Day 298 - Animal Control

new dog stuff

Difficult photo choice today...a horribly under-exposed snap of new dog stuff, or alternatively, a horribly over-exposed snap of new dog stuff.

I've gone with the horribly under-exposed version...and ignored the third option, that I didn't mention, which was to light the damn subject a bit better...and conveniently overlooked the fourth, which was to get the DSLR out and take a better photo.

Photo quality wasn't really the point, you see...the point being, of course, New Dog Stuff!

We have lots of old collars, leads, and one thing or another...but most of it hasn't been used for years, and smells of Jazz and Bluez, and is probably covered in cobwebs or stiffening with age in a crate in the loft...

So we nipped out to PetsAtHome to get some New Stuff for our New Dog...a new collar and lead (nice Red collar!), an extendible lead (which we'll need for a while), and a name tag (which he's legally obliged to wear).

Now that it's all confirmed, and we're collecting him tomorrow, I can share his name with you...he's not actually Batman - he's Robin!  

robin

I think that makes me Batman, probably - and makes Anna Batgirl!  That works - we've already got the tee-shirts and everything... ;-)

Anyway, I don't know how long the name Robin will last, but we'll go with it for a while...as the rehoming officer pointed out: everything is going to change for him - all he really has is his name.

So we'll try to resist giving him too many nicknames straight away...although the phrase red robin keeps flitting across my mind like...well, like a little red robin...that might become simply Red...maybe.

But maybe Robin will stick...we'll see.  I feel that his real name will emerge as we get to know him. 

I've installed a dog gate cordoning off the kitchen from the rest of the downstairs, in order to introduce him gradually and give the cats the option to escape should they venture in with him. 

Loz has already twigged that something is going on, and has been charging around, wide-eyed, and looking at us with an accusing glare...I'm sure she's reading our minds!

Before tomorrow night I'll move the gate to give Robin additional access to his bed...he has a choice between a brand new bed, only used once (by Loz the other night), and a stinky old dogged up bed that Jazz and Bluez used to use...it will be interesting to see which Robin prefers.

Right, I'm just burbling along, preoccupied and distracted by the imminence of Robin's arrival, so I'll sign off there.

Just one more night in a dogless house...

:-)

Day 269 - Ode to Jazz

RIP JazzyB

This evening, we bade farewell to our lovely old boy Jazz, with a little remembrance ceremony up in the woods he so loved.

I carved his name into a tree, just below the carving I made for his brother, late last year...we lit a candle, and crouched in the fading light, weeping as we reminisced over JazzyB, the happiest, friendliest dog you could wish to meet. 

slippery

Sprinkling some ashes (to join with his brother in nurturing this fine old tree), we told tales that reminded us how much we love and miss him...so many tales...

Anna wrote and read these lovely words, which somehow get to the heart of who Jazz was...

Ode To Jazz   By Anna, aged 34

our boys

My Jazzy boy

When I first met Jazz, I found it hard to tell him apart from his brother. I chose to distinguish them, initially, on physical characteristics. Think of stiff legs, a tucked in tail, submissive posture, noisy snuffle when playing 'hunt the treat', and you have Jazz...but also think of a dog that was so gentle, so pleased to see people and loved to demonstrate this by bringing you the oldest, smelliest slipper he could find and it'll bring a big smile to your face when you think of the real Jazz!

Jazz lived up to his name! He was the life and soul of the party, mostly because the party had lots of food and he wanted to be in the middle of it...but also 'cos he loved everybody and everybody loved Jazz, how could you not? If we took him for a walk in the woods he'd launch himself into any pond or water body he could find. Sometimes without even checking if there was any water in it first! Then he'd find a scrappy old stick and carry it all the way home, all the while being super impressed with himself.

Jazz would be happy with you, he'd be excited with you, he'd chill out with you and he'd be sad with you. Jazz loved company and he especially loved Tony. Jazz was Tony's shadow. If Tony was sat in his chair, Jazz would be lying by his feet...unless I was in the kitchen cooking dinner!

