Morning Cuddles

 

Well, again it's been a while since I last posted, but I'll update the latest events now.

Most importantly, Sean passed his Test of Competancy (TOC)and we can now move forward with getting him registered and getting his Work Permit and getting him to WORK!!!

This past Thursday was Thanksgiving but we didn't celebrate it until last night, Saturday. Tommy and Anita and their son,John, joined us from next door. John is going to uni in Aberdeen and was only home for the weekend and was going out with his friends, so he wasn't going to come over. But he then said to Anita: I don't want to miss dinner at Bridgit's! So he came over and ate and visited for a while, and then went out to meet his friends. Everyone had two helpings and there isn't enough left over to make breakfast for one...result!

In other news, Daniel continues to thrive, so I'm told. Shannon hasn't sent me any pictures. He's nearly 4 months old and the last photos I have are from when I was there and he was only 5 weeks old!!! Gonna have to get after her about that!

As you can see from the above picture, Reo is growing at a rate of knots. Had him weighed at the vets last week and he's 15 K!!! Weighs more than Tiva and only 5 1/2 months old!!! I had miscalculated his age and thought I couldn't show him til January, but he'll actually be 6 months old on the 15th of December, so maybe I'll find a show over the Xmas holidays and we'll make his debut...I'll let you know!

Hi All, There isn't too much actual news to write about but I thought I would yammer on a bit and post a few pics...This is Tiva on the beach at Skegness, I stole it off Jan's site, she took it.



Sean will be arriving next week, I'm looking forward to having company again. He'll be staying to have Xmas with me, so I wont be alone for the holidays.

Shannona and Baby Daniel are both thriving. The went to a new pediatrition yesterday, one who is also very circumspect about vaccines! Daniel is now 23 inches long...tall like his daddy and has a big head apparently! That must be what makes him look like such a big baby, cuz he only weighs aobut 12 lbs.

I'll be taking the dogs to the beach later and then riding Remy. Remy has been reall good lately and a real pleasure to ride.

More later....

Daniel Robert Guillen

Well, I am just back from a fortnight in Chicago where I went to meet my new nephew - Daniel. He is a gorgeous baby and pretty easy as well. He cries when he is hungry or wet/dirty and otherwise is pleasant and smily. He lays there, sound asleep, and suddenly, without opening his eyes, there is a huge grin across his face and he's showing 4 dimples! He is growing like a week and, at only 5 weeks, she is alomost grown out of 0-3 month old clothes!

While in Chicago we didn't do much besides shop and admire the baby. And watch a lot of tv while feeding and admiring the baby. Caught up on almost the whole 2nd season of True Blood and saw the first episodes of a show called The Good Wife. Really good and I cant wait til it comes over here. Mad Men is good as well.

I can't wait til Sunday, when I can go pick up my dogs!!! I have missed them so bad. Tiva quit eating the first few days but Betty has worked her usual magic and has her eating again. And she was telling me that Reo is a real sweetie (course, I knew that) and that he loves playing with the hose and getting sprayed etc. Anyway, I have tomorrow in Edinburgh doing chiropractic stuff and then I get my dogs on Sunday afternoon ~ yippee! I cant wait to get them home and play on the beach.

The trip home was long but pretty good. I had two changes (Detroit and Amsterdam) but they were quick and I only had time for a quick shop and 2 chapters in my book before we boarded. But I am REALLY tired! I hope I can sleep tonight, have anohter early start tomorrow. Enough for now...

Picking up Puppy...Meet Reo

I am so sorrry I haven't updated sooner. Between being busy and being lethargic, I just havent felt up to much lately! I was working last week, but the week before that I only worked 1/2 day on the Friday and then headed south to Uttoxeter for dog shows on Saturday and Sunday and our accomodation was a tent! We got there about 8 ...in the rain. I was soaking down to my undies by the time I was done. Made a sandwich and sat in my changing tent and listened to my book on tape on my ipod.

