Photo Fest

Just a set of photos to catch you up on recent stories; I realised I had not published any pics recently. First up one of Mum's farewell cards. Next a nice appropriate pairing of Irish peat briquettes with the "Faversham" solid fuel mini-stove. The briquettes are available from our removal man who is Irish - his depot is in Whitstable on Diamond Road up behind the carpark near the Fish Market. The stove comes from one of our former quayside maritime engineer / shipwrights Colin Frake, who made all the dead eyes for the rigging of Cutty Sark among other achievements. Colin is no longer based at Standard Quay so you'll have to track him down if you want one, but they are fun things to heat a room with. They use very small logs - no more than about 3 inch diameter and 3 inches long.

3rd up is a shot of the new trailer just completed today which will be coming to Ireland with Mum and Dad on Sunday/Monday all being well. It's even colour coordinated to the car, look! Dad's very pleased with it. Then comes the tankard gift from Faversham Hort Soc to Dad and finally a picture of the handsome Rags.

Deefs

More caravan

The evening of Friday had seen us all gathered again at 2CV Llew's caravan, all be it Mum slightly delayed by meeting a burning hedge in the lane and having to call out the Fire Brigade. Might have been just an excuse to entice hunky uniformed firemen into a leafy lane at night but we're saying no such thing. Mum arrives with all the ingredients for a nice risotto and the evening is warm enough for us to stay outside and fire up the log burning converted LPG cannister. Autumn does come, though, in terns of the change from chilled whites and Prosecco, to the more hearty reds. Dad cooks, we all relax into the evening, beds get wrangled and that's another evening gone.

On Saturday, Diamond is being to taken to favourite restaurant 'Le Cygne' in Saint Omer (Northern France) by John for a birthday meal, so we are babysitting Ragworth. Mum, Dad and I nip over to collect him mid morning, leaving the H asleep in the van. This lets Mum drop us all off at the Albion pub carpark from where Dad and we dogs can walk the nice hour's walk round the Creek bank to the Shipwrights' Arms and back to the boatyard that way. Dad has been warned that Rags can be a bit problematic with other dogs, but the footpath is crossed regularly by secure 'kissing gates' so Dad can let Rags off the lead and just grab him easily enough should any dog walkers come the other way. Not many do; most people time that walk to end up at the pub when it's open!

We then have a relaxing day around the caravan with all three dogs off the lead and mooching around. Diamond and John return at 6-ish to collect Rags and Diamond's comment is that never was a dog more fitted to the caravan lifestyle! He looks the part and definitely enjoys the day. Mum's cooking tonight so it's a bit more adventurous; a roast rack of lamb with vegetables and very nice too, judging by the bits of vertebrae we get at the end. Also it's a bit chilly in the wind so having got a good coal-assisted fire going in the burner for Diamond and John's visit, we now let that burn down low and retreat indoors for tonight's feast.

Sunday sees Dad get up on the alarm and vanish off to lead a Deer Walk for the Friends of Kings Wood in Challock Forest, showing the public the delights of the fallow deer rut. It goes well and they all see and hear plenty of deer and plenty of rutting buck behaviour. Dad returns and we decamp to Icklesham where there is a family meal at the Queen's Head involving Mum and Dad, Pud Lady and Dad's younger bro and sis-in-law. From there we all retreat back to Hastings where bro can show us all his holiday slides of Galway which include some of our tentative new house which bro tracked down on his way to/from the west coast.

Enough for this one, then. We are now back in the old routine of Hastings and Pud Lady's, of which more tomorrow.

Deefs

Crisis in the Creek

I expect you heard it, didn't you? Where ever you are reading this from, if you heard a certain amount of 'shouting' around 3pm coming from the Faversham direction you'll know that it all kicked off a bit between (mainly) our 2 doggie visitors, Rags (no real surprise there) and little butter-wouldn't-melt, 9 month old Boris, who's here for safe keeping because 2CV Llew is sitting his girl friend's big springer Harvey. Boris and Harvey fight and Harvey doesn't take any prisoners, so Llew passed Boris to us for safe-keeping (!).

It was Mum's Birthday (21 again - how do they do that?) so Dad is cooking a special meal of pork chops done in a cider and cream sauce. Diamond and John are coming and they bring Rags. You'll know that I don't love Rags like a generous hostess should and we have our moments but we're sort of OK by now and the humans can eat their food without too much drama and distraction. Rags has also stopped trying to mount the H, which never went down that well. I'm happy to say that neither of us were the cause of the kick off this time.