Jazz had this uncanny ability to fall asleep on anything, anywhere...quite often with his eyes open, with his head hanging off the edge of the sofa, snoring. Sometimes he did the same things whilst awake, cos who cares, right? Even Loz didn't mind as they would often curl up on the sofa side by side, tails touching.

Jazz didn't bark much, that was Bluez' job. Jazz was smart, he'd just join in when it really mattered...or otherwise barely raise an eyebrow.  "No need to move from this comfy spot just yet, is there? No, didn't think so...Bluez is onto it...I'll wait here for a bit, see how things pan out".

Sometimes Jazz would just know what you were thinking. It's like some kind of mind meld; it was surreal and I loved it!

All food was Jazz's favourite and to Jazz, all people were brilliant.  But only now do I really understand why Jazz and Tony were best mates...it's because they both live life to the same mantra:

"everything can be improved with cheese"

Thanks for being my awesome Jazzy boy.

me and jaybles

Day 267 - Dog Plants

jazzpots

We shed a few tears today, as we potted up Jazz's memorial plants in the warm, late summer sunshine.

We've been putting it off for a while, but today there were no excuses.  For my part, I think I'd been avoiding opening his lovely cardboard urn and facing the truth of his ashes...and sure enough, I find I'm still quite emotional, and I realise that I still think of him often...every day I suppose.

We're going to go up to the woods and carve his name in the tree with Bluez's, one cool evening this week...it would have been too warm for him this afternoon - he would have struggled on the long walk up the hill, so it seemed somehow inconsiderate to go today...

But we spent a melancholy half an hour pottering and potting and pondering, quietly contemplating our old boy as we sprinkled some of his ashes into these pots.

As a ritual, it works nicely...I can't look at these plants and not see Jazzy B strong and clear in my mind.

Similarly with all of our growing collection of lovely pots...they're not all specifically for Jazz or Bluez, but together they invoke (for me) a striking nostalgia for my boyz. 

dogzpotz

We have all of these in pots, but our plan is to plant some of them in the ground when we get into a home we own (or have sold our souls to the banks for).

Our lives are undergoing transformational change this year, it seems...everything has been coming undone, and the turbulence has been a little nauseating at times...so far it's mostly been a process of deconstruction, as our settled home life has slowly imploded, coincident with the loss of the dogs. 

But now things are starting to fall into place, as our plans are solidifying...the way forward is starting to emerge from the mists of uncertainty and doubt...

I guess more of that will come out over coming weeks and months, and by the time I complete this series of blog posts - everything could have changed!

Hence, having spent much of today looking backwards with fond nostalgia, and sweet, painful reminiscence, I'll now see the day out looking forward...

To a week in Font, leaving in a few days...

To a new home...

To...who knows what else?

;-)

Day 260 - In Remembrance

jazz pots

Having bought some memorial plants for Bluez, today we went shopping for something similar for Jazz...

We wandered around our local gardening centre looking for inspiration, and in the process discovered that, for some reason, in our heads, where Bluez was blue and green, Jazz is red and orange...warm colours for the endlessly loving being that he was.

I'm not generally very interested in flowers, but Fuschia is one I know and like...when we happened upon them they immediately seemed right to both of us...

And curiously, I don't know many trees either, but Rhus is one I'm both familiar with and fond of...its leaves turn a glorious orangey-red at certain times of year...and when we found a few small ones in pots, we were both immediately happy to have one to match Bluez' Rowan.

So we found a couple of nice pots in warm earth colours and brought them home.  We'll plant them in their new pots, complete with a sprinkling of Jazz-ash, when we have a little ceremony for the old boy in a week or so.

With Bluez we had our funeral ritual within a week or two of his death...with Jazz, it's taken a lot longer...I'm not going to analyse that to work out why - it is what it is, and these things happen in their own good time. 

For now, suffice to say that we still miss him keenly, every day...the plants (both Jazz and Bluez') will come with us when we move home, and we'll plant them as a permanent memorial to two of the best friends we ever had. 


In other news, it's the end of August!

I've been thinking about how the fitness training and Font preparation has come on, especially since realising how tired I've become as the month has drawn to a close. 

