Long Overdue Return To The Blogging World

Wow oh wow, I'm not quite sure how I managed to forget all about blogging since October last year and we are now in February already, crazy! I have spent the last few days having a huge catch up on everyone's blogs that I follow and do hope you're all well.

I am determined to get back into blogging as I found it a great way of recording what I had been up to as well as a good way of spending some time to relax and read everyone else's lovely blog posts.

Since my last blog post where I mentioned that Jack and I got engaged, I haven't done much in the way of wedding planning, I'm actually rather terrible at it and need a kick up the butt! Jack and I have done quite a bit of discussing about what we both like and have said that we would like to get married in June 2018, so a good 16 months away but that will soon come around and I like to be organised so I'm hoping we can get a lot sorted out soon. We're sticking to a budget and don't want some big fancy showy wedding as that's just not us; we're all about love, family and food quite honestly! So if we have all of them at the wedding then that would be perfect! I'm also terribly shy and I'm already feeling sick at the thought of everyone looking at me but I suppose I will have to get over that, or that's what everyone keeps telling me anyway! As and when we have more plans I will of course share them with you on here and any advice is greatly appreciated from your own experiences of planning for a wedding!

I have also changed jobs since my last post. I was feeling incredibly unhappy in my previous job even though I had only been there for eight months, but it just wasn't for me and it started to really make me question whether I want to do accountancy for the rest of my life - the thought actually made me feel rather depressed in all honesty! I was however approached by a local community-run village shop & cafe about whether I would like to take on their accounts. I thought that this may be a little more interesting than management accounting that I had been doing (analysing, budgeting, forecasting, blah blah - no offence to anyone who enjoys that!) and the shop also asked whether I would be interested in taking on the assistant manager role in the shop and cafe. I did a couple of trial days to see what I thought of it (it's been a long time since my days working in the retail giant Next but I think these came in handy) and I really enjoyed myself. And so I accepted both roles and have been working there since late November. I'm absolutely loving it there. The shop is wonderful and the people I work with are all so friendly and helpful. It's a busy little shop an cafe for a village but word of mouth means a lot and I think it's beginning to become better known now. It's in a very pretty location too so if you do happen to be in the West Berkshire area then do pop in, the shop is called the Hampstead Norreys Community Shop and their Facebook page is here; https://www.facebook.com/Hampstead-Norreys-Community-Shop-157054151020624/ The website is currently going through a re-design if not I'd have given you that. It's a great little place anyway and does a lot to support the local community and stock local produce. We have local artists and crafters that sell their wares in the shop too and they have already asked me if I would like to sell some of my crochet items in there, so I really must pull my finger out and get busy making things! To say I'm a lot happier job-wise is an understatement, it's just so good to have the variety of working in the shop for a couple of days each week and then my other days I work from home completing their accounts, plus it is only two villages away from where we live, happy girl I am! The accounts side has given me a lot of stress initially as there was no accounting software used so I'm in the process of setting this up and getting a better system in place, at the moment it feels like I'll never catch up but I'm really enjoying the challenge of it all. Jack is very relieved to see me much happier about work these days too!

Life at home is all good; we have continued with decorating jobs and I did so much glossing one week that I think I gave myself a throat infection from all the fumes! I have painted the hallway and landing magnolia instead of the white it was previously as white just shows up every little grubby mark, especially with animals in the house! We have been busy filling in the holes and cracks in one of the hallway cupboards which Jack is turning into a pantry for me. It sits right next to the kitchen and I have so much baking and cooking equipment that I'm rapidly running out of space in the kitchen cupboards so I'm very excited at the prospect of my very own pantry! I've shown Jack some photos of pantry ideas on Pinterest and he says I always like to pick the most complicated of designs, but I'm quite sure he loves the challenges I give him! The back garden is looking rather dull and drab which is always the case at this time of the year. I'm counting down to when Spring arrives and there's a little more colour and a little less moss out there. I've just treated myself to some vegetable and flower seeds and I plan on sewing some seeds in the warmth of the conservatory when I get a spare weekend.

Spare time at the moment isn't in plentiful supply because a new bundle of fluff joined our household at the weekend, everyone meet Nigel!

Nigel

He's a gorgeous and playful Border Collie, currently eight weeks old. We first met him and his siblings at four weeks old and really fell for him. His markings were gorgeous and his Mum had such a lovely personality. We always intended on getting a Border Collie this year and had been researching for ages to find the right breeder. The breeder he came from is wonderful, a lovely family with a passion for Border Collies. They only breed to continue their own lines and show their own as well as do some judging too. Nigel's Dad is a very handsome chap also from showing lines and he has show champions in his bloodlines too which is why I'm now considering giving showing a go when he's old enough as an extra activity. Barry adores playing with other dogs though he is initially nervous around bigger dogs, which is why it will be nice that Nigel will grow up here with us and Barry will no doubt be boss! We brought Nigel home on Saturday and Barry absolutely adores him! They play lots and Nigel is a real live wire! A fearless explorer in the garden and wants to eat EVERYTHING!

