It seems such a long time since I have put paw to keyboard. It was last Thursday which is such a long time in doggy years. Talking of doggy years, I discovered on Thursday afternoon that, as usual, Alex was wrong! His Mum arrived and the very first thing I learned about her is that she is not 85 years old, she is 86! That means that she is 903 years old in doggy years but you would never know it! She is at least as fit as he is! I took her out for a walk (I thought I’d better take him too) to show her around where I live and where I like to walk, she’s amazing and kept up all the way!
On Thursday evening they were off out again … all three of them, Alex, his Mum and Richard! This time it was to a garden called ‘Town Place’ which meant that I had another evening with Zena, Jake and Simon. I love spending time with them – Jake plays with me and I have fun, Zena loves me and spoils me and Simon is always nice to me too! Apparently this garden visit was a trip organised by the Gardeners’ Club. Although I have some concerns over this whole gardening lark, I am led (get it? led on a lead … what a pun!) to believe this garden was stunning. I think that I have worked it out … Alex grows all these vegetables that I have tried and all taste horrible, the people at Town Place had divided their garden into lots of different rooms and made them all very pretty with flowers and things which makes it infinitely sniffable.
I like the fact that there is a lot of grass at Town Place because I love running around on grass! The people at Town Place had clearly thought about what a garden should do and how it should work for them. I know I have said this before, but I really don’t think Alex is all that bright sometimes … a few threads short of a full suit, if you get my meaning. Town Place is a lovely garden with lots of grass, rolling gentle slopes and lots of interesting flowers and plants to sniff and look at – Alex’s garden is virtually a cliff with the only level part of the garden full of vegetable beds which neither smell nice nor do they taste nice! Why he can’t make it flat and interesting for me to sniff like they had done? Not very clever in my view!
When they eventually arrived home (they were quite late, I am going to have to keep an eye on them!) they came down to pick me up and then we all went home and virtually straight to bed. On Friday morning I took Alex and his Mum out for a walk around Hilly Fields. It was a really hot day again and I don’t like it too hot. The weather has been pretty hot for quite a few days now and I have been finding it a bit uncom-fur-table to sleep sometimes. I was browsing Poochbook a bit (secretly, Alex doesn’t know I have a Poochbook account) and I think that there are other doggies in the same situation as me. The problem is that we can’t sweat very much so we have to pant instead and it is very tiring!
The worst, though, is the car – even though Alex always opens all of the windows and the boot at least 10-15 minutes before we get into it, it is still very uncom-fur-table. After our walk we had to go in the car so that I could visit my personal therapists at Hydro Hounds for a hydrotherapy session. I love the hydrotherapy sessions and my personal therapists, Emily, Katie and Jo, but the car is a whole different issue in this weather. I have tried leaning over the back seat to get the breeze from the open windows, but I don’t really like standing up whilst the car is moving. Laying down is the best option but the breeze simply doesn’t get to me as much. Best of all is not bother at all, but I realise that would be very restricting fur me as I wouldn’t be able to go anywhere and I need my hydrotherapy sessions to get me ready for my operation.
Talking of my operation, when we got back from hydrotherapy and I was having a little lay down to push out a few ????s (it can be pretty tiring doing all that walking in water!), Alex received a phone call from my personal surgeon, Bonito. The Dog’s Trust have agreed with the proposed operation and my date is now confirmed. I am definitely going to have my new hip on the 31st July. I will go into hospital on the day before in the afternoon so that I can be ready for an early start in the morning. Assuming all goes well, I will be in hospital until Wednesday when I will be released and will go home. I think that recovery is going to take some time but I am trying not to think about it. I am not looking forwards to my operation, but everyone says I will be much better afterward and won’t even need my medicine every day (although if he thinks that’s an excuse for stopping giving me my chicken slice in the morning, he’s got another think coming!).
On Friday evening, would you believe it, they only went out again! This time it was on the Bluebell Railway for a fish and chip supper. The good news was that I got to spend more quality time with Zena, Jake and Simon! it was still so blinkin’ hot though and I didn’t feel too much like running around after my hydrotherapy! I lay down next to Zena and pushed out a few ????s instead. In that heat it seemed like the best way to while away a few hours!
