Shorn

I do feel slightly guilty when I ‘shear’ Harvey like a sheep. We used to take him to a professional dog groomer and he looked amazing with a proper spaniel cut. It seemed to be a complete waste of money because he will never be a showy looking type and I wouldn’t want him to be. He loves his life plunging into boggy ditches and swimming in weedy lakes. He’s happiest weaving through hedges rather than running alongside them. In fact I could be describing my childhood because I’ve done all of those things in my time. A teacher once berated me for having messy plaits and said I looked like I had been through a hedge backwards. I was very proud to announce that I had indeed been through a hedge backwards. Maybe there is some truth in owners looking like their dogs but thankfully I don’t have messy plaits anymore!

I did my best to just snip a few thistles out of Harvey’s ears but they were too messed up so after the snipping came the shears. I’m sure he’s much happier now because it can’t have been comfortable lying on thistly ears. After quite a long session on the grooming table I let Harvey go and get acquainted with his new look and started to clear up the hair. Riley tried to hop up onto the waist height bench so I felt obliged to give him a quick ear and paw trim too just so that he didn’t feel left out. I’m always telling M to treat them like dogs and not children. Oops. Paws are important though, spaniels grow so much hair between their pads that they tend to look like spiders on roller skates on tiled and wooden floors when the hair gets too long.

I may have moaned about the weather in my last post but what a difference this week… I’d almost forgotten what sunshine looked like. I threw open windows and had a mini spring clean. Our walks were pleasurable once more. Then it rained.

M was supposed to be away for two nights on business this week but assignments came in that called for three more nights away from home. I’m a bit 50/50 on the subject. On the one hand I like being able to revive my nocturnal habits. My mind is actually clearer late at night, I do all my best thinking then, whereas M is a morning person. On the other hand it has felt like a long week without his witty banter, not to mention us popping out for coffee and crosswords.

I hate admitting that it’s sometimes tricky to leave the house on my own other than to drive to my remote dog walking place. This week I was forced to and I’m glad I was. My small victory on Monday, which involved taking E’s reliable little car to buy some provisions actually led to a second outing to buy a proper coffee. Twice in one week! This year is looking good. We’ll gloss over the fact that I told the young lad at the till ‘no thank you’ when he asked me if I had a loyalty card whilst actually passing him the loyalty card. I assumed he would be asking me if I wanted a bag first. Silly me. It wasn’t until he gave me a strange look and I thought on the way home, mmh, that last word sounded more like card than bag. Bother.

So there’s a little bit of startitis around this week. I’m enjoying the relaxing make that is the Diamonds and Bobbles jumper. I think I mentioned that the yarn needs a couple of wool cycle washes to soften up, that means it’s not the nicest stuff to work with. I craved something softer so I picked up my booklet of crochet sock patterns. It starts with a basic pattern for both toe up and cuff down. I’ve already made a few pairs of my own ‘make it up as you go along’ trainer socks using the toe up method so I tried the cuff down pattern. Since this photo I’ve made good progress and I’m at the toe part. My conclusion is that I like the cuff down method very much, it gives a good fit. I hadn’t expected to like it at all. I’ve used a random variegated dk from my stash. I’ve no idea what it is but it is very soft. My cunning plan was to use variegated to hide any slight mistakes I made. I think I have, no, I know I have worked all the rounds after the heel with the wrong side facing but it doesn’t seem to matter that much using the extended dc stitch. I’ve used a 4mm hook rather than the suggested 3.5mm because I really hate wearing socks and want these to be loose, like bed socks. Now that I know how easy this pattern works up I can quite happily pack the booklet, a ball of bright and cheerful variegated dk and hook and have the perfect travel project. Bright and cheerful yarn simply because I intend never to make myself a pair of socks after this pair but know someone (E) who loves socks!

When I finally get chance to sit down and crochet by late afternoon I stop drinking coffee and make a mug of tea. We’ve accumulated a whole range of sample tea bags and popped them into an old tea caddy. I’m steadily working my way through them. This week I thought I’d give peppermint tea another try. Ugh ugh ugh. It’s absolutely disgusting! Bravo to anyone who drinks this on a regular basis! I love mint, even better if it’s in the middle of a bar of Fry’s chocolate, but I cannot drink peppermint tea without gagging.

The downside to M’s job and the many miles he clocks up driving between assignments is that when he does finally get home he doesn’t really want to go far again, which is totally understandable. I have been known to complain about being stuck here (both in the house and in Lincolnshire) so I tend to want to go out and explore. The two don’t go hand in hand but we do often find a compromise. It’s also nice that M now has the travel bug once again and he seems to relish the hard work if he has some short breaks to look forward to. It’s me that brings him back down to earth sometimes and we meet somewhere between the ridiculous and the reality of what is possible for a short break.

I don’t think we have ever timed a short break to coincide with Valentine’s Day but we have often discussed two romantic cities as possibilities one day. The trouble is neither of us want to visit somewhere we’ve already been to. So that’s Paris and Venice out of the equation for now. M has been to Paris and I have been to Venice. He is beginning to come round to my idea of visiting Norway or Denmark. I am sure we will go somewhere this year and that’s the exciting thing, it’ll be totally unplanned and very last minute dot com.

Anyone who says men can’t change might need to look at M for living proof. Ten years ago he wouldn’t have dreamt of booking flights or ferries and accommodation with only days to go before departure. He would have broken out in a cold sweat and told me I was absolutely mad. Now he’s a dab hand at spontaneity. Sure, he will still stand over his suitcase and insist on telling me everything he has packed just in case he has forgotten anything. This is the point at which I tell him that it is probably best to leave a few pairs of socks at home and that he really doesn’t need both body spray and deodorant, just the latter will do. I also mention the ozone layer and suggest a roll on but after ten years he still doesn’t think they work. So maybe not all things can be changed!