Tribute to the Spindle Bush

Although the autumn colour here in the South East of England has been disappointing I couldn't let the autumn go without giving a tribute to the spindle berry bushes. They have been fantastic. I have never seen them so well berried up and what amazing berries they are. Only nature could get away with mixing pink and orange together. One possible reason as to why I have noticed the berries more this year is because Euonymus is one of the shrubs that is supposed to have good autumn leaf colour but this year the leaves fell off before turning thus exposing the berries. Another reason might be that we had a very sunny early spring and a lot of fruiting trees and shrubs produced an abundance of blossom. Often when this happen we get a late frost and it ruins the drop but that didn't happen this year and the subsequent wet summer did no harm at all. I'm sure the birds will eat well this winter.

10,000 flickr visitors

I've only been using flickr for 6 months but incredibly I had my 10,000th viewer to my photo stream today. I find that quite awesome and amazing. If any of you enjoy digital photography and haven't already done so you really ought to check flickr out. My skill as a photographer has expanded enormously since I have been sharing images on it. There are so many creative ideas out there to try. But more than that, it has encouraged me to experiment more with my photographs rather than simply file and forget them. Sharing ideas with other photographers gives me a real buzz too. Be warned, flickr can become addictive.

A Touch of Frost

One thing I really like about late autumn are really frosty mornings and clear, china blue skies. On such days I simply can't wait to get out on the heath with Brac. I've absolutely no idea if he appreciates the cold, he's always more frisky when it's biting cold but whether that is just to keep warm or an expression of happiness I can't say. I'm not sure I would be too keen to be running around with bare feet in freezing conditions but then nor do I enjoy sticking my nose up strange peoples bums! :-)
Frozen puddles certainly prove to be a challenge to him as he hasn't worked out yet that you simply can't stop or turn on ice like you can normally. Many a time he has completely lost his feet but that never seems to deter him or slow him up. Just all part of the fun.
The next few days are supposed to be milder which probably means damp and dreary but the weather does seem to be shaping up well for a decent winter so maybe soon we will get some snow.

Shoulder progress

Well I've now been photographed in places I would never imagine. Inside my shoulder. If someone had said these pictured were of the surface of Mars I would have been none the wiser. Lots of red which apparently shows inflamed tendons and a cloudy one which is or was an a spur of bone. The latter was trimmed off and was apparently causing the inflammation and restriction in movement. It has a fancy name...of course 'sub-acromical decompression'. I think these names are supposed to make you feel like you've achieved something :-) Perhaps you can use them like letters after your name...Sally Jane Turner BA(Hons) SAD. Ummm, maybe not the best initials :-) This was all done yesterday and I'm home again now resting but in a mobile kind of way. I've got to keep it moving but without using any muscles! Back to physio tomorrow, hopefully it will work this time.

Sucess on the Cards

With Christmas fast approaching I have been kept quite busy with producing pet portraits for Christmas presents which is great. My turnover this year has probably doubled on this time last year as word gets round and my web site becomes more popular. This year though, people have started noticing my cards as well as my portraits and orders for cards are now really taking off. I produce the cards to order which means they can be customised in any way customers require. People who have ordered portraits are now returning to order Christmas cards of their pet while other people who have not had or require a pet portrait are simply ordering cards because they like the designs and want a stock of animal cards to cover various occasions. All the cards shown in my gallery are for general sale and can be customised with any greeting or message either inside or out. The more pet portraits I do the more cards I can add to my gallery so if a particular breed is not shown today, just check back later to see what new ones have been added.

Shouldering On

For the last 3 months I have been having regular physiotherapy and hydrotherapy on my frozen shoulder to try and get the mobility back again. I've even had some acupuncture sessions but all to no avail. I still only have about 50% of the movement I should have in my left shoulder and it gets quite uncomfortable at times. Monday I saw the consultant again. He agreed that it wasn't going quite as planned so tomorrow I am booked in for an MRI scan on it. I'm hoping this will show what's wrong but in either case I will be having another op on it on 21st which will involve inserting a camera into my shoulder to see what happens when it is manipulated. What I think this will all add up to in the short term is a lot of pain, more physio and some big bills but hopefully this time it won't be in vain.

