Beyond Adolescence - part 4

[SpanielsGalore]

Didn't realise we were that close to the end of part 3. 😂

@Silverbirchleaf Humans will be given priority over dogs for beds. Happy to let the dogs share or I have 11 dog beds of one type or another for them to use. Plus two sofas.

@Struckbylightning I have a summer, which has become a glorified shed. You'd be sharing with a few spiders, but it does have a lovely sea view.

15° and cloudy today. Just off out with the cockers.

@VanGoSunflowers speaking of cake, DD1 was feeling a bit sorry for herself last night so I made a chocolate genoise sponge. Easiest recipe ever. Was absolutely delicious😍Only downside was I had to nip out to get extra cream as I whipped it for too long and it turned into butter...literally four minutes, that was it! Think it must have been the heat 🙁My not eating cake is not going well.

@Bupster It's nice to see Bill appreciates your efforts 😂

@Silverbirchleaf was probably because of the football (which I am a scrooge for and have banned in the house)!! What time did they stop the party!?

@tizwozliz sounds like you and the girls had a lovely walk yesterday!

It was all fun and games on our morning walk today. DH and I tried a different route from normal which was a big circuit through fields. All going really well until we got to Twatdogs arch-nemesis: the kissing gate.

Because he's so long, he can't fit through them properly as he's not that flexible, and he gets scared. Usually he just nips between the bars or even the fencing nearby because he's quite slim but today's gate had mesh between the bars and so did the fence panels around the field. So DH, 4 Dogs and I all made it through, and he was running around the field we had just left, barking his head off and having a complete meltdown. Refused to let me pick him up to carry him through, so I had to take the absolute bellend-wank bucket back the way we had come, another thirty minutes walks, to a different exit. We were five minutes from the car when we approached the gate!!!! 😠I am sure he's getting more ridiculously pathetic as he gets older.

@SpanielsGalore Hope you and the girls have a lovely walk and the weather stays nice and cool. Can't believe you'd give humans priority bedding over Twatdog...poor thing is heartbroken.

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks Are you muddling with some else re party? Watched the football last night but fell asleep during extra time.

Dog saw his first deer today! Didn’t even know there were deer in the woods near our house. Heard rustling which got louder and louder, and saw two large deer run across the path. One stopped and started briefly then carried on running. Both Dog and I were surprised and he ran towards where they’d been. (Proud mummy moment) I recalled him and he ran back to me. He was anxious for a little while, kept looking back, but possibly picked up on my surprise and reaction as well.

@Silverbirchleaf gahh I was! I read what you wrote, but then didn't tag you in the right bit and instead tagged you in the response to @Struckbylightning (the point stands, I hope your neighbours didn't keep you up too late)!

That's good that he didn't give chase! I always find deer are one of the hardest things to recall from - they must smell particularly tasty...

Our street was fairly quiet. In fact, a workman recently commented how quiet it was during the day, and long may it continue.

Dog doesn’t really much of a prey drive (apart from house flies 😮), and tends to be cautious of other dogs until he’s certain they’re friendly, so I was a little surprised to see him running back along the path towards where they’d been.

Flashed through my deer was an ‘are-wild-deer-dangerous? ‘ question? I did think of Knole park, but those deer are more used to seeing people and dogs .

Thank you . I’ll pack my bag.

Sorry goldies.

Poor Twatdog!

We see deer quite a lot - sometimes in very unexpected places. We saw a muntjac in the local cemetery a couple of months ago, and I don't know who was more surprised, but I ended up doing my Soviet hammer thrower impression (with Bill as the very hairy hammer). This is from yesterday morning, very early, on the Common, and thankfully himself utterly oblivious to the silhouette in the distance...

Lovely photo.

@SpanielsGalore I’ll take the summerhouse, thanks. At the moment spiders are preferable to the heat.
@TheHungryHungryLandsharks to be fair to the neighbours, the music didn’t last too long, so I forgave them. I couldn’t ban football as my husband is a big fan, but the whole World Cup has pretty much passed me by. I have my own sitting room in this house. Some people are a bit shocked by how anti-social we are with each other, but it means that I get to watch my murders and Star Trek and he can knock himself out with his football/ tick-tock. DH and I are both happy with this arrangement. Merry is in with me of course.
Poor Twatdog being scared to kissing gates. What a melt.
Have you ever seen those special dog entryways where you can lift the middle section up for a dog to pass through? I love those, but they would possibly not be wide enough for a larger breed?
@Silverbirchleaf I don’t think deer would be dangerous, though I would be nervous if I came face to face with a full grown stag!

@Silverbirchleaf rather jealous of your quiet road. The deer at Knole can be pretty vicious if they want to be though - particularly around rutting season! I've definitely been followed by stags before...but I'd take deer over cows and sheep any day. Sheep are surprisingly terrifying when they approach in a large group.

