It started well – Hipppie’s hackles were up and she was very nervous – but I kept giving her chicken when she was calm around Alfie, and things started to get better.

Of course Hippie could see the chicken on the worktop – little Alfie was oblivious!!

He had his blue bone!

They went outside for a play and I was pleasantly surprised at how well they got along.

Then Hippie rushed for her place on the settee – I had delusions of keeping Alfie off that particular piece of furniture but I had no chance on this day.

His new best friend was lying there and he wanted to join her..

Hippie just ignored him….. but Alfie needed a snuggle…

In fact he likes all sorts of snuggles..

In his 40 winks bed..

Any patch of sunlight….

Can you see him?

Ah – there he is..

Then a quick roustabout in a box…

Before my daughter came round after work! And then the best snuggle for Alfie…

My daughter loves to cuddle him – says you can’t do this with Hippie …. well you could but she’d crush you!

Aren’t kids wonderful?… When they’re asleep!!!!

I flew back on Saturday and on Sunday morning I fetched him to his new home… this photo was taken in the first five minutes of arriving back here!

Alfie is 14 weeks old and gorgeous!

He is a Whippet with a little bit of Bedlington Terrier in there somewhere!

He started off cowering when he was being touched and had runny eyes, itchy ears and a tummy problem.

He also had a strange smell about him so first of all – a bath was needed…

and a cuddle of course..

He was introduced to his crate which he is quite happy with, thank goodness

And 3 days on after a visit to the vet for ear and eye treatment plus first vaccination – he is feeling a little better..

He had some presents that squeaked – they scared him at first but this morning he felt much better about them..

Chasing them round the kitchen and the garden – no photos there I’m afraid – he’s far too quick for me!!!!

So…… I will finish the Singapore story and add my Tenerife Tale but at the moment a smaller waggy tail is taking over my home and I might have to do some dog blogging again!!!!!

I have had a busy time, both at work and  at home – so I thought a quick catch up post was in order….

I visited my son and daughter in law for a weekend and arrived wearing my new jumper (from a previous post).

My daughter in law’s parents were also there and within minutes her father appeared wearing my jumper!!!

I think he looks rather fetching – don’t you?

Then last weekend my daughter bought me lots of bunches of daffodils – my very favourite flower!!

I ran out of vases and had to use jugs and one little one that had arrived with pretty wooden tulips in – they soon got removed to make way for the daffies!

Very pretty!

I even had some in the kitchen – they were lovely!

Well I thought so anyway!!!

Yesterday was Mother’s day here and I received more presents from my lovely kids…

Some Lushly bath bombs and a Chinese table setting from my son and the book ‘Its me or the dog’ from my daughter.

Yes I have decided to get a dog of my own when Hippie moves out – won’t be for a while though so a little planning has to be done!!!

Just as an aside I received a letter on Saturday from a company trying to sell me home insulation – the picture on my letter had a supposed thermal image of my house – its supposed to show where the house loses heat – I am a little confused….. have a look…

So – is it being lost from the roof , and of course the block paved drive – or is it pouring out of the new double glazed windows and door?

And why do I feel that big brother is invading my privacy?

Well at least the snow has melted (for now) and I can walk normally again. I really don’t like the stuff and even though my new snow boots stop me from slipping over, they make me walk differently and I now have a problem with my knee – so today is a rest day and a chance to catch up with my blog.

Hippie is taking full advantage of a quiet Sunday.

Just chillin with her favourite Hippo!

I am taking advantage of these dark days by using up some of the tea lights I have been given and enjoying the effect

Isn’t this lamp lovely? My daughter brought it back from Turkey for me – I have so many different holders and I love candlelight!

I have also started to knit again – not easy with my hand problems but I have always loved a challenge.

It started with a cleaning session on the things in my glass cabinet..

Most of the things in there are treasures from my late Mum’s childhood – my Grandmother’s tea service, and many very pretty hand painted plates and bowls that my Mum won at local fetes when she was a small child in the 1920’s – her collection of Siamese cats is in there too, plus some very pretty glass fronted greetings cards from the 1930’s and 40’s – mostly anniversary cards from my Dad….. I treasure these memories and I hope that one day someone else will too..