On a brighter not, next Saturday, Brac and I get to try out for the Southern Obedience Team for Crufts next year. We will naturally be trying for the Beginners place. There are 5 dogs in each team, a beginner, a novice, an A, a B and a C class dog. Only 2 of the dogs can be border collies the rest of the team can be any breed. Border collies are discriminated against as the kennel club is trying to encourage other breeds into the sport. Hence, even if Brac wins his trial on Saturday he is still unlikely to make the team but the experience will be good for us and I'm looking forward to it. Do wish us luck.

It's a Red One!

Today was the last South East England open obedience show of the season. Nothing now for about 6 months. It was also one of the few shows I had managed to enter this year. We had a disastrous beginning and I was all for writing the year off but as the this show at Ardingly in Sussex is a kind of tradition for us to end the season on I decided to enter anyway. Just as well I did because the 'boy came good'. We have won our first Beginners class. We need two wins in this class to move up but the second will have to wait for next season. I am over the moon and now feel more motivated to continue next year. Mind you, I have to say I didn't think he worked that well but I deliberately didn't hang around to watch the others compete and by all accounts they weren't up to much. Now I just have to buy cakes for everyone at the dog club. It's about time I got to buy the cakes :-)

Clouds do come with silver linings

Yesterday the weather men warned us that today would be really wet...all day! "Great", I thought, as I envisaged walking a muddy dog in the rain and hosing him down before allowing him back in the house, "nothing I like better!" Hey ho.
This morning loomed dark and gloomy as I peered out from under the covers. Dark and gloomy yes but rain, no. OK, I can do dark and gloomy. As I fetched Brac in from his kennel the first few drops begin to fall. Ummm. I devise to get some breakfast and see if it develops, if not, I'll take him for his walk early. It didn't get any worse, just a fine mist of dampness so off we go to the heath. When I got there the car park was full. Seems like all of Wilmington and half of Dartford had had the same idea. There were dog walkers everywhere. Normally I might only meet one or two other people but this morning there were dogs everywhere which was good because Brac loves to socialise.
I advertise on the side of my car for my pet portraits and as we returned to the car I saw a man there waiting for me. He was interested in getting a portrait done for his girlfriend as a Christmas present. The full car park was an obvious bonus, may be I should have some brochures available that people could help themselves to while me car is parked there. I don't like the idea of leaving stuff under peoples wipers as that is tacky and invasive but I'm sure I could exploit the advertising a little more effectively.
By 10am I was back home, ready for a cup of coffee and with a clear day ahead and another job on the books. All thanks to a miserable weather report.

Christmas countdown

It's official. The Turner house has gone into Christmas countdown mode. Normally I avoid thinking about it until December! Yes, that's right, we generally leave everything to the last minute. This year things have come together to force me into early action. Mum is off to visit her family in Australia tomorrow and won't be back until 2 weeks before Christmas so that means my sisters and I needed to come to some sort of agreement as to who what and when for Christmas so that mum could have some warning. Kim, my youngest sister lives the furthest out and they have a 5 month old baby so expecting them to do Chrismas lunch this year was possibly not ideal. Ann, my older sister normally likes to have everyone over for boxing Day so that left me.
I like to make my own Christmas puds and as October is the traditional time to make them so they can mature, that is what I have been doing today. The house now smells all full of Christmas spices.
The next job will be to make the Christmas cake. I plan to get that done this week as like the puddings the cake needs time to mature.
We also went out today and ordered some new furniture for the lounge. We had been looking for some new stuff since I decorated it in August and I've just sold my old sideboard and the coffee table we have is falling apart. I also wanted to get rid of the CD racks and have them hidden away so they don't collect dust plus we needed a nest of occasional tables so that anyone sitting in the arm chairs that are out of reach of the coffee table wouldn't need to put their drinks on the floor. We had managed without them up to now but the thought of not just having an excitable dog in the lounge with us but a crawling baby as well highlighted how having drinks on the floor might not be a good idea. Luckily we managed to find everything we wanted to match in solid light oak. The shop promised to deliver it before Christmas...Ummm I'll believe that when it comes.
Ideally I would like to get the hall decorated before Christmas but as I am the main painter and decorator that might not happen unless my shoulder makes a miraculous recovery. It would be nice though. :-)

