Happy Days

The business is going well!

And we're having fun!

OK ... so it's not all fun. There's poop to contend with on a daily basis but when you are fortunate enough to have beauties like this chap ...

Murphy

 ... you really can't complain.

My only complaint about his job ....

... is that we only seem to get sensible dogs!

There hasn't been one single opportunity to video anything worth sending to one of home video clip shows!

Oh, I'd share the money with the owners ... I really would!

Blossom, our cat, has her nose seriously out of joint these days. When we have dogs staying, she retires to the safety of the upper level and spends her time sleeping or glowering through the stair rail at the interlopers. On occasions she will venture downstairs and confront a dog, but none have been brave enough to try that experience a second time.

Blossoms rare appearances certainly keep us on our toes!

Heavy rain over the past few weeks have turned out garden into a quagmire and it necessitates a mop being permanently stationed by the patio doors for rapid mud removal.

The carpet cleaner also has also taken up residence in the kitchen to remove all those unwanted carpet stains.

This will however soon be a thing of the past as work to lay natural stone paving over what used to be our lawn is due to commence next week ... if the weather allows.

That's it for now.

Sorry there were no laugh out loud moments ... I blame the dogs for being too sensible!

Seeking Advice From My Best Friend

You see Sym, people just don't understand me...

... they think I'm crazy!

I trust you. What do you think? 

A Damp Patch Of Reality

At 5.45 am this morning I sat outside in the garden and watched the dogs as they strolled around looking for the right place for their morning pee.

There was a strange silence.

No bird song, no sound of traffic, no sound from neighbours.

Silence!

It was so peaceful!

I felt that I was alone in the world (except for my dogs) and I remember thinking this is perfect!

I looked around.

There was a spiders web industriously being spun by an ugly brute of a spider just under the top rail of the decking.

I could see small drops of dew glistening on the silky web.

I looked at the grass. Dew twinkled there also as the early morning light gained strength.

I looked at the patched up fence (damaged by high winds at the beginning of May) and thought it's about time I did something about that, and knew instantly that I wouldn't ... not for a while at least.

Then, as if a switch had been flipped, birds began to sing and the sound of cars could be heard.

A beeping alarm clock could be heard from an open window somewhere.

I heard a door open and then close again as one of our neighbours let their dog into the garden for his morning ablutions.

A chill to started creep through my bones.

Time for a coffee, I thought.

The return of sound had shattered that magical and serene moment and my garden became just another patch of grass.

I stood up and went back into the house. The dogs followed and went to their food bowls with an expectant look on their faces.

I went upstairs and changed my trousers.

Not only had I sat in seagull shit, but I had planted my arse onto a garden chair soaked with early morning dew that I had moments before thought of as glistening and twinkling, but now thought of as bloody wet.

Just a little touch of heaven and a damp patch of reality.

What a start to the day!

They Lied!

I have been assured, by people who purport to know these things, that bad things come in threes

They Lie!

The scum bags!

Bad thing's come in ones!

One after the other ... forever!

And ever!

I seem to have a target, as it were, on my back where bad luck is concerned.

As those of you who have been with me for some time may remember, I have always had car troubles.  Just when one problem was been dealt with, another one reared it's ugly, oil smeared head. You may also recall that I wrote about damage to house and property caused by high winds. And of course there was also the recent case of my dog Sym's lymphoma.

Well, there is still no silver lining to my black cloud of bad luck; no ray of sunshine seeking to warm the cockles of my heart (whatever that means).

You may already be wondering 'What's happened now?'.  I can hear the creaking of many (how many readers do I have?) swivel chairs as clearer screen views are sought.

Here's the latest!

My tyres need replacing ... far earlier than anticipated and without achieving the mileage they should have done.

Over night (Saturday to Sunday) there were once again gale force winds battering our house and garden (it may well have battered the homes and gardens of others. I didn't notice) and quite severe damage was caused to our fence (a rather large piece of which narrowly missed our kitchen window).

And, of course, there is Sym! His recent course of treatment resulted in only partial remission.

Now ... that's only three, I hear you say. And you would be right ... I can count.

But there's also ...

Sox (older dog) ... Ill
The lawnmower ... fuel leak!
The strimmer ... busted!
The hedge trimmer ... locked solid!
The DVD-recorder ... dead as a dodo!
The wife's PC ...well, OK! I killed that one.

And it goes on and on and on and on and on and ....

Need I say more?

Yes! They lied! They really did!

Worm

Are you a worm?

Semi-Perfect!

You may have read, or maybe someone read it to you, that we (the British) are basking in a mini-heatwave hitherto unknown at this time of year in this land of wind and rain (which, to be fair, ain't much but it's all we have).

As I sit here with the sun ticking my naked upper torso (almost the same shape it used to be), I type my usual drivel with but one thought in my mind;  what a wonderful morning!

Of course I had to be proved wrong by the neighbours!

Are they loud or what?

I think they're having a breakfast BBQ ... for dogs!

I can smell the charcoal; the burning burgers; the god-damn awful smell of spirits used to get the BBQ going.

And I can hear the non-stop yapping of their dogs, the competitive barks of their neighbours dogs and the distant replies of all the uninvited dogs throughout the village.

On the table next to me I have a mint flavoured hot chocolate and a chocolate biscuit (well, it's a biscuit in a puddle of melted chocolate).

All is well with my world (with the exception of the neighbours and their BBQ) at this moment.
It is (very nearly) a perfect moment.  

The only thing I need now to make my day complete would be something interesting to write about.