Wednesday, March 03, 2010
February Catch-up
Just wondering if I'll ever manage to update this regularly again ... though I must say that the things I'm doing are not always worth writing about...
There has been progress in a few areas though, in the last few weeks; Asha is improving on a daily basis and has become quite a lovely little pup to have around. I hardly believe that I wanted to get rid of her in week 2! I've started puppy obedience classes with her in a group of 6 dogs, and out of the 6 she's definitely one of the star pupils (much of which can be attributed to her age though, I think). She's coping with all of the commands really well (many of which I've been doing with her for several weeks), and she's absolutely brilliant at socialising because of the plethora of dogs I've introduced her to over the last 8 weeks, some of whom have dominated and even attacked her. Nowadays she automatically assumes subordinate position with other dogs, whether puppy or adult dog, obviously opting for the easy life (not so easy when Archie the boxer decides to have his wicked way with her, seemingly indifferent as to which end of her he's mounting!)
Progress has also been made with the garden, due mainly to a very nice Dutch man who runs a local landscaping business and who very kindly spent an hour and a half walking me around the garden (which his company designed many years ago), naming each of the plants and giving me a course of action for those that require maintenance now. Which led me to transplant one shrub and prune all the roses (a big job in our garden and one which I should definitely have undertaken with gloves *on*). We're also using the landscaping company to change the layout of our front approach, from a gravel carpark the entire width of the house with two open gateways, to a single-approach parking area on one side of the house, with a pedestrian gate leading to the back door. Gardeners to be expected in the next few days ...
We spent most of half term at home, with a lovely couple of playdates (with one incorporating a woodland trek in torrential rain), and then headed up to Shropshire to introduce Asha to the joys of Nanna and Zoe's dogs (from whom she received a mixed response!), sheep poo (mmm tasty!) and walks which I subsequently discovered were WAY too long for her (we've downgraded to 30 minutes twice a day in order to preserve those precious joints).
The last couple of days we've been struggling with cold conditions in the house as the automatic notification system for our LPG tank failed to notify Calor that we needed a refil. Luckily though, it was after I had cooked lasagne for 16 for lunch on Sunday that we noticed the Aga losing heat. Calor just about managed to scramble distribution to our aid on Tuesday at two o'clock (I had been promised an early morning delivery on my answerphone), but even so it was another couple of hours before the central heating boiler automatically started and a good couple of hours of fiddling with the Aga and calling the Calor engineer out before we all realised there's something wrong with the starting valve thingy which we need the assistance of an Aga engineer to fix. Of course no-one can come out until tomorrow afternoon, by which time I'll have been boiling water in the microwave (what a long-drawn-out process that is) for 4 days. But at least I had a shower this morning (albeit lukewarm) so I can't complain too loudly. Oh, except that I have to cook dinner for 4 children in the microwave this afternoon, which isn't ideal.
Having signed up for a regular spin class last Wednesday, I came down with a throat infection thing this week which has thoroughly drained me, and rendered me incapable of doing anything more than strolling across Surrey heathland with the dog. I'm absolutely sick of not doing exercise and my mind quite frequently wanders back to this time last year when I was preparing avidly and effectively for my summer Ironman and felt strong and efficient and fit. I don't necessarily want to go back there (I felt tired too, I mustn't forget), but there must be a middle ground ...
March is going to be a busy month. 2 weekends of visitors followed by Miles's party and then a weekend with Roj away (right at the beginning of Easter holidays - are they that close already?) Plenty of other things inbetween as well, to fill in the time which flies at breakneck speed. Spring is tangibly within our grasp though, these last few sunny days, and I'm starting to anticipate those outdoor meals and long leisurely weekends in the garden. Never mind that I'm currently wearing 3 thermal layers and a down jacket!
There has been progress in a few areas though, in the last few weeks; Asha is improving on a daily basis and has become quite a lovely little pup to have around. I hardly believe that I wanted to get rid of her in week 2! I've started puppy obedience classes with her in a group of 6 dogs, and out of the 6 she's definitely one of the star pupils (much of which can be attributed to her age though, I think). She's coping with all of the commands really well (many of which I've been doing with her for several weeks), and she's absolutely brilliant at socialising because of the plethora of dogs I've introduced her to over the last 8 weeks, some of whom have dominated and even attacked her. Nowadays she automatically assumes subordinate position with other dogs, whether puppy or adult dog, obviously opting for the easy life (not so easy when Archie the boxer decides to have his wicked way with her, seemingly indifferent as to which end of her he's mounting!)
Progress has also been made with the garden, due mainly to a very nice Dutch man who runs a local landscaping business and who very kindly spent an hour and a half walking me around the garden (which his company designed many years ago), naming each of the plants and giving me a course of action for those that require maintenance now. Which led me to transplant one shrub and prune all the roses (a big job in our garden and one which I should definitely have undertaken with gloves *on*). We're also using the landscaping company to change the layout of our front approach, from a gravel carpark the entire width of the house with two open gateways, to a single-approach parking area on one side of the house, with a pedestrian gate leading to the back door. Gardeners to be expected in the next few days ...
We spent most of half term at home, with a lovely couple of playdates (with one incorporating a woodland trek in torrential rain), and then headed up to Shropshire to introduce Asha to the joys of Nanna and Zoe's dogs (from whom she received a mixed response!), sheep poo (mmm tasty!) and walks which I subsequently discovered were WAY too long for her (we've downgraded to 30 minutes twice a day in order to preserve those precious joints).
The last couple of days we've been struggling with cold conditions in the house as the automatic notification system for our LPG tank failed to notify Calor that we needed a refil. Luckily though, it was after I had cooked lasagne for 16 for lunch on Sunday that we noticed the Aga losing heat. Calor just about managed to scramble distribution to our aid on Tuesday at two o'clock (I had been promised an early morning delivery on my answerphone), but even so it was another couple of hours before the central heating boiler automatically started and a good couple of hours of fiddling with the Aga and calling the Calor engineer out before we all realised there's something wrong with the starting valve thingy which we need the assistance of an Aga engineer to fix. Of course no-one can come out until tomorrow afternoon, by which time I'll have been boiling water in the microwave (what a long-drawn-out process that is) for 4 days. But at least I had a shower this morning (albeit lukewarm) so I can't complain too loudly. Oh, except that I have to cook dinner for 4 children in the microwave this afternoon, which isn't ideal.
Having signed up for a regular spin class last Wednesday, I came down with a throat infection thing this week which has thoroughly drained me, and rendered me incapable of doing anything more than strolling across Surrey heathland with the dog. I'm absolutely sick of not doing exercise and my mind quite frequently wanders back to this time last year when I was preparing avidly and effectively for my summer Ironman and felt strong and efficient and fit. I don't necessarily want to go back there (I felt tired too, I mustn't forget), but there must be a middle ground ...
March is going to be a busy month. 2 weekends of visitors followed by Miles's party and then a weekend with Roj away (right at the beginning of Easter holidays - are they that close already?) Plenty of other things inbetween as well, to fill in the time which flies at breakneck speed. Spring is tangibly within our grasp though, these last few sunny days, and I'm starting to anticipate those outdoor meals and long leisurely weekends in the garden. Never mind that I'm currently wearing 3 thermal layers and a down jacket!
lara : 14:07
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