was the odd obstacle in the way.

It was gorgeous countryside and a lovely day. By the time they got to the castle Calum and Baggy were feeling the effects of the hill walk the day before!

Coffee and cappuccino was partaken of before the walk back. A bit of retail therapy was undertaken en route at a hop farm shop. By the time they got back to the house it was gone 2 o'clock. Tea and cake was consumed. Yep bloggees, Baggy's diet was non-existent for two days. But the amount of calories burnt meant cake was a necessity! While they were out Baggy's younger niece Abigail very kindly read and critiqued some of Creative Clara's novel. As she is a rising superstar in the world of journalism, Baggy highly values her opinion. Clara has work to do, but Abby reckons she should keep going, so Baggy was relieved and pleased that Abby hadn't declared it to be rubbish. (Later today Clara will start typing her handwritten chapters and doing some revisions before carrying on with handwriting it as per Abby's suggestions).

Believe it or not, Furry Mama then took Minty Mutt on another walk with Debby and Pickle in the evening, before eating more (home-made healthy) food, drinking more wine and packing the car up to head home. Exhausted! Calum was driving and Freda Fretter was very glad of that because there were at least two major thunderstorms happening around them. It was torrential rain and constant flashes. Baggy has always loved storms. No longer! Clever Bird suspects it's because Hormonal Hannah is a whooz! Minty was so tired that he didn't even lift his head as they made their way through the weather.

Home late to Hinge and Bracket who were delighted that they were back. Creative Clara unpacked her laptop to blog, but Baggy decided that she needed to go to bed instead. Very lovely weekend........

Day 146 - Baggy is back in Kent.

Baggy was out of bed at 6.30am this morning. Yes, bloggees it was a miracle. She did actually go back to bed for half-an-hour while Calum got showered and dressed, but you can't have everything. The point being though that they were out on a hack by 9.00am. All round fields. Canters were taken and enjoyed. The Boys were perfectly behaved. Baggy and Calum loved it. But were exhausted.

Lovely early (very early) (11.00am early) lunch at a local café on the way home. Once home, Furry Mama walked straight in and took Minty Mutt for a walk. Quick change. Minty Mutt packed for, Calum packed for. Baggy packed for. Everyone piled into the Dodge Ram and they set off for Kent. Baggy and Calum are down at Baggy's sister's house for the weekend. It is great to be here and not to be seriously incapacitated. Having said that, between the wine being opened at 3.00pm and Debby taking them on the longest, steepest walk in Shoreham, they could be incapacitated very shortly.

It was a lovely walk of a mere hour-and-a-half, up a ridiculous hill! Deb insists it was only an hour, maybe it just felt like an hour-and-a-half! But Furry Mama was delighted with how well Minty Mutt (and Calum for that matter) coped.

Of course as Creative Clara attempts to write this she is marginally piddled as Baggy has had only two lots of wine since Christmas thanks to her diet. But needs must so she is on the crisps and guacamole dip as well. She has after all burnt off a serious amount of calories today. But actually she doesn't care anyway as everyone needs a weekend off every now and again. It is very lovely for Cal and Baggy to be with Deb and Pickle dog

And for Minty Mutt too.

The photo above shows just how high up Debby took us. The views were wonderful. But the best thing is that as far as Baggy's recovery goes, although she struggled a little there is no way she could have done that climb even three weeks ago and Minty certainly couldn't have, so they are both officially recovered!

It has been a very lovely day!

........................................!

Day 145 - Oh yes!

Fat Club day! Bearing in mind that it's Easter week bloggees. Yes Baggy is making excuses. But actually she was okay. Stayed the same weight. Not bad really all eggs considered. Baggy loves Slimming World. She likes staying for the meetings and seeing her new friends literally disappearing before her eyes. Clever Bird just wishes that she had measured a few more of her baggy bits when she had first joined. Grotty Groom got a big shock last weekend when she rode. Her suede chaps which Baggy used to require major assistance with to do up, (because they were so tight), are now hanging off her. She must have lost at least two inches off each thigh! Clever Bird is proud of her. She still has a way to go, but she'll get there in her own sweet time now. She is light enough for Grotty Groom to ride her darling horse without hurting him and that was the aim. So anymore is just a bonus.

She burnt off a lot of calories when Furry Mama took the Minty Mutt for a brisk walk again after Fat Club. That dog is definitely on a mission at the moment! Baggy was almost trotting at one point to keep up with him. Further calories were burnt off when Grotty took her boy Wessles out for a hack this afternoon with Calum and Joey. Clever Bird is rather surprised how fit he is considering how long it's been since he's been ridden. But she's very happy with how delighted he is to be back in work. A few more hacks to get both him and Grotty muscled up once more and it will be time for Baggy to train Grotty to be a dressage diva. Yee-hah.........

Day 144 - Why is "dog" man's best friend?

