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.

Slow Progress

Well it's been a couple of weeks now and two physio sessions since my 'manipulation'. I saw the consultant today but he was not particularly impressed. I do have more movement and less discomfort than before but the progress is not as good as expected. In fact, there has been little progress since the first 24 hours after the op. It's not for lack of keeping up with the exercises. His recommendation is for me to have more frequent physio sessions and for them to include hydrotherapy.
That highlighted an interesting thought for me; although I was never a strong swimmer it was an activity I took for granted just like walking. As we have not had a particularly stunning summer over here this year the thought of swimming had not occurred to me since I injured my arm. Now I'm thinking about it I realise this activity is not one I'm going to find particularly easy until my arm is fixed. Unless, that is, I stick to the Aussy crawl. This thought is a little depressing, not because I particularly love to swim but I'm now beginning to feel that my arm is not simply an inconvenience but a disability.
The disability highlighted itself further this last weekend as we went gliding again. The weather was reasonable enough for us to rig our glider. We haven't flown it much this year because of the poor conditions and my only gliding this year had been done in a club 2 seater with fixed undercarriage. As we were checking over the glider to make sure all the controls were working as they should be I discovered that my left arm was not strong enough any more to raise the undercarriage or close the air brakes. Although this did not prevent me flying it did confine me to local soaring only as the glide ratio of our glider is significantly decreased if you have to leave the under carriage down. I am now including some extra strengthening exercises into my physio routine.
I'm sure if I just stick with the program it will eventually get fixed but I would like to see a few more positive results in the mean time.

Over the Worst...I Hope!

I had my manipulation done yesterday. I certainly hope I don't have to go through that ever again. The consultant warned me it would be a 'bit' painful when I came round from the anaesthetic but I think he was being rather too 'British' about that description. It was agony. The recovery nurses kept telling me to relax as it would make the pain easier but they weren't the ones who's arm felt like it was being passed through a mangle! Half an hour and 2 more shots of morphine and I was eventually ready to be released from the recovery room. My arm was still painful but at least it was now within limits of what I could stand. In 10 minutes I was due for my first physio visit but thankfully the nurse managed to persuade the physio to put it back an hour. By the time he did call in to see me the pain had subsided enough for me to be able to bear some gentle movement. I keep saying arm when it was actually my shoulder as that was where I was feeling the pain.
The physio gave me some exercises for me to repeat every 10 minutes and much to my surprise the movements got much easier and less painful each time I tried. I was, however, having to lift my left arm with my right hand as there was no power in the left arm at all at that stage.
When I left I was told I could reduce the exercises to hourly and given an appointment to see the physio again the following day (lunchtime today) . I was packed off with a load of painkillers and advised to take some before my appointment. No worries there!
Later that evening I found I could lift my left arm on it's own which made me feel much happier. I still have a long way to go and I am told it is likely to get worse again before it better but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

Op's Eve

Tomorrow is D Day for my shoulder and strangely enough I woke up this morning convinced it was getting better by itself. This always happens to me and on occasions I have even put off visits to the doctor because of it only for the symptoms to return a day or so later. It's totally psychological I know. As for my shoulder, I tried to test just how much movement I had in it and sure enough I convinced myself I could indeed move it more than I had been able before. Amazing, I can cancel the manipulation tomorrow and all will be hunky-dory. I then start to get dressed and realise that there is no difference what so ever as I try to stuff my left arm in my pullover. Even the actions that were marginal before are still marginal today and as if to prove it further I then jar my shoulder as I put food down for Brac making me wince so much that he came and gave me a concerned kiss. I'm sure there will be a lot more wincing after tomorrow but hopefully it will set me on the road to recovery.

Aaaah. Whats happened to my routine?

Life seems to have been turned on it's head this last few weeks. Paul is off work until September as he is recuperating following an operation on his feet. Nothing serious but it's totally thrown me. Without him leaving for work during the week, and as I work from home I have no reference points. I forget which day of the week it is. I lost a day completely last week. If that's not bad enough, all the jobs I do by rote during the day have had to be re-arranged. This means that many of them get forgotten. Efficiency has taken a nose dive. I need to reorganise but Paul seems to have other ideas like going flying instead of shopping. (As he has bandages on his feet that means I pilot and he 'back seats'.)
I ought to do some housework as the moment but Paul has decided to re-organise the central heating plumbing. There are tools and bits of copper pipe scattered everywhere.
I need to take control before I disappear beneath a mountain of ironing or starve because the fridge is empty. The trouble is, I don't much like household chores so it doesn't take much to sway me from doing them. That's why I do everything by rote. I don't need much encouragement to abandon it though, and Paul is providing the perfect excuse.
Things are going to get worse too. Next Wednesday I am going into hospital to have my frozen shoulder manipulated under general anaesthetic to try and get it working again. It's going to be agony when I wake up and may need up to 3 months of physio before it is fully functional again. I'm not sure I will be sufficiently disciplined to keep up with the housework under those conditions. But hey, I've been doing it for the past 9 months with a steadily worsening shoulder so maybe it won't be so hard. At least it's my left arm and not my right.