Sat. was rainy so the show was held inside. Having only one dog in only one class does make for a long day! But it was worth it. There were 8 dogs (bitches really) in her class and Tiva was 3rd! The judge gave her a wonderful critique and graded her "Excellent"! Sunday dawned bright and slightly breezy. We were up early (Jan arrived and beeped at us and shouted across the campground...!) The show was held outside and it was gloriously sunny! Tiva was 5th, beating 3 dogs again and was, once again, graded excellent! So, good weekend for Tiva!!! The first judge was American (from Michigan) and the 2nd was from "the continent", Belgium or France. So it's nice to have two different judges and viewpoints think nice things about my dog!

After the show on Sunday I broke camp (thanking God the sun and breeze had dried things off to pack). Steve kindly came and helped whilst Gerry snoozed in the car (or maybe she was just having a good laugh at our endevours), and the job was done quickly. When we were done we all headed back to Jan's for a week of more camping and camaraderie. I stopped at a Tesco along the way to buy pillows, I forgot to bring any and had been using my jeans, but it was closed, apparently in England that's the law, no trading on Sunday!

We got to Jan's a couple hours later and there were 2 guys (John and Russell) already there with their dogs. They opened the gate for me and a little while later came over and helped me set up camp! Wow, did that go quickly with 6 hands doing the work! I then fired up my new bbq (gas and portable) and put on some hot wings and cracked open a bottle of red and 1/2 hour later we were having dinner and a drop of wine. Tiva was running loose and enjoying the freedom, though I think she wasn't quite sure what to do with all that space!

Monday was spent just chatting with everyone and helping Jan get food cooked for the next two days. Ann and I took a ride and I managed to get to the Tesco and buy some pillows and slept well the rest of the week. We also went into Boston for a couple camping things and on the way out of town I spotted a chiro office and stopped in to see if I could get adjusted (my t/s and c/s were desperate and my left had was unbearable). Fortunately the doc was on his lunch hour and gave me a good adjustment and I returned the favor. What a relief. My left hand has been pretty good since, tho not 100%, need one more go I think. On the way back to Jan's we stopped and saw Lisa's puppies and saw my new boy! More about him later.



Tuesday we got up to rain and thought it might thwart our plans to go up to Skegness and let the dogs run and play on the beach. But Jan made an executive decision and we left in 4 cars with 15 dogs at 11. We stopped and picked up Jan's mom along the way and were on the beach by noon. We gave the dogs a good run and made tea and had lunch and chased away awful little black bugs and wasps and, eventually, headed home about 5. The rain stayed off and we had a lovely time. When we got back to Jan's we had a wonderful cookout on her bbq and a few more people showed up to camp and practice agility the next day.



Wednesday I had to run to Tesco's and stopped for a puppy fix at Lisa's. When I got back at 11.30 the woman doing agility had been there since 11 and Tiva and I joined in. She really took to it and was doing the jumps and the dog walk and the tunnel like an old pro...well, maybe like a young pro. Anyway, she enjoyed it.

After an hour of that we rested and helped cook. There was sooo much food! Potato salad, pasta salads, green salads, sausages, burgers, fresh trout and mackeral, and among other things, my carrot cake for dessert...a veritable feast! It was a long day and everyone was pleasantly exhausted. We got the food put away and then just sat under the canopy and chatted til the wee hours. It had got back and forth between sunny and sunshiny rain all day so we were all damp and ready for our beds.

Thursday we slept in and a bunch of folks left and Tiva and I drove into Kings Lynn in the afternoon. On the way we stopped at Iris World and I got jan a few bulbs as a hostess gift and ordered a few for myself. Also on the way, I saw signs for Sandringham, so instead of stopping in the town we went on to Sandringham. It was 4 o'clock by the time we got there, and the house was closed, but we got to have a nice stroll round the grounds and throw the ball, getting some energy out and we also went on the sculpture trail, really neat. Then it was back to Jans for a bite of dinner (leftovers, yum) and a rather early night. Jan offered me the caravan for the night, a real bed: bliss!

