Beyond Adolescence and General Chit Chat - part 3

[SpanielsGalore]

Not tagging anyone. I'm sure you'll all find your way here if you want to join in. 😁

Gritters, eek, although the temperature does seem to be plummeting. Yesterday there was a bitter wind, and I wore a thermal to training.

Checked our weather forecast, and yes, 15 on Wednesday. Methinks it’ll be a dog bed washing day. You never know quite what to wear!

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks Squawking. 😂😂😂 Glad DH isn't being too irksome and is pulling his weight. It's sweet that Hen wants to be close to him.

N is less stiff today and managed a 40 minute walk. K has had two walks down the sea front and has been much better behaved. Fortunately I'd already put her on lead before she spotted the Canada Goose. For some reason it's a lot more interesting to her than the seagulls and crows.
P is four weeks post surgery and doing alright. I am dreading her sedatives running out. K leaves her alone in the crate, but is trying to get her to play during their toilet trips in the garden.

@Silverbirchleaf It was bloody freezing this morning, even my fake dry-robe didn't keep me warm. DH and I took the eldest ones for a walk at Knole and got a bacon and cheese toastie in Sevenoaks, and before we'd returned to the car it was sodding cold! It had been steaming less than 30 seconds before. That being said, it's 'warm' enough now that my washing is on the line...

I think I might actually end up sweating on Wednesday if it is 15 as my body won't be used to the warm weather 🙁

@SpanielsGalore You know those funny noises dogs make when they dream? The high-pitched one? That's what he was doing!!!!

When you said Canada Goose I had an image of the clothing brand, and was about to say 'I never knew K had such expensive taste' and then I realised you meant the actual goose😂Glad N was less stiff though.

Do you think the vet might give more sedatives to P if you ask? Or are there risks if she's sedated for too long?

I became a murderer this morning. A pheasant murderer. They just waddled out in front of the car in a little gang and I couldn't stop or swerve. It's really no wonder they have an average life expectancy of something like two years. I don't understand how they aren't extinct yet when they're just so thick...

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks (Young adult) dc did the dog walk this morning as had to go to opticians today so missed the freezing dog walk this morning. Bacon and cheese toastie sounds delicious.

Roast pheasant for Mother’s Day?

@SpanielsGalore Glad things are improving. Now have an image though, of a spaniel chasing a Canadian-goose coat clad teenager!

@VanGoSunflowers Hope the cafe training is going well. Any excuse for a coffee and nice cream cake, all in the name of training, of course!

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks Was he wagging his tail too? 😂😂

We used to have a pheasant visit our bird feeders. We had a low feeder with a dish/tray that caught the spilt seed. The pheasant use to eat from the tray. Then when it was empty, he'd shake the feeder with his foot to get more seed to spill. I thought that was really clever.
Come breeding season when his hormones were rampant, he'd fight his reflection in the car hub caps though, so maybe not. 😂

I've emailed the vet with an update about P and mentioned the sedatives running out, so we'll see what she says. Today I let her out of the cage and she jumped on the sofa, grabbed jy hat and started bouncing around with it. All whilst on lead. 🤦‍♀️

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks and @Silverbirchleaf It's funny. Canada goose doesn't sound right, but there is only one of them. It's been left behind when all It's friends flew back home.

Blue sky and sunshine here, but biting wind and bloody freezing cold. Parts of Scotland are on a snow warning.

K's prey drive has well and truly kicked in. She flushed a pheasant today and spent a good ten minutes running round in circles following it's scent. Fortunately she missed the deer and hare that made runs for it earlier in the walk.

Fortunately , my dozy lab has little or no prey drive at all. Not sure I could cope with that. We can walk inches away from a cat and he doesn’t to notice them, or in yesterday’s case, a fox. The only exceptions are next doors cats, who seem to taunt him.

I think he’s only chased a squirrel once, and that was because it ran in front of him on a woodland path. Kamikaze style.

It was snowing here yesterday morning! So weird. Gorgeously sunny today though.

I am pleased to say I got the job! It’s such a huge relief as the job market for creative roles is absolutely dire at the moment. This is the only job I’ve even applied for since my contract ended as there’s just nothing about. So I’m very lucky!!

It’s 2 days at home then 3 days a week in the office in York so that will be a lovely place to work - different though as my past 2 jobs have been fully remote so I’m not used to commuting 😄 DH works remotely all week so will need to take over the dog walks on the days I’m in the office which hes happy about as it will force him to have a break from work.