Sleeping Buddies

Puppies are certainly hard work but so rewarding too. I'm sure both Barry and Nigel will continue to feature heavily on my blog as they're such big parts of our lives! Just as my tortoises are too; they successfully hibernated for 7 weeks over December and January and are back to running around now and chomping away on strawberries and the extra goodies I have been giving them.

I think that's enough in terms of the updates for today; keep all your blogging too as I so love to read all of your posts, I will get around to some comments later on.

Speak soon!

Em x

Weekend Activities & Barry Update

The weather was kind to us all weekend after the torrential downpours during Wednesday and Thursday and it was nice to see my water butt full once more in the garden (I must must invest in another water butt, I'm sure I can fit another one somewhere in the garden). We enjoyed sitting out in the garden in the sunshine admiring the hard work we've done in the garden so far. Jack has been busy clearing a space where he's going to construct his shed and he's also been busy building the outdoor tortoise run (photos coming soon). He wasn't the only one doing manual labour; I weeded the beds (Barry ran off with said weeds, scattering soil everywhere) and I painted the trellis - well half of it anyway as almost all of the top half is covered in a very happy and healthy Montana Clematis.

More Dahlias flowering in the garden

 

The combine was humming in the background nearly all weekend as it harvested the wheat in the distant fields, only a matter of days now I should think before they cut the wheat in the field directly behind our garden. As much as I love watching the Combine, Tractor and farmers working hard, the day they cut the wheat I will ensure I'm not home because the dust will do my Hayfever no favours (it's been behaving for the most part so I don't want to trigger it off again with lots still to do in the garden).

 

We fetched lots of bricks for the purpose of providing a base for the tortoise run (wood fencing on top, but the bricks buried into the soil around the perimeter will hopefully deter Squirt and Lola from trying to dig their way out) and so Jack's car was rather red and dusty inside by the time I'd finished. I was kind though and gave it a hoover and also washed it too while the weather was nice - good excuse for exercise and definitely just as energetic as a gym session!

 

Barry helped me wash the car

 

I took Barry to the Vets this morning for his check-up. They're pleased with how well the wounds are healing and his leg is looking nice and straight. We can increase his walks again now and gradually get him back to normal, so he's a very happy puppy. The Vets and Nurses at Donnington Grove Veterinary Surgery have been amazing, but I do hope we're not at the Vets any time soon other than for something very routine!

 

Sleepy Barry keeping me company on Saturday night while Jack was at Twickenham cheering on England in the World Cup warm-up - excuse the state of our sofa, I've patch-worked and fixed it so many times, we will eventually get a new one!

 

I also managed to get around to a little craft time at the weekend and made a simple Birthday card for my brother's partner, I do hope she likes all things floral and colourful!

 

 

Wishing you all a good week! :-)

Introductions: Barry

I'd like to introduce you to our handsome Jack Russell Terrier, Barry!

His name gets a lot of laughs but also a lot of approval! Jack chose his name and said he had to have a 'bloke's' name; I was very sceptical about "Barry" at first, but it totally suits him! He's also a "Bazza" or "Baz" at times, plus the odd expletive when he runs off with the washing!

We met Barry when he was five weeks old and it was love at first sight. He was a chunky little puppy with an inquisitive nature. What makes him even more special is that he was born with a little stump rather than a full tail. He was the only one in the litter of five like it, but Vets confirmed he was totally healthy and on researching I discovered this can be quite common in a number of breeds (some pups are born without a tail, some with a 'half-tail' or a little stump like Barry). On our first meeting I think Jack only had to take one look at my face and know that there was no way we were leaving without putting a deposit down. Then came the agonising but exciting weeks prepping the house ready for Barry's arrival.

Barry with his siblings

Barry days old and at 5 weeks old

 

Barry settled in at home with us very well. He became my little lost lamb following me everywhere (he still does). He had his own comfortable bed downstairs with lots of toys and a hot water bottle and within a week the crying at night had stopped (thank god!). He was soon getting up to mischief and loved exploring the house with me as long as I was close by. He loves exploring the garden too - he is eyeing up my cherry tomatoes in the garden at the moment, so I'm going to have to watch him! We've been really lucky that he's such a clever little dog and it didn't take him long at all to get the gist of toilet training. He also loves learning new tricks, "rollover" being his current favourite.