Friday was a lazy day and I broke camp and got the truck loaded up and headed over to Lisa's for a girlie evening. A friend, Heather, came up and the three of us went out for dinner and then on to a pub and karoked! What a blast, we had such fun. Lisa was driving and so, not drinking, and we headed back to her house for a chat and so she could have a drink. I was staying in the caravan at her house that night and so we all went in there and sat with a bottle of wine. But we were such a bunch of weak sticks we only managed to get through a 1/2 glass each before we were nodding off and were in bed by 12. The next day we went to the outlet mall and spent a bit of money and then I went back to Jans to say good-bye and sign the contract for the puppy. Jan fed me a lovely pepper steak dinner and sent me on my way!

The drive home was really easy. The puppy was quiet in the carrier the entire way, except for the 2 or 3 times he cried and I stopped and he "did his business" and we set off again. When I brought Tiva home it was through rainstorms and she was repeatedly sick and poopy and it was a looong trip. This little guy was a doddle. He was really quiet the first few days here but has perked up and come out of his shell and is quite cheeky! He cries when he wants to pee/go out and has often used the puppy pad for it's intended purposes. Tive still has her nose a little out of joint but is quickly coming around. I think things will be a lot easier, and funner, once the pup has had his shots and can go out with us for romps on the beach and walks in the woods.

Eggie Park XC

I have been very excited for the last fortnight to be going to ride Remy in my first XC of the year. However, we were practicing on Tuesday and towards the end I was going over a wide ditch, trying to anyway. He had just done the little ones without any bother. But he didn't like the lay of the land on this one and stopped and ducked out to the left as I went over his shoulder to the right! I landed on my back and was (mostly) very thankful for my body protector. I did, however, land with the bottom of the protector right across my butt and it felt like a huge rock. It took two days, but a big black bruise has come through. It was quite painful in the SI joint and I could hardly walk for 2 days! I got to my own DC on thursday though, and it has been on the up ever since.But I won't be fit for riding on sunday, so Jenny is going to take him in the open class.

High Armsheugh Farm will be well represented at the XC. Conta is down to take her horse, Sean is going on Baillie, Colin is taking Odin, Leslie is riding in her first XC on Tiny, and Shelby is going on Princess ~ oops, I mean Onyx. With that kind of numbers, we should be bringing home a rosette or two!

Our London Weekend

Well, last weekend was our mini trip to London...what an adventure it turned out to be! Our flight was at 6.45 out of glasgow and, fearing the traffic would be bad, we left here at 3. we took Tiva up to the kennel and headed up to the airport. We got parked and into the airport and straight up to the bag drop and, lo and behold, no flight. Hmmm...how could that be you may ask? Well, it seems that 6.45 meant 6.45 A.M., not P.M. So there we were, 5 P.M. and no flight.

I checked around other airlines and the best price I could get was £277...EACH! So I says to Mom...unass that chair, we are driving to London! And we did. Got gassed up and road munchies and off we went. We made very good time and arrived at our hotel at 12.15 (thank goodness for SatNav).

The seminar was fabulous and I learned so much! Met some old friends and made a few new ones and learned stuff to use in the office on Monday morning. Mom went to the History Museum on Saturday and to the V & A on Sunday and then we checked out and headed home. We go back into the house about 10.30 and, hale and hearty except for a serious case of carbutt.

Blair Gymkana 09

Gentle readers,

It is painfully obvious that I cannot keep this blog updated on a weekly, let alone daily, basis. So, I am just going to do it when there is actually something to tell! And on that note, here is what we did this past weekend...


On Saturday there was a gymkana in Dalry. My godson, Sean, took his 2 ponies and did a round of showjumps on them both. He then took one of the ponies and did his first cross country (xc).
He came off at the first obstacle...and the 16th...but that boy has grit and got back on every time. He came over the last with a big smile on his face and told us all he would "def-in-et-ly" do it again!






My friend, Jenny, rode my horse in the open class. They had one of the knockdown pole off, but otherwise went clear in good timea and finished 6th. last year he was 3rd. I was so proud of him/them and got some stunning photos with my new camera.



























Colin also had his horse, Odin, out for his first xc. They got round with grim determination. On Odin's part, well, he was determined NOT to go...



However, Colin is also imbued with grim determination (albeit with a grand sense of humor), and he won the day, kicking on and, eventually, going over the last with style!