Apparently there was a bit of excitement on the train trip when the first engine developed a fault and had to be replaced with one that just happened to be being towed back to the yard and was on the opposite platform at Horsted Keynes station. Apparently the fish and chips were really good and they all had a good time. When they got back from their outing, they came down to Zena and Simon’s and we all went home for a rest in the very hot and humid evening. I don’t think I like all this hot weather!
Saturday was another busy day. We got up in the morning and Alex wanted to go to join in a walk that Amanda from Happy Buddies had been promoting on Face-ache but, unfortunately, they had to decide that, on balance, it might be a bit much for Alex’s Mum, so we all went out on a local walk instead. We walked up Bay Pond path as usual but, instead of turning left at the top and walking down Green Lane, we turned right along Church Lane and down Bulbeggers Lane and then into Eastbourne Road and back up to the High Street. It was so hot and, although it wasn’t that far (about 1.8 miles), it was far enough for me on a hot day. I would really have liked to have seen Amanda and it would have been good fur me to socialise, but I think we paw-bably made a wise decision and, when we got home, I returned to my cooler spot and went straight to sleep!
Saturday afternoon saw another trip in the car. This time it was to visit another garden that was open for charity (what is this obsession with gardens that they have?!). Fortunately it wasn’t very far – only about 3 miles – and Alex had made sure the car was very well ventilated in advance of our journey. We walked around the garden and then they bought a cup of tea and a piece of cake (well Alex didn’t have cake because he doesn’t like it, but Richard and Alex’s Mum did). I sat down and demonstrated my ‘butter wouldn’t melt’ look and just looked handsome. I have found that my ‘butter wouldn’t melt’ look is remarkably effective when Alex is saying that I am naughty sometimes – nobody believes him when I put that look on!
On Saturday evening we all had a barbecue and sat outside. (Well, I didn’t because I don’t eat with them, but I may benefit from it in the fuutre!) This was for two reasons; firstly it was so warm and slightly more com-fur-table outside and, secondly, there isn’t anywhere to sit inside anyway! Alex had made some redcurrant relish on Saturday during the day but, since there was nowhere to sit down and eat, outside seemed an eminently more sensible a-paw-ch. Quite clever really … must have been someone else’s idea! I have actually had a look on Doogle to learn a bit about this barbecue thing. It appears that barbecues are very much a ‘bloke thing’ that usually involves alcohol, almost always involves burnt sausages and dangerously undercooked chicken, and very often ends in a row about who should do all the clearing up. It sounds pawfect to me, I think humans should do more of it!
Sunday morning was an opportunity for another good walk but, as is often the case with him, it went a bit wrong. It started with another trip in the car … this time to Reigate Hill. Now I like Reigate Hill and would have been very happy to walk there but when we got there we found that there was a sporting event going on and we couldn’t even get near to pawk. He could have checked on Doogle (or at least Google which is the human equivalent) before we left, but of course he didn’t. So we didn’t even stop there and drove off to Mogador where Amanda from Happy Buddies had told Alex there was a nice walk. The trouble was, he didn’t have any details with him and couldn’t remember where we should go. Eventually, he aborted that attempt and we drove back with him thinking he might be able to pawk the car and we could explore Gatton Park from Gatton Bottom. Nope, couldn’t park there either! Eventually, he decided we would drive back to Mercers Park.
We eventually got to Mercers Park after almost an hour of driving. I didn’t make fuss but, honestly, it is one thing not being the sharpest tool in the shed, but it is quite another being about as thick as a stick … if you get my meaning. Mercers Park is only a 10 minute drive from home! Anyway, out we got and I was all geared up for a walk around the sailing lake but no, he had other ideas! Apparently Amanda had told him that there was another really nice walk around the nature reserve. You access it from a little bridge in the field beyond the cafe, so off we went. It did seem like quite a pleasant change to begin with and I didn’t mind until … he obviously took a wrong turn somewhere because the next thing we knew we were in the middle of a housing estate in Merstham! It wasn’t just that either, he had no idea where he was (although he did pretend that he did). So there we were, walking through a housing estate and trying to find our way back to Mercers Park.
We eventually found ourselves in a playing field in. (I have looked playing fields up on Fidopedia and it is a place where one goes to play games, usually involving a ball of some kind … where’ my flamin’ ball?!) Alex’s Mum and I decided we would have a sit down whilst Alex and Richard decided where we should walk next. Frankly, we were both getting just a little bit tired and a little bit tetchy about the whole situation, but we kept it to ourselves. Fortunately they did have water with them, so at least I could get a drink! I think dragging an 86 year old all through where we went is a bit much, but what do I know!
