Christmas

Not so many photos of presents this year, Dad seemed to be concentrating on food and especially me eating loads and feeling the after effects.

Christmas Day was really nice with a lovely sausage for breakfast followed by a few treats from our stockings and then a full turkey dinner later in the day.  Embarrassingly he filmed me enjoying my dinner and then posted it on my Facebook page for everyone to see.

Waiting for pudding

Feeling stuffed!

We got loads of treats and new toys, one of which Mum has taken off me as she said I was getting a bit 'territorial' with it.  Mena got a new fleece and head collar which looked very smart.

Then on Tuesday we had a trip to a big horse superstore and she got another fleece (apparently she needs a different one when she travels anywhere) and another turnout rug which makes 4 all of varying cosiness.

Lovely crisp walks this week and looking forward to more over the weekend.

Happy New Year and I hope your resolutions are all good ones .. and achievable!  I haven't decided on mine yet but I am sure Mum will tell me what they are over the weekend.

Christmas Roundup

So our tree is up (finally) and Mum has decorated it this year.  Somehow I think there may be  few extra bits go on it later - Dad thinks it looks a bit bare.  The presents are fake ones, just empty boxes wrapped up nicely, but they make the tree looked loved I think.

Last weekend Mum had a day out with some friends from the stables and took Mena to a place where they have an all weather arena with show jumps and cross country jumps and a water splash.  They all had a great time and Mena really enjoyed herself although I am told she did seem a little wary about the water and tried to jump in!

Arrived and taking it all in

Ella putting her through her paces

Last Monday we met up with Aunty Debbie, Uncle Dave, Trevor and Joan for our pre-Christmas walk.  Four hoomans to seven dogs - Fergus, Inca, Lola, Dery, Milly, Murphy and Me - seems quite a good number to me but sadly no photos as it was very grey and wet and the hoomans wanted to get to their Christmas lunch. Typical! But at least mum brought turkey sausages for all of us.

So just seven sleeps to go before I get to see properly what has been hiding in the Christmas drawer for the last few weeks.  She who should be obeyed won't let me have a good rummage even though I know there are things in there for us!

I am pleased to say most of our present buying and wrapping has been done.  Mum says there is more food to buy (?) and of course the turkey to collect and a final visit to see Mena on Friday and that's it.  Mum is taking her out on Boxing Day when we will give hand over her presents .. oh yes she has more in addition to the winter turnout rug Dad bought and that she has been wearing (and rolling around in the field in) for the last 3 weeks.

Murphy and I would like to wish a very Happy Christmas to everyone out there.

Loads happening

So it's ages since I posted and loads has been going on for me and my friends. So this is a bit like an early Round Robin that come with Christmas cards to catch up with what's been going on over the last few weeks.

Back in November young Dery almost swept the boards with all her first places and 'best of' awards at the Spanish Water Dog Club Working Test.  Since then she has run in  a pairs test (didn't do quite so well) and had her first real outing on a shoot.

On top of all that, she has a new posh name - Isfryn Spotless at Ferderyn, but she will always be young Dery to me.

Our newest recruit Mena has settled in well at the stables.  She spends her days either out in the field eating and rolling in the mud or in her box eating and rolling in her bed.  Mum rides her about 4 times a week and is taking  her out for some cross country schooling next Sunday.
Uncle Dave made a really lovely name plate for her stable and she has already had an early Christmas present of a new rug from Dad.

Murphy was quite poorly for a while in November but is much better now and eating really well.  He is a bit wobbly on his legs sometimes, but then  he is 13 and a half.  He likes to come out for walks with Mum and me although we don't go as far with him as we used to.

As for me, well I have been as busy as usual keeping an eye on who comes into our garden (birds, cats, hedgehogs etc), who comes to the house (visitors, postman) and making sure nothing goes on that I don't know about.
A couple of weeks ago Aunty Debbie visited with another friend Tina who I know from when we used to go to Welshie training days.  Before I know what was going on, I was up on the grooming table and Tina was making me look a lot smarter than when she arrived.

Before

After

So now we are busy getting ready for Christmas.  Quite a few sleeps to go yet but we have at least opened the Advent Calendar .. which reminds me, haven't had todays chocolate yet.

Thank you

A big thank you to Uncle Dave for making this lovely stable name plate for Mena.

A horsey question

Just how many rugs does a girl need?

