I Never Knew This

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The new bed should be renamed “The Bed of Contention”.

Everyone wants it at varying times of the day.

Even Monster has taken a shine.

And, as I was saying to Daisy at lunchtime, whilst looking on at Monster’s victory and Pepper’s longing, it was a great pity they couldn’t just share the bed together, even though that was not their sort of thing (as in pre-Ted when it was just Pepper and Monster living together).

And Daisy said oh, but they did share a bed.  No, I replied, I never saw that – I had been away during Pepper’s formative years looking after my mother while Daisy and OH were on puppy and cat (plus ponies/horses/ducks/hens/sheep) duty.  So I missed all this which was horrid but just one of those things. I was needed elsewhere.  Luckily, Daisy had photographic evidence which is very important for any wild claim.

Apparently, it started with Pepper making her intentions known but she was not sure quite how to achieve this.

She definitely wanted to be close to the fire.

And, as she was sort of being brought up by Monster who was her surrogate parent, she wasn’t sure if he would mind.

But put up with this, Monster did and I admire him hugely for that.

I think Pepper thought Monster was comfortable, if squishy, and they were most definitely a team.

So I am sad this relationship does not exist anymore because it would be incredibly sweet if they could still share nicely.  Monster has retained his squishiness and Pepper is only a little bit bigger.

Working From Home

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Help has many faces.  Mostly furry ones.

My afternoons are spent productively while I lie on my bed trying to calm the sciatica. I am dictating two weeks per day of my Great Great Aunt Kate’s diaries onto my phone. This then transcribes them onto Notes and I transfer them to a Word document which I then correct and upload onto the WordPress site.  It is arduous but, as a method, it works fairly well.  Sometimes the transcription can be pretty random – “Malaga Tony” apparently is Mulligatawny soup – I howled with laughter at that one!

And then there is my help.

Icky-licky help who won’t go away.  She insists on the licking because she knows I can’t do anything else, like work.

Meanwhile in another bedroom on the other end of the little house, Daisy is working on her PhD thesis.

And, yes, she has help in the form of Science Cat.

Monster is taking a keen interest in Daisy’s work, which is lovely for her.

I hope you can all see the cat hair all over the laptop!  Monster is very involved.  Daisy is very important to him and so is her thesis.

No one gives up in this house.

Haynets at Night

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Really crap photos today and I’m sorry – it has barely been light all day and the weather has not improved (still freezing wind and rain).

Daisy has now seen the set up and agrees with me that the Shetland ponies need something or else they just stand around all day looking rather bleak and miserable in a muddy spot.

So the new regime is to give them three haynets hung on the gate for to share.

The ponies came racing up when they heard of this new plan.

Note how Newt has to have a cheeky nip at Waffle as he catches up in the race to the gate.

Tiddles and Albie brought up the rear with enthusiasm.

Clever Silver had already taken up pole position and was tucking in trying to shovel as much down as fast as possible before the others arrived.

I thought it was very sweet (or optimistic) that Newt would rather come and talk to me than eat his hay.

I told him to hurry back and go and get his ration before it vanished.  I know I said I didn’t want to give out hay and I know the ponies are rotund, but they don’t get a lot of hay (Daisy sized portions, so small), but I can sleep better knowing everyone had a little something to keep them warm at night.  Temperatures are going down to around – 8℃ tonight (windchill) which is not much fun, as well as the the wind and rain.

Next One Arrives

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I’m feeling exhausted so I will keep this brief.

This morning, I drove to Sumburgh airport to collect Daisy.

Flossie is going back home tomorrow and Daisy is taking over from her.  I am very lucky to have them.

Obviously, I was thrilled to see Daisy and so was Monster – Daisy is his No. 1 favourite human in the world, except during potential meal-times when it is OH’s turn.  Floss and I don’t get much of a look-in.

Meanwhile, Bed Wars continue mostly between Pepper and Ted.

Note how Ted can do the whole King-of-the-Castle without leaving the bed once despite Pepper’s best efforts to tempt him.

She did win later.

(I’m sorry this is so short)

Grot Day With Hope

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It remains horrible outside and I am beginning to feel sorry for the Shetland ponies.

Should I move them perhaps over to this field – 5 acres I was saving for the old horses and ponies.

Daisy arrives tomorrow to take over from Flossie and I will ask her then.  I could always give the Shetland ponies haynets hung on the gate.  That’s a possibility but it involves lugging.

Meanwhile, I remain pretty much bed-bound as I find sitting for long periods very difficult.  I try and do a different chore each morning just to see if I can, and mostly end up taking to my bed to lie flat because my back puts in it’s objections.  I feel sore all of the time and painkillers really are my last resort. I am trying to avoid them if I can.

I phoned the Pain Clinic to be told I might be seen in mid-March but was on the list if there was a cancellation.  I resigned myself to the long wait when the phone rang this afternoon, and I was told there have been a cancellation and I will now definitely be seen on the 16th February.  So that is excellent news.  I am hugely relieved and I know I said previously never again, but I’ve hopefully negotiated immense knock-out sedation this time so the procedure should be bearable.

But my worry now is the animals. There seems to be no let up in this weather for the time being.

On my inside, I threw some carrots at the Shetland ponies and told myself things could be a lot worse for them, and me.