Catching up

Well, we have been back a week now and I've only just got around to blogging. Poor show really but I do have an excuse apart from the usual unpacking and holiday laundry etc. I've finally bitten the bullet and started re-decorating the lounge. More about that later.
As for the trip, we didn't exactly find an abundance of sun but when it did shine you certainly knew about it. Most days were a mixture of sunshine and showers but as we had a hire car it didn't stop us getting about.
Asturias is a region of Northern Spain that gets few foreign tourists. Hence, few people spoke English and those that did only had a basic grasp. We have become so used to being understood in most European countries that this came as a bit of a challenge. Still, it makes life interesting especially when ordering a meal in a restaurant. Food was good though and they seem to be big eaters.
As for the countryside, it is very mountainous with dense woodland. Bears still live here and it's easy to see how they could go undetected as much of it is virtually impenetrable. the coastline is fairly rugged with sandy beaches. There are many charming towns along the coast with harbours, and fishing boats, bars and restaurants. This is where the Spanish go for their holidays.
Now it's back to normality and the decorating. The lounge has been in need of a make-over for some time now but I kept finding excuses. Paul is away until next weekend so it really was the ideal time to do it so off came the wall paper. Once done, I then realised that there was now no turning back despite discovering that my appetite for re-decorating had suddenly waned. Hey ho, but the only way to get through it is to get on with it so that's what I've been doing. Brac, however, think I have gone stark raving mad. He is acting like the sky is going to fall on his head. His toy box keeps getting moved and he just can't cope with that. He doesn't really like it when I put up the Christmas decorations. change is not one of his strong points :-)

Off to Find the Sun

We are off on holiday for a week from tomorrow. Initially flying ourselves to Tarbes in France for a private pilots convention and then on to Northern Spain for our holiday proper. Not too sure yet of our itinerary as we will make it up as we go along depending on the weather. Unfortunately the weather there doesn't look any better than it does here...wet and stormy. Still, hopefully we will find some sun. It's certainly been in very short supply this year in our corner of the world.
Brac will have to stay in kennels this time but hopefully next time he will be able to come with us as his passport will be in full effect by then.

Incomprehension

The recent car bomb attacks in London and Glasgow didn't initially prick my attention. No one significant was hurt and life goes on as normal. Far worse things have happened. What did prick my attention though was the disclosure yesterday on our news network that all the people involved were health professionals. Five of them were doctors!
I admit, I have always wondered what actually goes through the mind of a suicide bomber. What makes him tick and what triggered his state of mind but have put it down to young impressionable minds looking for a cause and something to believe in that makes sense of their lives (to them anyway). Just like the people who get roped into religious cults. OK so maybe the latter don't get involved in killing people but mentally it's the same thing...a vulnerable mind getting brain washed.
What strikes me as being so different here is that right up to the day before the attacks these people were devoting their lives to saving life. How can such people reconcile saving the lives of people one day they are prepared to blow up the next? This no longer strikes of 'belief' but pure hypocrisy. I'm glad they didn't die in the event because now we might be able to discover more about how such brilliant minds became so corrupted and evil.