 

Barry perfected the art of the 'butter wouldn't melt' face from a very early age! (8 weeks old)

 

We took Barry to puppy classes for ten weeks and it was really good for him to meet other puppies. He's still a nervous dog even today at six months old despite often meeting dogs on walks, but with a little encouragement he's happy to say hello and then soon discovers the other dogs won't eat him and just want to play! Puppy classes were also really good fun and Barry was top of the class on more than one occasion; his recall is really good (for the most part!) and at the promise of a treat he'll do whatever he's asked to do.

 

Hogging the remote (9 weeks old)

 

Our family and friends all love Barry. I think everyone has enjoyed watching him grow, though I'm sure my friends are also a little sick of all the Instagram posts I've made about him! He grows so quickly though and being a photographer (an average one at that!) I can't help but take a million photos of him. He's grown into a really nice dog and now at almost seven months old I don't think he's got much more growing to do. He's a sturdy build just like his Dad. Barry's Dad is called Patch and he's a handsome tan and white smooth coat Jack, while Barry's Mum (Honey) is a petite tan and white rough coated Jack Russell. Barry has a lovely smooth coat and is tan and white mostly, but with cute black markings around his eyes. He has a perfectly symmetrical face and I'm sure this is what everyone falls in love with.

 

Starting to grow out of his puppy fat! (15 weeks old)

 

If you read my 'Newbie' post then you'll know that Barry broke his leg four weeks ago :-( He fractured his right femur just above the kneecap; not a bad fracture but not in the best of places. Luckily it has healed well and the limb has stayed fairly straight (there was a worry that he could have a slight bow, common in Terriers), four weeks later and this Monday just gone he had the two pins removed from the leg. The wound is healing nicely (one incision either side of the leg) and it's great to see Barry weight-bearing properly on that leg now. He's desperate for us to throw his tennis ball for him but he's got another week of taking it fairly easy. He's pleased to be back out on walks though and is allowed a 5-10 minute walk on the lead every day. He rolls his eyes at me about the fact he's on the lead (usually always racing ahead of me on a walk and then running back to me to say hello), but hopefully being strict with him over the past few weeks will mean that he won't have any long-term issues with that leg.

 

Barry loves cuddles in bed on a Saturday morning - his weekend treat! (6 months old)

 

The only problem we've come across with Barry is that he hates travelling. We go back to Cambridgeshire to visit Jack's parents every few weeks and onto my parents in Norfolk so the journey can be up to four hours. It doesn't seem to matter if it's a short trip either though, he's nearly always sick in the car and we've tried everything; putting him in different places in the car, ginger biscuits/treats before the journey, he doesn't eat for at least 3 hours before we travel and I've even tried sitting him on my lap only for him to be sick all over me too. We give him lots of fuss and sometimes he'll eventually lie down and settle. He doesn't pant in the car and only tends to shake and cry for the first fifteen minutes of a journey before going quiet and just sitting still. I think he's got a bit of anxiety about being in the car as he seems to travel a lot better when we're on the way home (almost like he knows he's going home). Any tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated if ever you've had similar problems with your dogs! Our Vet says he'll likely grow out of it and we continue to take him in the car even if it's just a trip to the next village to get him used to lots of car journeys. He's fine as soon as he's out of the car and pleased to see whoever we're visiting.

 

We had a trip to my parent's home in Overstrand, Norfolk back in May and that was Barry's first experience of the beach - he LOVED it! He loves water anyway (he cries to get back in the bath once I've taken him out of the water) and enjoyed chasing a ball across the sand. He soon discovered seawater doesn't taste too nice and thankfully doesn't drink it. We can't wait to go back to the seaside with him again once his leg is completely better and he's built the muscles back up.

 

Playing on Overstrand beach, Norfolk (15 weeks old)

 

To say he's become a member of the family is very appropriate, we can't imagine being without him now and he's great company for us, especially for me if Jack's working late. We love exploring the local Berkshire countryside with him and he provides us with hours of entertainment too! I'm sure he'll feature a lot in my blog posts and I hope you enjoy hearing about his latest adventures.

 

 



Newbie!

I'm pretty new to the blogging scene and I'm not sure I'm actually all that good at it either, but I wanted to share some of my musings anyway!

Having set up my blog I'm reminded at just how much I've forgotten from IT lessons at school; I use a computer every day in my job but creating blogs/websites/pages is not my area of expertise! (give me an Excel spread sheet any day of the week). So I'm sure there'll be many tweaks over the coming weeks/months/years if I keep this blog up, in the meantime apologies if my layout causes headaches or eye strain!