Wilmington's Big Day

This weekend is the high point in the Wilmington village calendar. It's the annual Model Railway Enthusiasts Exhibition. Yipee! OK so I know people interested in this kind of stuff can get really enthusiastic but this event is held in a small village hall with no parking and people comes from a good 30 mile radius to go to it. The highlight is the arrival of a full size traction engine that makes trips around the village. OK, I don't mind that bit, it's actually quite nice hearing the steam horn sounding as it goes up the road. I might try and get a photo when it passes. Does that make me sound like a bit of an anorak?. Help.
Needless to say parking is a major headache in the village and will be until Sunday night especially tomorrow morning when the same parking spaces will be required for people attending the church next door.
In fairness, I have to say I have never been to the Railway Exhibition even though it is only a few hundred yards down the road, so maybe it is something to get excited about! Ummm. It certainly seems to put us on the map. No, I think I'll give it a miss at least for another year.

Every Home Should Have One!

Chances are, if you don't like creepy crawlies or spider then you won't like this one but if this is the case then this is exactly what you do need. A House Centipede (scutigera coleoptrata). OK, I'll admit, I didn't know what it was when I saw it other than to have a pretty good idea it was a centipede. We don't get these in the UK as it's too cold but they are apparently common in the southern half of Europe. This is only the second one I've seen and it was in one of the châteaus we visited whilst in France. They love shady dampish places and prefer indoors to out especially if the temperature is a bit cool. OK, I know what you are thinking..."Why on earth should we have one if this is exactly the kind of thing we can't stand?" I admit it does seem a bit bizarre at first thought but this creature is apparently an amazing hunter of all things creepy crawly. You are not ever likely to become infested with them as they are fairly solitary and they will kill and eat anything from spiders to flies. They can apparently run fast enough to catch a fly before it can take off!

Personally, I think they are amazing creations that look like something out of prehistoric times. For this reason I could not resist having a play with this image in Photoshop for uploading to flickr. Here is the result. Much more impressive.

Just what the Dr. wouldn't have ordered!

It was our wedding anniversary last weekend so we decided to take a long weekend away. We didn't finalise where we would go until Thursday as the weather was so unsettled everywhere. Finally we decided to fly ourselves to Tours just to the south of Paris on the Loire. Friday morning was dismal and cold here and I really wasn't expecting much better in France but I could not have been more wrong. We flew through loads of cold wet clouds but they all cleared away just before we landed and the weather for the whole weekend was glorious.
Tours turned out to be fantastic for a city break. The old part of the city is medieval and packed with restaurants and bars. There are plenty of museums to visit but best of all the region is crammed with fantastic old Royal châteaus. These are all out of town but you can hire a minibus for a day or half day to take you to them. We visited two, Chenonceau, pictured above, and Ambois.
Typically with any city break there is always plenty of walking to do. Since I got kicked I had been using a walking stick whenever I went for a walk of any distance. Without it my leg would ache so much and my limp would gradually get worse and worse. I forgot to pick it up as I left home so had to endure walking around Tours without it. By the evening of the first day, Friday, my leg was really hurting and I was beginning to wonder how I was going to cope for the whole weekend.
That evening we found a busy square with a bar selling Champagne cocktails. We indulged whilst watching the world go by. Later we wandered off down the road checking out the menus of the various restaurants until we found one we liked. We ordered a bottle of the local Touraine wine and notice there was a drink on the specials board being sold by the glass. We asked what it was and was told it was a local speciality of fortified wine and honey. We ordered some of that as well out of curiosity. By the end of our meal our drinks were all gone and needless to say I was feeling a little the worse for wear. Time to wander home. As we made our way back to the hotel I suddenly realised I couldn't feel any discomfort in my leg. We joked about it and I felt sure I would feel the full force in the morning.
Next morning, not only did I not have a hang-over (much to my surprise) but my leg still felt fine. In fact, it was not until that evening after another full day of walking that it started to ache again. Easily solved by another bottle of win at dinner:-)
OK so the weekend and the indulgence had to come to an end but even now, a good day and a half after the last bottle, my leg still feels fine. Not completely back to normal but a good 90%. I can't imagine any Dr. prescribing getting plastered on wine as a remedy but it certainly worked. Unfortunately it had no effect on my shoulder but you can't have everything.

Keep up the good work!

