woolly whippet & CANDIE!

A very beautiful young lady poodle visited for the second time today, to keep her appointment with James, the woolly whippet. Today she was eager to progress the relationship, and all went very well, with James behaving like a complete gentleman, considerate, polite and kind. A great success, Candie left with a little smile on her (very cute) face, and James retired for a smoke (or similar). Well done little fellow. This does, of course, mean that the Farmer has passed the examination to be a PIMP. No kidding.

The woolly whippet has got a date in his diary for tomorrow. A young lady is visiting, and she will hopefully mate with him. Whoohoo for James! Wondering if a wash, brush-up and dash of after-shave will improve his chances of a successful service? Fingers crossed for the boy.

College is on-going. Can't say its flying by, as some of the stuff we do leaves me feeling oddly confused and mystified. Sure it will all come clear in the fullness of time. Or not, as the case may be!

Went to watch my very young friend hunting yesterday, which was a lovely morning out in the fresh air. More than 40 horses following hounds, and a clear and still day giving good scent and long runs over the rolling wolds. Like a trip into a historical film! She rode bravely and well, and I was very proud of her. The pony stood up to the punishing pace with courage and fortitude. 12 year olds are very demanding jockeys!

Big boy and baby boy must be fine as the phone quiet. Baby boy seems to have been selected for regional training for rowing. Understand this is exciting news, and quite a coup. No more details at the moment. Big boy has celebrated his 21st birthday at University. Obviously the old folks were not invited to the celebration, though his brother and also a friend from nearby made the long trip to share his big weekend. Everyone survived so consider it a success!

Puppies due any day from the brown girl. She's as round as an apple, and quite grumpy. They actually due on Tuesday (its now Sunday night). Fingers crossed for a safe delivery. Just want my girl to be okay. Took the yellow horse for a looonnnggggg hack out this morning, and he was ace. A real saint. On the way home we found a lovely young labrador retriever, far from home and very excited about escaping. The farmer rode the horse home and I led the dog and pushed the bike. I phoned the number on the dog's tag and his worried owner drove out to fetch him. A happy ending. Then I went to a Jamie oLIVER PARTY..... just expensive pots and pans. And, then I put in some time in the garden pulling out LOADS of weeds and dead things prior to feeding the old people at tea time. Phew. Unsurprisingly, absolutely cream-crackered now, and ready for a cup of tea and a sit down.

There's a pile of laundry a mile high which needs something doing to it (ironing? putting away?) but I can't face it. Also lots of spider homes keep being fabricated but luckily I am learning to ignore them. Spider protection or similar.

Must go. Try to find time for some more blogin in next few days. Puppy photos, Gigolo photos et cetera.

Mucho love X

one minute shoeing

improvements

things are improving.

a new resident

Today we went to pick up a new family member. On the journey we spotted these, which amused us.

And then we picked up James. Aka 'Karamouche an Audience with Micador'. What a mouthful. He would be going to Crufts except he has grown 1cm too tall for his toy poodle class. Therefore we have bought him from his showing home to be resident boyfriend for our girls. They think he looks despicable tonight. And he had better stay away from their beds. Presumably, given a few days and a following wind, he will be lodged between them like a sardine. Hopefully. And the dreadful 'lamb trim' is also going just as soon as I get him to a parlour. Apparently he has a bit of a 'gay' tail, (much frowned on by poodle purists). It looks just fine to us.

The lovely lady we bought him from will have him back if he doesn't settle, and will refund our money in full, which we thought was extremely fair. In one of life's twists of irony James turns out to be a bit of a man's man, and much prefers the Farmer to me. So the poor Farmer is going to have to learn to tolerate a tiny bundle of black fluff sitting on his knee and trotting at his heels. If it was not so funny it would be tragic! The Farmer despises poodles, but I hope he will learn to be fond of James.

scary visitor to the bird feeders

I don't know if you can see it,but on the hedge is quite a substantial bird of prey. No idea what kind, it didn't tell us. The sound of all the small garden birds yelling and complaining brought us to the windows to see what was wrong. There, bold as brass, was the scary bird, guarding the feeders and waiting for breakfast to come out and play. It did flap off when I revealed myself around the corner of the house, attempting a better photo opportunity. Obviously, I failed. And luckily, the bird of prey also failed to secure his breakfast in our garden.

In addition, the dogs put another barn owl up this morning, and the poor bird was so shocked it almost landed on my head as I walked by is escape route. It swooped right over me, (I ducked), screaming its anger and distress at being disturbed from the hedgerow at 7am. The dogs thought it was great fun. They have no discretion.

Tomorrow we are collecting a young poodle dog so that he can make his home with us (and the girls). Fun and games for the next few weeks as we try to settle in a tiny, shivery young male dog with our girls. #sigh#. Why we decided on this course of action escapes me for the moment. It will be a laugh a minute I am sure......

calving 2.wmv

A well-spent day making another 1 minute film for college - will be better when I have spent time editing out the swearing. Sorry to the easily offended!