But, do you see on the right hand side on the middle shelf? That little doll is from my childhood – I played with her over fifty years ago so that makes her a treasure too.

When I first got her she was dressed in a complete baby outfit – she also had a wicker cradle but that got broken a very long time ago..

I decided that if she was worth keeping i would dress her again the way she looked when I first got her – she is only 6 inches tall so it was definitely going to be a challenge.

First I had to find the patterns. I knew they were from ‘Womans Weekly’ magazine in the 50’s and I was so lucky to find people selling PDF and laminated copies of the patterns online so I ordered them and the very fine 2 ply wool needed to knit the outfit.

It took quite some time to make the whole outfit but determination won and now my Rosebud 6 inch doll looks very presentable in her dress, matinee jacket, shoes and carrying cape – i really thought the elastic bands holding her arms and legs in place would have perished but no – her limbs stayed in place while I dressed her…

So now its back into the cupboard for her..

My next project is a sweater, again the wool is a legacy from my Mum – some brushed chunky yarn and it must be about 40 years old but with a little more yarn added there will be enough to make myself a warm sweater with nice stripey sleeves to keep the February chill away….Its half done and I will post a picture when its finished!!!!

Well, please excuse me I must get on with the second sleeve……

So I have… and yes I am just as disorganised with my pictures as everybody else!!

But here it is:

Many of you will already know about Hippie and her dog blog which is featured on the right of this blog, and the ones who have read the early chapters will know how out of control this beautiful creature was when she came to stay.

But after the initial mayhem she became quite easy to train and here is an early shot of a ‘sit’ and ‘shake a paw’ moment.

These animals are so beautiful and intelligent and it should be remembered when adopting a retired greyhound that:

They have never lived in a house before….

And… they can learn so much given time, love and a lot of patience.

Believe me – they make it all so worthwhile!

So I have to pass it forward with the same message……

I have to choose … Baino – cos her photography is something else, Daddy Papersurfer … go on lets see your 4th photo …… and Don’t Bug Me …..for the penguins and other stories

Find the fourth photo in your picture folders and explain it!!!!

When we got there my ‘adopted Mum’ had made lunch for us and after that had gone down we headed for the beach.

I was a beautiful day, hot sunshine and no wind. I just had to have a paddle..

And guess what… the water was warm!!! People were actually swimming in the sea!!

Ade and his Mum stayed by the edge though – not for them sand between their toes!

We stopped at a local pub for a drink and decided we would go back there for dinner later on as they had a band on at weekends.

Well I think my glasses suit you young lady….. very Harry Potter!!!

The meal was wonderful, the band were good, amazingly so – we sang along and had such a good time!

The boys were happy…

And so were the girls…

And this morning we travelled back – it was too short a visit really but very special!!

So now I’ll get on with the ironing ready for work in the morning!!!

Thank you Vera and Mal – you are lovely people!!!!

photo credit: Opo Terser

I got home from my weekend away on Sunday to discover that my daughter had been bitten on the arm by an insect whilst walking the dog on Saturday.

Considering she didn’t feel a thing it looked very swollen and red – there wasn’t much we could do about it though on a Sunday so a dose of  anti-histamine was administered and lets see how it is in the morning…..

Monday morning came and my girl was in a lot of pain – her arm had swollen and there were little blisters appearing.

She was on a late shift at work that day so booked a doctors appointment.

The doctor said “Oh God!” when he saw it which, on reflection, is enough to scare any patient – he then prescribed two different anti biotics and drew a line in biro around the affected area – telling her if the swelling and redness crossed the line she would need intravenous anti-biotics.

On Tuesday morning it seemed a little easier with less redness although the redness had definitely crossed the doctor’s line, in fact the area was going white – my daughter said she would update the doctor but she felt it was improving.