I went back to see my consultant today about my shoulder. Last time I saw him he was less than impressed by my progress 2 weeks on from the op. Today I felt like I had made no improvement since then and he might come up with a different course of action. I have to say that going to physio three times a week and running through countless different exercises several times each day and not noticing any significant improvement has left me feeling a bit deflated. My hope was on a glimmer of light being offered by the consultant today but all he said was that I was my progress was about average and I should continue what I'm doing for another 6 weeks until I see him again. That gem of information will cost me £130 plus another £35 every time I visit the physio. It would be worth it if I could see some signs of improvement but even the physios are telling me it should be far better. It's my own fault really. I should have had something done about it far sooner. Oh well, another 6 weeks it is then, back to the exercises.

Still, on a more positive note. I had a great day yesterday. I had a commission deep in the heart of Kent for a surprise portrait of a horse for my client's husband. The horse was a 'cart horse' of no particular breeding but he has got to be one of the most beautiful horses I've seen. They used him for carriage eventing so he was trained in harness and he looked every bit the part. Pied balled with a very long straight white main and tail and full feathers. Beautiful conformation and as a stallion he was proud with it so held his head wonderfully. When I asked her what his history was she told me they bought him from some gypsies! Amazing, so few gypsy horses have such a good shape but then out of the thousands of poor broken down animals they breed a few have got to turn out right. The other thing that generally makes gypsy horses look so poor is their lack of work so they tend not to be very muscled up. This horse was certainly not lacking there as since they had had him he had been trained regularly and is constantly in competitions. When I can I'll upload the image to my web site but as this is a surprise Christmas present it will have to wait in case her husband should stumble across it.

Portrait of a Wayward Pony

For those of you who are regular readers of my blog you will know who 'wayward pony' is. For the rest of you, you really don't want to know. Notice there is no head collar. It was 'painstakingly' removed...by digital editing in the end. Notice too how demure she looks. Ummm ;-)
Visit www.sally-jane.com/photographic_art/pet-portraits.html for more information on my pet portraiture.

A Silver Lining

OK so I've done my moaning but its a very dark cloud indeed that has no silver lining. The injury to my thigh meant that I could no longer participate in the agility competitions I had entered for the weekend. OK, so that doesn't sound like much of a silver lining it's true but the weather on Saturday was just perfect for gliding. As there have been few really good gliding days this summer and as the season is virtually at an end this was too good an opportunity to miss. So the three of us packed into the aeroplane and headed off to the gliding club in the Midlands where we keep our glider. It was Paul's turn for the glider so I was ground crew but that was OK. I think all the members had the same idea worried that this would be their last chance this year. Everyone was rigging and before long the launchpoint was chock-a-block with gliders all waiting to go. A task of 220km (approx 132 miles)was set and by lunchtime they were gone.
A few hours later and the leaders start returning often swooping over the airfield in a victory beet-up. Everyone got round successfully including Paul who was now a very happy bunny.

It wasn't just Paul who was a happy bunny though. Last time I flew the glider I had had to do so leaving the undercarriage down as I did not have the strength in my left arm to operate it. Well it seems the physio is paying off as although I don't have much more mobility the strength has returned and now I can operate the undercarriage and so easily that I find it incredible that I could not do it before.
That night we enjoyed what was probably to be the last of the season's bar-be-ques. The nights are getting a little too chill now though so while Paul did the honours the rest of us stayed in the bar...hic!

This last image is probably a pretty good representation of how Brac appears to me when I've had to wait too long for the food to be ready ;-)

The 13th was not my lucky day! (Occupational Hazard?)

