Our Cosmic Autumn Rebellion (Adolescent Support Group)

[MonCoubousMonTourmalet]

Okay folks, let's head into late summer/autumn.

@Aubrielle I’ve not seen that particular dog hate thread. I went to have a nosey and couldn’t find it, but that’s probably a good thing, keeping away from the nutters!

@YorkshireFelix This is the coat I bought last autumn. It’s so cosy and kept me completely dry and warm in downpours. It washed well too.
https://www.lighthouseclothing.co.uk/products/isobel-padded-coat-navy

There are two horrible anti dog threads running @Nella68 You're wise to stay away.

The Isobel looks perfect for dog walks! I have a Lighthouse outback coat in black (for my more gothic moments). I've been quite pleased with it.

My winter walking coat is similar to your Isobel - the Seasalt Plant Hunter. I love it!
https://www.seasaltcornwall.com/plant-hunter-womens-waterproof-coat

Mine is Woodland Green. I only paid £60 for it in the Seasalt Ebay outlet last Christmas and that was one of my best ever bargains!

@Aubrielle that one looks a good length. I was wearing my gortex raincoat but got fed up of getting a wet bum and thighs. At least with the longer length coat my legs stay drier

@YorkshireFelix - but did you make your DD walk three miles!?😂 Please tell me you have seen that thread?!

Does anyone have any recommendations for a non-fleecy and v. lightweight coat? I get far too hot to weary anything that's any heavier than a top so it's a nightmare finding a good coat. Mine has, after 15 years, finally decided it is no longer water-proof. It's so old I can't even find a label for it to see if I can buy it again.

I hope everyone's dogs are doing well. It's throwing it down here (YES!), so I had the joy of bundling three dogs and Eris into my car this morning as Hen refused to go out. I came back from the walk, soaking wet and covered in mud, and she was still in the exact same position on my bed - on her back, legs in the air, and head on my pillows. I've missed walks in the torrential rain 😍

@LandSharksAnonymous nooooo I haven’t but maybe I should! Sounds like usual batshittery from MN at its finest.

Hen has the right idea 😄 Although I have learnt to love a rainy walk since getting V. It’s just the gross wetness inside the house afterwards that I hate!

@Aubrielle@Nella68 thank you for the recommendations!! I think I’d like something long-ish too. My fabled Tesco waterproof which I love so much is long and it’s just brilliant.

Has anyone ever had anything Didriksons brand? I’ve just found this one which I like! I think I am drawn to ones which pull in at the waist as I feel weird in a straight up and down jacket. https://www.newforestclothing.co.uk/products/didriksons-lana-womens-parka-2

For a coat, it depends on length @LandSharksAnonymous
I have a Lighthouse Kendal jacket and that's not padded or fleecy, it is very lightweight but it's only a couple of inches past my bum (I'm 5'4"). It's not breathable though, whereas my Seasalt one is...so, I'd recommend looking at Seasalt. I know their Janelle is frequently recommended on here and their waterproofs come in different lengths.

I saw the Didriksons recommended here yesterday @YorkshireFelix Looks really nice but I've never tried it. I don't get along with straight cuts either, I have pronounced hips (okay, a big bum 😉), hence why I love the Plant Hunter and found Janelle too straight cut.
The problem is you never know until you try them on.

(Disclaimer, I don't work for Seasalt 😂)

@Aubrielle yes I’ve never heard of Didriksons outside of MN but they all seem to have very good reviews when I’m looking. So I might order that one to try. No idea what size to get though!! I do like that Plant Hunter one, it looks like it would be warm too.

I think my one issue with the Didrikson's one is that it doesn't seem to have a storm flap... but apparently storm flaps are out of fashion, waterproof zips are in. Who knew?

(god, I swear I'm starting to sound like Miriam Margolyes on these threads 😨 Send help!!!)

@YorkshireFelix apparently it's child abuse to make your child walk 3 miles to and from school (especially if it's September and thus winter).

It's the upside of dog ownership - gets you out in weather you'd never usually go out in. I always treat myself to a coffee and cake afterwards, or hot chocolate and cake. Something and cake. It's my reward for being a good dog owner when all I want is to cuddle under the duvet. Is V a wet weather dog? I figure as a Spaniel he's probably up for walks in any weather, unlike Princess Hen who has also refused to even go in the garden yet. We're at 18 hours and counting since her last wee.

@Aubrielle that's a brilliant shout thank you! Will take a look at both. I definitely need breathable or I'd melt into a puddle and you'd never hear from me again😃

I think @Bupster knows about Didriksons coats?

18 hours? @LandSharksAnonymous OMG, I thought it was only Pyries that did that. Fearless, scared of nothing, except, apparently, walking on wet grass 🙄 It's clearly a large breed thing.
I hope Hen will relent soon and tiptoe out - she must be getting mighty uncomfortable.

@Bupster 🚨🚨🚨

@Aubrielle I had to Google what a storm flap was 😂😂😂

@LandSharksAnonymous yes he is not put off by any weather at all. Unlike my Mum’s greyhound who will stand statue still at the slightest sight of rain. Maybe I should have got one of those instead 😄 He seems to take an age to dry off and we don’t have a way to keep him contained in a room (I.e away from the sofa!) after a wet and muddy walk. I’ve bought 4 different stair gates recently for the doorway between kitchen and living room and none of them fit because we live in a silly old house. Hopefully the hosepipe ban here ends soon so I can start hosing him off in the back yard again when he’s filthy (poor Vinny!).

@Aubrielle she used to be fine and loved going out in all weathers, but she's older now so I won't push her! She'll go out when she is ready. I pulled out the canopy outside the patio doors an hour ago so she doesn't need to get wet. On the other hands, Twatdog has been in and out all day. He stinks.

