My Day. His Day

My Day

6.45 - Alarm goes off. Get up. Find glasses. Fend off all resident dogs to whom a few hours is a lifetime and who must all greet me as a long lost relative.
06.50 - Clear up water spilt on bedside table by over-enthusiastic hounds
06.55 - Shower. Dry hair. Get dressed.
7.20 - Take all resident dogs for a walk.
8.15 - Find dog bowls and rid them of snails that have partied in them all night. Get dogs breakfasts ready. Make OH's trough box. Make my breakfast. Get Ruby the Foster's lunch soaking (no teeth!). Get The Lurchers' dinner out of freezer. Decide what the humans are having for dinner - get it out of freezer.
8.35 - Grab a coffee and cigarette.
8.40 - Feed all resident dogs. Stand around to prevent scrap starting.
8.55 - Cycle to work
9.00 - Get to work. Work all morning

1300 - Get home and walk resident dogs
13.20 - Grab some lunch for me
13.40 - Feed Ruby. Stand around and stop The Lurchers sulking as they don't get lunch.
13.45 - Get Ruby's dinner soaking.
13.55 - Cycle back to work
14.00 - Get to work. Work all afternoon

17.15 - Get home from work. Walk all resident dogs.
18.15 - Find dog bowls and rid them of snails that have had a coffee morning in them. Get all resident dog's dinners ready.
18.30 - Sit down at computer for 1/2 hour.

19.00 - Start preparing our dinner.
19.30 - Feed all resident dogs. Stand around to prevent scrap starting.
20.00 - Get The Lurcher's breakfast out of freezer. Put Ruby's breakfast to soak.
20.30 - Eat our dinner
21.00 - Empty dishwasher. Load dishwasher. Transform kitchen from war-zone back to kitchen.
21.30 - Try to catch up on Greyhound Gap's mail.
22.00 - Transform lounge from war-zone back to lounge. Turn off all lights.
22.15 - Sit down at computer for half an hour.
22.45 - Go to bed. Read. Fall asleep with book open.

04.30 - Get up let all resident dogs out for a pee. No pee necessary but the garden is interesting at that time of the morning.
04.45 - Get up to let in resident dog that has been left outside.
05.00 - Fail to get back to sleep.
06.30 - Finally fall back to sleep
06.45 - Alarm goes off.

Find time somewhere to do washing/hoovering/shopping/etc etc

His Day

06.45 - Grumble at resident dogs who think he must be awake too.
06.50 - Disappear back under duvet.
07.30 - Get up and stagger to kitchen to put kettle on.
07.35 - Sit at table. Drink coffee. Smoke cigarette. Do crossword.
07.50 - drink more coffee.
08.15 - drink more coffee.
08.45 - Grab trough box. Get in car. Go to work.

Work all day, stopping for periodic coffee and cigarette breaks.

18.00 - Get home.
18.05 - Grab a beer and decamp to lounge to watch Rugby World Cup.
20.30 - Eat dinner.
21.30 - Shower.
21.45 - Go to bed. Read.
22.30 - Fall asleep.

I'm coming back as a man or a dog in my next life.

How to confuse a flat-coat retriever......

.....have two tennis balls. Poor Henry, he really is the sweetest dog on the planet but he is severely lacking in the brain cell department.

We have guests. One of my colleagues is away and the chap who usually looks after his two dogs is also away. Some months ago I vaguely offered to look after Albert (a Retriever) and Henry (the Flat Coat) if it was ever needed. Seems my offer was taken seriously and here they are.

The Cottage is really quite small but it's surprising that having five dogs here doesn't seem to make the place that crowded. Yet when we lived at The Flat, which was twice the size, even three dogs seemed way too many. Himself wasn't too impressed when I mentioned this to him last night. He could see where I was going with that statement and only grunted in that "I'm not hearing you" sort of way.

Foiled again.

Cameras bought. Cameras sold.

I've had my Pentax ist DL2 for just over a year now and I've really enjoyed using it. A few weeks ago I decided to get a new zoom lens for it. I have a 50-200mm zoom already but wanted one that went up to 300mm. You can pick them up for a reasonable price but I had been advised to get one with IS or VR (which means that the lens is stabilised helping to reduce camera shake with a bigger, heavier lens). It seems such a thing doesn't exist for the Pentax.