Now, I won't say I'm totally free of blame here. There were plenty of warning signs and a lesson to be learned. Basically I was kicked by a clients pony. Luckily, an unshod one.
One of my first mistakes is to forget that there are two classes of horse owners. Those that 'do' at least to some degree and those that simply 'don't'. By that I mean those that look after their charges as well as ride them and those that have this all done for them, including taking up, and simply have to turn up when they want to ride. Not that there is anything particularly wrong with that but this group tend not to have as much understanding of their animals. My client, to be referred to a IC from here on and I'll let you think of a suitable word for the 'I', was of the latter category I eventually discovered.
IC was not at the stables when I arrived on time for the photo shoot. This should have been my first warning. So far, all of my clients have been in attendance well before I have been due to arrive so they could get their charges all spruced up and looking pretty. IC was about 15 minutes late and there was no one else at the yard apart from a very friendly guard dog.
Warning sign No.2, IC appears all 'dressed up to the nines' in a satin blouse, designer black 3/4 length jeans, winkle picker fashion boots, false nails and jewellery.
IC introduced herself and showed me to her daughter's pony whom I was to photograph. She told me she had her for 6 months and she was an absolute sweetie. She also said she had her own horse at the same yard that she rode.
Mistake No.1, as IC claimed to be an equestrian and horse owner I assumed she had a degree of horse competence.
The pony had not been groomed and had a very dusty face. I asked if IC could give her a bit of a groom to smarten her up. IC said she didn't know if there was any grooming kit available. I said if nothing else we could roll up some straw to use as a brush but we would need to clean her off a bit. IC rummaged around in the stable and found a body brush but no curry comb. What that was doing in the stable I have no ideas but mabe the pony liked to give herself a brush up occasionally! She gave the pony a quick brush off on her neck but left the worst of the dust on the pony's face. When IC put the brush down I took it and cleaned off the pony's face. IC clearly didn't relish the idea of possibly getting dirty.
Warning sign No.3, IC produced a head collar and held it up to the face of the pony. IC could not work out how to put it on. Eventually I had to put the head collar on. This really was a major warning sign for me to have overlooked as putting a head collar on for a horse owner is as basic as putting a collar and lead on a dog.
We lead the pony to the sand school where I noticed, as did the pony, that there was a lot of lush grass growing around the edges. The head collar was scruffy and obscured a lot of the pony's face. IC asked if I could take the head collar out of the portrait. It is far easier and better if the head collar is not wanted in the portrait to take the photographs without it on but in some cases this is not practical. In such cases the head collar needs to be removed by careful digital editing but if too much of the animals face is obscured this doesn't always work that well.
My response, therefore, was a question and not a request. "Will she stand still if you take it off?" Mistake No.2, to assume people are going to respond in the way you want them. IC replied "I don't know, let's see." and before I could issue a word of caution she remove the head collar and the pony wandered straight off for the grass. This was clearly not going to work. A horse determined to graze is never going to keep her head up for a photo. IC goes to put the head collar back on but the pony moves away. She tries again and the same thing happens. IC said "I don't know what to do, she's never done that before."
Mistake No.3, I took charge because I stupidly felt guilty for leading my client to this situation. I knew she had no hope of getting hold of her pony especially as she didn't know how to put a haed collar on. She couldn't leave it in the school loose as this was supposed to be a surprise present for her daughter and 'said' daughter would want to know why her pony was there. I got IC to hold my camera while I took the head collar to catch the wayward pony. Wayward pony did not want to be caught while there was so much fresh grass to be eaten. I asked IC if she had any food, a carrot or some hay to tempt her with. IC informed me it was all kept in the tack room and she didn't have a key. Great!
I started to carefully approach the pony by sidling up to her with shoulder relaxed, not making eye contact and holding out a very large hand full of grass. She would allow me so far and then move off. Eventually she settled in a corner and I approached again. Only looking at her out of the corner of my eye my judgement of my exact position in relation to her was limited and as she was facing into the corner I was approaching too much from behind rather than from the side. Too late, I notice a slight change in her and instantly knew she was about to swing into me and kick. My weight was on the wrong leg to move out the way and the next instant I heard, more then felt, a whack on my thigh. I can't say it hurt at that pont, it was more a feeling of weakness. I clasped my leg and began rubbing it vigorously. "Did she kick you?" chimed IC. "Yes" I said. "She's never done that before!" replied IC, "Are you all right?"
There was nothing to be done but to continue with this sherade. If I left then IC was be like a fish out of water. The horse community is a small world and word would no doubt get round to my detriment not to use my services. The customer is always right and the show must go on...blah, blah.
I try again and again but never really got her trust enough to allow me to put her head collar on. Still, as long as I kept moving my leg was not too bad.

