Our first visitors

Over the next couple of months we have a number of visitors coming to stay with us. It's going to be lovely seeing everyone again. We started a couple of weekends ago with Michelle, Matthew and Josh coming to stay with us. Unfortunately they could only stay the one night because Michelle was working the days on either side. She's working a lot of shifts at the moment, on top of planning their wedding, so it was great to get a chance to see them again. Josh loves following his grandpa (Jon) around when he comes to us and this weekend was no exception.

We took Cloud for a walk and she didn't act up when Josh held the lead, so he enjoyed that.

When we got back Michelle and Matthew were having a nap so Josh and I spent some time taking photos ;o) (you've got to start them young lol!). He was using my little point and shoot and I used my DSLR.

It got a bit confusing at times but nothing we couldn't sort out.

Josh and Grandpa

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I promised Josh that if he let me take some good photos I wouldn't post the ones where he was pulling faces! Worked out well ;o). We're looking forward to seeing you all again in May!

xx

It's been a while

(Because a blog post needs a photo!)

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I know it's been a while since I last posted and I really had hoped to get an update done today but I'm afraid it's not going to happen. I was starting to edit my photos when my computer told me that I had virtually no space left (in that I couldn't even save my first edited photo because there wasn't enough room!). I've spent the afternoon sorting and deleting files to free up some space to be able to edit but haven't got that far yet. I am hoping to have a post tomorrow afternoon at the latest.

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I've had a break from my computer for the last couple of weeks but am looking forward to doing some blog reading during the holidays and seeing what everyone has been up to. Hopefully some of you will still be checking back here and I hope to get into the habit of posting regularly once more :)

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xx

Friday

There's a fair bit going on here at the moment and blog posts may be a bit sporadic for a while but hopefully I'll get back to regular posting soon.

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Today has been a bit of a run around day, mainly down to Cloud. I mentioned a while ago that she had been on antibiotics to try and clear up where she had chewed/scratched her side. Well, she started scratching again a little while ago and then we noticed other lesions coming up on her body. We decided she needed to go back to the vets and I managed to get an appointment this morning. It seems that she has a bacterial skin infection which is what's causing the lesions and itchiness. The vet shaved around the affected areas

On the photo above this is the site that started it all.

Poor Cloud is getting fed up wearing her cone and her face has been getting really dirty because she hasn't been able to go to the dog parlour until we sorted out what was going on. She is now on a 20 day course of antibiotics and we have to shampoo her 2 to 3 times a week with the anti-bacterial shampoo the vet has given us. Fortunately, when I phoned the dog parlour after getting home from the vets, they said if I could take her up staight away they would do the first shampoo for me and groom her. A couple of hours later and I got the call to say I could go and pick her up. She looks like a totally different dog!

The groomers have clipped her really short so that we can shampoo her easily and so that the infected areas can be treated properly. She looks so little now ;o) but seemed a happier dog when I picked her up. I've also trimmed down her cone (because her head looks so little now) which makes it easier for her to drink and sniff around outside.

In this photo you can see some of the red patches where the sores have come up.

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However, despite everything that's going on, I have managed to do a little bit of craftiness. My knitting needles are out again and I'm trying a new pattern. This one is slightly more complicated than the previous one but it's not that difficult - I just have to concentrate on what I'm doing while I'm knitting. I enjoy having a pattern to knit as it makes it less boring than plain knitting. I've done a little bit more tonight and the back of the cardigan is nearly finished now.

We have Michelle, Matthew and Josh coming to stay tomorrow night - looking forward to seeing them again as it's been a while. Somehow I think there may be some wedding talk going on ;o). We have a few overseas visitors arriving over the next couple of months which will also be exciting but I'll tell more as the time gets nearer.

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Have a wonderful weekend

xx

It arrived

Well so much for my quiet day ;o), I've kept busy all morning. I knew I had to stay in because the dishwasher was being delivered so I got stuck in and did some housework while I waited. Our bedding is washed and back on the bed, the other washing is hanging up to dry, the downstairs is vacuumed, the kitchen is tidied and all that before the dishwasher arrived at around 10.30. Feels good! Here's the new addition and the saver of my dry, rough hands! My own fault, I know, because I hate wearing rubber gloves. Even thinking about them is like thinking of chalk scraping down a blackboard for me. I'm looking forward to just stacking the dishwasher and letting it do the dirty work ;o) xx