@Bupster Bill looks taller in that photo than I have always imagined him being (although the long grass could be short).

@Struckbylightning you're speaking to the woman who's DH has lived in a different country to her for much of the last 20 years so to be that sounds like bliss! DH has learnt the hard way (in the last seven months since his return) that if he interrupts me during a murder mystery it might end up with us re-enacting one. 😑And good on Merry - she knows what side her bread is buttered, clearly! 😁

I've not seen them in real life, but have on TV although I agree that I'm not sure they're big enough for large dogs. Twatdog doesn't like stiles either. He's also scared of cats.

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks I agree, sheep can be terrifying. I will never forget a walk (pre-Dog) with a friend and we came across some sheep up a lane. They were blocking the gate to the next field. I can still remember the evil sheep who I swear was stamping his feet, and snorting at us. My friend still laughs at my fear. We turned around.

No deer around where we live but there’s a place I used to take Pablo for a walk all the time that I can’t go to anymore because it’s full of cows. I tried to be brave once, figuring they may not show much interest in us but I was very wrong!

Had about 4 of them walking after us and as I sped up, so did they. I was actually terrified 😂 there were only about an arms length behind me. Luckily we managed to get them to lose interest in us but I am relying on braver dog owning friends to let me know when they have gone so we can go back up there as it’s a perfect walking spot.

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks where did you get the cake recipe 😋

Im on a health kick at the moment, healthy food, no alcohol blah blah blah. It’s so annoying that it does actually make you feel better 😩

My next cake will be made using courgettes so that counts as health food in my book 😂

Big pup isn't keen on kissing gates, especially small ones but can be persuaded. She doesn't like stone squeeze stiles though, opting to jump the 5ft barbed wire topped drystone wall rather than go through the gap. She has some sort of body dysmorphia I think, and doesn't realise she'll fit through!

@VanGoSunflowers https://www.amazon.co.uk/First-Cream-Butter-Sugar-companion/dp/1911668579 here! Best cookie recipe ever. The malted chocolate fudge cake is amazing as well and her Blueberry, Mascarpone and Lemon cake. All her cakes are good tbh. Yet to find one that isn't good.

I have been trying to be healthy, but I can't say no when someone suggests something naughty! We have cold meats and salad in the fridge for dinner tonight...but DH said he really fancied chips, so now it's cold meats and chips 😩

Oh I don't go into fields with cows! I've been chased once, a long time ago, and I learnt my lesson!!

@Silverbirchleaf glad it's not just me! I'm the joke of the family with my sheep phobia, but they are vicious little buggers!

@tizwozliz Sounds like little pup has taken a leaf from Twatdogs book! I think for longer dogs it's the having to turn at an odd angle.

Ohhh bbc good food do a great Courgette and Lime cake. Definitely healthy! 😁

Pablo doesn’t mind kissing gates he usually just looks confused and doesn’t realise how they work but once he’s led through he’s fine.

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks I shall have to order that. I think food has to be for pleasure reasons too and not just nutrition. So I’m fully in favour of courgette cake and chips for dinner.

I am less scared of sheep than I am of swans which is strange as I think I would stand a better chance of fending off a swan than a sheep.

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks Twatdog will be fine. He's bunking in with me and K.

@VanGoSunflowers I'd be more scared of swans than sheep. Swans are viscious bastards and can drown dogs.

Did we not decide on a previous BA thread that cake should not be ruined by adding vegetables?

Here's a random one for you.
I learnt at the weekend that a world map does not show the countries to scale. How did I not know that before?

I didn’t know that either, and I’ve got a geography a- level! If you like maps, there’s a superb game called ’ Worldle’ where you have to guess the country by its shape, and further rounds have questions on neighbouring countries, flags, facts etc.

I do know the Tube map is deceptive though, and stations that look afar apart are in essence, only a few minutes walk away from each other.

Twatdog is healthy!!! Just dermatitis 🙄 £500 to be told he’s a grubby bastard, but I’ll take it!

Had to take Clem and Pen in today for their check-ups. Clem’s eyesight is failing a bit but she’s not blind yet, and Pen is in full health and fighting fit. Then in three weeks it’s DWS turn.

In very sad news, the shops didn’t have the milk we buy today so I’ve had to buy something else…and my coffee taste too strong and quite nasty! 😩 I think it’s because the milk we get has been in the press a bit recently because of all the nutritional benefits of it so everyone’s jumping on the bandwagon.

@SpanielsGalore given his desire to spend time with everyone but me, he’d probably bite your arm off to sleep with you and K!!

@VanGoSunflowers its a really good book! Not seen one recipe where I thought ‘ew’ yet.