After about 20 minutes of so, I suggest we let the pony out of the school in the hope she would take herself back to her stable as most horse would especially as the area was secure. She left the school but went straight passed her stable preferring instead to hob knob with the other horses in the next field. I asked IC again if she could find some hay, maybe from her stable. She went into her stable muttering how she hated entering their stable when they hadn't been cleaned out! She came out with a handful of hay which the pony ignored. I then noticed a whole stack of hay bales tucked around the corner so grabbed hold of an arm full which I placed on the ground by the pony. The pony tucked in and I slipped the head collar on her. Relieved, I hand the lead rope to IC to take her back into the sun for the photo shoot. IC then said, "Can we not do it here only I don't really want to lead her in case she kicks me?" As it was in the shade this would have been a useless location so I simply told her she would be fine provided she was holding the lead rope and stayed near the front.
A few minutes later and the photos were in the bag and I was free to limp back to my car. By the time I got home I could hardly get out of my car and my leg had swollen considerably. I know this should have been treated with a cold pack straight away but 1 1/2 hours later it was too late for any of that. I shall just have to put it down to a lesson hard learned and ensure I don't make those same mistakes again.

Major workout

I had my second Hydrotherapy session yesterday. I different physio from the previous session as this one had been on holiday when I first went. She was much more keen to push me to my limit in a gentle but firm way. At one stage she had me swimming against a current. I now know how race horses feel when they have this treatment. Initially I thought this would be quite a gentle exercise but how wrong can you be. The current was deceptive, as currents are, and I can honestly say I have never swum so hard in my life even with two good arms. It got to the stage where I would feel rally good if I managed to creep up the pool by an inch or so but after a minute or two I would give up and get wash back exhausted. It was a really good workout and even if it doesn't improve movement it will do wonders for arm strength. Before I left she warned me I might feel a little sore later. Yes, once again you detect the physio's art of understatement. Within an hour I felt like I had been weightlifting. Last night in bed was very uncomfortable and this morning...well, I'll leave that to your imagination but needless to say, I'm still on the pain killers.
Brac, by the way, seems better. He is still on the antibiotics but has not been sick since. He actually likes these little pink pills and takes time to chew them up before swallowing. This is particularly unusual as he is not one for chewing anything. In a previous life he was probably a sea gull!

Under the Weather

Poor Brac is feeling a little under the weather. Not that you would notice if you hadn't seen him being sick. He started vomiting yesterday but only little bits so I didn't think too much of it especially as he had not lost his appetite nor his 'joi-de-vive'. I even took him to agility last night and he was as excitable as ever. Today he brought up all his breakfast so it was off to the vets. He greeted the vet in his normal buoyant and enthusiastic manner as if there was nothing what so ever wrong. the vet found no obvious symptoms of anything wrong so she prescribed antibiotics and a diet of chicken and rice for the next few meals. Hopefully he'll keep that down or we'll have to go back again.
AS for me, I had my first hydrotherapy session this week which went well but I'm still not managing to get any more movement back in my arm yet. The nights have been quite uncomfortable as it aches so much when I lie down despite the pain killers. The physio didn't seem to concerned about that when I told her, seems that's normal. Lets hope 'normal' meant it will pass fairly soon. In the mean time she's upped my exercises with a couple I find impossible to do (and not sure I could if I was fit either!)

Skateboarding Dog

Brac has been learning a new trick. Skateboarding. This video was taken during his 5th session so he is still new to this game. I'm sure finesse will come with practice. :-)


This board is really too small for him to stand on properly but they were not designed with dogs in mind so we'll just have to make do. Unless, that is, I can get Paul to make me a better board but somehow I don't think that is going to happen.
I did see a video of a staffordshire terrier skateboarding who was actually able to steer the board. I'm not sure how as the wheels seem to need quite a bit of weight on them for them to turn and Brac at 20k isn't heavy enough. Maybe it's because this was a cheap board. If any of you know anything about skateboards and could tell me if better wheels turn corners easier do let me know.

Brac enjoys a holiday

While I have been convalescing Brac has been reaping the benefits. Paul still has some time off work before his new contract starts in September so we have been spending quite a lot of this time up at the gliding club at Bidford-upon-Avon in the West Midlands. Brac loves it up there. Not only does he get more freedom and walks but there are more people to make a fuss of him and to play with. Many of the club members have young children they bring with them and Brac often spends his time in their care racing around playing tag, football, frisbee or charging around with a post in his mouth as here. Kids and dog usually sleep really well I might add.
Coming home is never so popular. Brac appears to sulk for the first day after our return but simply plonking himself down on the hall carpet and barley moving except to go for a walk or to eat. Not to worry though, tomorrow he'll be back to normal.