Mena modelling her new fleece which is apparently for after she has got a bit warm exercising

and here she is in a heavy weight turnout rug for when it is really cold (this one's on loan until Mum gets to buy her one of her own)

She also has a medium weight turnout rug which is due to go for cleaning, a light weight turnout rug for the spring (gone into storage now) AND a fly rug for summer time along with a mask thingy to keep the flies off her face and protect her nose from sunburn.

So the question is ...What more could she need?

Kitchen Update

It's pretty much done and looks very nice.  Theres just one thing ....the spot where my bed used to go near the radiator and close to where Mum cooks (handy for taste tests etc.) has been replaced with a cupboard!

Saturday Walk

It was cold and windy but lovely and sunny yesterday, so Mum and I decided to head back to Clumber Park for a lovely walk at Clumber Park.

It didn't take me long to go undercover to see what I could find!

A Winning Sunday

My good friend Dery (Isfryn Spotless) attended the Spanish Water Dog Club Working Test today and came away with a whole bunch of rosettes and certificates and a lovely dog statue,

What are they for? Well, she made
1st in Puppy
1st in Novice
Most Promising Puppy
Most Promising Novice ...and if that wasn't enough she also got

Best in Test!

I think she has the proudest Mum in the world who should also be very pleased with herself and all the work they have done together.

Well done Dery!

What mornings are made for?

Mum's view of this morning

Getting there

This was the kitchen at the weekend

It all looks very different again now with the worktops and sinks in, dishwasher and washing machine plumbed in (Mum got very excited last night when she was told she could do some washing ...bless!) and I've just seen the fridge being fitted.

The very nice chap doing all this for us says he should be finished tomorrow or Friday at the latest, and then the fun begins as my hoomans decorate and start to put everything back.  Poor Dad, he'll never find anything ever again!

Kitchen.. or is it

It's hard to tell what the kitchen is at the moment.

This was it (and the garage) last weekend after the new kitchen was delivered

and this is what it looks like this morning after all the old one has been removed and the wall tiles have been taken off

Mark and Tammie are working really hard and tell me that cupboards are going in today.

The old stuff?  It's in the garden

I knew we had that new patio put in for a reason!

As for us, well we are spending time upstairs and eating our meals in the caravan.  Our neighbour put this sign on the door on Monday night and asked when the bacon sandwiches would be ready this morning!

Congratulations!

A huge well done to both Lola and Dery who passed their Kennel Club Good Citizens Silver Award last night.

Don't they look pleased?  And so they should be

Congrats too to Aunty Debbie for all her hard work and for having both girls tested on the same night!

Just Gold to go then girlies!

Non stop

It's been all go here over the last few days as Mum empties out our kitchen ready for a new one to be fitted.

On Sunday we are bringing home our caravan so we can have somewhere to go during the day when the nice man fitting the new kitchen is busy working.  Secretly I think Mum wants to keep well out of his way - me too!

Everywhere looks really weird with half the kitchen in the dining room (note there is still easy access to the alcohol on the sideboard)

some boxes have gone upstairs and the rest still to have a temporary home found for it.  The kitchen is very echo-y without furniture

and my bed looks quite lonely - rumour is we are having new ones!

Holiday at home

We were supposed to be away last week, but Mum did something to her back and was using stick things to walk about with for a couple of days, so we decided to stay at home where she would be more comfortable.

Dad was off work, so he was 'an absolute star' (Mum's words) doing loads of stuff around the house and taking me for long walks - all things she couldn't do.  Cheekily, he also managed to find the time to buy a new camera and I am hoping for some photos taken with it to be available soon.  We did have a day at Gibraltar Point and also the Attenborough Nature Reserve near Nottingham but on both days he took his new toy with him but then never used it!

Today Dad has gone to Southwell Ploughing Match so hopefully we will have a few more positive results.  Here is one photo he posted on Facebook at lunchtime and which I should admit I have stolen.

Mum is much better and managed to have a short lesson on Mena on Thursday.  They did their first jump which was so small that Mena decided it wasn't a jump at all and walked through it!  Ella raised the poles and they managed to clear it the second time around.  Still a way to go before being ready for some proper cross country - maybe next year - although there is talk of doing a simple dressage test sometime soon!  

More photos

A few more from the Team Chase on Sunday .. all courtesy of Michael Lowney.  None of Murphy and Me I notice - although we were keeping well out of the way!

The pony kept going and finished the course!

Belvoir Team Chase

A really enjoyable afternoon with some great action to watch.