An English Pub

My bread machine failed this morning, or rather the mixture I out in it did. The yeast must have been off because when it bleeped to tell me it had done it's job all I found inside was a shrivelled, dark brown blob. Dam, no bread for lunch and I had not planned on doing any shopping as I had other calls on my time.
by midday my most pressing jobs were done and I look out the window to see the sun was trying it's best but there were clearly rain clouds gathering in the distance. Best take brac for his walk now and maybe I won't get wet. I give mum a ring to see if she wants to join me. she is having to do more exercise on doctor's orders so joining me on dog walks is ideal. "give me 10 minutes and I'll meet you in the normal place". I hang up and wander into the kitchen to pick up my car keys. I remember I don't have nay bread for lunch. Back on the phone to mum, "shall we get a pub lunch?" "Great, that would be nice."
There is a 14th century pub, called 'The chequers' about a mile and a half away with a reasonable area for walking next to it by the river. The pub is quite rustic, nothing fancy, plain but good food, beams, open fire in winter, tables that don't have little brass numbers set into them, friendly atmosphere and happy to accept dogs. Basically the quintessential English pub. I collect mum and we head for it. the rain clouds are building so we decide to walk first and eat after.
The walk does wonders for my appetite and we are quite looking forward to getting back to the pub. We walk in and purchase some drinks, puruse the menu and order some food. We sat down at a table opposite the bar and Brac lies down at my side. I was vaguely aware that the girl serving was new but thought little of it.
The people at the next table start making a fuss of Brac who is all too happy for the attention. He often gets a fuss made of him here, even the chef would come out and give him a hug as he liked Border collies. but things have changed. we are about half way through our meal when an older lady comes over to us to ask which of us owned the dog. "I do" I said. "We don't allow dogs in here when people are eating" she replies as if it has always been so and I should know.
"Since when? I've been coming here for years and there has never been a problem?"
"It's the law".
"Only if you class yourself as a restaurant. It's no illegal in a pub." I respond.
"Well it our rules."
"Brac was always made a fuss of by your staff before"
"That was the previous owners, we've only been here 3 month. You can take him outside in the garden next time." but I had already decided there wasn't going to be a 'Next time'.
We finished our meal and left. No coffee or desert and no intention of returning. Dogs make pubs, they are part of the fixtures and fittings in my book. As traditional as an open fire.
Before we left the people at the next table made a big show of fussing Brac some more. I knew they felt the same as me.
Now back to that bread machine.

We Girls Rock

Hey, I've just been tagged by s'mores and margaritas as a 'Rocking Girl Blogger'
All I need to do now is nominate & tag 5 other of my blogging girl friends who can then copy this logo to their blog. They in-turn get to do the same for 5 of their girl friends respectively (but only if they want to, no obligation). I wonder how long it will be before all female bloggers are tagged? Not long I'm sure. Still, here goes.
Frenchless in France - a very talented photographer living and absorbing France to the full.
Downsizing in Minnesota - her sister living in the US with some very cute pets.
An Aussie, a Frenchman and a Burmese - well mainly an Aussie living with the rest in France with an eye for nature.
Manic Mom's Mental Myriads - a publisher mum with a great family.
LittleSpoon - A soon-to-be-wed secretary with a cute new pup in her life.

Not Feeling Lucky

Brac and I had another obedience competition today. Each class is divided into two sections. There is the heelwork section that you do individually that involves heelwork, retrieves and recalls. The other section is the stays. these are done as a group so all the dogs in the class have to sit stay and down stay for a given length of time with you standing away from them. When you book in to your class you need to make a note of the time the stays for that class are being held. I booked in and noted my stay time 12.50 which I wrote on my competitor number tag so I wouldn't forget. I worked Brac in and when I was ready entered the class. Brac was really good and I knew as we were going round that we were in with a good chance of winning. When we finished the round the judge told me we had only lost 2 points which according to the score sheet put us in the lead with only two more dogs to work. I checked the stay times, 12.50. It was only 11am so I had plenty of time so went to get a drink. I sat there sipping thinking to myself 'did I check those times correctly? Could it have been 12.30 not 12.50?' I had to check again so I wandered back to the ring. I noticed now that all the dogs had competed and yes we were in the lead. Doing the stays for him was just a formality. I look at the time, yes it is definitely a 5 not a 3. I go back to my car and sit and read for a while setting an alarm on my phone for 12.30 to remind me. The time drags so I take Brac for a quick walk. I bump into a friend and we compare notes. I keep watching my watch mindful that I have missed my stay time once before because I was engrossed in conversation. 12.40, I need to be waiting by the stay ring. I go there but I don't recognise anyone. Another class is in the ring finishing their stays, when they come out I ask the steward to confirm that this was Beginner Dog Stays to which he replied, "No, it's Novice Dog part 2 Stays now." My heart sank so I asked him what time were the Beginner Dog Stays. "12.05" was the answer. I had read it back to front and each time I had re-checked I had just seen what I expected to see and not what was there. The result is we were disqualified and once again returned home empty handed. I can't believe I could have been so blind. Hey ho!