@SpanielsGalore I hope you can get some more sedatives for her. Is it just one week of crate rest left now or two?

@YorkshireFelix Huge congratulations on getting the job. 💐 I hope York isn't too long a commute for you. What a lovely place to work.

There are 12 very long days of crate rest left. I'm not convinced she'll have free range after that either. We'll have to build up the length of walks over time and I'm not sure running round the garden and play fighting with your sister factors into that.

@YorkshireFelix Congratulations!!!

Thank you @SpanielsGalore @Silverbirchleaf !! It’s a very easy commute - I live next to the train station in our village so it’s 15 mins into Leeds then another 20 mins train out to York. I’ll be working for a train company and have the amazing perk of free train travel so it won’t cost me anything!

@SpanielsGalore they are little monkeys! It must be so hard for her as I’m sure she’s desperate to go bonkers. It’s not even like you can explain to her why she needs to rest either. Well you can, but I’m not sure she would listen 😄

@YorkshireFelix Oh I tell her every day she's a twat and she needs to stop bouncing around or her fractured leg will never heal. And you are correct. She never bloody listens. 😂

Brilliant about the free travel.

@Silverbirchleaf we're not actually celebrating mother's day (we don't do father's day either)...perhaps just roast pheasant for fun though? 😁Although not those ones, probably a bit cold by now and flat.

Mine don't really have prey-drives either, so definitely a bit of a retriever thing (but I guess that's in the breeding). But thankfully mine also never bring me some of the terrible gifts @tizwozliz appears to receive!!!

@SpanielsGalore if only he had a tail...

See! This is what I mean about them. They are sooo thick. And yet, they're clearly not that thick to still be around thousands of years after they first came into being (which sounds a bit like I think God woke up one day and said 'you! You shall be a pheasant!') or whatever evolutionary mistake happened to cause such dimwits.

Bless the Goose for being left behind. That's quite sad.

Silly P. As Yorkshire says, it must really be so hard for her ❤ Hopefully(?!) as she'll have been so limited for so long, even though she's energetic she won't be able to cause herself to much damage as her muscles won't be up for it? That sounds worse written down, but hopefully you know what I mean!

@YorkshireFelix CONGRATS!!! Must be such a relief for you/the family. And yay to Vinny still having someone around to pander to all his demands and give him cuddles and walks.

Don't suppose you want to share your free travel, do you? 😃DH has just had to get a yearly season ticket now he's starting a 'proper job' (as opposed to wandering into the office twice a week to be annoying and mostly remote working) and it's £4,800 a year 😯Although I don't know why I am surprised as a colleague lives in Hastings and her commute is closer to £8K a year

My dh’s newish job is twice weekly into London. He’s always driven to more local offices before. The train ticket plus parking plus coffee plus buying lunch soon mounts up.

Wow almost 5k a year and 8k a year on travel is wild! It’s an amazing perk isn’t it. DH and DD get a free travel pass too which is even more amazing 😮

@Silverbirchleaf I will admit I am terrible for buying lunch when I’m working in an office. I’m going to try and be organised and take something with me, but surely York has lots of nice coffee shops I need to sample first 😄

@Silverbirchleaf honestly it really is insane how quickly it adds up! I said on a previous thread that I spend about £60per day in the office (twice a week). Coffee on the way in at £5, lunch at £17 (including another coffee and salad) + commuting at £40ish. I could buy lunch, but i'd still be looking at £10 a day for coffee. And the really nice lunch is the only thing that keeps me going.

@YorkshireFelix I bet the York coffee shops are amazing. 😍The worst part is our commute is about 40 minutes on the train, so actually quite a short journey...although we do have a 30/40 minute walk to the station before that.

Twatdog has a limp. He's peg-legging it around the house like he's Long John Silver, but he's not squeaking or making any indicator that it's painful and he managed to follow me upstairs to watch me bath.

DH tried to convince me to take him to the emergency vet, but I have refused as he (Twatdog) has got form for amateur dramatics so it's a day off walking today and tomorrow and then if he's still limping on Tuesday he's going to the normal (not £300 just for the visit) vet. He looked heartbroken when I refused to let him join the evening walk - made me feel really guilty🙁

I have asked dh whether he needs his morning coffee, especially as he can get coffee in the office, but he says it perks him up after an early start. Lunch is also social with other work colleagues. Must admit, when he does only one visit, I mentally think that’s £x saved!