Someone at the time suggested that rather than keep buying kit for the Pentax, I upgrade to a Nikon or a Canon as it's much easier to buy accessories and lenses. I pooh-poohed the idea at the time as I simply couldn't afford to start splashing out the best part of a grand for new kit.

Then someone advertised a second-hand Nikon D70 on Pixalo, the photography forum I use, at a very reasonable price. What put the tin hat on it was that of all the places this guy could live in the world, he lived about 20 minutes away from me. And I was due to be 5 minutes away from him on Saturday to do a homecheck for Greyhound Gap.

Seems fate has a way of stepping in sometimes. So I am now the proud owner of a Nikon D70 with a classy 18-70mm kit lens to boot!

Then a young student on the Forum started asking about a film SLR which he needed for his course. I have an old Canon AE1 which has been sitting doing nothing for more years than I care to remember. So he popped round yesterday, loved it and bought it!

But what is it about the young that they can come out with what they obviously see as nothing more than a statement of fact but have absolutely no idea that it will just cut you off at the knees? I was explaining that I'd bought this old camera at least 18 years ago. "Oh" he said. "That was before I was born."

I crumpled on the spot.

Brrrr.....

There is a definite Autumnal nip to the air this morning. How did we get to Autumn already?

Time is moving way to damn quickly for my liking.

I may be gone sometime

I appear to have discovered facebook.

The Rugby World Cup. A Girl's Eye View.

I shall leave the technical stuff to the men but, suffice to say, before anyone mocks me, I do love the game and I do almost understand the rules!

However, I am going to pick my alternative man of the match. Tonight's choice is Sebastien Chabal. French unfortunately but you can't have everything. Sébastien Chabal (born December 8 1977 in Valence, raised in Beauvallon is a French rugby union footballer who plays at number 8 in the back row of the scrum for Sale Sharks and France, and has also played as a lock for France. He is well known for not shaving and his very long hair, leading to French rugby fans nicknaming him "l'Homme des Cavernes" - the Caveman.

He is also famous for a number of eccentric moments in his rugby career. One includes missing a tackle on an opponent and tackling the linesman instead.

I can't find a picture that does justice to the moody and nonchalant way he walked onto the pitch in France's match against Argentina tonight but it fair took my breath away.

Have him stripped and sent to my room!

You are now entering the Twilight Zone......

....courtesy of those dear people at Amazon who sent me this e-mail.....

"We've noticed that customers who have purchased or rated books by Karen Pryor have also purchased The Mutt Book: Decoding Your Mutt's Heritage by Bruce Fogle. For this reason, you might like to know that The Mutt Book: Decoding Your Mutt's Heritage will be released on 10 September 2007."

I've always wanted to try time travel.

Got a puncture?

Then buy a new bike. Which is what I did last night.

A little extravagant perhaps but having had two punctures in as many days in the same tyre, it occurred to me to check the wheel - a broken spoke appears to be the culprit. A new wheel would probably have done the job but my bike is getting on a bit now and is a bit of a boneshaker. The brakes needed replacing, the saddle was falling apart and as I've not really looked after the bike properly, it didn't really look t its best anymore.

So I took myself off to Halfords last night to purchase a new one. I was in a bit of a hurry as I had to get back to meet my car mechanic to get my MOT sorted out, so I grabbed an assistant and said "I want a new bike. Mountain bike-ish but I only do about 4 miles a day on a gravel track so it doesn't have to be expensive. I don't want pink or lilac (as most of the ladies' bikes in my price range seemed to be) and this must fit it" waving my basket bracket in his face.

So he grabbed a mens' bike, said "try that". I did. It was great. I paid for it. He put it in the car. I was home again within 30 minutes.

A most satisfactory shopping trip and I feel quite giddy with excitement - which tells you something about the state of my life doesn't it?

Ruby Rooooooo!

My latest foster, and my first greyhound, arrived yesterday. Ruby is a 6 year old ex-racer and , unfortunately her teeth were left to rot causing such an infection that when she came into Greyhound Gap's care, she had to have 31 of her 42 teeth removed, as well as part of her jaw, as the infection had spread.

She smiles, she likes to be sung to..."Rooooooooby Roooooooooo", she groans, her tongue lolls out of the side of her mouth because she doesn't have the teeth to keep it where it should be, she grates what teeth she does have left and she drools. But she is the sweetest, funniest greyhound I have ever met and she is so going to be someone's heart dog. Lisa thinks she'll stay. Hah!

I asn't found the sofa yet


Now I ' as!




And Lurcher No. 2....just because!