Beyond Adolescence - part 2

[SpanielsGalore]

No point banning coffee, as it didn't work last time. 🙄
Haven't had any cake updates from a while. @VanGoSunflowers Have you stopped baking already? You still had 8 cakes to go to make it economical.

TD is very handsome indeed @TheHungryHungryLandsharks Gorgeous masculine head, and what a magnificent tail he has. But oh dear, that poor sexiphant looks like it'll be on the way out before long...😬

I could definitely imagine TD & Brie being pals and playing together in the snow.

It's very nice out even with just a tiny amount of the white stuff.

Gently eased myself back into work and have also managed to do my vat return and my tax return so feeling virtuous.

I'll prioritize heating over just about anything else. It's part of the reason I'd never want a dog that wasn't comfortable at 20 degrees.

The place we stayed over Christmas had underfloor heating which was great. The deer poo daily in the garden would be a problem for @TheHungryHungryLandsharks though.

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks I ate a whole box of Matchmakers in about ten minutes the other night. 🐷
My excuse is I was getting rid of all the junk food, so I could get back on a healthy diet. 😇

I hope your quiet day is not a bad omen. Hopefully everyone else is having a snow day too. 🤞

@CoubousAndTourmaIet never has a dog been so gifted in appearance and yet so brainless.

I must say it would be nice for Twatdog to have a friend who was a similar size to him and not a relative - his girlfriend is only about 25kg, so absolutely tiny for a Golden Retriever, and she just cannot keep up with him.

@tizwozliz beautiful pictures as always!

Oh absolutely - we could not cope with the deer poo, there would be fisticuffs morning, noon and night. But maybe I could leave the dogs with my mother and convince DH to take me away...

@SpanielsGalore I had to google as I didn't know what matchmakers were. They look delightfully mourish.

I think it's just quiet as people are easing themselves back in, as Tiz says! That and Venezuela has everyone quite exercised but is, mercifully, not something that is relevant to my work at all.

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks You've never heard of Matchmakers!!!!! 😱😱😱😱😱 You'll be telling me you've never had a Terry's Chocolate Orange next.

The dogs had very different walks today. I took K to the local Spar (they had milk 🎉) and then to the field along the sea front. Little git remembered the dead sheep was on the beach and ran straight to it. @brushingboots Where does being presented with a leg of mutton come in your rankings? I walked P round the block and she had a run in in the playing field in the centre of the village.
I haven't walked N, because I didn't want to risk her slipping on the icy paths.

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks I’m also flabbergasted that you’ve never heard of matchmakers. The mint ones are divine, a bit like After Eights in taste, but in a stick formation. They’re so more-ish. .

I’m sorry, but how big is that elephant? It looks huge!

And he definitely is a handsome git! And that tail would put Basil (as in Brush) to shame.

We used to love matchmakers too. But Neapolitans were my favourites.

Glad you got your milk @SpanielsGalore . You were brave for venturing out. We opted for a rest day. It didn't get above freezing all day and it's now back down to -5.

@Silverbirchleaf it's 40inches (100cm or so). In the photos it's the size of a 4/5 year of child so it is pretty chunky. DWS can't lift it up as it's too big for her but she keeps trying, bless her.

And thank you 😊His tail is a weapon of destruction (and fur). But he is my pride and joy despite being a nitwit with one braincell.

@SpanielsGalore Clearly if everyone else knows what they are I should too! I should be ashamed of myself😂But, I love a Terry's Chocolate Orange. I sometimes buy them for DDs on the way to school and give them a few segments (and then eat the rest in my car).

The scenery where you live really is absolutely beautiful.

@SpanielsGalore I do have central heating but even with it on (at not a mental temperature) it’s still cold! The heat just goes straight out the windows. I’ve had it on lowish for the last few days and it has made a difference but it’ll have cost me a fortune no doubt. The kitchen has underfloor heating which is lovely but it takes forever to warm up.

On the vom scale I’d say a leg of mutton is fairly high if it was found in a parlous state – more acceptable if stolen from, say, a farm shop, and therefore fairly fresh.

Also outraged that @TheHungryHungryLandsharks has never heard of Matchmakers! My current crack is M&S’s new chocolate button shortbreads from the bakery. Very moreish.

I would have loved to have had a no-walk afternoon but at 4.15 i was being nudged by a tiny dog so we went out and actually it was nice – no other dogs, no people, no deer. Did a tiny bit of training but I felt bad asking her to do sit stays in the snow so did literally three reps and then carried on walking.

Talking of shortbread, just finished the Christmas tin, eaten in the name of finishing off the Christmas food so I can properly diet now.

I got some clothes to take back to m and s, so may have to investigate that chocolate button shortbread though…

We still have an oblong iced fruit cake left, some mince pies and about 400 bags of nuts! I am sick of eating.

My DD’s friend came round the other day and she had never heard of After Eights and dd was flabbergasted 🤣

First Matchmakers, and now After Eights! What is the world coming to?

@brushingboots oh they are delicious!!! I had them at Christmas. I don't know if you had their tinned chocolate cookies this year (they came in this huge gifting/sharing tin but there were only like 12 in a tin) - they were absolutely incredible, really buttery. @Silverbirchleaf tagging you as well if you're a chocolate chip person you may love the cookies

@YorkshireFelix but are you still eating even though you're sick of it? I definitely am!