Feeling Lucky

We flew up to the gliding club again this weekend. Paul took Friday off and so we were able to go a day early. The weather was sultry and hazy. Visibility in the air was poor to say the least so we decided not to do any gliding. Gliders are tricky to see in the air at the best of times and when it is hazy they become almost invisible so the risk of a mid air collision increases especially as once you find a good thermal other gliders get attracted to you to share in your good fortune. Powered aircraft like to keep away from each other but gliding frequently happens in a gaggle so you need to keep your wits about you and your eyes skinned. As my medical expired and is not now due to be renewed until the 27th, I was grounded anyway.
Luckily, our gliding site is in the Midlands on the edge of the Cotswolds. If gliding is not an option there are so many other things to do. For any of you that are not unfamiliar with this area is an area of outstanding natural beauty. It's also Shakespeare's country as Stratford-upon-Avon is only a few miles down the road. It's a great part of the country to simply chill out and 'smell the roses'. Which is precisely what we did. The photo above was taken just above a neighbouring Cotswolds town of Broadway. We walked down this hill into the town where we called in for a cream tea before walking back again. As I walked through this field it occurred to me just how lucky I was to be able to enjoy all this almost as often as we want. I felt like simply laying down in the grass and listening to the buzzards calling overhead, but the need for refreshment was a stronger desire so we wandered on admiring the view instead while Brac chased pheasants out of the long grass.
Can't wait for next weekend.

Egg On My Face

A couple of days ago I used 2 egg whites in some cooking I was doing. Not wishing to waste the yolks I put them in a cup with enough water to cover and placed them in the fridge. they will keep this way for a couple of days and can be used in cooking to richen various foods. As we went away for the weekend they didn't get used and I forgot to use them yesterday. Instead of throwing them away I thought I would give them to Brac on his breakfast. He used to have eggs with his puppy food when we first had him. I then had second thoughts. what if they have gone off and give him diarrhoea? I decide to poach them first so they are well cooked. to do this I put them in the microwave in their cup of water and give them 2 minutes on full power. I check them, they are not fully cooked, still a little soft so thought to be safe I should give them another minute. the microwave pings and the water in the cup is frothing over the rim. I reach in and take hold of the cup handle. As I lift it out I'm thinking I'm going to have to wait for them to cool a little before I give them to Brac when suddenly there's a bang. In that instant I close my eyes, feel the cup go light and something spray across my face. My hand is still in the over holding the now very light cup handle and my eyes are still tightly shut. "Oh sh*t" I'm thinking, "that wasn't a microwaveable cup." My next thought was "If that cup has exploded that close I'm lucky to still have my eyes" Even thoght they were closed I could feel they were OK. I open them, yep, they're OK. I look towards the oven. It's a mess. Then I notice the cup still intact in my hand. It's just the contents that have exploded and plastered the oven. My eyes wander further only to realise it's not just the oven that's plastered; it's the whole kitchen including me. I the see Brac. He is sitting outside the kitchen peering in with egg yolk dripping from his eye lashes. That's it for me. We have just entered silly world and I know if Paul had been there to watch he would have been gripped in an uncontrollable bought of laughter. I look in the mirror; I have egg all over my t-shirt, splattered across my face and welded to my hair. How can 2 yolks go so far?
It's all cleared up now but I know I will still be finding bits of egg yolk in odd places in the kitchen for weeks to come.

My Weekend

Now our aeroplane is fixed we are gradually getting back into our old routine. That is to say, 50% of our weekends during the summer we fly up to a gliding site in the Midlands and go gliding. We are both very rusty so have got a lot of ground to make up. Still we did get our glider out of it's box and Paul flew it both days. My medical has expired :-( so I can't fly solo until I get that sorted hopefully in another couple of weeks. Instead I flew as navigator in the back of a two seat glider for a cross country exercise. This is a photo I took of Paul (not doing as well as us) from the back of the two seater. The gliding airfield is visible in the top of the picture just right of centre. I although I enjoy navigating and there is a lot to learn flying with someone else it does tend to cause me to get travel sick. I get travel sick map reading in a car! Luckily it didn't get messy but I was aware of the possibility all the way around but wasn't going to let on. Luckily, I'm not affected by it when I'm do.uing the flying but then I don't get the chance to take photos.

Sleep.

I saw this image on flickr and it's got to be a classic. How many mornings have you felt just like this? I can certainly identify with the lioness. Paul moans at me because I'm an 7-8 hours a night person when he survives on 5-6 hours. Mind you, there is a difference between living and surviving and I'm not the one that falls asleep when we go out anywhere in the evening. :-)
Paul is most definitely a lark to my owl, something that is becoming more obvious the older we get.