I had a look back at how much I've done over the last 31 days:

• Number of climbing sessions = 6
• Number of Pull-up Challenge sessions = 11
• Number of Push-up Challenge sessions = 4
• Number of Tai Chi sessions = approx 15.
• Number of non-rest days = 26

I don't think I've lost any weight, and I may even have put some on (although I don't trust my scales at all, so I'm not really sure)...but I do feel that I'm stronger and overall in much better shape. 

I'm fairly pleased with all of that, and I reckon I've earned a bit of an easier time over the next couple of weeks...I certainly won't get an easier time at work, but I'll ease up on the exercise and let my body recover a little.

Recovery certainly takes longer than it used to, as you get older...I probably shouldn't have waited until I was in in my mid-40's before I started doing any sort of exercise!

Still, I think I'm in reasonable shape for a 50 year old...I'm even considering doing the Insanity Workout 60 Day Challenge in the New Year...more on that in due course!

Otherwise, it's been a somewhat dramatic and fairly stressful month:

• Traumatic times for my nephew and his family...
• The constant frustration and disruption of the drainage contractors saga...
• Dealing with the loss of Jazz, and missing him every single day...
• Learning to live with no dogs at all, and realising how wrong that is...
• Busy and difficult issues at work for both of us...
• Skateboarding accidents...
• Annoying telecomms supplier issues...

But alongside all that, there's been lots of good stuff too:

• Learning Tai Chi...
• Meeting random dogs here and there...
• Sticking with the Pull-up Challenge...
• Chris making miraculous strides in his recovery...
• Bouldering lots...
• Meeting some very old trees...
• Fun on skateboards...
• Deciding to buy a new house...
• Getting fitter and stronger...
• Receiving a bunch of cool new 2117 clothes (absolute bargain!)...
• Starting to look for a new dog...
• Paying off all my debts...

On balance, it's been a typically hectic, mournful, active, stressful, chilled, engaging, sore, positive, sad, frustrating, painful and happy month!

Here's to a new one, starting tomorrow...

Do you remember?

;-)

Day 251 - Dog Fix

bighead

Since losing our two best canine buddies Jazz and Bluez, in the space of nine months, we now find ourselves drawn to any available dog for a quick dog fix to keep us going.

This evening at the vets with Maisie, this lovely chocolate lab cheerfully obliged with boisterous, bouncy enthusiasm.   He was a big chunky boy, and despite having just had his bits chopped off, he was in good spirits, so we each got a good dose of doggy goodness whilst Maisie was having a blood test.

The amount of positive energy and positive input that a dog brings to your life cannot be under-estimated - they're endlessly friendly, and forgiving, and generous with their affections...of course they can beg and bark and bounce and other bothersome behaviour, but this pales against the vast, deep, rich joy that comes along with the doggy package deal. 

I can't recommend finding and making a good furry dog-friend highly enough...and suffice to say, we just can't be without one for much longer.

It's only three weeks until our bouldering holiday in Fontainebleau, after which we'll be actively looking for a new tenant to fill the large, empty vacancy that is our house now.

We're going to have a section of the garden fenced off and a kennel installed, to make a run where a new dog could be left for a while whilst we're out.   We'll need a bit of an integration period before trusting a new dog and the cats to be left in the house together...so the run will give us the flexibility to separate animals as required.

Our longer term plans involve three dogs of different sizes and ages, and it seems most sensible to start with the middle ground. 

We'll initially be looking to rescue or adopt a middle aged, medium sized dog...something like a lab or a golden retriever.  It will need to be fairly laid back (always get a dog with equal or lower energy to yourself), cat tolerant (if not cat friendly), and reasonably well-behaved, although we're happy to work on any issues. 

Once that's settled in, we'll go for something bigger.  Anna has a bit of a thing about the Italian Spinone, and having introduced me, I'm immediately sold on them too.   They're bigger than a lab, although not huge...they have that brilliant shaggy-dog look, which I love...and they're placid and peaceful like a golden retriever. 

Unfortunately, they're rare and expensive, so we'll have to go slightly against our better principles and buy a pedigree pup. 