On Sunday Mom and I went up to go thru The Safari Park at Stiriling, but they would not let the dog go thru, even if she stayed in the car! So we went to Dobbie's instead. A good decision because I got to pick up a few camping things for my camping trip in August. I like my comforts, even if I am camping! The only thing left now is a good coolbox. They have them now that are battery/electrically cooled, so you dont have to fool with ice taking up 1/2 the room, instead of food. But I am camping at a friends farm and town isnt so far away, so I am not going to concern myself with that so much right now.

This friday Mom and I are taking off for a Friday-Sunday mini trip to London. I will be doing a seminar on Sat and Sun and Mom will do a museum or two. The seminar venue is right next door to the Natural Hx Museum, she'll love that and can spend the entire day looking at every shard and chip of bone or glass or whatever! As exciting to me as watching grass grow.

A week in la bella Italia...

I am going to quit apologizing for not updating more often and get straight into last week! I dropped Tiva off at the kennels on Friday night and headed back home to pack for my week in Algehro, Sardegna. I didn't do it beforehand because I didn't want to distress the dog (nah, she's not spoiled!)

My baggage allowance was only 15 kilos, so the decisions were not easy. I had 4 days of holiday and 3 days of seminar and no clue what the weather was like! I got up at 3.30 a.m. and the taxi picked me up at 4.30 and off we went to Prestwick for the flight to Stanstead. Straight to the Holiday Inn Express once I arrived there at 8 a.m. and I was so sleepy! They charged me £20 for an early check-in and I went up and back to sleep. Just hung out reading once I woke up and was back to bed early for a 3 3 a.m. check in for my Italy flight.

Arrived in Algehro at about 10 a.m. and it was already 30 C.!!! I did manage to buy a camera (Canon 40D)at the airport, so spent a couple hours winding down and playing with that a bit before putting the battery on to charge and going back to sleep!

The next few days were spent wandering around town and lying on the beach and (duh) shopping. Nice and relaxing and finished 3 books! Wednesday night there was a welcoming party for the conference. I wore a pair of pink pedal pushers and a nice top and my pretty pink and yellow heels that just have the band across the toe.

I met a couple of nice young men from the states who are ready to graduate and want to practice in Italy and one of the speakers, Jane Cook, and we chatted and decided to go for our dinner together. I made it through the entire evening without mishap (yeah ankles) and was on my way out and there was a stupid, TINY, little step in the doorstep (only about 4 inches) and I didnt see it. Stepped on it with my right foot and my heel caught on the door and stopped as my left foot swung through. As I fell forward my right foot slipped backwards out of my shoe and my left pointy little heel landed on the side of my right big toe and I gouged a great chunk of my toe out and it started bleeding like a head lac! What an idiot I felt, treading on my own foot and blood everywhere! But hey...I didn't turn my ankle! In fact, I'll put you all out of misery right now and tell you...I didn't turn my ankle the entire weekend!!!

Anyway, the conference was great the rest of the week. I did a lot of neurology stuff with Dr. John D'onofrio and other neuro speakers. I did pediatrics and philosophy and even a session of quantum physics; now that was neat! Made new friends and hung out with some old ones and learned a lot.

On the way home I was 6 K overweight and they charged me for only 4, at £15/K. It really is highway robbery. It was all camera weight, oh, and 2 pair of shoes! so that was a bit of a blow to the pocket book, £60 x 2 flights...yikes. But still, I saved more than that on the camera...

That will do for now, tune in later for what happened on Monday!

And so...

Basically, the concert, well...it didnt exactly suck, but what is one step above that? Suffice it to say that we left early and went back to our hotel.

The next day was Saturday. Tiva and I were up early and went for a long walk. et Sean for breakfast and then we hit the road. It took us all day to get home! We stopped and took pictures, stopped at scenic overlooks, stopped at ceramic works, we stopped at art shows, we stopped...well, everywhere that looked interesting. One place we stopped was Culledon Battlefield. Unfortunately, they weren't doing tours of the battlefield (pesky Easter holidays). So, I bought a soft Hee'lan Coo for Lisa's new baby and away we went again!

It took us hours to get home, but eventually, we did. We were all knackered and went straight to our beds.

