It's A Dog's Life!

I am spending the next two weeks housesitting for my best friend. We have known each other all our lives, we were babes in arms together.  We have drifted seamlessly through the years, laugh, cry, finish each others' sentences together. I love her children and husband and when I was critically ill they were all there for me 24/7. For all their kindnesses it is the least I can do to housesit while they are away on holiday.

Housesit: large house, massive garden, big greenhouse, 3 dogs, 2 chickens, a cat and a swimming pool - and all that needs constant management! Plus side is they have all the Sky Channels so I am catching up on brilliant films I've never seen!

Most importantly though, they bred my little dog Crumble!! And so when we come to this house ( a lovely converted barn nestling in the Cotswold hills a mile from where I live), Crumble plays, walks and talks (yes dogs DO talk to each other!) to her mother and grandmother. Three generations of Jack Russells....together. OMG the NOISE!!!  I stepped out onto the terrace this morning for a cuppa and a fag after breakfast and the dogs came with me.  Something disturbed them the other side of the wall and they started barking. Cue grumpy woman who is the carer to the neighbour to come out and complain. The neighbour is deaf, so presumably this isn't a problem to her.  Stupid cow.  It's what dogs do, THEY BARK!!

However, I felt the need to take them away so we all got into the car and went to a lovely grassy field at the top of the hill. The dogs chased hares and dug for mice and I inhaled beautiful summery air and marvelled at the view of my village below! I am not fit and the climb back up the hill nearly killed me, but it was a very lovely way to start the day.

Now, as some of you might remember from a previous blog about Life Changing Moments, I have only recently been back in the driving seat after two years of being ill.  Not only that but this car is a manual one and I have been driving automatics for 35 years!! So I have proceeded with due care and caution - mainly around the villages not daring to go too far and not fast either!  Today, heartened by the long walk,  I felt brave enough to go into Banbury and visit Sainsbury's. BIG event!! I hit the dizzy heights of 4th and 5th gear and 60mph on the main road!

The dogs, worn out by their walk, came too and dozed in the car while I did battle with the pensioners drifting oh so sloooowly up and down the aisles. I've got an old friend and her daughter coming to visit me on Thursday so I thought I'd buy all the food for that. Bacon. Bacon??!! Since when did Bacon become so varied??? Last time I looked there was smoked or unsmoked, back or streaky.  There must have been 30 different varieties of the stuff. I DO prefer a big supermarket with more choice, but for heaven's sake.....irritated by that I changed the menu and bought completely different things.

I then drove us all back to the house just in time to greet the postman - dogs and postmen do NOT mix!! Simon our postman is very used to Crumble, but he paled when he saw all three heading his way!  Now we are all inside, hiding from the neighbours, and - for a change - I had time to blog!!

More later......

Woof woof!

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