(We're largely disapproving of the Kennel Club breeding system, which encourages inbreeding and selection for arbitrary physical characteristics, often without concern for the health and well being of the dog or the wider gene pool).

Finally, once the two bigger dogs are well settled into our pack, we may add a smaller dog, probably a terrier of some type - perhaps a scottie or similar. 

And maybe we'll stop there for a while...although maybe, if we buy our own place, all bets will be off!

Can't wait!

B-)

PS Bonus again, you lucky people...

snake in the grass

Just to demonstrate the exciting life we lead, here's another grass snake that Anna found when doing a quick reptile check on the way back from the vets...

Must be the Year of the Snake, or something...

Day 250 - Natural Order

deadr4t

Of the many themes that have emerged from this series of blogs, perhaps the most disturbing and familiar is...death.

A somewhat grim subject I suppose - I'll resist employing my usual tactic of linking to all earlier related posts...there's just so much of it!

I wonder whether there's an age factor - is it just a time of my life where I'm more likely to encounter the reaper?

Certainly living a country life is a factor, as these photo's (and many earlier ones) so graphically illustrate...today's specific theme is deconstruction or decomposition or decay (or maybe some other word starting with de-)...

The photo above is a rat in a fairly late stage of decomposition.  It must have lain there for quite a while to have decayed so, although I suspect the local carrion have had a good go at it....made a bit of a meal of it, you might say. 

On the other hand, this poor little vole has been summarily squidged to death on the road...

deadvol3

Whilst grisly and unpleasant, I can, in the main, handle these constant little reminders of the fundamental brutality of mammalian life...it's all the other stuff that's a bit trickier.

In the last twelve months, I've lost my two most loyal and constant companions - first Bluez last Autumn, then Jazz this Summer...both of these were hard to bear (albeit in very different ways), and I still miss them like crazy. 

The tenth anniversary of my sister's death passed by a few weeks ago, and that led to much bitter-sweet reminiscence, with a side order of subdued pondering, and all served on a bed of subtle melancholy.

My dad's not been well either, I understand, although that's a very long story that I'm not proposing to go into.

Maybe 50 is simply that age where you become increasingly aware of your own mortality...I don't know.

My life is pretty damn great (see the rest of this blog for details), so I don't wish to come across as being unduly morbid...I love my life, and I love my little pack (primarily my alpha packette Anna, natch), even if I seem to be going through a (bizarrely literal) rocky patch with our home and garden just lately.

And yet along with all that proverbial love, death is also in the air...

But it's all part of the natural order of things, so I can live (and eventually die) with that.

:-)

Bonus PS...I just remembered spotting this little fella sitting stride his own personal, custom built death trap late last night...I took this photo from sitting in my chair...thank goodness for zoom lenses!

deathtr4p

Day 241 - Soul Food

eye to eye

All day I've been lurching from intense emotion to intense emotion...whilst my exterior probably appears fairly calm and stable, my insides have been tugged all over the place, as if there's a tiny rollercoaster running through my core.

My heart is absolutely aching for my nephew Chris, his mum and dad, and his siblings.  I know Jools and Siobhan are both strong, capable, confident people, and they will fight fiercely for whatever Chris needs - and they'll get it.  But of course, he's on my mind and wrenching at my heartstrings constantly...

On the other hand, I interviewed a bright, young candidate for an apprenticeship today, and we're going to take him on, which is a great opportunity for him...a potentially life-changing event.  It's really nice to be able to give that chance to someone, so that has given me some proper satisfaction in my job, for the day at least.

Then at the same time, I'm intensely angry and frustrated with our landlords who are letting us down on every front.  It feels as though we're living on a building site, and we can't seem to get any remedial work done at all.  It's very depressing, and I'm fuming with our estate agent, with his endless yet entirely empty promises.

I felt a vague melancholy as Anna and I were chatting about the house situation whilst walking the dogs, and we gradually realised that our time here is ending.  I've lived in this little cottage for nine years now, and Anna with me for the last four or five...and our little menagerie, ever present of course.  