As we all know, "Dog, is man's best friend". Just as well that Minty Mutt is Baggy's. He deserves to be though. The boy is loyal. He guards Baggy from all bad things. And really not bad at all things. "Except they might be Mum. Especially when they pull up in their cars outside the house. Or push bits of paper in that box on the drive. So I always see them off with my warning bark". He lies at the foot of the stairs to guard Baggy when she is in her bed at night. He puts himself in between Furry Mama and any other threat, be it another dog or an unpleasant person. He places his head on Baggy's knee if she is low or sad. He bounces around like a puppy to get Furry Mama to play with him when Baggy is well and happy. He is always there for her and would rather be with her than anywhere else. He is one of the nicest dogs you are likely to meet. As his vet in Kent once said, "If all German Shepherds were like Mint, everyone would want one". He was a puppy at the time, just sixteen months old. The boy is a gem. Which is why Clever Bird finds it disturbing that there are knee-jerk petitions circulating trying to get Pedigree German Shepherds banned! Clever Bird does not believe that there is anything wrong with the breed, or any other breed for that matter; not even the already banned Pit Bull. The problem is with some breeders, some judges, some owners and the ridiculous "thing" that humans have for "perfection". Perfect looking carrots, tomatoes, roses, people, (some arcane-image of) breeds of dog. Over-breeding to a ridiculous "perfection" is wrong. Not training your dog properly is wrong. Just breeding or buying dogs based on looks alone (not temperament) is wrong. The problem is always with the humans not the animals. Sorry, rant over bloggees, but the next person that sends that kind of petition-link to Baggy Body will be unfriended no matter who they are. Dog is man's best friend, so it's about time man started returning the compliment. Sorry, rant started again - over now.

Last night the gorgeous boy was in his guard position at the bottom of the stairs when Baggy had to come down in the middle of the night for a bathroom visit. Lying next to him in an identical pose was the Hinge cat a.k.a. the low-slung one. Furry Mama could not believe how cute they looked, albeit that Baggy struggled to step over them both! That cat loves her brother. Today Clever Bird realised that his anti-inflammatory medicine that he now has to have daily (due sadly, to the beginnings of arthritis in his hips) had almost run out. She phoned the vet to get some more. At lunchtime Baggy went out to take The Domestic Goddess to get some coal and to take Furry Mama to pick up the medicine. The medicine that she realised had lasted only six weeks. The medicine that is £80 a pot! She also bought the very large boy some flea and worm treatments for the next three months. As he needs two doses per go - one large dog and one small dog dose, another £80 disappeared! But the boy is worth it. No one could have a more loyal friend. It did occur to Clever Bird that it might be an idea to check whether she could get this medicine on Mint's insurance as he is now on it for life and his insurance is a mere £89 per month!!!!! She can. But even if she couldn't, it's the least he deserves.....

Day 143 - What makes an author?

As Furry Mama walked Minty Mutt through The Thickets this morning, Baggy was wandering along thanking God for such a beautiful day. Freda Fretter was wandering along thinking about all the things that Baggy should be getting on with.

The gang has so much to do. The Goddess needs to clean. The open fire is just wonderful, but it causes a film of dust to appear within sixty-seconds of swooshing the duster about. So Clever Bird said, "Why bother - enough with the pointless swooshing?" Gloria Gardener needs to plant the climbing rose that Calum bought at the weekend. Clever Bird read the instructions. "Dig a two foot by eighteen inch hole". What? Gloria decided that was a job for Calum at the weekend then. She also needs to cut the lawn, which is now about six inches long. But Freda Fretter wants Calum to check that the lawnmower works properly (it being brand new) before she lets Gloria at it. She doesn't want it going bang on her, or not starting, or, or, or. Grotty Groom needs to go and see her beloved Boys. But she doesn't want a confrontation with the bad energy source so would rather not go. The Goddess needs to go and buy coal. But Hormonal Hannah is playing up and would rather not go out. So what has Baggy been doing all day?

Creative Clara has monopolised all of her time. This would of course be perfectly acceptable if Baggy actually really was an author. Rather than a "trying-to-be-an" author. Yes bloggees, she blogs. But surely that just makes her a blogger? She writes her www.channillo.com series. But surely that just makes her a diary writer? Clever Bird has always thought of authors as people who have had a book published. But actually that isn't the definition. The definition according to the Collins English Dictionary is "a person who composes a book, article, or other written work". So Creative Clara is definitely an author, just not a professional one. But everyone has to start somewhere. So Clara's first novel is a priority for Baggy. As a result when she has ideas she feels the need to write them before they disappear into the ether. She got stuck last week and had written nothing for days. Now she can't stop. She has taken a break to blog, but now she's going back to it............

Day 142 - Weird.

Anyone who wonders why we Brits constantly talk about the weather won't have spent any time here. Today's weather in the East of England is weird. One second it is warm and sunny with a clear blue sky. Seemingly the next, it is grey, windy and pouring with rain. However, Furry Mama managed to take Minty Mutt on a long walk between the yucky bits. Baggy's knee was much better after a day's rest. Although it got more painful the further Furry Mama walked. Minty Mutt was the opposite, he seemed quite stiff after his day off. But he got better as they went along. In fact after Calum having taken him on two route marches over the weekend, Mint had clearly decided that this was the new rule. Baggy could barely keep up with him and was happy when she could let him off his lead! He even got over the stile without the assistance of a bottom-lift from Furry Mama.

The very first bluebells are flowering in the woodland. They are going to be so spectacular when they come out. Spring is definitely trying to "sprung".

"Spring has sprung, the flowers have riss, I wonder where the birdies is. The birds are on the wing. But that's absurd, I always thought the wing was on the bird".

That daft poem always reminds Baggy of her dear Dad. Gloria Gardener took further advantage of the nice bits of weather and did a bit more pottering. She did have to support all her hyacinths who have got too big for their little stalks and had collapsed. She also gave them a bit of extra compost. But the smell is glorious. Only problem being that every time Gloria dug a hole, Minty Mutt decided that he needed to dig one too.

The Domestic Goddess just made pasta for lunch. She added chopped tomatoes. Not because she particularly wanted tomatoes in it, but because Gloria wanted the can to pot her herbs in! She still needs quite a few.

The Goddess is supposed to be tackling the housework now, but Creative Clara grabbed Baggy first. Nothing new there then.......