Sunday morning we slept in and had an easy day. I went up and rode Remy in the afternoon and then stayed on to watch Wee sean while Jane attended a wedding reception. She was home early and we had a glass of wine and then we all went to our beds.

Monday morning we all got up early. Jane to feed the horses and me to get Sean ready for his horseshow. He was taking his new pony, Bailey, to jump at the Easter show at Rowallan. He was a bit nervous (as was the pony) but in the end, did really well.

And that, my friends, in three parts, was our Easter Weekend!

So to pick up where I left off...we saw the wonderful seals. We drove the rest of the way up to Dunnet head and walked around a bit. There is a lighthouse up there, out on the windy, rocky cliff. We came back down and decided to head up to John O'Groats. So, on the road there we saw signs for Castle of Mey. That was the place the Queen Mother bought after her husband died. All the guide books told us it would be closed until the 1st of May, but, low and behold, they decided to open for Easter weekend!

So we went in and bought tickets for a tour and had a scone in the cafe while we waited. The tour through was really nice and the whole place is interesting. She decorated it herself, collected seashells, and played Cludo with the family! Very down to Earth. By the time we finished there it had started to rain and we decided to forego JOG and head back to Watton.

We had our dinner and headed back out to go to the Northern Nashville Caithness County Country Music Festival! What a mouthful. The venue was an indoor riding school. They had put down a floor and put in tables and chairs and there was a bar and some vendor booths where you could buy a sparkly cowboy hat (ich)

EASTER WEEKEND

Easter weekend has been lovely! Sean and I went up and house sat at Janes on Wednesday night. We were up and on the road by 10 a.m. ~ on our way NORTH. we headed up the coast, over the Erskine Bridge, and up the west side of Loch Lomond. We stopped for lunch at The Drovers Inn and headed on up towards Ft. William.

On the way we stopped and took pictures, walked the dog a bit, and even picked up a hitchhiker! He was a French lad and we dropped him at the train station at Ft. Williams. It took us forever and we fially got to our B & B in Watton at about 7. The road up was a plethora of fantastic views, wild, windswept, spectacular veiws.

Watton is a very small town about 7 miles from Thurso. The folks with the B & B had only had it about 7 months and there were a few glitches, but the hospitality was 2nd to none and my steak was cooked correctly (rare) the first time! On the other hand, on the loo in the middle of the night I went to do a piddle and when I lifted me bum to do the paper work...the seat slid off to the side and crashed into the wall!

On Friday we were up and had our breakfast about 9.30. We had gone up north for a country music festival, which didn't start until 7 that evening, so we had the day to kill. We decided to head up to John O'Groats. However, we then found out Druness Head is actually the furthest north on the mainland ~ not JOG!

And so, we headed there. Once again, the drive was stunning, much like going up Pikes Peak, though not 1/2 as high! There was an old flagstone quarry near there and we did the walking tour around that as well. Very intrersting. Sean took lots of pics, but they aren't developed yet.

We did have a very special moment. At one point we came around a bend on a country road and a most spectacular view of the North Sea opened up in front of us. I stopped and Sean got out to take pics and I drove on up a bit and off of the bad bend. The view from where I was was super and I got out to look. As I look back there was a little sheltered cove with big boulders on the beach and fairly gentle waves washing up against them. Then...one of the boulders moved! It was a seal! As it turned out, not just A seal, but about 25 of them... Incredible!!! Sean came back and we walked down on the rocky shore, not too close though. It was really (sorry, but no other word will do) awesome. We stood and watched them for about 15 minutes. A few of them got up and went for a swim, some just moved around...but the whole thing was a really big WOW. Eventually....we left and drove on, just stunned and humbled by what we had seen.

I think that is about enough for today...more soon...

Hi everyone,

Well, it hasn't been quite as long between posts this time, but I don't have much news either! We have had a few nice, spring-like days, but it is back to cold and windy today. Grey and gloomy. Scotland!

I have been enjoying myself on Facebook recently. Have reconnected with folks I knew years ago and even with relatives. One of my cousins is doing a semester abroad and sending us posts from far-flung corners of the world. Her latest stop is The Great Wall of China! She is on her way to Bejing where she is going to meet her mother...wow.

