I love this song...

What a scorcher!!

Today is the hottest day of the year so far with temps reaching 26 degC, far in excess of May's usual temps of around 16 degC. I got up early today and yesterday and walked the dogs before it got too hot. Today I have also done 6 loads of washing and got it all dry, and I cut the grass - by hand with shears as it had been neglected for far too long!! Yesterday I also did 2 loads of washing - I don't think I have a stitch of clothing, a sheet or a towel that hasn't been washed this weekend!! Next on the list I need to clean out the rabbit, and then I need to get the spare room ready as I might have a visitor tomorrow for a few days.... my friend from Guernsey is over here and was supposed to be on a course, but her van has broken down. She should have been travelling home tomorrow but is now stuck until her van is fixed.

I have got a dog from work staying at the moment. Her name is Gretel. She's not one of mine, a colleague is training her but isn't able to take her home herself so I've got her. Gretel has been dirty overnight with the boarder which is a concern, thankfully she's been clean here with me so hopefully a few weeks with me will re-establish a routine and it won't be a problem again. She's a really sweet girl, a black Lab x GR.

Ouch....

Toothache again. Third lot of anti-biotics. Let's hope this lot actually works this time!! Toothache is one of those horrible pains that just aches and aches. I'm quite fed up of it to be honest. Still, I know the anti-biotics will kick in within the next day or so and until then I am taking ibuprofen alternating with paracetamol, so hopefully I'll be feeling more comfortable fairly soon.

I think an evening of lying on the sofa feeling sorry for myself is in order....

Root Canal Treatment part 1

Today I went back to the dentist for part one of my root canal treatment. It's not very nice, but the dentist was very gentle and made sure I was OK throughout. I thought I was very brave....

Tarka has now officially retired from agility. It was a decision I was dithering over because I really didn't want to make it, but in the end there was no choice. She'd not been training for a while due to on and off lameness, but I took on her Thursday last week as she'd been sound for two weeks. She did 4 runs on small jumps and that was all. By bed time she was very stiff, and then she was lame up until Monday. I'm very sad about it and she did have a great time on Thursday, but I can't let her carry on doing an activity that is obviously doing her damage. I am not ready to go down the 'athritic dog' road again quite yet. I'm still going to teach for the time being and will stay on the committee until the AGM then decide whether I want to continue or not.

Maybe it's time for a new activity on a Thursday night..... any suggestions?

Photo's from Wales

View of my friends house from Carew Castle. It's that little white dot in the middle of the picture...

Carew Castle, picture taken from the field behind the house.

Tarka enjoying the sea air.

The coast where we walked.

Archery at Carew Castle. See the target on the far right which is just a cross in the board? I got an arrow through the cross into the target behind!!

A May morning....

I'm sure that title will mean nothing to my friends who read this blog (if anyone still does!!) but it's a tribute to 'Robin of Sherwood' which was a programme I adored back in the 80's, and caught up with on the internet the other day..... ahhhhh, the nostalgia!!!! It still has that magical quality about it that I remember so fondly...

Anyway, back to reality...

Finally got the result from my last assignment and got 78% with some really complimentary comments which was great, the bad news is that it wasn't my final assignment like I thought, I have one more to do!!

Also, more bad news. My bad tooth flared up again so next Tuesday I am booked in for root canal treatment.... eeek!!! I have had it before so know what to expect though, it's not as bad as it sounds.

Tarka is finally losing weight. She gained quite a lot when she had surgery back in January and I had to change her diet, but she's lost one of the two kilo's she needs to loose. It's easy with dogs, you just reduce their food and treats, increase their exercise and the weight falls off. How come I can't be so methodical about it for myself?

Last bank holiday I went to stay with friends in west Wales. The scenery there was stunning, so just to make everyone (including myself) jealous of their new home, I'll try and upload some pictures tomorrow. (Can't seem to do it now...)

Time for a change...

...well, blog-wise, anyway!!

I haven't blogged for a few weeks, too much on my mind really and no desire to write about it. But, here I am, back again and giving my blog a facelift. Change is as good as a rest, so they say! I'll make a few more changes too if I can figure out how to...