Team 'Don't Quit Your day Job' heading for the start

Ella and Jack absolutely flying

Team 'You Go First' heading for the final fence

The final run in to the finish

Weekend away

We went to our caravan this weekend and it was lovely to be back at Bulwick, if a little wet.  The site was much quieter than past weekends and not so many dogs using our dog walk.

We did see one thing that made me sit up.  We had an empty space next to us but next to that was a big van with 3 huge greyhounds and two humans in it.  Not much spare space there I think!

Dad had a bit of a 'blonde moment' on Saturday.  When the weather cleared up a bit and the rain stopped he took me out for a walk leaving instructions with Mum and Murphy that we were walking towards Blatherwycke and to 'come and collect us if starts to pour down'.

Well it did and then we got a phone call on Dad's mobile thingy from Mum to say she couldn't come and collect us because he had the car keys in his coat pocket!  Thankfully the rain didn't last long...

On our way home today we called in at the Belvoir Team Chase and Hunter Trials which was great fun to watch.  Hopefully some photos to follow

WSS Autumn Test

Yesterday was the WSS Autumn Test Day and yes despite all the dreadful rain it went ahead.  I should say at this point that Mum was going to watch but decided against it!

A fantastic result for Team Isfryn with a 1st and 2nd in Open.  Lander (litter brother to our Dery) came 2nd in Puppy and 4th in Novice.

The big news of the day is that the lovely Dery and her Mum Aunty Debbie were placed 1st in Puppy and 3rd in Novice (1st place not awarded).

We are so pleased for the two of them, this is real pay back for all the hard work they have put in.  To top it all the clever girl came home with two bags of food and a lovely trophy

Sadly Fergus was  not placed in Open .. apparently they didn't award anything for waggliest tail!  

Boxes

There seem to a lot of empty packing boxes around at the moment.  Not too sure what's going on but Mum mentioned something about a new kitchen and having a sort out.  She doesn't seem to making much headway with clearing cupboards, so I can see it all happening at the last minute.

I need to keep a close eye on her to be sure any of our stuff doesn't get 'sorted out' by mistake.

Okay, so technically this is helping with the washing up not sorting cupboards.

First meeting

I sort of met Mena on Monday.

I say sort of, I was in the car and Dad was holding her whilst Mum was doing something and he brought her across near the car.  I was very good and didn't bark .. she just looked at me.

As it was a nice day, Dad got out the camera and took a lovely photo of Betsy (she lives at the yard all the time) soaking up the sun in the hay barn and a nice one of Mena in her stable.

Lodgers

Mena has lodgers in her stable.  They are quite noisy, but she doesn't seem to mind.

Not long

Only 3weeks until Burghley Horse Trials.

Good to see the nice people at Burghley have already started building the course. Not sure if Mum will be allowed to go, and if she is she will probably be banned from the shopping area ...bought a bridle for Mena last weekend and probably a saddle this week so Dad is hoping there's nothing left to buy!

The strangest things

We saw one this weekend when we were at the van.

The people next door to us left just after we arrived on Saturday - not because of us, they were already packing up as we got out of the car.  Anyway, when it came time to hitch up their van, they did it with the jockey wheel and two front steadies down.

Never seen that before but it seemed to work for them. 

After they had gone, I kept a close eye on the people who moved in

Sunday walk

This morning we went to Deene Park which is very close to New Lodge

We had a lovely walk around the park (not allowed in the posh gardens bit) and came across this lovely stag sculpture.

Awning Day

Yesterday morning we went to the 'van for the weekend.  This was the first time we had visited since we left it at New Lodge at the beginning of July mainly because Mum was horse shopping one weekend  and Murphy was unwell the next.

So, this was the weekend that we got to put up the awning and I decided to take some photographic evidence of the various stages.

Stage One - layout the floor and poles.  Mum did the poles and got a bit confused with what went where (she doesn't  normally get involved at this stage usually coming in at Stage Two and being told just to 'stand there and hold that').

Stage Two - framework is up and stable

Stage Three - the bit Dad hates ... ready for pegging out and tightening all the joins (Mum had left to get coffee at this stage)

Stage Four - it's all finished and ready to use

Looking good - well done Dad who promptly went for a sit down with Murphy while Mum and I went for a walk.   'We won't be long' she said and then took me on the Bulwick/Blatherwycke/Laxton circuit which is about 5 miles!