However, since losing both Bluez last Autumn, and now Jazz this summer, it feels as though the heart of the house has gone...it's lost its warmth, and its charm...and now the garden is ruined too, and suddenly we're running very low on reasons to be here...

But then we started to talk about buying our own place, and suddenly the mood turned to excitement as we realised that we should pursue our dream, and look for a place of our own...somewhere we can have however many of whatever animals we like, and make a home for ourselves.

And then we arrived back home, to be greeted enthusiastically by Loz...and that reminded me of how wonderful it is to have animal companions in your life...

catface

So I find that in spite of the all the other trauma, tension and discontent in other areas of life, it's still possible to be happy in the moment...and however worried I am about other people in my life, my worrying isn't going to help them or me in any way.  

Better to get my own soul food where I can, in order to support and strengthen me to be a shoulder to lean on, to stand my ground in the face of adversity, to be whatever I need to be for whomever needs me...

In fact it behooves me to be happy whenever I can, to find joy in the small things, and to use that powerful energy to positive effect in other situations that could well do with support...

It would be rude not to...

Day 221 - Catwalk

divas

Since losing Jazz, I've become aware that I'm as conditioned into the daily routines of dog-life as he was.

An obvious manifestation of this occurs around early evening each day, when I consistently experience a strong urge to go for a walk.

For 13 years I've been tied to the dogs (both figuratively, and literally at times)...it no longer felt like a chore, but I sometimes wondered what it would be like not to have to get home for 6pm every day...I thought there might be a sense of liberation, but there really hasn't been.

Well, there is an occasional realisation that I don't have to rush home, but it seems like something of a surreal notion, so I ignore it!

I feel institutionalised...like the man who's been in prison for 20 years, shut in a little cell...when he reaches the end of his sentence, the door is opened, and the guard pronounces that he's free to go...but the outside world seems big and scary, and it turns out he prefers to stay where he is, where he knows the routine and therefore feels safe. 

That's how I feel - I'm free of the commitment of having a dog...but I don't want to be!

Anyway, luckily the weather has been beautiful, so we had a lovely warm wander down the lane. 

As would often happen, Loz chose to follow us, so I got this lovely photo of Anna and Loz on their catwalk, in the hazy evening sun.

Entertainingly, a yellowhammer followed us up the lane, all the way stridently alarm calling about the presence of Loz...

disappointingly, no bananas

It really sounded as though it were actually saying, "Cat! Cat!!"...

Anyway, enough of all that, I must get off - it's time for my after dinner treat!

:-)

PS See below for a special bonus post on steep bouldering...you know you want to!

Day 221b - Baker Street

You used to think that it was so easy...you used to say that it was so easy, but you're trying, you're trying now...

This post really has nothing to do with Baker St, except the tenuous day number connection, and that scrap of lyric that I appropriated.

It's just that I'd had this topic lined up to do on Saturday night, when we got home from a birthday meal out...only to find Jazz had taken a sudden turn for the worse...and that was that.

Anyway, rather than rush, and being unable to resist the urge to go for a bonus post on day 221, I've hung onto them and figured I'd feel up to writing it up by then, hopefully. 

We'd been out climbing, and had gone indoors because of the forecast.   As the post about steep bouldering a couple of weeks ago had sparked some conversation, I thought I'd follow up and grab a couple of videos of steep indoor climbing whilst we were there.

Each of the bouldering problems (climbs) that I'm going to show in this post has the same basic rules.  The objective is to start from the marked starting holds for your hands, and follow the same coloured holds to the last one (usually at the top, more or less).  The problem is complete when you have both hands on the last hold in a controlled manner.

In this post I'm going to focus on steep climbs, of which there are always plenty, because...well, they're fun!

The climb above is fairly low grade, V1 or so I think, and had nicely juggy handholds...but it was steep - maybe 50deg compared with 35deg for the rock in Lancashire.

Observe how careful and controlled Anna's movements are...nicely efficient, and no wild swings.  Note that even when she lets her feet come off the wall at the end, it's done in a very deliberate. controlled manner.

Here's me making the same climb look a lot smaller...



Now on to the really steep stuff - ceiling climbs!

These are great fun, although very tiring.

