These photos were taken with my mobile phone and do not do it justice  – but the colours are clear and it was a lovely moment…..

to the left of me….

and the centre…..

Just need to find the fella with the crock of gold now!!!!

and the right of me….

But Alfie hardly turned a hair at the sight of this animal – in fact he ignored it…..

even when the meerkat fussed him…..

For three whole days the meerkat stayed in one piece filling a big area of my kitchen – I thought they were going to be friends for life.

On the 4th day, however, Alfie attacked the meerkat’s nose and tore it off…..

from then on it was war,  he ran around the garden throwing the toy in the air

it was really funny to watch – the meerkat was so huge he nearly tripped over it whilst carrying it around…..

But just as he was heading for serious play – I noticed that the main stuffing was polystyrene beads…… very small polystyrene beads……

No way was I going through that again – those beads are not easy to clean up.

The meerkat ended up in the wheelie bin almost in one piece…….. and Alfie……

he just got down to more monkey business with his favourite chimp…..

before some relaxation exercise with his favourite greyhound..

I don’t think he missed the meerkat at all really!!!!

My friends have been helping but they have their lives too and conscious that this is my problem I looked for alternatives.

One alternative was employing a dog walker but they are expensive and I am not really happy leaving my keys with people I don’t know, however honest they may be.

So……. plan B was to get a dog flap fitted in my back door – then Alfie would be able to come and go as he pleased.

The back door was a upvc one with two glass panels, top and bottom. I searched the internet for ideas and discovered that it was do-able either fitted into glass or replace the bottom panel with a upvc one and fit a dog flap into that one. I sent emails to various companies and received some very different quotes – one company said they just didn’t cover my area of the country which was a possibility that hadn’t occurred to me.

Then I found Colin , I had seen his website www.catflapfitter.co.uk  and sent an email asking for advice, he actually says on his website that he doesn’t cover my area of the country but the testimonials from his customers led me to believe that he was at least worth contacting.

He answered my email almost immediately with a quote that was way less expensive than others, and requested that I call if I needed further information.

I rang and we discussed the possibility of getting this job done relatively quickly – amazingly, he agreed to travel to my home and carry out the work that very day! Now that’s what I call service!

He arrived at 1.30 p.m. and the job was done – exactly as I wanted.

Alfie was very scared at first but after a lot of throwing biscuits through the flap and tying up the piece of the frame that rattled until he gets used to it, he is now using his new door!!!

Brilliant and I can now be out of the house for a few hours without worrying. The garden is secure and Alf just loves lying in the sunshine……

 Thank you Colin! that was customer service beyond belief!!!!

Made from wool that was at least forty years old – I use it for dog walking on cold days.

So then it made sense to use up what was left in a warm coat for my whippet puppy – yes, I know – he looks like a girl but hey – its keeping him warm – whippets need that extra layer:

But then – of course there was Hippie – my daughters rescue greyhound and she would need to keep warm too…… this time it was the Aran wool and it was quite a project, she is a very long dog!!

She loves her new coat – I think she sees it as a housecoat….

I thought that was the end of the dog coat project until last week I saw my neighbours with their new addition to the family.

Her name is Grace, she is a rescue greyhound, 5 years old and is a beautiful shade of fawn – with black eyeliner….. she is gorgeous!

I don’t have a photo of her yet but her mum says she needs a coat like Alfie’s so out came the knitting needles and yet more of the wool…

It should be finished by next week.

So that has used up a lot of the wool and left me with some projects still to do….

The patterns that I found with Mum’s wool were, obviously all vintage knitting patterns – some over 60 years old, but they are still really nice particularly the baby patterns……

This one is a real favourite, and, as my first grandchild is due in May – I can enjoy making some tiny knits…….

I never really considered myself to be much of a ‘knitter’ until now. I made things for my kids when they were little but I have problems with my hands and sometimes they don’t work very well – so it was easier to buy jumpers.

Now though I enjoy the therapeutic value of knitting and even though I make mistakes and drop a stitch or two – I correct it as I go and have at least found a use for all the wool that has gathered around me.