Eventually a chap came along and Richard asked him how to get to Mercers Park. He gave us directions that meant crossing the playing fields, walking through another housing estate and along a road that could be quite busy sometimes. Apparently he said it was quite a long way. It was. When we were not far from Mercers Park I found some lovely long grass to lay in and cool down, which was nice. I did leave space for Alex’s Mum, but she seemed a bit reluctant to lay down and have a roll with me. After a good roll around and a lay down for a few minutes, we eventually made our way back to the car. I had a quick drink before I hopped in but, frankly, just wanted to get home. So much for Alex being a bit concerned that the Saturday morning walk would have been a bit much for his Mum – we had walked over 5 miles in greater heat!
Thankfully, the rest of Sunday did not involve too much more walking. Usually I love walking but after the morning’s walk I was, frankly, knackered! (I have look up the meaning of ‘knackered’ on Fidopedia and it means extremely tired, which was true. That said, its origins also seem to refer to one’s testicles in some urban use and one can be described as knackered if one no longer has them, which is also true for me, so I was well and truly knackered in all senses of the word!) I did pop up to the church and back with Richard whilst Alex was preparing dinner but I was otherwise simply pushing out ????s for most of the rest of the day.
On Monday morning the builders arrived in force again. Kevin popped in to make sure that everything was OK with the kitchen delivery, but never got home again! Neil was here helping to unload the kitchen (although I am sure he must have been here to smash something too … that’s his speciality!), Simon was here to start fitting the kitchen, Russell was getting everything plastered and it was, frankly, chaos. Fortunately I had arranged to spend the day with Claire at Perfect for Pooches, so I went out at about 8.30 and didn’t come home until Richard came to Zena’s for me after he finished work. I had arranged to spend the afternoon with Zena because Alex had meetings in London and wouldn’t be home. When he eventually turned up at about ten past seven in the evening, he walked straight in, got changed, and walked straight out again. Honestly, sometimes I do wonder about him! Talking of wondering about him, he was telling Richard and myself later in the evening that he had walked all the way for the City to Kensington and that he had walked about 8 miles. Apparently on the way he took a photo of a door because that is his new office address or something – I fail to understand the importance of this, there is no image of me in this photo at all!
I can’t believe it is Tuesday already. It has so far been a quieter day in the building department. Simon is here building the kitchen and Russell was here this morning plastering the floor and getting a bit on the walls too. I have decided that I am not keen on plastering – Russell is very nice, but I don’t like plastering – it is very messy and I am not allowed to eat anything! Kevin popped in to see if everything was OK and Frasier popped in because he had just been rained off and two hours of gloss work had been ruined – he wasn’t very happy! Talking of rain, Alex thought he was being quite clever this morning (that was bound to end in disaster then wasn’t it!) and he consulted one of his ‘apps’ on his ‘smartphone’ to go out when it wasn’t raining. It turned out that his ‘smartphone’ wasn’t very smart because we weren’t even half way through our walk and the heavens opened. He got properly soaked and, if I were to be totally honest, I laughed my paws off but I decided to keep it to myself because he definitely did not look happy!
We walked around my newest route of Bay Pond path and then Church Lane, Bulbeggers Lane, Eastbourne Road and the High Street. It is a slightly longer route but does mean that he doesn’t get stung by the stinging nettles in Green Lane and there is a lot of new and interesting things for me to sniff. I have to confess that even I was a little damp by the time we were in Eastbourne Road and, although it is difficult to see in this photograph (obviously I am the most important thing in the photo!) even the Canada geese in the field were running for shelter in the rain. (He will never be a photographer!) When we got back it took me a while to get dry again and he needed a change of clothes.
Whilst we were out, the kitchen has begun to go in although the first part is clearly going to be the most critical and is going to take a little time to get right. Alex can’t wait for his new range to be connected and is going on and on and on about it. It won’t make it happen any quicker and I don’t see why he needs it anyway. My food comes out of a bag, so what do I care? Still, you know what he’s like! Anyway, I have a need for more ????s now because this has been another epic tome! So, for now, must paws … ????