She saw a different doctor who said he thought it had gone past an allergic reaction and that he was going to treat her for cellulitis. He told her to go home and wait for a phone call to arrange for an i.v canula to be inserted and anti biotics to be given through it.

The first pair of nurses came last night fitted the canula, and gave the first dose.

This morning it is still looking swollen and angry and is painful but my daughter says it is not as bad as before pain-wise…..

Hopefully, with district nurses calling twice a day to administer  the drugs – she will now start to get better.

To be fair she is more worried about missing work after only a short time at her new job …. that is the least of my worries as you can imagine!!!

Firstly I want to kill the insect …… if it’s not dead already!!!!

My lovely Mum was the one who loved messing around in the garden – don’t get me wrong I love to see plants growing and blooming – trouble is I either kill them with kindness or they die anyway!

The flowers on holiday were gorgeous but then all tropical flowers are lovely, vibrant colours and surviving with very little care.

There was one plant out there that grew almost wild – the flowers looked like Livingstone Daisies – opening up in the hot sunshine and showing all different bright colours.

In the very vain hope of getting a piece of this succulent to root I took a stalk off it and brought it home.

It was quite a small piece and with advice off the internet I broke it into smaller pieces and planted it in a pot…

It looked kind of dead when I planted it but I followed my instructions and only gave it water once a week to encourage root growth….

And…..

One of the pieces started to show signs of life,

I was amazed but even more amazed when two days later,

Wow hasn’t it grown?

But then after another two days..

It’s going mad!

And this morning here it is…

By the looks of things I am growing my own green fingers!!!!

The week started with my sister in law ( who lives on Tenerife, and with whom we spent some lovely times during our holiday) having a double heart bypass operation in a hospital in Santa Cruz. She had gone to have her angina investigated, and after investigating the doctors would not let her out without having the bypass. Thank God they found it, and bless her, reports from my brother say she is doing well and hopefully is back at home as I write this…..

Then on Tuesday my steri-strips and dressing were removed – at last I could see exactly what had been done to my elbow.

So now its down to rubbing Bio oil into the scar and trying to desensitise it – its going quite well except I get some strange electric shock type feelings….but no numbness or pins and needles – so obviously it has all worked quite well.

We were very busy at work all week but one day there was a knock on the office door and a young lady stood there clutching a teddy bear. She said it was a raffle prize with all proceeds going to a children’s charity, for a £1 donation I could choose a name from the card and if my choice was correct I would win the bear…… and guess what? ….. I did!

Here he is..

What a surprise – I never win as a rule..

Fuelled with this new found luck – I bought a lottery ticket yesterday, well why not?

My partner and I had spent a happy time planning what we would do if I won … the big prize of course … not just a tenner. Of course this was done safe in the knowledge that I wouldn’t win, not even a tenner but where would we be without our dreams?

Of course I didn’t win but maybe next time?

Today I had planned to get some weeding done but we have had torrential rain with thunder and lightning all day so I have given up on the idea and been playing in the kitchen instead. My daughter is at work and will be home around 4p.m. so a late lunch of Sunday Dinner Pie is on the menu. I’m sure it will look better when it has been cooked.

And hopefully it will taste good too!

Not only is my arm very sore after surgery but I have to keep it dry.

I tried having a bath with my arm hanging over the side but it was not a relaxing experience.

My partner suggested wrapping my arm in cling film and having a shower…. I tried it but found I couldn’t use my clingfilmed arm at all because the film, whilst keeping it dry, also kept my arm straight.

My daughter took me to Boots and I purchased this item…

Can you tell what it is yet?

No – it is not a giant condom as suggested by my partner…. it is a shower sleeve – a fantastic invention!

You can use it to cover any limb while showering – even a foot!

It’s very difficult for me to put on – mainly because to tighten the elastic cords at each end requires two hands, but, I used my teeth to pull the cord while my ‘good’ hand pushed the button release. That’s when I started to giggle at how ridiculous I must look!

And, although it’s huge – it works, and I can now shower – so things are looking up!