Flying solo

*Robin*

Good Morning Diary and MSE friends, :hello:

dorothy52 wrote: »

Oh Robin, I hate to hear of you falling asleep without having had anything to eat, you really must have been tired out

Please don't worry about me missing the odd dinner - believe me, my waistline can stand it, lol!
The last couple of days I've taken my own advice and prepared a meal earlier which has worked wonderfully, and I also now have a couple of portions in the freezer for days when it's not possible to cook.

*Robin* wrote:

Ooh - am about to meet a potential Willing Worker!

The young man who eventually showed up - hours after he called to say he was on his way [coming five miles] - was a little bit disappointing. His skills had been somewhat inflated by the person who recommended him, unfortunately. I'm sure he'll be a good labourer which is a start, but I still need a new gaffer for one project at least (our old chief-willing-worker passed away a few months before DH - another sad loss to cancer ).

Wonder if I should invite someone over from snowy England or soggy Ireland? There is a bit of a tradition of swapping holidays for work here (don't have enough to give an unemployed local an official job - the paperwork is a nightmare if it's less than f.t. employment; sorry but I can't cope with that at the moment).
Importing a worker for a few weeks makes more sense than getting a donkey! ..Separate accommodation is available on site, and the family are likely to say it would do me no harm to have some company for a while. Hmm, I do know several good builders who are sitting out the winter in north Europe. :think:

Meanwhile the war against the weeds is progressing slowly, and the tiny veg I planted out are all growing fast - very satisfying.
DH's Dog has given up another two buckets full of shed fur which has gone in the compost [as I don't fancy taking up knitting ].

Am losing track of the days of the week but clocking up NSDs nicely. Not that I'm remembering to note them down any more; have enough other things to focus on. It's more important for me not to go OTT on days when we do venture into town, aka Consumer Central. Am working on that one. :cool:

*Robin*

HeadAboveWater wrote: »

Hello Clever Dog :wave: You're doing a great job of looking after Mistress. She thinks it's her looking after you but we all know different Ssssshhhhhhhh!!

Hello HeadAboveWater and Peoples In The Box :wave:

I likes your name HeadAboveWater - headunderwater only works for fishes even I know that!

And you are absolutely right, I do look after Mistress since Master stopped. Yes I was there and I have been by Mistress' side almost every minute since, but today she shut the door leaving me and The Fat One in the house.
I'm bored now. Mistress didn't give me any toys so I decided to play with hers again.

Look what I found:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lyO8EVzhVU

:rotfl: Teeheehee I can relate to that! :rotfl:

dorothy52 wrote:

please tell CD that we would love to hear more from him

Hello Miss Dorothy you will hear more from me I hope! But ahem, no dangly bits here - I is a LADY!

Oh I can hear the van - better go and curl up on Mistress' bed and pretend I haven't been here - is our secret!

Love and Licks to all Mistress's friends in the box,

Clever Dog xxx

HeadAboveWater

*Robin* wrote: »

Hello HeadAboveWater and Peoples In The Box :wave:

I likes your name HeadAboveWater - headunderwater only works for fishes even I know that!

And you are absolutely right, I do look after Mistress since Master stopped. Yes I was there and I have been by Mistress' side almost every minute since, but today she shut the door leaving me and The Fat One in the house.
I'm bored now. Mistress didn't give me any toys so I decided to play with hers again.

Look what I found:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lyO8EVzhVU

:rotfl: Teeheehee I can relate to that! :rotfl:

Hello again Clever Dog

Yes, you are absolutely right! Do you like swimming? I like it but I'm not great at it Out of practise I think!

You've been a fantastic companion to Mistress. And so very loyal. I know she appreciates it. Probably more than either you or her will every truly know.

LOVE the video of Shiva! Too much energy being stored up and then the lid bursts open I think!! :rotfl:

Don't let Mistress catch you on here! Hopefully you got her bed warmed up enough that she'll not be able to tell you were otherwise occupied in her absence...

Until next time...

dorothy52

Oh CD, how can I possibly have assumed that you were a man dog?! Clearly you are far too intelligent and resourceful to be of the male gender. Well done on looking after your Mistress so well, her friends in the box whom she has never met do worry about her you know, and it is reassuring for us to know that you are watching out for her, well done you!