I have been doing a bit of riding and had a good jumping lesson the last couple of weeks. Tiva is wonderful as ever. Work is ticking over nicely.

Sean did not pass his chiropractic exam the first time, but is ready to study and take it again. The problem is that the powers that be don't even know when the next test will be administered! The school that administers it, the contract is up. And the GCC hasn't even bothered to tender it out yet. Who ever thought that was a good way to run a business?

Catch-up Time

Well,

Another month has come and gone and I am waaaay behind on my posts, sorry folks. It may help to know, though, that not much is going on!

Sean has been studying long and hard and will be taking the train to Wales on Thursday morning, touring the testing facilities on Friday, and taking his Test of Competancy on Saturday. He'll head back up on Sunday and will get a call on Monday to tell him he has passed...that is the plan. Then he gets registered with the GCC and THEN I can apply for a work permit for him, whew.

A couple weeks ago we loaded up the Kia on Sauturday night and dropped Tiva off next door and headed down to Birmingham, to Crufts. We arrived without any bother at about 2 a.m. and grabbed a kip in the back of the car. I was woken about 6 a.m. by howling BSD's, their timbre is unmistakable! We went into the NEC and availed ourselves of the facilities and met Lisa and Chris a bit later.

Chris had a dog with him for Discover Dogs/Mali's and Lisa had Chase there to show. So we settled in at ringside to watch. The Bonvivant contingent did really well, with Chase getting his 3rd ticket and becoming a CHAMP-EEN!!!

We did some shopping and went through Discover Dogs and later we went to the Best in Show in the main arena. We watched the finals of the agility (a Pap was 2nd in the toy dog section!) and the Group judging for Working and Pastoral group. No BSD's got into the final 10 so we decided to go ahead a leave. It was already 8 p.m. and we had a 5 hour dirve, so we headed out. I drove the 1st hour but then my eyes started to cross, so Sean took over and drove the rest of the way. We got home and crashed straight into our beds, exhausted.

Up on Monday morning and over to Tommy and Anita's to collect Tiva and take her to the beach...she was very happy to see me ~ my little Momma's girl. And that was the end of our big Crufts adventure.

Easter is coming up and I am taking Friday and Monday off, so (yippee) a wee break. don't know yet what we are going to get up to. It will probably still be too damn cold to camp, so that is out. Maybe just a few day trips, I would like to see the Falkirk Wheel and I am sure Sean would as well.

So, I am back from riding Remy, he was super today, and so was I!!! I can tell I'm good because he goes well and doesn't stumble or throw his head about. Cant wait for my lesson on Thursday, maybe we'll start some jumping?

That's about it for now, going to finish dinner and watch CSI Minus Grissom...the jury is still out on it...

More later...

It's a Beautiful Day!

The sun is shining but it's still cold enough that the snow isn't melting. Tiva is still having fun in the snow in the garden but was so funny this morning. Last night she left her ball-on-a-rope out in the snow. When she went out this morning to get it she started to pick it up but it must have been too cold and she barely got it off the ground before putting it back down! So she walked around it a coule times and sort of pecked at it...and walked away. But (I know ~ she's weird) she always has a ball or some sort of toy in her mouth when she pees. So she walked around sniffing a bit and came back to the ball, picked it up by the throwing strap, walked three steps away and, much to her relief, tinkled! I heard the sigh from the back door!

It's Snowing...

...not right this minute, but we have about three inches laying in the garden. It's the worst weather we've had in 30 years and 'they' are having to have road salt shipped in from Spain! I took a few pictures in the garden last night and this morning... and Tiva playing in the snow...


In other news, I have resigned myself to Tiva missing Crufts but Sean and I are going to drive down on the Sunday morning at the skrake of dawn (3 a.m. in fact...what is before the skrake of dawn...just the middle of the night I think!) and help Jan with the dogs and see the show. My new beau says he would like to meet us there (he's in London)but it's early days yet. More on him as things develop.