Step forward Boris who took violent and rapid exception to Rags's mounting thing and it all got a bit shouty a couple of times. Admittedly me and H did tend to do that 'encouraging' thing that kids do in the playground when there's a rumble, but we were generally a few paces back and goading Boris and Rags on to get the teeth stuck in. Well, there were a couple of episodes of this which came and went but then it really kicked off. We think Rags tried it, Boris skittered on the laminate floor and fell upside down, with Rags leaning over him. Rags was not biting him or grabbing him in any way we could see but Boris just saw red and there were dogs suddenly everywhere, humans shouting and trying to separate them, an umbrella got involved and poor Diamond got a snap on the hand. Dad leaned in and lifted Boris out by his collar, Diamond grabbed Rags. Haggis and I "melted into the crouds" as they say in reports of Taliban fights.

The rest of the meal was spent with Boris on about 3inches of lead at one end of the room, Rags on 3 inches at the other, the humans eating a lovely meal between, only occasionally disturbed by 'comment' from either end, and the H and myself (for once, happily, not the main protagonists) asleep around the human feet.

It's all go. 'We' will do this again but probably not with both Rags and Boris invited. One or the other is OK but it's definitely a bit powder-keg with the pair.

Sorry if we upset your pleasant Saturday sfternoon.

Deefs

Taking after Mother

It seems that one of Megan's pups from the first litter, "Lady", may have Cushings, taking after her mother. She is owned by one two Dad's work colleagues (married) and one of them commented today that Lady "may have diabetes" as she is drinking a lot. Getting chatting, as Dad started asking the "and does she...." list of symptoms questions (pot bellied look, incontinence "accidents" indoors, reluctance or inability to jump up onto furniture, lameness for no obvious reason......) it started to look more and more like Meggie 3 years ago.

Dad has recommended testing for Cushings, and googled some websites to print for the lady (Sarah). The vet had apparently listed it as a possibility, but will now look more closely, knowing that Lady's "dam" has it, and started showing symptoms at the same age as Lady is now.

We are back at the Rec and spot, in the distance, Rags being walked by Diamond. Not so much walked as being romped around with in a boisterous manner by a big black shaggy collie and a brown shaggy terrier of similar build to Rags himself. Getting closer we can see that the collie and terrier are old chums Monty (collie) and Charlie (young terrier). What's more the "boisterous" is translated, on closer inspection to be the three boys having a whale of a time chasing, bundling, wrestling and, at times, even getting a bit ...um.... amorous with one another.

This is reciprocated equally between Mont and Rags, with each giving as good as they get, as noisily as each other and in a goodly range of positions (a girl is quite breathless, watching!). We three westies are left looking on in amusement (unless chasing the tennis ball, in my case) while Rags gets back in spades, plenty of what he used to give Haggis (and sometimes gets as loud in protest barking as H used to get).

If you can't take the heat, Rags.... The humans are all amused too, and the general feeling is that it's good to let off steam, and all three hooligans will sleep very well this evening.

Boys will be boys
Deefer

Tortoise-shell Shih Tzu

Well, the snow fell, such as it was, and has now largely gone again. We never get that lucky, so a couple of inches is all we've come to expect, and no photo's were taken - Dad has albums worths of "westies in mediocre snow" shots. He's holding out for a decent dump. Just a few miles away, in Rainham, they tell of 6-10 inches, but not here. Still, Dad had the fun of a snow-bound 2CV ride to work, as Mum wanted the "normal" car for a run to Ashford.

The kids must also have a day off school, because there are dozens of them on "our" Rec. The snow, although only shallow, is that good, wet ball-able texture, and the kids are struggling to roll up bigger and bigger balls, some to make snowmen, others just to push the ball till even 8 or 9 of them can push it no more, so they leave it there.

Toboggans are a new one to me, and definitely need shouting at. I am eventually put back on the lead when Dad gets fed up with this, and also worried that the kids around the sleds think it is them I am barking at and get scared. Fun though, while it lasts.

We meet a striking, almost tortoise-shell coloured Shih-Tzu called Seamus. We didn't know they came in those colours - mixed white, greys and browns, but apparently so. He's a nice chap and we have a good run around with him.