Technique-wise, there are several fundamentals:

Straight Arms - bending your arms in these positions is very hard, and involves a lot of upper arm strength...keeping arms straight means the only muscles you really need to use are those keeping your fingers bent...science and logic aside, it's simply way easier to keep arms straight - it just takes a little trust and commitment...

Don't cut your feet (unless you have to) - that is, don't let your feet come off the wall leaving all of your weight on your arms and upper body...it tires you out quickly, and uses huge amounts of core muscle (and similarly huge amounts of energy) to get your feet back on...and every pound of weight you can push through a foot is a pound less that your hands are having to support...

Weight Transfer - Whenever you need to move a hand, get as much weight as possible settled and steady underneath the other hand...this means you won't swing when the one hand lets go, and you'll have time to make a controlled move, rather than the all too common lunge-and-grab.

With those ideas in mind, here's a video of me having a first attempt at a slightly harder route.  I fail to complete the problem, but you can see some of these techniques as I move across the ceiling... 



Note that I cut my feet 30 seconds or so in, having failed to realise that I could have actually walked my feet around keeping them high instead...then I have a few moments of bent arms on the next hold, before falling off because I've run out of energy. 

Here's Anna on the same climb...



Notice that Anna has to cut her feet at the start, as she couldn't possibly reach the next foothold otherwise...but thereafter her feet are on all the time.

Also notice that Anna moves her feet several times before each hand movement...getting her weight in the right place, and as much of it through her feet, before letting go with the other hand.

Here's me again, this time from the opposite side, on a second attempt at the same climb.



Notice that this time I don't cut my feet, and climb a lot faster as I'm more familiar and know that I can do it so far...and hence I get a bit further with the problem, whilst still not actually completing it.

Finally, here's a less steep, and somewhat easier climb, again utilising straight arms, keeping feet on as much as possible, and smoothly transferring weight before and through each move... 



This time I down-climb too, for the additional challenge and exercise.

At my age, it's also not a great idea to just drop off the top every time.  I'm really not flexible (check my landing in the second video above), and my joints would suffer from repeated hard landings.  Hence I usually down-climb all but the steepest climbs.

So there you have it, a little overview of some of the basics of steep climbing. 

If anyone wants to come and have a go sometime, just let me know, I'll happily take you...

:-)

Day 219 - Reclaimed by Nature

serenity

We decided to go for a walk in spite of not having to for the first time in years, so as to not break the routine...then we walked miles more than usual, in order to break the routine...

Go figure!

It's been a difficult, flat, sad day, and we felt the need to get out into nature and try to find some peace out there in the warm evening sun.

Resisting the temptation to look back every minute or so to see how Jazz was doing, we ended up walking all the way down to the bottom of the lane, quietly remembering him, and pondering the pros and cons of getting another dog.

Idly snapping as we strolled, we caught a few interesting sights, like this balloon peacefully wandering the skies.

By odd coincidence, we got another shot of a juvenile Green Woodpecker, a mile down the lane from where the last one was...

woody

As we got to the bottom of the valley, we came to the little river that Jazz and Bluez liked to cool off in, back in the days when they could walk that far (a couple of years ago probably)..

no jazz

It was very overgrown, and very hard to focus, but it brought good memories of my boys splashing about, happy as labradors in cold water!

One photo I would never have captured if Jazz had been with me was this healthy looking rabbit...

jack

As we started back up the lane, I caught this nice shot of a buzzard alighting on top of a tree...

big ol' buzzard

I'd been remonstrating with Anna for not getting me a photo of a deer when I gave her the camera for two minutes...and then spotted this lovely young buck Roe, who remarkably hadn't noticed us as he strolled across the field. 

oh deer

Handsome young chap, isn't he?

yes deer

I've been wanting a photo of a deer for ages...Muntjac next - we have those around here too.

Well there you are, made it through a whole post without getting too upset about Jazz, even though we're missing him painfully...

Going back to nature definitely helped, as always.

Day 218 - Does Not Compute

no jazz...

