Dogs and fancy dress

So today's Thursday. A dry but chilly one in fact; where do the days keep flying off to? Short days, long dark nights. Dank, dark & damp. Amazingly, we have had no rain for the past couple of days. It had been raining solidly since the weekend, water once more falling to the lowest point of resistance & accumulating in the boggy bottoms & field depressions. Not exactly the floods of june, more our typical winter weather pattern.

So on to the updates on the dog.

Well, she is still with us and has returned to her usual bouncy self, putting weight back on after her second close shave with the grim reaper. She is, l must hasten to add, not 100% fighting fit. The problem when she eats is still with us. Well l think in my last blog l briefly ran through the symptoms? The initial diagnosis based on these symptoms was a post operative esophageal stricture,however during the routine vet visit to the farm yesterday, & by observing L-P actually eating, [bar a definite diagnosis at a serious vet center], the problem could be damage to nerves that induce swallowing? On a more positive note, there is no urgency in getting a definite diagnosis. Will keep the blog updated as to any updates in this department & can report that at this moment the mutt in question is sitting at my feet burping! Delightful!

So we turn to things more frivolous. Relief you think, there is only so much of 'crook' dog that one can take!

Last friday saw the BBC Children in Need Appeal, which involves lots of people doing strange & wonderful things in order to raise money for the charity. So it was that this year we too have joined in the fun, serving our customers in a wacky selection of fancy dress! We had Noggin the Nog [or could it have been Brünnhilde] & superman, hippies & Ali G, Lady Pirates & Micky Mouse. All in all we raised a respectable sum of approximately £100. Now next year we will do a sponsored ice cream eating session!

reflection.

l had no idea it was so long ago that l wrote my last blog. It isn't that l have been avoiding the blank screen, but stuff just seems to come at you from all angles...........

The dog, L=P is still not back to normal. She is having a major problem eating in bites. Food has to be pureed or else she behaves like a cat with a large fur ball rammed down her throat. the vets have taken x-rays, but have no idea the cause of her frothy vomiting each & every time she eats in a normal fashion. I always thought that horses were trouble, now it looks like dear old L-P is the cause of yet more wrinkles. hey ho!

So here we are November, Remembrance Sunday is out of the way so we seem to be in the count down to christmas, the mad rush to buy all things twinkly & tacky. The shops are playing, to gets us in the mood, carols & Christmas 'icky' pop. Out with the earplugs.

The shop is now quieter. We are closed Mondays & Tuesday from now on until easter, so that gives me a few days of normality. Lunch at lunch time for example, plus catching up with friends who feel that they have been deserted over the summer months. It's really hard to do nothing or very little after months of non-stop adrenaline overloads!

Don't get me wrong, there is still plenty to do. Meeting buyers, planning for next year, removing dust from the skirting. It's just so nice to be able to do what l want, within reason, without watching the clock or having to be smiley at all times.

'So here it is Merry Christmas everybody's having fun...................'