Beyond Adolescence - a thread to chat about grown up dogs, cake and anything else, excluding coffee.

[SpanielsGalore]

Not going to tag everyone as I don't know who wants to join. Welcome everyone. 😁

I have had two roofers here this morning. After the initial barking at heads appearing over the ridge, the dogs have been so good. They've sat in the garden and watched them working. Greeted them every time they came into the garden and didn't once try to bolt out of the gate. I heard one of the men telling them to 'stay' as he struggled through the gate with a bucket full of water, and then telling them they were 'good dogs'.
They've just finished and as they were leaving one commented on how calm my dogs are and not like 'normal spaniels'. See. Not all working cockers are 'high on crack' and 'manic'. 😇😇😇

Beautiful weather here today. 🌞 I unexpectedly got my car back yesterday. 🥳
Off to the woods to walk the adolescent nutter until she collapses in a heap. 😂

Hello 😊
Thank you for starting this thread @SpanielsGalore

Good on the roofer chaps being appreciative of your girls good behaviour. It's always lovely to be told your dogs are well behaved, especially so given the number of moany dog threads on here 🙄

Glad you've got your car back and can resume your normal freedom walks - I'm sure K will be very happy to have a good run about in the woodland. Also pleased that you have some nice sunny autumn weather.

Tagging @LandSharksAnonymous

waves from beneath today's Guardian review of my book

Hello 😊I'll go and read that review if it's online.
I almost tagged you but then worried if it was being presumptuous to do so...but glad you're here anyway.

Feeling personally victimised by the fact that coffee cannot be discussed. 😂

Twatdog has views as well.

Given Twatdog's choice of partner I'm not entirely convinced that his views are valid...although as a coffee abstainer myself, I could, of course, be a smidge biased.
Anyway, the best coffee is Barleycup... (ducks below the perimeter waiting to be peppered with fresh coffee beans) 😁

How is the new Nelly standing up to the Twatdog treatment so far @LandSharksAnonymous ?

@CoubousAndTourmaIet It is online! A bit of a rollercoaster but given the combination of the subject matter and the paper I am pleased.

I read it and I agree, it's what you'd expect from them as far as subject matter, but the last paragraph is pretty complimentary of you. So yes, a pleasing review, I'd say, given their stance on the landed gentry.

@LandSharksAnonymous I can assure you it wasn't personal. It's aimed at @VanGoSunflowers too. 😂
Twatdog looks like he's having fun, bless him.

@brushingboots I take it The Guardian don't like the aristocracy. No idea who she is, but she came across as a bitter woman to me. She must have choked on the compliments she begrudgingly penned your way.

@CoubousAndTourmaIet That's your first strike. Anymore coffee talk and you'll be barred. 😂

@CoubousAndTourmaIet Definitely a win I think – could have been much worse! I have duly taken her compliments and put them on the 'critical praise' page of my website!

@SpanielsGalore I think it is, as my editor says, an example of a review saying more about the person who wrote it than the book – which is one of the regular themes of book writing and reviewing, so par for the course. I will gladly swim in her compliments regardless, especially given that the book's introduction contains fair warning that I will be using nicknames where possible to make it easier to read!

I was reared on The Guardian, but it's too trendy/woke for me these days. It's always been urban and out of touch with rural living, so it's only to be expected. They also seem to have a bit of an anti dog agenda which I don't like.

God, we had a bloody mental walk.

Some random woman exiting the local post office suddenly grabbed Brie on both sides of her face, went "aren't you gorgeous?!" and planted a big smacker right on her nose 😂 Honestly bonkers. Never seen her before! Brie was an angel, just wagged her tail nicely.

After that there was dogs everywhere we looked and they all seemed to be barking hysterically. Mad, mad walk.

My emergency blood test from yesterday came back completely clear so that was a huge relief!

I'm now settled with a big mug of tea and a new book, so all is good 🙂

@CoubousAndTourmaIet Glad it was good news for you!

That woman must either be slightly bonkers or have balls of steel - I don't even grab my own dogs by the face and kiss them...mostly because they lick their own balls/girly parts and then lick each other around the mouth and it's grim. But still!

I know it's a non-coffee thread, but my 'place' outside Embankment has put their prices up. So I paid £10 for coffee today. It's my one extravagance and self-care thing as I don't get my nails done, eyebrows, tan, my membership, hairdressers twice a year etc (because coffee = life) ...but jeepers, £5 for a coffee 😥I think I might have to sell Twatdog to fund my habit at this rate. It's all very sad...

So, bids starting at £5. Sexi-Phant is included although she is missing a leg and an ear and quite a bit of stuffing😁

@CoubousAndTourmaIet What a silly woman! She's lucky Brie is so lovely. I will admit to kissing my dogs on the nose and then thinking "I really shouldn't do that." 🤢😂 But there's no way I would do it to anyone else's dog.
Glad your blood tests were clear.

@LandSharksAnonymous Gods sake! I said no coffee talk and it's been mentioned more times than dogs. So much so, the adverts are for an espresso machine. 😫 😂
My eldest always buys a Starbucks coffee on his way to work. He had a month off once and saved a small fortune.
You need to switch to tea. It's usually a good bit cheaper.