We had a family holiday in York a few years ago. Lovely place. The only two eateries I can remember is a lovely Italian on the road with lots of restaurants, and also Guy Fawkes pub. Obviously you’ve got to try out all the different cafes, in the name of an scientific research, and to report back which are the best.

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks Wishing Twatdkg a speedy recovery. Hopefully it’s nothing serious.

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks I hope TD is better today. I wouldn't go to an emergency vet for a limp either. Not unless it was sudden onset with lots of squealing. They'd only say Metacam and rest for a few days.
Was it TD who went to the vets with a limp and then bounced in as happy as Larry?

@SpanielsGalore It was indeed him! So he has form for being dramatic...

He's still limping around today, but he had a game in the garden with DWS before he decided it was all too much for him and came and collapsed next to me 😂He's not helping himself though as he keeps laying with the leg that is limpy under him, so puts more pressure on it. Idiot.

@Silverbirchleaf thank you! He'll be fine I imagine. He likes to be dramatic.

I do agree with your DH about the coffee perking people up! It's one of the little things that does really add up, but also does make the day far more bearable. I try and tell myself that as I go to an independent, family fun, business, that it's not too bad. It's not like I'm supporting Nero or Costa.

We have a coffee machine in the office which a colleague bought for the department. But it's one of those Nespresso ones so it only does espresso or americano's and I like a latte...also, I'm not sure it's ever been cleaned in the 3+ years I've been in my current role. And whilst I might let me dogs 'kiss me' I draw the line at having coffee from an uncleaned coffee machine. Priorities and all that!

I hope everyone had a nice morning walk! It's still dry here and quite bright but there's some very shifty looking dark clouds in the distance. I usually love winter, but I am so sick of rain at this point that I am about ready to scream.

DH managed to snap a lovely photo of Pen scrounging this morning which I thought I would share as at the angle he's taken it at, she looks so like Twatdog and DWS...although she has slightly sticky-outy teeth and they don't.

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks That is a gorgeous photo. Those soulful eyes.

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks Beautiful girl. 💖

@YorkshireFelix That's really good that the whole family get free travel. Hope your DH has some days off, so you can enjoy some family trips out.

The vets in their ultimate wisdom have said P should be used to the routine of being crated now, so she no longer needs sedating. 😳 It's not the crate so much that's the issue. It's the meerkat impressions and the pogoing up and down when she's out of the crate. 10 days to go.

Thank you @SpanielsGalore @Silverbirchleaf, she really is beautiful. I just wish she stared at me the way she stares at chorizo. I also just realised you can see Hen behind her (distinguishable due to her white paws) also scrounging!

@SpanielsGalore will keep my fingers crossed that P is as good at the vets think she’ll be…

Bless her though. She’s going to be so excited and happy when she gets back to herself fully. Do you think she’ll need any further treatment or will this have fixed the issue?

I’ve asked DMum to Twatdog-sit tomorrow as he’s not getting any rest here as he keeps being roped into playing with DWS. So I shall have a Twatdog free day tomorrow and he shall be closely monitored by Satan 😃 she terrifies him so much I’m expecting to turn up at DMums house on Wednesday to find him in the same position as when I leave him tomorrow morning…

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks My main fear is her body rejecting the metal worķ they put in and she'll need an operation to remove it all, as that's what happened after her patella surgery.
My second fear is her cruciate ligament in her left knee will rupture. Every dog I know who has had a ligament rupture, their other leg went a few months later. And the physio warned P was already in danger of her left leg going because she's been putting all of her weight on it for months.

K has been bouncing on P and trying to get her to play today during their toilet trips in the garden. So I think they are both going to be very happy once P is allowed her freedom. K has been very reserved up to now and just sniffed P, so perhaps P is giving off 'feeling better' vibes. Is that even a thing? 😂

Poor TD being subjected to Satan's iron fist ruling tomorrow. I hope it helps him.

@SpanielsGalore i didn’t realise she might reject the metal work…sounds horribly like humans rejecting transplants! Poor P really has been in the wars, bless her. Will keep my fingers crossed

I’m sure it is a vibe!!! Mine definitely know when the others are sick or injured (other than DWS who only cares about herself), and act accordingly! Hopefully that means K won’t encourage P to overdo it…

He wasn’t limping this morning, but I still deposited him at DMums house. He was crying when I left. I felt terrible 😞 Thing is, I know he actually adores Satan but she does have very strong views on how dogs should act, including not irritating her and being bouncy.

I actually got sweaty on my morning walk! It’s too hot now 😩