DH and I braved the ice this morning to get to the office and I rewarded myself with a coffee from 'my' place outside Embankment. Nothing beats a scalding hot cup of coffee in the freezing cold, in the dark, on the way to work - particularly when it's non-homogenized milk so it's really thick and creamy. 😍When we left this morning, Twatdog was crying and tried to force himself out the front-door with us but by the time DDs got up 45 minutes later he was reportedly on his back asleep on the sofa so he's clearly not that bothered.

It must be a bit strange for the ddogs this week. For two weeks, we’ve had a household of four people, so there’s always been at least one person at home. Yesterday, one person!

Off to see if that chocolate cookie gift set is still listed in Ocado.

Snow tax photo paid (snowed on New Year’s Day and hasn’t melted completely yet).

@Silverbirchleaf I did not name them properly.... https://www.ocado.com/products/m-s-all-butter-chocolate-chunk-cookie-selection/512349011

Not really a gift set, but it comes in fancy packaging that makes it gift-worthy in my view!

DDog looks very happy in that photo 😊

Snow and thick fog here this morning. And I have to go out for a medical appointment 😨 Think I need to find the Yaktrax...

Out of stock! But I did add some Fox’s choc chip cookies which were on offer… You’re a bad influence on me!

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks Yes I am definitely stuck in eating mode!! I feel like I’ve regained the 50lbs I lost last year. I’ve been trying to drink lots of water to flush Christmas out of my system and fix all of my gluttony 🤣

Can also highly recommend the M&S fresh cookies from the bakery section. They are the best ever ever. I just bloody love M&S. They closed the one in Bradford down last year and I was so sad!! But we have a Waitrose and a Booths not too far away so I can still be boujee if I want to be…

Big pup is most put out that she has to drink indoor water as all the random water collection spots round the garden have frozen over.

I can confirm, Twatdog is indeed a Twat. Stupid little git apparently peed on Eris and not in a 'Eris walked under him and he was already tinkling' type way...more in the Eris was doing a little girl wee wee and he came along and tiddled on her head! Deliberately. I can't leave him alone with someone else for one day without him being an utter scumbag. DMum is pretty horrified and given her dog ownership experience, that says a lot.

@Silverbirchleaf sorry...but not really sorry as Fox's biscuits are also nice and you do only live once! 😁

@YorkshireFelix we, sadly, have no choice but to be a bit boujee. Our closest supermarkets are Waitrose...Waitrose and M&S. Sainsburys/Tesco are another 15 minute drive one way (not including high-street traffic and anyone who has ever been down Tonbridge high-street can attest to the fact it is awful) or another 10 minutes if I go toward London. So we spend a lot of time eating very nice unhealthy food.😩 I just can't say no to good food.

50lb lost in a year is brilliant!!! Congratulations (if that's okay to say).

@tizwozliz you could take a hammer with you and create some little drinking holes for her? Puddles though...not rivers or lakes!

Speaking of which did anyone read that article about the man who nearly drowned trying to save his dog after it fell through ice? Someone came to his aid and his dog was saved as well - I do like a story with a happy ending.

Sorry. I do apologise if anyone heard me cackling at the idea of TD weeing on TWS; revenge is sweet I guess @TheHungryHungryLandsharks I could say he's a typical male, except that three of our four boys were very civilised. The less said about Magnus and his toilet habits the better though 😬

God, so jealous at you having a Waitrose locally - even more envious of @YorkshireFelix with a Booths nearby. Someone who lives in my house is from Tonbridge btw 😁

So, we've just had an hour long walk in fog and wet snow and I've knackered my knee, because apparently Wintertrax make me walk like a Geisha. Teeny tiny steps as if I'm wearing okobo & kimono.

Also very jealous of @YorkshireFelix's Booths! We don't have a Waitrose in the nearest town but there is one in each of the next nearest towns so I do like to take a nice journey up or down the A1 sometimes on a weekday afternoon for my fix. Previous to here we lived in Windsor where the nearest supermarket by a decent distance was Waitrose and I do miss that.

Snow grinch here reporting to say that this evening's walk is mostly in the green and not white and I am very pleased about this. Re previous chat about scent, I am writing this while standing in a field watching pupsy quarter in the now defrosted grass which clearly smells amazing post-snow now the scents have been unlocked again.

I told mine to be careful round the frozen canal the other day as I wasn't going in to to save them because 9/10 times the dog makes it out alive but the person doesn't!

The waitrose in Nottingham closed down and returned as a Lidl of which we have a million already. When I had a break between contracts I used to swim in the morning, then pop to waitrose for a free coffee and to see what yellow stickered bargains I could find.

Is saying I have never heard of Booths as bad as people not knowing what Matchmakers and After Eights are?

I live in a different world to the rest of you. We have a Tesco, Lidl and a Co-op.
Nearest big town, which is half an hour's drive, has Tesco, Asda, Lidl and Aldi.
And if I want to be posh, I can drive an hour to Sainsburys. 😂

Oh. I tell a lie. Just remembered there is an M&S Foodhall in the nearest big town. But it's in the town centre with no parking, so you have to park at Tesco and walk across.

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks Poor DWS. Dogs can be so gross. I hope DMum washed DWS's head when they got home. Or you'll have pissy hands after fussing her.

@CoubousAndTourmaIet I hope your knee feels better soon. I've definitely had enough of the snow and ice now.

We haven't been out today. It rained all morning and snowed in the afternoon. The dogs have spent ages pottering in and out of the garden though. It's really made me regret having carpet fitted tomorrow. 😫

Highlight of the day has been P watching me eat a packet of crisps and taking two from me. 😱 😱 🎉 🎉 🥳 🥳
Not many people will understand why that is worth celebrating. 😂