Sometimes I just despair.

Yesterday I wasn't talking to any of them - two or four footed! (Not sure I've really changed my mind, actually, but that's a different story.)

Why? Well! Let me tell you. Having had to shut the back door to keep Maddie in (she was keen to do her noisy rounds again), I was woken at 4.30am by an insistent (and slightly higher-pitched than Murphy's "ahem, I'm terribly sorry but I really do need out" middle-of-the-night alarm) "woof!"

Damn! I dragged myself out of bed (and why is it always me? Cos Richard can't hear anything over his snoring!!) and went downstairs. Sure enough, young Madame had thrown up and wanted out. So she had a quick scoot out (on a lead - I learn fast!) and I had to clear up. guess what she'd eaten this time that made her throw up? An ENTIRE crisp packet! Not shredded or chewed in any way, still in one piece. It could've killed her. Of course it was from Mr Careful himself; when I asked if he'd left it lying around all he could say was that he's left it while he was eating his sandwich. So we're going to work on him putting things like that in the bin BEFORE he eats his sandwich in future. I hope.

Next up, I took them both to the woods for their after-work walk. Maddie's been really good at hopping into the car without running all over the road first so I neglected to put her lead on. Naturally that was the evening a "yoof" was wondering past the gate in a hoodie, so Maddie took off after him and barked at his knees. Harmless enough but not good.

Now Murphy's turn. Duly on our usual walk through the woods and he disappears off to the side to investigate something, returning with the remains of some poor dead animal clenched in his mouth. By the one ear I reckon it must have been a fox. I did my best to wrench his jaw open and we even had a wee screaming match but all that happened was he ran away, munching and gulping as he went. Urgh!

So I didn't speak to him for the rest of the walk. At least he doesn't appear to have had any ill effects. God knows how!

Then last night I had to shut the cat out again as no sign of her. Came down this morning to see if she has found somewhere to settle in the utility room (I'd had the forethought to take all the clean washing upstairs). Of course she had! Look -

Disasters anonymous

Things keep going just slightly wrong. Like how Gizzy got shut in the vestibule last night all night (she made a comfy bed out of the dogs's fleecy towels) and nearly got shut out tonight. She did get shut out on Sunday night & had to spend the night in the utility room (probably on the clean washing).

Yesterday Richard decided to cut the hedge & fell off the top of the ladder, landing on the shears and hitting his head. Lucky he didn't kill himself!

And all this after his having to cancel his trip last week and me a) cycling into the side of our own house on the way to work on Monday and b) forgetting to take my underwear for after swimming on Tuesday last week!

I hope to recapture routine & organisation soon ...

To Spain, or not to Spain?

That was the question, and here is the answer - not. Poor Richard is gutted. They said he had to make a decision by Friday lunchtime and at that point the antibiotics hadn't kicked in yet, so he had no choice but to pull out of the trip. Of course by the evening they'd started working and the swelling was going down - so he could have gone after all, only it was too late.

Meanwhile tonight Maddie slipped through a loophole (now closed) and over the wall in her never-ending quest to protect us all from these new cats (I presume) and I could just hear her scampering around the neighbourhood with the occasional bark. Sigh. Thank God it was a Sunday night and there were no cars about - cos that's the last thing she was thinking about!

Needless to say, just as I'm standing there contemplating putting some shoes on and heading out to see where she is (a fruitless task if ever I saw one), she shoots back inside the back door and into her crate.

"Job done" she says. Hmm. So the back door is now firmly closed!

He's still got it!

So Murphy's still got it, Maddie's looking for it and Gizzy's giving it out.

At the vet yesterday with Murphy for his boosters. He loves the receptionist and always runs in and puts his front paws up on the counter (which is quite high) to say hello. She wasn't there when we arrived - in the back getting medicines etc - so when she came back as there was nobody else in I let go the lead to let him say hi. (I was sitting down at this point).

Well! He didn't just go and say hi, he took off and leapt up, landing ON THE TOP OF THE COUNTER!! Gave the receptionist the fright of her life! Not bad for a 9 year old golden retriever from a standing start, though.

Maddie of course is still attempting to patrol the garden in a raucous manner but we're getting wise to her.

Finally, Gizzy's doing her bit to keep the mayhem going. She bit Richard on the hand when he was in bed yesterday morning (looking for her breakfast) and his hand has completely swollen up! Very hot and angry looking (worse than mine went a few months ago). A trip to the pharmacist yesterday and the doctor today had resulted in a tetanus jag, TCP washes and a course of penicillin :(.

The worse news is that he's supposed to be going to Spain on a team-building field trip on Saturday and if his hand hasn't started recovering he'll be going on a trip to hospital instead!

Bad cat!

Interlopers!

Well! The mystery behind Maddie's recent mania for going outside at all hours of the night and barking has now been revealed. I let her it for one last shot into the garden before I went to bed just there and s I stepped out after her a huge cacophony arose from the shed corner of the garden. Dear lord, I thought she was having a fight with another dog! (Such is the way of the excited spaniel)

I yelled at her and got to the spot just in time to see - a foreign cat making a speedy exit over the top of the shed and off. topping just to nip in and assure myself it wasn't Gizzy (whom I found perched half way up the stairs with her paws curled neatly under her), I went back out to see if I could persuade the noisy heroine to forego her triumphant spurts around the garden and come inside.

Suddenly I spied movement behind a fence on the other side of the garden (on top of a wall) and - wait! ANOTHER cat! This time a black one with white dabs, not the same as the white mottled one Maddie had come across. It took the hint of the hiss I sent its way and retired to the front of the neighbour's house then sat down. Clearly a local, but obviously these two are new to town.

Hopefully they might be a bit re wary of Gizzy's garden from now on, but who knows? Was Maddie's guerrilla pounce enough? I sure hope so, I don't like spending my nights running round e garden in my PJs, trying to persuade her to come inside.