No chat about coffee? 😱 But coffee is the best liquid to ever be invented 😂

Sorry, I will not mention coffee again 🤐😂

Starbucks tastes like how I imagine the colour beige would taste @SpanielsGalore 😂 Don't hate me...but tea taste a bit like dirty tap-water to me! It's coffee or water or nothing, I'm afraid! But I shall stop the coffee talk, if only to spare you from the coffee machine adverts 😃

In dog news, you'll be pleased to know Clem is so back to normal that last night she slept in a different room to the rest of us. Sigh.

We had a man arrive at the house this morning to begin a fence installation. Our dogs were barking at the side door and our 15 month old mini bernedoodle hit the knob and opened the door. He scurried out and was so excited! Luckily the fence man was a dog lover.

@SpanielsGalore I bet you were beaming with pride (did you forget to put crack on their breakfast? 😉) what good girls!

@brushingboots I will go read your review when I get chance! I’m thinking of ditching my current book as it’s depressing and moving on to yours sooner rather than later tbh. I don’t know too much about the aristocracy, other than from watching Downton Abbey but that’s not a documentary, right? But looking forward to learning more!

@CoubousAndTourmaIet Thats so strange of that woman! I mean, it’s lovely that she was so complimentary but I would never dream of grabbing a stranger’s dog like that!

@LandSharksAnonymous no need to sell twat dog, I will set you up a go fund me page to fuel your habit. I completely understand that the drink that shall not be mentioned is a necessity and far nicer than tea

Sorry forgot to add @CoubousAndTourmaIet glad your test came back clear
and @SpanielsGalore yay on getting the car back!

Im so rubbish at this, I need to take a leaf out of your book @SpanielsGalore and start taking notes 😂

@VanGoSunflowers Don't let the G put you off! The Times review described it as a 'marvellous book'. Actually all the reviews have been lovely and I am very pleased indeed.

Downton definitely isn't a documentary! I really hope you enjoy it though I appreciate it is long so not a one-sitting job!

@brushingboots I read the review and thought it was a bit ridiculous tbh. Who complains about putting detail in a book about the subject matter it’s written on? Surely that’s kind of the point?
But as others have said, considering it’s the Guardian I suppose it’s hardly a surprise!

What will your next book be about? I think I saw you said you were looking at 1930s politics for it?

@VanGoSunflowers I thought the same – it's 200,000 words on a subject, of course it's full of detail! My editor said that she'd missed the point which is that it's a book about the intricacies of big families, hence why spelling out all the relationships is vital.

Next book will hopefully be on something relating to 1930s politics and focussing on a group of men (predictably) who are all in Heirs and Graces! I'm not going too far off the beaten track but the next one will be much shorter as I haven't got it in me to write another 600-page book so soon.

@brushingboots I agree with your editor. What it said to me is the woman was a tofu eating twat. 😂 I'm still trying to work out what posh-adjacent means. I hope you aren't allowing her too much head space.

@momtoboys Oh it's such fun when dogs learn to open doors! I bet he was so pleased with himself. Hopefully there is some sort of fence already up, so they couldn't go far. Just out of interest, how big is a mini bernedoodle?

What it said to me is the woman was a tofu eating twat I love this comment @SpanielsGalore 😂😂
It does beg the question as to why the Guardian would review such a book in the first place - of course they’re going to miss the point!

@brushingboots next one sounds v interesting too! Honestly, hats off to you - writing a book is quite an undertaking. I can’t imagine the amount of work and discipline required. I can’t barely organise myself to comment on everyone’s posts on these threads 😂

@VanGoSunflowers I was always a coffee drinker until I had treatment at the homoeopathic hospital and they told me no coffee. I switched to tea for a while and when I went back to coffee it made me feel jittery. So now I'm just tea.

Yick! I am a veggie but draw the line at tofu @SpanielsGalore It's like eating melted down knicker elastic (not that I ever have, I hasten to add). Oh probably a helpful passing vegan will tell me I'm wrong... so I'll🤐

Well, the dog kissing was a first; had random strokers aplenty with all the dogs, but never had anyone grab their face like that before. Fortunately, all ours have been pretty bomb proof apart from Sylvie, who would have backed away with a "get away from me, you mad woman!" attitude. The forceful grab was pretty bizarre, but Brie thought it was quite good fun 🙄

Can't believe Twatdog has destroyed the new sexiphant already @LandSharksAnonymous 😨That boy really is out to prove himself as the sex god of Goldies.
Relieved to hear that Clem is okay.

Just sat and watched an episode of Wolf Hall on DVD with Brie sitting upright on my lap 😂I say watched, but it was more like listened to, because I couldn't really see round her massive bulk. I do feel slightly squished.

Good Morning from the zombie house😫

Jeez, what the heck do you do when you're being woken through the night by a barking dog, but it's not your own dog? Difficult... (and no, it's not a 'reverse' though if I put it on AIBU people would think it was). Ugh. Just dog tired 😬Brie bloody well sleeps through it night after night, the lazy bugger. Guard Dog my arse 🙄

Cool and very cloudy here this morning, think I'll be back in the thick tights as soon as we get to Oct 1st. Not complaining though, wearing 17 layers comes naturally to me with my genes.

Had porridge and tea. Hope you all have your cake and coffee beverages planned out for after morning walkies. I shall now cease mumbling to myself and crawl off for a lie down 😴