But that was yesterday. Today drizzle has pretty much washed away the snow and the thaw has rendered the surface of the Rec very sloppy and greasy. We meet Diamond out walking with Rags, so the humans amble round at Meggie speed (she's OK on dry tarmac, but slows down over frozen snow or mud) while Rags, Haggis and I have a scamper about. At one point Rags races off to greet, rather boisterously, a terrier about half a mile away across the Rec, and in another we get Mollie the Greyhound doing one of her "fly-pasts" .... Voooooosh!

Deefski

Let that be.....

...a lesson to all of you. You doggie readers... This is what happens to a dog if he doesn't heed the warnings to not nibble at his stitches after an operation to remove a small cyst (Rags followers will be pleased to know that the cyst was benign), and then tries to tear off his lampshade and rub his wound raw on the hard furnishings in the house.

Quite gruesome in the end, according to Diamond; the wound is in a fairly mobile flexible bit of the leg, so when he sat in one position the de-stitched wound would close up almost invisibly, but as he moved it would gape open revealing lots of red and pink biology that the non-medical eye should never see.

So now the "brave soldier" (we're sworn against saying "poor-poor-bunny") is reduced to a re-fitted, tight-to-the-collar lampshade, and a tee-shirt to stop him rubbing the re-stitched wound back open. Only for another week, though Rags - just think of the relief when the vet clears you for take-off and you can do away with all that paraphernalia and be free to have a damn good scratch.

For some un-accountable reason, I was the perfect patient when I had my spay, and never even so much as licked the wound or the stitches. Mum and Dad were supplied with a lamp shade for me but I never even tried it on. I know. Most unlike me to have a chance to smirk in a superior manner at old chum Rags. Even more unlike me not to capitalize; but the sight of the brave soldier charging round trying not to destroy the house with his lampshade even had me sympathetic.

The other pic is first flower from a recovering orchid in the stairwell. Over a year ago Dad was given an orchid in full flower and, as usually happens, the flowers eventually finished and all looked lost. But by careful nurture and husbandry, Dad eventually encouraged new shoots to appear and now... well look!

Deefer

When, Oh When....?

When, oh when will "they" ever fix the 2CVGB website, http://www.2cvgb.org.uk/

It's where Dad writes (or used to write) his blog aboutt the Mademoiselle, Project 2CV restoration, but it's been down for ages - about 2 months now. Click on it by all means - be my guest - but you'll just get the default page which sings a sad song about "hackers". Just as well Mum and Dad have been tied up with all this judging of Village of the Year and "Wild about Gardens 2008", so they've not had much chance to work on Mademoiselle, and not had much to write about.

Dad's gone back to school, taking in a web design evening classes (ho yus - knows more about embedded html code and web crawler algorythms than it is probably healthy to know). When we know it's "out there" we'll let you know the (fairly beginner-ish) website address. Dad has designed it and registered the domain, and has since tried to get it publicised by Nominet and hosted, but so far, there's no sign of it.

But now it's the weekend. Diamond and Rags are here - we are all chewing on chunks of pigs ear and fighting over the remnants, while the humans move from pink Pinot Grigio, to a rather nice Rioja (without fighting). Tomorrow Dad is manning the S.B.Cambria and her interpretive centre in town as part of the town's "Open House" scheme. Drop in if you're about.

http://www.faversham.org/pages/directory_category.aspx?i_PageID=11878

Deefski

Quiltin' Party

We're all off round to Diamond's for an evening of sewing (like Aunt Dinah's in the song) and drinking wine. I think it's called "domestic bliss". Uncle John swerves it. As with Bindy, when we meet Rags again after a break, we have to re-establish the order of seniority. All well and good, but I keep getting told off for being "feisty" with Rags

Most unfair. Seems only months back that he used to threaten mortal wounding on me on Reculver beach and I'd squeal like a drama queen (even though the humans say he just ran towards me in puppy enthusiasm and breezed by feet away, never touching me, but that's not how I remember it!). Now I'm a bit bigger and stronger, i can get in a few pre-emptive strikes when he comes near "Yafff!" I shout, at my most impressive (before the scolding "Ahh Deefer!") and he backs off.

So we still don't make contact, but now I'm doing the "Yaff!"-ing . Yay me

Mind you, we all look on Rags now with new found respect. There are rumours that while he was in London he ate a Chav child and is now "known to the police" but I suspect someone might be exaggerating here. Probably Rags himself.....