You would think that all this is making some space in my cupboards, and only yesterday I found I had a whole top box above my wardrobe clear where the wool used to live …… then my daughter came to see me with the news that her mother-in law had sorted out a lot of……….. yes, you guessed it…….. WOOL! And she wanted to give it to me!!!

Apparently there is a huge amount – so the cupboard will be full again and i will have to make more plans to use it up!!!!

Any ideas out there?

Originally the visit was to find out if my daughter-in-law is still showing signs of allergy around Alfie, because the last time they came was his first weekend in my home, and, bless her she couldn’t stop sneezing. This could cause a problem with me visiting them so, working on the principle that having lived in my home for 3 weeks and being brushed, washed and cared for, might make a difference, she decided to give it a go.

They came up on Friday evening and I cooked a meal for them, there didn’t seem to be a problem at all and Alfie just loved having visitors!

On Saturday morning my son and his wife wanted to go into town shopping. They invited me, but, as I hate shopping with a passion and my daughter had invited me and Alfie around to her house, they dropped us off there. Alfie still can’t go out on the streets and as the dog guard for my car hasn’t arrived yet and he is very bouncy, I dare not drive with him loose in the car.

We spent the morning in my daughter’s garden in the sunshine – Alfie was overjoyed to see Hippie and after a big play was quite happy to lay down and snooze with her.

Tor’i’s partner made lunch and we just lazed around – it was lovely.

My son arrived to pick me up and we came back home. He’d already said he would mow the lawn for me as I was having problems pushing the mower, but when they saw the last bit of the garden still waiting to be finished Keiron and Emma decided to finish it for me.

The garden area needed digging over and the shrubs that were still in pots from my previous garden needed planting.

So the lawn was cut

And the plants were given new homes

where, hopefully they will be able to grow properly.

Oh and look at the other side – my friend made me this hanging basket and it is ‘blooming lovely’

On Saturday night I was taken out to a Thai restaurant where I was introduced to the sort of food Keiron and Emma love after their recent holiday in Thailand – it was delicious.

Then Sunday was a tidy up day in my garden and…. here’s the big one….

Emma became a ‘puppy whisperer’!

Not only was she coping well with his fur but Alfie took to her so well she was able to teach him tricks. He could already sit to order but she had him lying down and rolling over – he loves her…

And I think the feeling is mutual!!!

Keiron had a lovely time with Alfie – teaching him how to play rough…. it’s a boy thing!

And he took lots of photos too – don’t forget to send them young man.

So now the garden is finished – I need to get some bedding plants and do a lot of watering but it is now manageable.

Alfie and I were both dog tired last night – so it was an early night….. but a really nice weekend to set me up for another week at work!!

Ooops look at the time….. Gotta go!

Last Friday in the penultimate (I hope) part of my garden makeover, the conifers in my garden that back onto the street had a five foot haircut! they had grown so tall it was dark in my kitchen and my satellite dish could find a satellite!!!

But now – there is light – the trees are still there – necessary only because the street beyond is four feet higher than my garden and they do provide some privacy.

It look forever to clean up afterwards but all branches have now been removed – I’ll need some new solar lights though as there were a couple of breakages!

Next it will be the patch of soil, put in to add extra drainage

Its the overgrown bit behind Hippie in this chilling out pic! It needs to be dug over – then some plants that are still in pots from the patio garden that I used to have will be transplanted – hopefully in the coming weeks.

Alfie loved the activity and the sunshine yesterday..

He’s learned to sit on command this week plus we are still trying to walk with a lead but that’s a much longer job -  he has another week of staying in after his second injection on Tuesday – then it will be ‘Walkies’ daily and a whole new world for him!

My daughter visited after work and bought him a present..

Bless him – i don’t think he knew what to make of it but it made sure he didn’t get sunburnt!

His favourite toys at the moment are small plastic bottles – they keep him busy for hours and he just couldn’t wait for my daughter to finish hers..

Yes Alfie it is the ‘Real Thing!’

No more gardening this weekend though – I twisted my knee clearing up and though it was okay yesterday, it started to hurt during the night so I’ve strapped it up and am taking it easy today!

and its cooking a piece of gammon as I type!