I'd like to start my blog with some bad and good news in order to introduce you to our handsome puppy, Barry, as I will most probably write a lot about him in this blog. Barry is a Jack Russell Terrier and true to breed traits he's energetic, intelligent and just a little bit nuts too! He joined us at eight weeks old back in March and since then has been my little lamb (only with sharper teeth). He's provided us with hours of entertainment, endless love and company and some expensive vet bills too! Which brings me to the bad news... Four weeks ago Barry fractured his femur. I'm not quite sure what happened as I only heard a bang and thud as he came running in from the back garden at a million miles per hour; knowing Barry (total wimp) a Pigeon probably landed on the back fence and scared him half to death and he raced in too quickly. We think he missed the step into our conservatory or caught the doorframe, either way an immediate trip to the Vets confirmed he had fractured his femur (after I had stopped hysterically crying down the phone to my boyfriend, Jack, on what I should do)! He had surgery and two pins inserted to support the fracture and four weeks of cage rest to ensure it healed correctly. Thankfully Bazza is a fan of chilling in his crate so cage rest wasn't too horrendous for either party and here we are four weeks later with a happy puppy now that the pins have been removed (the fracture has healed really nicely) and only another few days of cage rest. At only six months old it was important that the fracture healed correctly and that the pins were removed to ensure they didn't affect Barry's growth plates and I was very relieved when the Vet told us he thinks he'll be completely back to normal in no time. Meanwhile, attempts have been made around the back door to ensure we don't have a repeat of this. People keep telling me "he won't do that again in a hurry" and I keep reminding them that he's a dog, a puppy for that matter, and therefore like children he probably won't learn on this first occasion! Here's hoping that we never have a repeat of this!

Barry at home resting, having had the pins removed from his "chicken drumstick" leg yesterday morning.

 

 

 

I have grown up around dogs but was never lucky enough to have my own. Oh the times I thought my Dad was going to come home with one when he'd tell me "I'm going to see a man about a dog", only years later did I discover that actually meant "I'm going down the pub". Jack and I moved into our very own house together back in January and we soon settled into village life (having lived in Newbury town centre for the past two years). We're located in the beautiful Berkshire Downs and our bedroom view looks out over 'The Ridgeway', believed to be Britain's oldest road. Having grown up in pretty but flat Cambridgeshire, I can't get enough of the rolling hills here. We love exploring the countryside and go for walks daily and there's nothing quite like having a dog by your side when out in the elements. We can't imagine being without Barry now as he's fantastic company for us. Everyone that meets him loves him and we've even been told at the pub in the village not to bother turning up for a drink without him! He's rather popular with the ladies too!

 

The view last Sunday from our back garden

 

And now to the next introduction, Squirt and Lola, our two Hermanns Tortoises. I've always had a fascination with tortoises since I was little when my Mum used to tell me stories about her escape-artist tortoise named Toby (he regularly escaped and made it over a mile away in the space of an afternoon to the local Doctor's house, before they'd call the number painted on Toby's shell and my Mum would take her pony Rosie to collect naughty Toby!). I got Squirt when she was 10 months old and around 7cm in length, before getting Lola as a companion for Squirt the following year. Lola was just 2 weeks old when I brought her home and the size of a 50 pence piece! Though tortoises are perfectly happy on their own I have to say I think they're a lot happier together and my two follow each other everywhere, sleep next to each other and fight for the same dandelion leaf! They're funny little characters and by no means slow, so never underestimate a tortoise! Barry finds them interesting but for the most part ignores them which I'm pleased about; dogs are naturally very inquisitive and as friendly as Barry is I would never leave him unsupervised with the tortoises. Likewise Squirt is not afraid to push Barry out of the way should he be in her path and weighing almost as much as a bag of sugar she's a fair weight!

 

Lola and Barry conversing in my parent's garden in Norfolk, with Squirt in the background doing a runner!

 

We've been living in Berkshire for over two years now and feel really settled here. We miss our family and friends back in Cambridgeshire but often go home to visit or enjoy having visitors here. It's hard sometimes being hours away from everywhere and everyone you knew, but we've met nice people through work, in the village etc. and we've always been happy with each other's company anyway. Jack and I have been together for almost eight years now. We're both hard working individuals, but enjoy making the most of our time outside of work whether its decorating our new house, exploring somewhere new on a walk with the dog or socialising. Jack (like most men) is sport-obsessed; he's a formula one fanatic (I am too now thanks to him) and a rugby player too. He's also a keen cyclist and squash player and quite happy to give any other sport a go! I'm more of a hobbyist and enjoy sewing, crafting and love nothing more than getting out and about with my camera to take wildlife/flower or landscape photos. I have ridden horses all my life but sadly since moving to Newbury have hardly had the chance other than helping on the odd occasion to exercise someone else's horse. I miss being around them, I loved hacking through the countryside. I hope to get back into it again, perhaps next Spring if I have more time, though I think I'll invest in a seat-saver for whatever saddle I sit on or I fear my bum-bones may not survive!

 

I think I'll leave today's blog post there for fear that you've already fallen asleep back at the second paragraph! I'll provide an update on Barry's recovery soon :-)