Deefer

Classic Cars

Today is the day of Faversham's Classic car and Motorbike Show - we always head on down there because Dad's cronies from the Citroen Car Club display some cars there.

http://eventsuk.britishairways.com/sisp/index.htm?fx=event&event_id=149272

They seem to always get good weather for it, too, and today is no exception. war sunshine and a breeze. Before we've even got to the main carpark, where CCC are, we've seen the "Cheese Box" ladies with their white Citroen H Van (ah mais oui! Le Cube Utile!), and a plum red 2CV "AK" van. We know both these vehicles - the AK lives round here and the H we have seen a number of times driving past our house - we think they live in Whitstable. We have also met and fussed with Rags, who is out with "our Tot".

We have also stopped and chatted to a very spruce, clean, shampoo'd 2 year old westie called Bailey, his owners lounging in deck chairs next to their Lotus Esprit, which was in the show. The guy was amusing us by saying that on his way to the show he'd stopped for petrol, and while he was out of the car Bailey had jumped into the front seat.

The man is very proud of his Lotus (he certainly keeps it clean enough!) so when a babe came towards him coo-ing - "Ahhhh - isn't she gorgeous!!!!" he gushed - well - Thank You!, indicating the car. No! Says she - I mean the dog, and proceeds to make a big fuss of "her" (actually Bailey) while totally ignoring the car and the crestfallen owner. Wife was apparently in fits of laughter.

Deefer

Good guys and villains

We dogs are on a mission today to confuse the humans, inspired by Rags's rescinded "asbo" and angelic behaviour hospital visiting.

First-Dad had been having problems with my Bro (Archie) and real-Dad (Hector) getting a bit difficult with each other - part of the reason why Archie has now been "done". As part of this, First-Dad had been seeking advice from a lady who does dog-training, partly because first-Mum was looking to make sure those boys didn't start to think they were the bosses.

Well, the trainer lady was last Friday and you'll not believe how angelic those boys decided to be. Maybe it was the "op", maybe the dogs were tired from a walk and a visit to the grooming parlour, maybe First-Mum's new get-tough approach has convinced them, but whatever the reason, training lady was both delighted and baffled, wondering why she'd been called out in the first place.....

Meanwhile, at the other end of the family, sis' Ellie is now causing concern for her Mum, Trish, by kicking off at a young Westie we've seen a couple of times, called, I think, Fleur, first shouting from the end of her lead, then growling and snarling. Most unlike her - Ellie's always as good as gold.... I'll let you know how that develops - maybe Trish will need to borrow that trainer-lady!

We know that about Ellie because we all met at the Rec at the end of our walks, along with a lovely soft, fluffy 4 month collie pup called "Molly" - you know that age when collies are still all rounded, and short-faced, without the sharp-pointed snout. Haggis, Ellie and I had a good romp about, chasing in circles.

I get the worst of this, because normally I chase Haggis and give him grief, but when Ellie's about, and I chase Ellie, H takes his chance to ambush me and unbalance my back end. I end up with two attackers on my case - one at each end. Ellie never tries to batter Haggis, nor Haggis to batter Ellie. It's like they're ganging up on me, referee!

Deefer.... from a dodgy family...

A shining example

Everyone is completely amazed and delighted by the "revelation" that is Asbo (Rags) as a hospital visitor. Daimond's Dad, Denis is now pretty much confined to hospital and he misses the daily contact he used to have with Rags, so Diamond agreed with the staff of the section where Denis is currently living, to be allowed to bring Rags in on a visit.

Everyone involved was very trepidatious about this - he's not got his Asbo for no reason (all be it , lately the humans have rescinded it). There was no limit to the chaos he could have caused, racing about, doing um... presents, annoying patients, wrecking the place.

He was let in the first time under the strictest controls, on the lead and for a pre-arranged limited time, supervised by the nursing staff.

He was, as I said, a "revelation" ! The perfectly behaved dog! Delighted to see Denis (and vice versa) but in a restrained, non-mad way, and everyone's idea of the best behaved dog you'd want in a hospital wing. Now, a few visits down the line he is let off the lead. He makes a bee-line for Denis and a fuss of him, but then trots obediently towards any of the other patients who call him over, never fussing them too much, never out-staying his welcome, leaving alone the ones who don't want to talk to him, never ever leaving those "gifts".

Everyone's idea, in fact, of the perfect "PAT" (Pets as Therapy) dog. The boy has found his niche, and we're dead proud of him, Denis Healey eyebrows an' all !

Deefs

Spoilt for Choice....