In due course, I will a write a full celebratory blog post in honour and remembrance of our old boy...but here, today, all I'm aware of, through tear-filled eyes, is that the world is full of holes shaped just like Jazz.

He's not by my feet...and nor is he by Anna's feet...

no jazz...

...but he's not under my chair by my desk either...

no jazz...

...and he's not on the sofa (with or without Loz)...

no jazz...

...he's not even on the rug in the kitchen, begging for tidbits...

no jazz...

...he's not in his bed...

no jazz...

...and he's nowhere to be found in the garden (I've looked)...

no jazz...

The world seems to be short of precisely one Jazz...

...and all the worse for it...

:-(

Day 217 - Goodbye, My Friend

the legend

Two hours ago, the legend that is JazzyB - our friend, my faithful companion for the last 13 years - had to take his leave, and say farewell to us for the last time.

He's been on his last legs for a few months, and old age has been rapidly catching up with him...tonight, suddenly, his time came, and once more I had to make that painful decision, and let him go play with his brother Bluez in the Big Meadow in the Sky...

My boy Jazzer was always the smartest and most insightful of dogs...he knew it was his time, and he accepted and maybe even welcomed it...

But we're distraught, and have much grieving to do...I'm gutted...

RIP JazzyB, I love you buddy...

See you and Bluez again in the next world...don't be late...

:-(

Day 215 - Rejuvenation

jesus christ pose

Our spectacularly inept drainage contractors reached a magnificent new high (or a suicidally depressing low, depending on your mindset) today...

The day started badly...their first action was to start randomly chopping off major branches from the lilac tree that we'd been faithfully promised, by all concerned, would not be damaged. 

When I confronted them about it, they claimed not to have been told...

By lunchtime, they had surpassed even this world class incompetence...

Chatting to our neighbours last night about how they were going to be cutting and digging through the hedge today, Dave (next door, a builder) predicted that they would probably cut through the power supply to our houses, which fairly obviously runs along the line of hedgerow they're going through...

Sure enough, I arrived home this evening to find a legion of Electricity Board cars and vans out on the verge, and a garden full of a new lot of contractors, digging furiously into the hedgerow.

It turns out the idiot farm labourers (which I'm sure is what they are - definitely farm labourers anyway) cut through the main cables (in accordance with Prophecy), so a fairly lengthy and involved repair process was under way.  

typical garden scene

At this point we don't know whether to laugh or cry (probably hysterically in either case!).

To escape, we went over to the meadow with Jazz, which we were pleased to find void of tractor for the first time in days...so in we went to play with hay stuff!!

First, we found this giant hamster wheel, which I think is used, on its base, to house hay for sheep...but it was much more fun sideways on!

I tried running in it, but found I really needed a hill to do it justice...

rat race

The next obvious thing to try was to climb it (natch)...

blithe and elephant

Of course, Anna always looks so much more lithe and elegant than me (which I think might be down to the fact that's she's just way more lithe and elegant than me? Just a theory...).

lithe and elegant

Then I had to go for a second upside down shot for my ongoing 2 part (so far) series of me being upside down, which has been, of course, a solid and timeless tradition (in that I've spent no time on it) around these parts since mid-summer night...

upside down #2

It's quite entertaining to play on - being basically a huge wheel, you have to be really careful with weight distribution, as it can start to roll at any movement...which doesn't always end quite so elegantly...

french dismount?

...and I have the bruises to prove it!

But if you are careful you can get into some interesting climbing positions;

bat hang attempt

Looks like I'm on a bit of a roll here, leftwards...this might be the one that ended up in cuts and bruises...cool, adventuring injuries!!

Anna has to do it backwards of course, just to be different...

pro bat hang attempt

And then finally Anna wins the whole day by skipping up on top of the bales of hay that were stacked in the meadow, and performing a serene, calming (and ingeniously appropriate) yoga position...

Tree Pose

After such fun and nonsense in the field, we were both smiling and laughing, and the crazy irritation of the drainage debacle had melted away.

My advice to you, good reader, is therefore...next time you are frustrated, angry or upset, first play hamsters and bats, and then climb the nearest haystack and do yoga on top of it.

Works wonders, trust me...

B-)