Yantan

I hope Philip's enjoyed his birthday 👍 I don't like Nicola Sturgeon but I think she has been very statesman like over her handling of Covid-19 in Scotland. I'm sure she's done herself a lot of good. The kids (Henry & May) are growing in confidence every day and enjoying their training which involves lots of fun stuff. I'm sure Wispa will forgive her mum especially if she gets a little taste of that cheese 👍

Suzeanna its good to hear you are doing ok after your treatment. Poor Candy will have to suffer until her hair appointment if she refuses to let mum near with the clippers. Henry & May would have been going to boot camp regardless but obviously with Ruby's upcoming chemo we can't have them in the house as we can't have people coming to walk them every day and risk them picking something up in their feet or coats and bringing it home with them. We are wondering if it's fair to have them stuck in kennels until we are ready if homes were forthcoming? It's something to ponder on anyway and discuss with the rescue and their trainer. Thank you for your kind words black magic 👍 I'm sat in Jaffa in the hospital car park waiting for Ruby.

Hopefully they will have a device in the hospital that will allow for a video call Griff. I know some of the money raised by Captain Tom was to be used for just that 👍

Oh hell Griff ☹ I hope she'll be OK. You won't be able to go and see her will you due to Covid-19? Sending positive thoughts for her. Ruby had a friend in hospital recently with sepsis but she got over it after a 2 or 3 week stay and is now recovering well.

We waved a temporary bye bye to May & Henry about 8.30 this morning. They reached their destination at midday and we've just had an update to say they've enjoyed a good old runaround and had lots of fun. That settled us as we've been sitting here feeling like we betrayed them. I know they are in the best hands but we feel bad that we didn't have the skills to help them ourselves. With reference to people congregating in beauty spots I think its a psychological thing with some. Told you can't go far for weeks you start to want to do just that and so head off to more distant places when travel is allowed. We had about a dozen middle aged bikers in town on Saturday. Nothing's open, the public loos are closed so they milled around in one of the carparks that is still open. Very soon after there were complaints about their behaviour - peeing up against walls and trees in full view of people living nearby and also making a lot of noise and littering. As someone said "mooching about a car park in leathers isn't exactly travelling for exercise". Police here had to stop people camping and fined a number of 2nd home owners who travelled here and thought the rules about no overnight stays didn't apply to them.

I'm glad your sessions are over Suzeanna. I certainly hope that's done the trick 👍 We were in the paddock with the dogs this morning and both of us were adjusting Henry's harness. As I straightened up I saw a whirling dervish coming at me. I had no time to move before May crashed into my bad knee. I went down heavily on my hip. Thank dawg I had my knee brace on which helped I'm sure. Today is their last full day with us.

On the way in to the dog paddock Henry knocked Ruby over this morning which reduced her to tears. Just the stress of everything coming out really. She got a call this morning from the hospital with an appointment for a week on Wednesday for her 1st chemo session so as to give her some nice quiet time for the week beforehand Henry and May will travel to be under the dog psychologist's care on Tuesday. We are spoiling them a little bit for the rest of their time with us. Black magic that was a lovely thing for the old lady's family to do for her 👍 Fancy young Zoltan sticking up for his big bruv by telling Wispa off 😂😂

Owl you could well be right about people forgetting what day it is. I know we do. I went out to clap last night a few minutes before 8pm as I was hot. Next door was giving her shopping list to our lovely next-door-but-one neighbour. I told them I wasn't earwigging but out there ready to clap. They were both suprised, one had forgotten and the other hadn't realised the time.

It's £7 for a 45 minute session Griff. We are going soon as we are booked for 12.30.

It is that neighbour Suzeanna. I've already told her we need her to take care during Ruby's chemo treatment but she's terrible for forgetting social distancing. I was out sitting on my lounger a few weeks ago and had placed it more toward the fence as it was the only spot in our shady garden that was in sun. She came right up to the fence and leaned over to tell me something. I shot up and moved to the other side of the garden (its the size of a pocket handkerchief) and said "FFS woman effing social distancing means nothing to you does it". Oh and she's had breast cancer herself! Enjoy that port!

She did a pee yesterday as soon as she was off-lead and came to a stop at the other side of the paddock. Today she excelled herself by doing wees and a poop 👍👍 It's my neighbours birthday today. First visitor was her oldest daughter who came up the path, didn't go in but stood just outside the front door to talk to her mum who was on the threshold with only about 3ft between them 🙄 Now her youngest daughter is here with at least one of her own kids and they are all sitting in the garden round a table with far from the recommended social distance between them. I don't know if they are unaware of the recommendations and rules, or they're too thick to follow them or they just don't care. It doesn't bode well for our 16 wk period of isolation. Our front doors are next to each other with only about 18 inches separating them ☹

Well that's good news Griff. I was worried about you going out. You are far too independent for your own good! We've had a lovely paddock session with Henry and May. Some very good friends of ours bought us 3 sessions there. How kind was that 👍

I'm sorry you are having a crappy time Suzeanna. Wishing you the best of luck with the treatments and hoping you see an improvement. I hope you get a compatible indicator stalk Owl and it's nice and cheap! It was indeed very kind of your neighbour to leave flowers. These crappy times have brought out the best in many people. Shame about those who have done nothing but show their bad sides and selfishness. Our neighbours next door but one have been ace in looking out for us. He often drops a newspaper off for me and refuses payment and they will both pick us up things we need that I can't get in the weekly delivery. We've told them about Ruby and they have said "anything you need, you ask us and we'll sort it". He will give my little Panda an occasional run to keep her ticking over and if Ruby's car needs petrol to go to the hospital for the chemo he will take it and fill it for her. The nutty neighbour at the other side who has blanked me recently, as is her wont from time to time, spotted me outside with the dogs so came to over to see them, me in the middle of the garden her out on the pavement. When I said they weren't house trained and May was posing a problem in that department she disappeared off to her house to return with a pack of 100 puppy pads for which she refused all payment. You never know how she's going to be. I've asked another neighbour to put her in the picture about our quarantine period as I don't want her coming in the garden to knock on our door complaining that the sky is the wrong shade of blue over our house if the notion takes her. Griff thanks for the advice. I'll catch you on WhatsApp at some point to ask questions.