I absolutely agree with @SpanielsGalore that vegetables DO NOT belong in cake, and this it was decreed on the previous thread. It’s just wrong. bangs gavel
I did know that about the map, but I do know quite a lot of random things. Particularly that British maps always have the U.K. in the middle and it looks huge when in fact it isn’t.
@Silverbirchleaf I did once try Worldle but I was rubbish at it, so my geography is not as good as I thought it was.
@TheHungryHungryLandsharks great news about Twatdog. What is cure? Does he now have to moisturise? And what is this magical milk? I haven’t seen any stories about milk. (Mostly because I am avoiding the News, for my mental ‘elf.

I’m easy on whether or not there are vegetables in my cake but to please everyone, I will bake a non-vegetable containing cake to bring when we all move in with @SpanielsGalore (I will also exclude nuts and coffee from said cake)

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks glad TD is ok! I bet you’re relieved. Glad to hear your two girls are ok too, despite the eyesight failing. I would also like to know about the magic milk even though I am lactose intolerant.

I did know that about the map but it still surprises me every time I see it. I am a bit of a nerd with stuff like that. At my most self indulgent I enjoy being tested on my capital cities knowledge.

Manic day today rushing hither and thither and finally sat down. Had a road rage incident as I wouldn’t turn right onto a busy road until there was an actual gap, which I thought was normal, but the man behind me did not. Cue lots of beeping and swearing and driving up very close behind me. I’m trying really hard not to be become a misandrist but they don’t help themselves do they.

Huge loss of confidence on walk today, including tears. Dog went missing! Or to be more accurate, he went further into the third wood (**) than normal, and out of sight. Normally he’ll go sniffing within a couple of metres away from the path, but today he disappeared from sight and I couldn’t see him. I was shouting, blowing my whistle and he didn’t immediately come back. Tried calling dh and (young adult) dc but phone wouldn’t connect or messages send. Probably the whole of Kent could hear me. And then he comes trotting along the path as if nothing had happened.

If there was cake, with or without veg, I’d eat it now!

(** One wood truncated by two roads, hence three woods, although each section does have different feel about it. )

@Silverbirchleaf Sorry you had a traumatic walk. They do like to scare us. Even being out of sight for a few minutes can seem like a lifetime. And they always come back wondering what all the fuss is about.

K disappeared after a deer for about 10 minutes once and I was close to crying after that short length of time. My first dog holds the record though. I lost him for two hours. My friend was registering him on Dog Lost when he suddenly appeared on the track in front of me.

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks Glad TD's pink spot was nothing serious. And that Clem and Pen are fit and healthy. Is DWS one now? I can't remember when she was born.

@Silverbirchleaf So sorry to hear that. Dogs are such areholes sometimes!! Did he show any contrition at all? The dog we had when I was growing up beats @SpanielsGalore’s record. He used to disappear for days sometimes and then turn up scratching on the back door. On at least one occasion he was brought back by the cops, he had been his by a car and had a broken leg, silly sod.

No contrition . Just trotted along without a care in the world. He’d been missing for a good ten minutes.

Couldn’t find any cake in the house, so now turning to retail therapy.

@Struckbylightning @VanGoSunflowers it's unhomognised milk (think I have mentioned before). They do it in Waitrose/Ocado/Sainsburys. There's been a few Guardian/Telegraph articles about it the last few months, so it's surged in popularity. Essentially it's creamer (thicker) and apparently has more nutritional benefits...but basically in my eyes it's just tastier. 😁But it does mean if you go back to 'normal' milk after (even full fat) it just taste a bit like drinking flavoured water...

The coffee shop I go to in Charing Cross use it, which is where I first came across it! When I saw they sold it in Waitrose, I got a bit carried away and bought 9 bottles. It does now mean I don't need to get a coffee on the way into work as I can make one just as good at home 45-50 minutes away!

@Struckbylightning nothing for us to do as essentially he's just a scruffy git. I could moisturise him, but realistically...he's just going to carry on being crusty so I'll leave it.😂

@VanGoSunflowers yes I was very pleased! Particularly as Clem is older now and Pen has had two litters - usually my girl's only have one, she's the first in a while who has had two - so I always worry about her a bit more.

@Silverbirchleaf oh no!! That sounds like my absolute worst nightmare. Hope the retail therapy cheers you up a bit and DDog gives you some good cuddles to make up for his behaviour! Even worse when they just don't seem to have realised how much they've terrified you...❤ Cutter & Squidge do good cakes...a bit expensive, but good, if you want a real treat and a whole cake.

It is so hard when your confidence has been knocked. Do you know what might have set him off?

@SpanielsGalore She's one! Still 'just a baby' as DH claims whenever she does something really naughty. I mean she is still a baby, and will be for another 18 months or so, but it's amazing how whenever she's a bit of a turd everyone leaps to her defence and claims she's only a baby!