It is almost six weeks now since my operation and, even if I do say so myself, I’m doing pretty well. I walk pretty normally now and I keep getting told off for trying to jump up or run. I’m still not allowed to walk off lead which is a pain in the bottom. My regular fans will know that being attached to him all the time is a dog’s worst nightmare! Still, the good news is that with every week that passes, my chances of finally being able to detach myself improve. They say that the first six weeks are the most critical, so I’m almost through them now. Then one can slowly start to get back to normal. I won’t be seeing my personal surgeon, Bonito de la Puerta, for another couple of weeks though. I think that’s partly to keep the costs down and partly because he is being a bit cautious considering that the other hip fell out after five weeks! So, although I have to be very careful still, I am beginning to extend my walks, just by a few minutes which means that the top of Bay Pond Path is just within reach which is rather nice. This morning we bumped into Larry who is another Golden Retriever who’s a bit older than me. Mind you, when I say bumped into him, that’s stretching the point really. Larry had found the same hole in the fence that I have that gets you into the fields by the path – it isn’t big enough for humans and its great fun standing on the other side of the fence whilst they desperately try to get you back. Larry’s Mum was calling and trying to entice him, but he is really good at that game! Eventually he did come back when Daddy Richard and him called him but I think he only came to see who else it was calling his name!
After all the excitement of last weekend, it has been a pretty quiet week really. Mind you, just one final thing about last weekend that I forgot to mention … Bobby. After the Remembrance Service on Sunday when everyone came out of the church (I didn’t go to the service but I’ve heard all about it!) there was a chap called Ted dressed in full military uniform from the first world war sitting astride a beautiful stallion called Bobby. Standing beside them was Ted’s wife who was dressed in a nurses uniform also from the first world war. Now, I’m not really into horses that much … I tend to find that the best way to deal with them is to bark at the top of my voice, that seems to make them walk straight past without bothering me. But Bobby was quite different. He was majestic and beautiful and strong too. Bobby is a Cleveland Bay which is England’s oldest breed of horse. Cleveland Bays were used extensively in the First World War because they could be ridden, but they could also be harnessed to pull artillery too. Bobby is now one of only 300 stallions that are left in the world and his rider, Ted, said that numbers are continuing to fall because they don’t get used for horse shows or for racing and, as a result, demand for a good solid working horse is dwindling all the time. It would be a shame for this beautiful breed of horses to die out, so I do hope that they find a way to preserve them and ensure they don’t just become extinct because they are no longer considered ‘useful’. He did send this photo to the Surrey Mirror (it’s the local paper for those of my fans who live a bit further away) because he is writing (more like butchering, if you ask me!) my Auntie Fran’s column whilst she is in somewhere called Florida but it didn’t make the paper unfortunately.
Now, where was I? Oh yes, so it has been a bit of a quiet week one way and another. On Monday he was trying to pretend he was doing that ‘work’ thing he claims he does. Every time I took him in a tea towel or an oven cloth or a shoe, he claimed to be working and took very little notice of me. He was OK (well, as OK as he’ll ever be!) when we went for a walk in the morning, and he was OK when we went for a walk at lunchtime and again in the evening, but he was useless the rest of the time! I found barking at Daddy Richard was far more entertaining because at least I got a reaction from him! I have noticed that, generally, if he is at home and pretending to do that ‘work’ thing, he tends to be quite boring. Fortunately, he had a ‘meeting’ on Monday evening so I got to spend a bit of quality time with Daddy Richard although, strangely, Daddy Richard doesn’t seem to like a game of ‘stone’ much either! He finally came home from his ‘meeting’ just before 10 o’clock in the evening and by the time they had cooked and eaten dinner it was so late that it was as much as I could do to keep my eyes open (well, in fact, I didn’t and pushed out a few ????s but I don’t think they noticed!).