A very Satifying Day

OK so the weather and my PC might have prevented us from going away this weekend but that doesn't mean it was a complete washout. Yesterday was a very satisfying day. It started with Paul bringing me breakfast in bed. This always leads to something else as for some reason breakfast in bed makes me feel very playful:-) Them Paul fixed my PC...it's no wonder I married this guy! After lunch we took Brac for a long walk in the woods. Then we went shopping and bought some beautiful sea bass for dinner that I cooked baked in salt (the salt forms a hard shell that evenly distributes the heat and doesn't penetrate the fish at all) and served with a Mediterranean style potato dish with tomatoes and onions. Really scrummy.
That was followed by strawberries & cream, espresso coffee and an episode of Dr Who (A cult SciFi series over here in the UK) with the three of us all cuddled up on the sofa. Heaven.

I'm Back!

My lovely husband has fixed it for me. It was the power supply. Apparently it wasn't up to the job that was being asked of it so it's a wonder it didn't pack in before. We were originally planning on flying off somewhere for the long weekend but as the weather was well and truly against us (Dull today but heavy rain and wind for Sunday & Monday for all of England, Channel Islands and NW France) we decided to go to PC World instead to buy a new power supply. It's now installed and to my great relief works fine. Hopefully for several more years.
If that hadn't cured the problem it would have meant a new PC even though mine is less than 3 years old (old in 'techie' terms but still new by my reckoning). The thought of re-installing everything on a new system as well as having to accept Windows Vista was really daunting. So, I was so pleased that when I pressed that button on the front of my machine it sprang into life once more and everything was just as I left it.
Still the experience was not without a positive note. I thought I had just about everything covered in respect of backing up in the event of a PC failure but it's not until it does happen that you find out what you've missed. My photographic printer I use for my pet portraits is only accessible from this PC including all the printer profiles for ensuring the printer prints exact colours. Another even greater oversight is that I had stored all my login, password and registration details for various web sites, e-mail accounts and software on this PC and these had not been backed up. If I had had to buy a replacement PC I would have been stuffed trying to install a lot of the software I have without the registration details. All this will have to be amended so I am better prepared next time.

Cut Off

Today my PC died. I think the power unit has burnt out. I am using Paul's PC to write this but it's not convenient and I don't have access to my e-mail on this PC. Hense it is going to be difficult for me to keep up-to-date with blogging until I get back up and running. Hopefully fairly soon fingers crossed.

Another Show, Another Rosette (but only just!)

Brac and I went to our second show of the season. I took Paul with me today which is unusual but he was happy to go and as I have now got a tent that I can set up as a stool for my Pet Portraits I thought this would be ideal. He could man the stool while I worked Brac. Nice idea but Paul's salesman techniques were sadly lacking. He kept telling me of the 'ones that got away' and in each case he failed even to give them so much as a leaflet. I actually came home with the same mount of leaflets I went with and I don't do that even if I'm not there to give them out! He meant well and I would have struggled to get the tent up without him.
As for Brac. Still very excited about going to shows. He saw me packing the car last night so knew it was a show day this morning. Brac sleeps in his kennel outside and each morning when I go out to let him in he is always in his kennel. This morning I was up much earlier than normal and he was ready and waiting for me at the back door.
He was full of enthusiasm throughout the day and when he worked his beginners round he did some lovely heel work. His recall was spot on but his last test was a retrieve and just when I thought I was in with a chance he decided otherwise. He charged at the dumbbell, ran around the ring with it chomping on it as he went and when he did finally present it to me he refused to give it up without a fight. Not exactly what the judge was looking for.
Despite all that the rest of the round had been so good that he still managed, somehow, to get into 5th place out of about 38 dogs so not a complete disaster.

One Swallow Doesn't Make a Summer...but maybe a handful of Swifts do!

On a grey muggy day like today (and the past week) it's hard to think about summer. As I trudged around the playing field with Brac (I'm only walking him on grass until his foot toughens up a bit more) my thoughts were more about considering how many more circuits I should do before returning for lunch. That was until a familiar but distant sound penetrated my skull. It was the screaming of what sounded like a swift. I looked up and scanned the sky from where the sound came and sure enough two swifts were flying in lazy loops and calling out to each other. They were hard to amke out against the thunderous clouds but as I scanned further I saw more high up, tossing and turning as if celebrating the end of their arduous journey. There were about half a dozen in all, not many but a sure sign that Summer is only around the corner.