*Robin*

Hello Diary, MSE Friends and Dear Companion, :hello:

Clever_Dog wrote:

better go and curl up on Mistress' bed and pretend I haven't been here - is our secret!

Clever Dog, there is a basic flaw in your plan, sweetie!


My trip out yesterday proved to be a fool's errand due to having lost track of the days, out here in my field.
The sixth of December is Constitution Day, and because it fell on a Thursday this year, today is a 'puente' - a bridge between a holiday and the weekend - which the Spanish government have decided should also be an official holiday (to forestall the many, many people who wouldn't bother going to work anyway). Very sensible - for a government decision - but means there's no point in me going in to town until next week as my main destination will not be open.

Actually I would not have gone out today, because we're back in the clouds with rain beating a gentle tattoo since the early hours. All the Daft Dogs have had a quick look outside then returned to bed until something interesting happens; from their point of view this will probably be lunch.

After watching Blind Dog closely yesterday, I have started him on the painkillers recommended by Dear Vet. Although most of the time he appears quite content, he is again having trouble lying down.. Dear Vet told me that it's ok to double the dose of anti-inflamatories and support him with painkillers while they take effect, but it is very clear that he is striding, with slow and dignified steps, towards his last day.
Still, he is obviously much happier than he was when CD, FD & I collected him from Ex.

I am beginning to feel like a specialist in end-of-life care, and wondering how long this particular Life Lesson will go on for? Which is part of the Lesson I suspect. So it goes. :cool:

Meanwhile; have been thinking that maybe it would be a good idea to do a proper SOA before the new year? Of course this requires a serious look at the books - necessary for the tax return anyway - which I should also be getting on with. Hmm. :think:

*Robin*

Fell asleep at m'desk earlier, so now have insomnia and a sore neck - silly Robin.

Discovered another unusual 'talent' [STRIKE]today[/STRIKE] yesterday; was talking to DS3 on the 'phone when he suddenly went quiet, then yelled:
"That's the third time! Thanks Mum!"
?? ..He'd been walking along a city street during our call, and found 50€ - as he said, that's the third time he's picked up a high value note while we've been on the 'phone.

He's going to give it to a local charity which is raising money to help unemployed families have a good xmas; bless him, :T

Last week the same thing happened while I was on the 'phone to my brother, except that he found a tenner (don't know what he did with it though).

Sounds weird, but altogether it must have happened at least a dozen times in the last couple of years that I've been on the end of the 'phone when the person I've been talking to has found some money lying in the road. :cool:

Personally, I like to think it's a kind of payback for a long-ago incident; I'd given a young foster-child my purse to play with when she was fractious during a long drive (thinking it only had change in). Found out too late that DH had put the months' house-keeping in it, and the little angel spent the journey contentedly rolling up notes and posting them through a bolt hole in the minibus floor.. :eek:

Can :rotfl: about it now, but there were plenty of complaints at the time; don't think the family has ever eaten so much value-pasta and tomato/garlic/onion sauce as during the following month! :rotfl:

*Robin*

Good afternoon Diary, :hello:

Azure skies, bright sunshine and birdsong greeted us when I opened the shutters this morning - apologies to those who've had to fight through snow and ice or are sitting, shivering in the cold - but this is one of the things I like about being here in the winter; when the bad weather stops, sunshine returns straight away. :cool:

Am glad to report that I slept remarkably well [eventually] though it was a short night, lol..
Today I should go out, as there ought to be post awaiting collection in the village by now - some items need re-packaging to send on sharpish or they'll get stuck in Royal Mail's xmas glut. Needless to say, my supply of wrapping paper and jiffy bags is nowhere to be found - bet all that is at DH's cottages or will emerge just after I've bought some more <sigh>. So it goes.

The young lady I mentioned in my last post - who doesn't remember the incident when she redistributed our house-keeping money - has sent me a lovely message on FB; she's just got her first job after leaving college in the summer so is happy and saving up to come for a visit. She wants to bring her family too, so I think I need to get a RL diary to record 'bookings' for DH's cottages or we could end up seriously over-crowded!
Not that I'd charge her rent of course - somehow I suspect many of the visitors who'll stay at DH's cottages will not be contributing to my income stream - but it will be great to see them all.