Well done blackmagic. You are a making a difference to all their lives 👍 We are both very sorry to hear about Suzanne's appointment today. Its been a bad day as Ruby also got bad news. It's highly likely the cancer will recur even though they told her initially it was very unlikely but if the test numbers were up a bit she would get a mild form of chemo. However the numbers came back at a very high level. As the oncologist said "unfortunately you've hit the cancer jackpot". So starting in about 3 weeks time she has to undergo an aggressive course of chemo. This means, as her immune system will be severly supressed, she (and me) will have to be in quarantine for 16 weeks. The only time she can leave the house is to go to the hospital fo the chemo. We can't go for walks but can go out in the garden. We can't have the dogs here either but the rescue have moved fast and they are going to kennels with the dog psychologist taking over their rehabilitation and house training. They will come back to us afterwards but all the hard work will be done. They stay here until just before Ruby starts chemo. My brain is fried so I'm off to bed.

Good for you Blackmagic. Consistency is key - just like with dogs. It is understable that your D-in-L gives in at times because it must be very difficult for them all living with your grandsons condition. I think a grandparent or other family member who won't put up with undesirable behaviour often wields more authority. When my brother's kids were young (they are grown ups now) he used to threaten them with me when they were playing up. "Do I have to get auntie Marion round" and they'd shriek "no" and do as asked. They weren't frightened off me but they knew I wouldn't stand for nonsense. They used to be here frequently and we had some lovely times. I taught them how to use my computer, they loved to make dog biscuits for George and go for a walk with us and they were allowed to make a bit of a mess (their mother is a clean freak) as long as they cleared up at the end.

Ask the rescue you foster for. They will all have their own plans and naturally some will vary in small ways right up radically different. No mine didn't come from the pound. Bona fide rescues are allowed to move animals for welfare issues but have to all the necessary paperwork from DEFRA. I am sure the PM's announcement tonight wil change things though. Am I the only one who thought it was rather ambiguous?

No they can't do homechecks, at least not in the usual way as you still can't go into someone else's home.

Black magic May and Henry have been psychologically damaged and she has yet to toilet outside! Henry is getting there and gets lots of praise and a treat when he does toilet outside. May sees this but she has sensory overload outside. Even a bluebell blowing in the breeze throws her. We are trying to find someone to come & fit us a solid gate at the end of the tiny passage way from the lane to our backdoor so we can provide a quiet, area for her to toilet with fewer distractions in the hope that that works. They are here to be assessed for the rescue and have some basic training, which is coming along. They now can do sit and sit and stay & understand 'move' and 'down'. Not at all bad in just a few days. They cannot be walked yet as they cannot cope with the big wide world. We are introducing them slowly and steadly to the back lane as a start. This coming week they are going to have off-lead time in an enclosed exercise paddock to see how they cope with that. We are following the advice given by the rescues dog psychologist 👍

Karen they are frustrating! Poor May cannot get the idea of toileting outside although Henry mostly gets it. I came down to a shite show this morning. It's getting depressing. Their other training is coming in nicely though so that's something. The trouble here with cyclists is that so many of them ignore the rules of the road, ignore "no cycling" signs like in the market square which is pedestrianised, on certain paths reserved for walkers, don't give way to walkers/pedestrians where it's mixed use and don't use the bloody cycle paths where they are provided! Nobody seems to have a bell on their bike any more either. Big change in the weather today. Much colder here and very grey and rainy.

My nana lost 2 brothers in the war, both were in the Merchant Navy. What sacrifices were made during the war and today some people can't even stay home as requested. My nana's claim to fame was she knew Daniel Day-Lewis's mother, Jill Balcon, from the war years. Jill went to Rodean and the school was evacuated to our town. For a while Jill lodged with my nana and they kept in touch for many years after. If she ever visited up here she would call to see my nana. She was very posh but very nice. My claims to fame are that I met a few famous folk when I worked at The Connaught Hotel in London.

Oh they certainly are Suzeanna. We learned that with Tye 😂😂 On a more sober note people in town are starting to see rats - the brazen buggers are strolling down the streets and popping into gardens along the way to see if there's anything to eat. My friends' had one mosey up their drive whilst they were in the garden watering. It ended up on their neighbours patio where it helped itself to their courgettes! And it was a BIG one. My friend said if she'd thrown a saddle on its back her grandsons could have ridden it 😱😱😂😂

Fosters are currently snoring and farting Eve 👍

Suzeanna I took a friend to radiotherapy every day for quite some time. She said it was a breeze. When she went in the staff were fabulous with her and they'd kid about and joke and make her feel at ease. The only thing I recall her saying is that it made her tired afterwards. This was in the early 2000's so things might be different now but advances usually mean things get even better! Good luck but I don't think you'll need it 👍

Have you had radiotherapy before Sue? If you fancy a drink bloody well have one! Doctors, or rather radiographer's orders.

Rather overcast here today but very warm. Not scorchio though like you Griff.