Tuesday was a bit of an odd day really. I must confess to being a bit windy in the bottom department on Tuesday morning. I know I was letting the odd bottom burp out but you should have heard the fuss he was making! Honestly, if they were a bit too pungent for the size of his study, he didn’t have to stay in there! Actually, he didn’t. Would you believe it, they both went out mid-morning! I don’t know whether it had anything to do with my bottom burps or something else but they were gone about 2 hours. I had to guard the house all that time … although I did nod off a bit but don’t tell them! In the afternoon we all went out to see a Word War I exhibition at the church. We left home and just as we got to Bay Pond Path it chucked it down! It was raining Aunties and Uncles!!! Even I wasn’t keen to stay in that rain! We made it to the church in record time and, although I wasn’t overly interested in the exhibition (although it was interesting according to him) partly because much of it was written down and there is only so much reading a dog can do, I didn’t mind sheltering in the church from that rain! We were there for about an hour whilst we waited for the rain to stop before we managed to walk home in relative dryness.
On Wednesday they both went off to somewhere called Leicester (I was going to look it up but I couldn’t be bothered!) where they had to attend a ‘forum’ for their bookkeeping business. I don’t think he was looking forward to going very much but there wasn’t much choice. Nana and Grandad came to stay whilst they were away so I got to spend some quality time with them. Auntie Zena came and took me out for walks too, which was really nice! Uncle Simon complained that I pulled him too much and said he had to take pain killers in the evening to get over my pulling! I know that he says that I pull like a freight train but he always exaggerates. Now Uncle Simon is saying I pull to hard too … wimp!!! Apparently they were staying in the same hotel that he stayed in over 20 years ago when he was working there with Uncle Don. It was called a Post House then but now it is a Premier Inn. It won’t come as any surprise to those who know him that, yet again, he was moaning. He said, “There’s not much Premier about that particular Inn! All they’ve done is paint the bottom half of the walls purple – the restaurant still has the same flaming clock on the wall that didn’t work 20 years ago and still doesn’t now!” When they came home on Thursday evening they brought Grandma back with them too! I must admit that, although I had thoroughly enjoyed my quality time with Nana and Grandad, I was quite excited when they came home … and to bring Grandma too! So, just for one night, I had Nana, Grandad, Grandma, Daddy Richard and him (there’s always a compromise in everything you do!) and I got to play with them all. On Friday morning Daddy Richard went off for one of his breakfasts (Sorry, I mean networking meeting! I must get this right!) so I was left with him for a walk. We did go all the way up Bay Pond Path though, which was nice. When we got back though he went off to do that ‘work’ thing, so I was down to Nana, Grandad and Grandma. Then Daddy Richard came home from his breakfast meeting and Nana and Grandad went home. It was like flamin’ Piccadilly Circus in our house with all the comings and goings! He didn’t come home until early evening, so I got to spend some quality time with Grandma and Daddy Richard. Even when he did come home he got straight on the jellybone thingy for one of his ‘conference calls’! I got no attention at all for ages and ages and ages!!!
So, here we are, another week has gone by and I’m still getting better. Actually, I think I am better, but he keeps telling me that I’m still recovering and I have to be careful! I am still not allowed off lead and I’m still not allowed to jump or run – I think it is going to be flamin’ Julember before I’m allowed to run around again!!! Daddy Richard says that, all being well, I might be able to have my first run around off lead on Christmas Day. I’ve done a bit of Doogling and I’ve discovered that Christmas Day is still 38 days away … that’s forever!!!!! Actually, that’s not true. I’ve just found a countdown via Doogle and, right at this moment, it is 37 days, 7 hours, 9 minutes and 30 seconds until Christmas!!! This afternoon he made some blackcurrant jelly with blackcurrants that came out of Grandma’s freezer. I discovered two things about blackcurrant jelly – 1) it is very messy and quite difficult to get out of the hair on your head if you stick your head in the dishwasher for a quick taste from the spoon and 2) it’s disgusting!!! I don’t know if it is just his cooking but it is revolting! It tastes all sweet and blackcurranty! I shan’t be bothering with any of that. Mind you, thinking of food, I’ve just realised that I won’t be getting any dinner until I get back from my walk, so I’d better get on with it, so for now, must paws … ????