Blind Dog has stopped squeaking when he lies down, so am going to keep giving him the higher dose of pills for a while and see how it goes.

*Robin*

I have achieved nothing; didn't go out, well no further than the garden. Fell asleep again for an hour or so; woke up surrounded by Daft Dogs sprawled around the sofa.

Highlight of the day was watching a couple of idiots climb a rather unstable rock-face on the other side of the valley. Luckily they reached the top without recourse to any of the emergency services.

Only other news is that my preferred potential gaffer is unavailable; he's off in the new year to do something far more worthy than helping me, can't argue with that. :cool:

Clever_Dog

Hello,

My turn again today because Mistress is sick; coughing and sneezing and complaining her neck hurts. It does look fat.

She turned on her box but has gone back to bed now. I must stay here anyway 'coz Mistress opened the door for old Aunt and Uncle but Angry Neighbour is outside - my job to stop him coming in if he tries. Fat One has abandoned her duties - gone hunting for avocados - so there is only me. Old Aunt and Uncle can't do it any more.

HeadAboveWater wrote: »

Hello again Clever Dog

Do you like swimming? I like it but I'm not great at it Out of practise I think!

Hello HeadAboveWater,

Swimming? It depends. I likes fishing; Old Aunt showed me how years ago before she got too slow. There is a place near here where hot water and cold water run together, loads of fishes in the cold part - easy to catch! They are all called the same name, 'trout'; very good to eat for two-legs and four-legs peoples. Master cooked the trouts I catched on a little fire by the river but not for me of course.

I don't like swimming in sea-water though; tastes nasty licking it out of my fur afterwards. Aunt does it but she doesn't care about washing herself as much as I do (Mistress has to B.A.T.H. her but not me! ).

You live in the soggy green place, don't you HeadAboveWater? No surprise you can't get much practise swimming there - I've tried and the water is always cold!

HeadAboveWater wrote: »

You've been a fantastic companion to Mistress. And so very loyal. I know she appreciates it. Probably more than either you or her will every truly know.

Oh I think she knows. And I knows that I is a very lucky dog to live with Mistress - I've met many dogs who don't have a two-legs who loves them and their lives are sad. And mostly short too.

HeadAboveWater wrote: »

LOVE the video of Shiva! Too much energy being stored up and then the lid bursts open I think!! :rotfl:

That one made Mistress laugh too - you are right; Shiva had too much energy and just started fizzing after being good for four days at the show. I had a go at 'obedience' years ago with Mistress and Youngest Master. Some of it was fun but I didn't really see why? Meeting all the other dogs was much more interesting.

HeadAboveWater wrote: »

Don't let Mistress catch you on here! Hopefully you got her bed warmed up enough that she'll not be able to tell you were otherwise occupied in her absence...

Umm, I think she knows that too. She wouldn't have left her box switched on if she minded, would she?
..But she did mutter a bit when she was cleaning the letters..

dorothy52 wrote:

Oh CD, how can I possibly have assumed that you were a man dog?! Clearly you are far too intelligent and resourceful to be of the male gender.

Hello Dorothy,
I thinks you is trying to flatter me..
Ok, it worked! You can scratch my velvet ears any time!

dorothy52 wrote:

Well done on looking after your Mistress so well, her friends in the box whom she has never met do worry about her you know, and it is reassuring for us to know that you are watching out for her, well done you!

Mistress needs you too - she misses talking to Master, and though she speaks Dog pretty good [and as you see I can get by in Yoomentalk] - but there's lots of things I don't understand. Money is one that goes a metre over my head for a start. :rotfl:

Angry Neighbour isn't making noise any more. Think I'd better go and see what he's up to now. One day he will explode if he doesn't get rid of his bad feelings - he hates the whole world; very strange.
Don't worry, I won't go near him, just watch.

Love and Licks,

Clever Dog xxx

please-let-me-be-lucky

What a fabulous post Clever Dog! And I can see where you get your name from, being able to have your own MSE profile and all! I know lots of Humans who are too daft for that!!

Don't you worry your pretty head about money either, I know Master will always make sure you have everything you need and more besides. Just make sure you give her lots of cuddles to keep her happy Xx