Tag Archives: Pepper

Back to Dog Walks in the Flowers

3 Replies

As Pepper has now had her two stitches out (and, apparently she was a very brave soldier), I thought she could start going for a walk again, but only short ones and strictly supervised.

So I decided Pepper and Ted should go to Clothie, my 5 acres of long grass and flowers which forms part of the old horses and ponies’ winter grazing.

At times, it was difficult to see the dogs.  They were easily lost in the long grass and flowers.

Nearly impossible at times.

Pepper was loving her new freedom.

The two dogs bounded over the grass together, trying to see over the top and where they were going all at the same time.

Meanwhile, having walked to the top of the hill, I sat on a windowsill of the old crofthouse not watching the world not go by.  There wasn’t a soul to be seen, just the long grass swaying in the wind to the sound of the curlews shouting.

I think the short walk was a success.  The daily bandaging less so, though. She hates that and fidgets horribly.

I still don’t trust her not to go a-visiting – strict supervision, remember!

Now, Ted I mostly trust. He has a good track record and stays around the house.

While Pepper is always looking for the chink in our armour.

The Look

4 Replies

Most of the day I have been on the receiving end of “The Look”.

That’s the one – hard-done-by accompanied with resentment which then pairs nicely with holding the paw up and going along on three legs.

I missed Pepper’s little busybodyness while I gave everyone their breakfasts.  It felt a bit lonely on my own, if I’m honest.

Later on the morning, I put on her (borrowed) boot so she could go for a short three-legged walk on a lead. As I had things to do like clean the water troughs and refill them, I ended up tying her to the fence post so she could at least watch the world go by.

Pepper is learning that she can put her paw down but she is very hesitant to fully weight-bear. The boot is more for keeping her bandage clean.

Ted is being very smug about all of this…..

….. while Pepper is just fed up.

After tea and antibiotics, I decided Pepper would be much happier off the lead (she is not a fan) and I told her that I trusted her to stay around while I put out haynets and fed the ducks/hens.

This was a good decision.

Watching Pepper, I can see that when she is walking (which is rare), she goes on four legs. But if she runs, then it is three legs with hopping. She is not any slower for this and manages to get around.

And now I spend my day saying “no licking”.  Pepper is pretty good, once reminded.

Not Pepper’s Day

5 Replies

The dogs and I went for a walk to Clothie – our 5 acre field complete with a derelict croft house that used to be a school.

The grass is so long it make the dogs invisible but they love it, bouncing over everything so they can see where they’re going or aiming for.

And the flowers are glorious and so many of them. They seem extra-good this year.

I walked round and then sat on a windowsill while the dogs galloped about looking for bunnies, etc and eventually gave up to sit close to me.

I had a lovely view with the sea in the distance.

And then, on the way home – which is across the open hill a little bit – I noticed Pepper was lagging behind and licking her front paws.

Upon closer examination, and after following the trail of blood around the kitchen, I discovered she had cut both front paw pads open.

Poor little thing.  She was in a state so I grabbed her and put her on the table, examined both paws, got some gauze and rubber gloves and made two makeshift dressings, covering them with a rubber glove and tape to keep the dirt out.  I also gave her a painkiller.

So now I am carrying Pepper everywhere and she’s no lightweight.  She slept all afternoon, which was good.

And I’ve made an appointment for Pepper to see the vet tomorrow (no appointments today, unfortunately).

Once OH gets home, I might soak and re-bandage Pepper’s paws better. This was a real bodge job as I only had one hand (the other was holding her from jumping off the table).  And then there was all the blood to clean up and I’ve just trodden in cat (?) sick and I am feeling sorry for myself too.

But poor, poor Pepperpot.

Busy Day

3 Replies

We have visitors coming up from south for their holidays tomorrow so I wanted to be prepared, food-wise, and have spent my day chained to the stove, cooking with varying degrees of success.

I made 3 curries, 2 chutneys, a really bad cake (I am quite ashamed of it and will try and pass it off as pudding rather than anything you would eat with a cup of tea), a batch of ice cream, got another one mixed ready to go, and lastly boiled and peeled lots of duck eggs for picnic sandwiches. Obviously I was supervised.

 

Later on, Monster and Pepper had a good battle – it was revenge for when Pepper had ambushed Monster.  He won, of course and she ran downstairs using me as her shield in case he had another go.

I needed a break from the kitchen, all the cooking and so I took everyone outside.  After putting out the haynets for the Shetland ponies, I went into the sheep field and sat down on my coat for some much-needed sheep-watching or maybe it was the other way around?

 

Pepper sat on me and then beside me getting annoyed with the flies.

She was trying to catch them by snapping randomly at the air.

Lambie was far away.

And then suddenly he wasn’t.

My dear little boy. We had a lovely chat.

And he also passed the time of day with Pepper too.

(which I always think is very sweet).

Sitting in the field surrounded by flowers and sheep, listening to the birds, while Pepper snapped randomly at flies made a peaceful break after slaving away in the kitchen all day.

The Simmer Dim

2 Replies

This is to show you just how light it is at night this time of year – I took this photo from my bedroom window at 11.30 p.m last night.  It doesn’t get any darker at the moment but the birds do stop and it is magically silent for a few hours in this long Shetland twilight (“Simmer Dim”).

Anywho, today was lovely. The sun shone and all was good. It was a rather strenuous dog-walk, when Pepper successfully and expertly removed some hill sheep from our field (separating them from my flock, getting them through three gates onto the track) like a well-trained collie, listening to my instruction. I was telling her what I wanted, and miracle of miracle, Pepper understood and made it happen. So I decided we all needed to have a sit down in the garden to recover from such exertion.  Ted was no help, of course.  It was not his bag.

Feeling better and after lunch, we moved ourselves to my shed and I made a felted sheep.

Everyone was there recovering from Pepper’s efforts.

And then OH came home from work and everyone wanted to leave.

(I do love this photo very much).