A girl should, I suppose, always keep her options open. Hot on the heels of my Leap Year Day proposal of wedlock from Asbo (Rags), I get an email from the direction of Mrs Silverwood in the Irish Midlands. Chance and Sam are also marking my card. They do, though, say keep it quiet from the new pup, Samoyed x Labrador, "Dancer" of whom (hint hint Silverwoods) I do not yet have a picture.

If a Labradoodle is a lab x poodle, then what is a lab x samoyed? Laboyed? Sambrador?

Must rush - I have to hold Mum and Dad's hands in case they get scared watching Torchwood!

Deefs

Engaged!

Ahhhh .... sigh

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Will You Marry Me?": Ragworth says YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

Does that mean I'm engaged, or do I still have to ask Mum and Dad if it's alright?

A Westerly gale blasts through this in the early hours of morning bringing some almost-horizontal rain and , scarily, banging the side gate open where it wedged in the fence. We could have run out into the road (admittedly not very busy early on a Saturday morning), but we are sensible dogs, and know that we cannot go out there without leads on, so we stand in a line at the threshold, waiting to be hooked up. Dad is amazed and delighted.....

The wind is still there at walk time and we go for a very windswept one round the boatyard and back through town. The wind is screaming in the rigging of the moored and landed boats and bits of tree are blowing about on the ground. Our game of "thrown away plastic bottle" on the Rec on the way back is extra lively as Dad lobs it with the wind, and the bottle sails away ten times the normal distance. I have to chase after it, nail it, and then scamper back up-wind to Dad.

Off to Hastings today, and the Pud-Lady. Have a great weekend

I love you, my fiancee, Rag-bag

Deefer

Disreputable

Here. Just to prove Rags (aka "Asbo") has not always been such a disreputable looking bandit, with his Lawson eyebrows, is a pic of him as a pup.

OK - gone a bit downhill from there, maybe, but we still love him.

Meanwhile, real-Mum (Mollie) was back off to the vets, and is being kept on the antibiotics and anti-inflammatories for the moment. As the weird sores continue to heal and scar over they are a bit itchy for her, and if she's not careful she could make it all flare up again with her scratching

..and our chum Bugsy, the Bichon is now being joined by an 11 week old baby brother. he's not been allowed out in public yet as he's only 11 weeks, but we'll look forward to meeting him. Being "Show" people and ex Afghan breeders, only the best pedigree will do for them, and I gather that they are paying sensible-ish money only because this very well bred boy is for "pet" use only (ie you enter an agreement not to breed with him, verbal only maybe, but still kept to as a matter of homour among breeders). Full on pedigree bichons from this source are upwards of £700 these days!!! How much? Something to be said for disreputable maybe.......... Good ol' Ragster

Deefer

Jacko and Ozzie

Freezing fog tonight, so now we're back indoors in the warm of the coal fire, a few more pics of Reculver to remind ourselves of that lovely sunny day a short while back. Megan having a paddle and showing off her fruit-bat ears, Reculver towers (as used in the film "Dambusters" because Reculver is where Barnes Wallis tried out and demo'd his famous bouncing bomb, the planes lining up on the towers as practise for the dam raids), and some of the over-wintering Brent geese that this area is famous for.

With me in my current ...um... hormonal state we avoid the Rec on our walk, and take ourselves off through the fog, round the back paths to the allotments. Here we meet up with allotments boss "Sand" out walking with her Jack Russell "Meadow". Sand also has a red Patterdale called Fern, which is sister and litter mate to Diamond's "Rags" (aka Asbo). Complicated innit?

We are all standing chatting when frequent allotments dog walker lady (sorry, don't know her name.... why do humans have no problem conversing with all these other humans about and around dogs, talking to the dogs and learning the dog's name, but never quite pluck up the courage to ask the other human their name? You end up with dog walkers trying to describe who they've met with expressions like "... Ah you know.... Sams' Mum!...") comes through with Jack Russel Jacko and Patterdale Ozzie.

These are superb fit dogs. The JR is one of those superfit bouncy ones who can spring up from their hind legs to (human) chest-height. The Patterdale is a chunky stocky chap, looking more like a Staffie in build. Both Rags and Fern are much more "rangey" by comparison - a good 4-6 inches taller, longer and lighter built. I have not seen a pedigree Patterdale, so I have no idea what the correct standard is, but rags/Fern and Ozzie are almost 2 different breeds!

Ah well. Nuff for now. Dad is mellowing out on Shep's Christmas Ale

...and Ellie's mum has apparently bought herself some new specs....

Deefers