And, at last I have found the time to finish our Christmas Cake – the mini ones from my earlier post have all been given away and the big round cake was my next mission.

I wanted to make icicles out of clear mint sweets but wasn’t sure if it would work – so I had piped some royal icing on just in case I had to think of a new design.

It did work though and here it is…

So, another thing finished …..I’m making mince pies tomorrow!

The tree is trimmed, there are fairylights everywhere…

In the lounge..

In my bedroom window..

Even a snowy village scene in the dining room..

The cards are arriving…

my Christmas Cactus that I resurrected from the near death experience it had when I forgot to water it and its leaves turned paper thin and fell off, is now…. flowering!!!!!

It was all going so well until yesterday when the Ghost of Christmas Past paid a visit.

Five years ago to the day – my Stoves fan oven died and yesterday so did its Baumatic replacement….

And having weighed up the cost of a call out plus parts against a new one – I have decided to buy a new one – after all I’ve got mince pies to make!!!!!

A couple of weeks ago when I made my Christmas cake I had a lot of mix left over – well my tin size was smaller than the recipe stated and, rather than adjust the mix I thought I would bake the extra in loaf tins and make mini Christmas cakes, here they all are fresh from the oven…

The round one is still waiting for marzipan and has a little drizzle of almond rum over the top each week – it smells amazing!!

But the two loaf size ones had to be dealt with early. I had planned to give one to my Spanish teacher on my last lesson before we broke up for Christmas and the others – well they would be presents too..

I managed to get some 4 inch boards while I was staying with my son and his wife in Swindon – there was a superb cake shop there..

Then I  cut the cakes down to size and covered them in marzipan and icing – the results were lovely even for someone with shaky hands….

Aren’t they sweet? And I loved piping the royal icing on them – its been a while since I did that.

I especially like this one

I just love those little penguins!!!!

So now I need to get the big one finished – this weekend I think!!!!

He is a sweetie and very loving but has been having a very bad time lately.

Another cat, a stray I think has been trying to move in, and Max has been defending his property with a vengeance. The fights have been ferocious and completely unstoppable – eventually my boy had to go to hospital with broken teeth and abcesses. After surgery I decided to keep him in, which drove him mad but I could think of no other way of protecting my boy.

The stray continued to visit and to be very fair I could only think that he was a monster, the vets bill had been £200 and Max was a mess.

Last Saturday I decided to let Max out for short periods in the day and it went quite well. He went back to sitting on the roof, viewing his garden, and there was no sign of the stray …. until last night.

I was sorting out the recycling for our refuse collection today and was in and out of the car port with plastics and paper when I noticed Max behaving strangely near to our indoor dog kennel which is kept in the car port until we have to leave Hippie alone in the house.

On closer inspection I saw that the stray cat was inside the kennel and Max was growling at him from outside.

The kennel is a thick wire construction and obviously large enough for a greyhound….

I leaned forward and shut the kennel door, effectively trapping the stray inside …. sorry no photos here, I was thunderstruck, and Max was now spitting and hissing while the stray just looked at him!

On closer inspection this cat was in a sorry state, broken teeth, nicked ears and abcesses – he was also very thin and unkempt.

I rang the local animal hospital for advice, after all they had dealt with Max’s problems. They were brilliant and asked me to call the RSPCA and get a log number, then I could take the stray to them for treatment. I did this and was then left with the problem of getting this cat out of the kennel and into Max’s travel box.

But there was no problem – he went straight in after I put a dish of cat food in there. Then all I heard was frantic eating followed by the noisy licking out of the dish.

Suddenly he wasn’t a monster just a misguided cat looking for help and food.

I took him to our vet’s hospital and they booked him in – I also took a can of Max’s food which they said they would give him.

They will treat him and if they cannot find his owner, they will send him to the RSPCA where he will be re-homed. If they do find his owners I hope they give them the bill for his care.

Anyway, back home and at first Max was scared to go out, walking very gingerly and checking out each area of his domain.

But, today he is back to his normal self – a little battle scarred but as loving as ever.

Until the next time!!!!