@YorkshireFelix I didn't realise you were under a hosepipe ban as well! It's bonkers...I don't even think it was that hot?! Bless V though - not being allowed on the sofa. I tried that with mine and had to admit defeat because there's too many of them. Instead I throw down a bunch of covers. When I win the lottery I will buy them their own proper sofa and they can stink that up to their hearts content. I must admit I am so jealous that you live in an older house even with the stairgate issues. All that personality.

Oh no he is allowed on the sofa which is why it’s a problem, because he zooms in and jumps straight up when he’s all gross and wet 😄 I can’t put blankets down because he just pulls them off, chews and humps them. We are due to get a new sofa but I’m holding on to this one as long as possible until he’s a bit less of a shit (might be waiting a while!!). He probably stinks as much as Twatdog.

It’s been really dry here for months but we’ve had some drizzle the past few days. I’ve never seen the river and canal so low and the reservoirs are even worse. So I am hoping the rainy weather lasts! Living in an old house is nice aesthetically but also I have the double whammy of Grade 2 listed and being in a World Heritage Site so we have loads of restrictions on what we are and aren’t allowed. So I have to put up with drafty single glazed sash windows and requesting planning permission to put up a bloody garden gate 🙄 The doorways are weirdly narrow so even the ‘slimline’ gates don’t fit.

I'll show you our ratty, cat scratted sofa cover @LandSharksAnonymous @YorkshireFelix , then you won't feel as bad. It's quite a large sofa, so we have to use two throws and overlap the join, and Milady digs it all up into a lump then chews at the fringed edge. You can now see why she doesn't have her own bed 🙄

Giant dog or tiny sofa? 😁

@YorkshireFelix yeah...you might be waiting a while! But he's worth it, right? 😀
Okay, planning permission for a garden gate would drive me batty. What if you want a new kitchen?! Or a new bathroom!? Do you have to jump through all the hoops and get them to sign off a specific design? I know that's a super niche question, but I'm finding new kitchen planning a nightmare and all I have to do is choose the bloody cabinet colours so thinking about the possible hoops you might have to jump through is just giving me a migraine.

@Aubrielle oh she is a beauty. And she looks very much like a dog saying 'why are you taking photos of me, again?'

For interiors it’s only if you’re messing with original features that you have to jump through all the hoops for, but I suspect many people here just do as they please inside anyway because how would they even find out! When we fit out our restaurant, which isn’t even technically inside the WHS boundary, we had to wait for months for the heritage officer to even bother coming to inspect before we could do anything. Then she questioned the fact we put some blinds up (which are temporary fixtures so aren’t even an issue anyway?). It drives me crazy.

We’re only allowed certain colour doors and all sorts. No one was able to have Sky TV until recently as you couldn’t erect a satellite dish. It’s mad! But I guess we do choose to live here. There’s many people who lived here pre-WHS/listing who are very unhappy about it all though. And the fact the council just do as they please - they replaced all the lovely old iron lampposts with silver LED monstrosities this year!! I’m sure you can imagine the comments in the village FB group 😄

@YorkshireFelix I take back all I have ever said/thought/fantasised about when it comes to living in a listed building. I'll keep my uninspiring modern one.

But I will take V in exchange for Twatdog, if you ever fancy that swap. 😀

I think it might end up being a like-for-like swap at the minute 😂

You’re seriously welcome to Twatty! I’ll even pay you to take him as I just had to chase him around the garden in bare feet as he refused to come in and the gardener had arrived.

Git.

He's a gorgeous hunk @LandSharksAnonymous but I can believe that he's just a big baby - he has that look about him ❤And you know what I'm like for boy dogs (sorry Brie)!

As regards a coat, I've just had an offer email from Seasalt - there is a promotion on their front page so you could save £40. You might be able to find one cheaper on Ebay, they do have an outlet there, but I thought I'd mention the offer anyway in case anyone fancies taking advantage of it.

I think I need to join the shopping for waterproofs brigade.
We drove 10 minutes down the road to walk in the woods today. The heavens opened just as we got there. We managed about 50 minutes. I was literally soaked to the skin. K looked more like a scruffy longhaired Patterdale than a cocker spaniel and was shivering. P just looked unimpressed.
On the positive side, we walked a different path to avoid Adrenaline Area. Everytime K stopped and looked in that direction I called "This way" and she came with us. I also noticed that when she ran ahead of me and got to a bend, she'd stop and wait for me to catch up before running ahead again. 😇

We also discovered today that even though K is only knee-high to a grasshopper, if you leave a cake too close to the edge of the kitchen worktop, she can just reach to lick the cream frosting from round the sides. 😂

@YorkshireFelix I'd love for Vinny and K to meet up. I can imagine the adventures they'd have together. 😳 😂

I love Didriksons! I have one just-below-bum length warm winter coat, a Selma parka I think they've stopped making, that looked brand new for about five years, until I got Bill; the last year has been hard on it 😄 but it's still brilliant and warm and has loads of pockets. I also have a fabulous longer raincoat (a Thelma I think?). I hanker after more Didriksons coats, as my only proper long quilted freezing weather coat (not Didriksons) isn't waterproof, but I don't really feel like I can justify it - I own four of their long fleeces as well so in theory I can just layer up instead. But I am tempted. Unfortunately, the one I really like the most is the Aiko, which is like a beautifully designed drapey sack, and has no features that aren't already provided by a fleece and a raincoat apart from keeping your upper thighs warm.

Has anyone had their dog neutered yet? Did you notice any differences in behaviour? Good or bad.