I have my trip to Italy in May all booked! Yeah! I will fly to London on Saturday, spend the night and fly out to Alghero early Sunday. I will have a few days to relax and hit the beach before the seminar starts on Thursday. I am so looking forward to it...ahhh. New beau also wants to go to Italy with me ~ fingers crossed!

Sean is studying to take his test at the end of March. We are both going down and making a mini weekend of it. Wales is a lovely part of the world and I will enjoy seeing it again.

I'll close this up for now and get on with other things.

Bye for now.

Oh Dearie Me,

I have just gone online to enter Tiva into Crufts. I could swear that the last day to enter online was 30 January. Having just gone to the site, I can tell you, closing date was the 12th. I am so bummed. Having swithered and dithered until now, I had made up my mind and was quite looking forward to it. All for nought. I have just been on the phone with them and they will not take a late entry. Honestly, I feel quite deflated and down. Bummed. Weepy. Waaaahhhhh.....

Well I'm back. With the first news (if not the first post) of the new year.

Not much to report for New Year's Eve or the day itself. But on the 2nd we went to a lovely lunch at Kim and Tom's house. We ended up there for about six hours, we had such a lovely time and the lunch was nice and light and very tasty.

I got back to work on the Monday and it hasnt' been too slow at all. The 'Christmas Crunch' is always a concern, but this year we have the credit crunch as well to consider. But, so far, so good.

Last Sunday Sean and I (and Tiva in the back of the Kia) joined Nancy and Jim for a jazz concert in Irvine, at the Harbour Arts Center. It was a nice venue and the band was really good. We all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

We came home that evening had our tea and headed to bed aobut 11. I was taking the living room trash can out to the bin and when I stepped down the back step my foot landed on a blown brick and I went ass over teakettle onto my back-side. I had to 'whisper/shout' for Sean to come help me. Tiva was trying to help, but sitting on me and putting her head on my shoulder and looking worried...well, it really wasnt that much help!

Sean came out and helped me up, got me to the sofa and brought me an ice pack. I could hobble on Monday (was quite ok with not being busy in the office) and doing much better Tuesday. On Thursday the pretty colors started coming out and it's quite green today. But I can walk. It's a long way from my heart.

Over the holidays we also saw a couple good movies. THE CHANGELING was good, but I found myself struggling to not shout at the screen! Angelina was super. Then we went to SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE ~~WOW. So different to anything I've ever seen before. Definately worth the effort to go see. There are still a couple more we want to see ~~ Revolution (ary?) Road, 7 Pounds, and Benjamin Button. That should keep us busy for a while!

Last night we went to a friends wedding reception. Wendy and Stuart had eloped to Miami to get married a couple weeks before Christmas and had the reception last night. It was really nice. They were in their wedding clothes and looked fantastic. I must say this though: I really enjoy a little sausage roll and I love cocktail weenies...but what is it with the Brits that they don't serve them hot? I met another woman there that was really nice, as well as her husband, and they invited Sean and I to her birthday party next week ~ her 30th. So, looks like we'll be busy next weekend as well!

As for the horse, there's no news because he went lame on Thursday (was ok the next day), then the dog was lame on Friday, and Sunday I fell out the door! They say bad things happen in threes, so I hope that's my 3 done!

As usual, I'll leave you with a promise of trying to update more frequently...I do try.

Well, gentle reader,

It has been nearly a month since my last post, ever so sorry. There are a number of reasons for that, the most obvious being the Christmas season. And then there was me being down with 'the dreaded lurgy' since early December. And, frankly, just plain laziness! So I will backtrack here and try to catch you up.

Sean and I put the tree up, along with the rest of the decorations, on the 15th and the place looked very festive.

Tiva 'became a woman' this week. In season for the first time and seems very bewildered by the entire event. She's entirely off her food (never good for Miss Skinny Minnie) and doesn't want to play. Maybe she has cramps? At any rate, I have to be careful now about the boys and letting her off her lead!

My last day of work was the 19th (Friday) and Saturday Sean and I cooked and cleaned all day in preparation for the Christmas party. It was a smaller affair this year with mostly 'horsey friends' in attendance. But the food turned out nice and no one got falling down drunk...result! The next day we slept in and then started cleaning all over again.

The next couple days we did the last of any Christmas shopping and one of the days we had a 4 hour (lost) walk down at Auchencruive. We were all knackered, including for a wee change, the dog!

We also had a day up at Loch Lomond. We went up to Drymen and had lunch at the Clachan then went up to Balmaha and parked and walked there for an hour or two while the dog played. She was very well behaved and tired herself out.

Christmas day was lovely. We got up and opened our gifts and then showered and went up to Janes. I had intended to 'do' Remy myself, but Jenny (or someone else) had beaten me to it...thanks bunches. Anyway, we went into the house and had mulled wine and sausage rolls and Jane and Beanie and Sean and I all opened our presents from one another. (Beanie liked his first series of BeastQuest books and Jane liked her new kettle). We came home about 3 and napped! We went back up there at about 6 and the four of us had dinner and then watched Mama Mia. We came home about 11 and flaked out.

On Boxing Day...I dont remember what we did! Gladys came down for dinner though and we had a nice evening. Sean headed for bed (to read, no doubt) and a few minutes later I heard him shout not to open the front door if someone chapped it. So, naturally, I went through to find out what was up. It seems that when he went through to the back and turned the light on, a face popped up in the doorway and a man chapped the door. When Sean answered, the man asked him to call the police and said a gang of boys was chasing him. Sean closed the door and went to get the phone and when he came back the guy was gone.

Sean reported the event to the police anyway, via 999, and they sent officers out to take the full story. Funny that. He waited 20 minutes for them to show up and as he headed back to bed, he saw them outside, in the back garden! So he told them all about it. They were of the opinion that the guy had been casing the joint. After heading for bed at 9 pm, Sean finally got to bed at 10.30!

Saturday night we had our 'works night out' up at Chu Chu's, in West Kilbride. Me and Sean, Sheen and Tommy, Julie and Robert, and Nancy and Jim. We had a great meal and a super time.

Sunday morning we had a bit of a lie in and packed our overnight cases for two days and loaded up the car and headed south. I wanted to visit Jan and Zim and Lisa and Chris and all the dogs, and to spend a bit of time exploring Lincolnshire. Jan was down with the flue and totally unable to face having company. But Chris and Lisa graciously not only offered us a place to stay but included us in their daughters birthday celebrations.

And what a nice family they have. The daughters are both lovely girls, the (almost) son-in-law is a nice chap, and the grandkids are real cuties!

The first night we had a great pub meal, not bog standard by any means. The next day Sean and I took a drive up to Lincoln and wandered around town and Sean toured the castle (they wouldn't let me in with Tiva). We also got a great painting for Shannon and Bob...well, for the nursery! That night we took Chris and Lisa out and they chose Indian. Yummy. Chris had a vindaloo and I tasted a WEE TINY drop...HOT!

The next day Sean and Tiva and I went to Stamford, via Spaulding. The touristy places were closed but the towns themselves are really lovely. We had (very average) pub lunch and on the way out of town found a great little deli. We put together a thank you package for Chris and Lisa and bought some stuff for ourselves and headed back to theirs. Chris fixed dinner that night with the hugest baked potatos I have ever seen in my life!

The next morning Chris fixed us all a lovely breakfast. Then they loaded up some dogs in their van and we followed them up the road to Skegness. I have heard of the place before, but had no idea what it was, other than a holiday spot. Turns out that it is 40 miles of beach and we were just about the only ones on it! The dogs ran and played and had a ball for about an hour. By then the people were frozen and ready for the off! So we loaded up the dogs and headed out. We stopped and had a pub lunch together and then they headed home and we headed up north.

Sean did the last half of the drive and we got home about 9.30. Knackered! I told Sean that if he wanted to go out, that he should, I would not be upset...after he showered and revived a bit he decided he would go out...it was New Years Eve, after all. I had seen a sign out front at his local that they were having a Hogmanay party, so he went there at 11...and was back in 7 1/2 minutes! It was all closed up. He found out later they closed the shutters at 11 for a lock in, bummer. Anyway, we opened a bottle of wine, rang in the bells and hit our beds by 1. Ahhh...

Enough for now, night night...Bridgit