Puppy party.

It's bank holiday weekend and as (most of) the nation prepares for a much needed day off work tomorrow, I spent the day dog-sitting.

My work organised a VIP day at the Superbikes in Cadwell - all inclusive bar, food and up close and personal in the Yamaha tent. As much as I love watching bikes whizz around a track 400 times in succession (does my sarcasm translate well in text?), I decided to sit it out. One of my colleagues Lisa, really wanted to go but she had no-one to look after her puppy Lola. Naturally I volunteered for the sake of karma.

Lola isn't even a year old yet and I completely forgot how much energy puppies have! We got Skye when she was about one so, luckily, she wasn't too much of a handful. Lola on the other hand..... well. She seemed obsessed with cuddling up to Skye and kept trying to lie beside her. After a few 'hairy' moments, Skye seemed to succumb and go along with it. She's a good egg really and has the patience of a saint. I actually quite enjoyed walking around the woods in what will probably be the last of the British sunshine. The temperature has dropped considerably and rumour has it that rain is on its way and ready to stay. It's no great surprise really - the weather usually starts to become unpredictable towards the end of August. Roll on autumn.

I guess you could say that my day has been uber-productive. I managed to watch Beverley Hills Chihuahua 2, Cinderella Story and Legally Blonde...... all because I lost the Sky remote for six hours. Okay, so maybe not that productive but at least I managed to get up early and make use of the day. I'm known for hating mornings and quite happily letting them pass by - total night owl.

The parking debacle has taken a change in direction if nothing else. After my note being on the car for several days, the girl in question eventually came to her car whilst I was in the living room earlier. She seemed to be taking a lifetime to reverse out so I was convinced she was reading the note. Upon further inspection from the upstairs window, it appears that she drove off with it still on the windscreen. There is literally no helping some people. Anyway, as per routine, she hasn't returned at all today so my guess is that she is a girlfriend from afar and visits every other week.

After taking Lola back to Lisa's this evening, I noticed that yet another car was parked over their drive way. My cries of hallelujah were, however, extremely short-lived as the car has now moved outside our house. For one split second, I actually thought they had got the message. No such luck.

God I love the human race and my awful intolerance. I hope you guys had a nice relaxed Sunday!

Hounded.

I managed to take a half decent photo of Skye a few days ago as she bathed in the evening sunset. She really isn't meant to climb the furniture but if you've ever tried to train a husky to obey you, you'll understand why we gave up. To be honest, we more than gave up - she now has her own chair. I read somewhere once that huskies prefer to be companions rather than pets and they weren't far wrong. Total diva.

Notice how she wears two tags; one blue and one pink? Well that's because myself and Adam had a huge argument over what colour collar and lead she should have. Initially it was all blue which I liked as it has obvious links to 'Skye'. One day I came home from work and everything was pink. Much to my annoyance it turned out that Adam's mum had replaced the blue theme with pink as she believed that blue wasn't right for a girl. Yes she's our dog and yes, I did calmly walk away...... using every last ounce of strength. Needless to say I'm too stubborn to completely give in and now she wears both tags and I switch her lead to the blue one when I take her out. Job done.

Browsing through the app store, I just installed an app called 'Woof' - kind of an anonymous Facebook for dogs. Don't worry, I took a look more for humour purposes than anything else and my preconceptions were confirmed when, after just 10 minutes, a 6-month-old dachshund called 'Macbumhole' added me. Oh the joys of the modern age.

Talking of dogs, I've been walking to and from work for the past several weeks due to the current insane traffic build up. They've shut a couple of main roads  (why they don't just do one after the other I'll never understand) and as a result, the whole city's traffic is trying to get down one road during peak times. I live a five minute drive from work and it was taking just over 50 minutes to get in - absolutely crazy. Now I'm walking, it takes just under twenty minutes; I feel great for it but I have to walk through the dreaded woodland and at this time of year it's comparable to running the gauntlet. Now there's a five minute window in which, if I hit the woods, I walk right into some local guy and his seven yappy Yorkshire terriers. It may not seem a big deal but believe me, it is the trauma of traumas and I curse myself repeatedly if I time it incorrectly.

To begin with, you have no idea they are there until you hear the most deafening whistle and three or four of them dart out from the bushes in front of you. They're soon joined by the others who then circle you at break-neck speed, periodically weaving in and out of your legs the whole way down the track. During this, their owner merrily picks his way through the undergrowth oblivious to the drama unfurling. It adds on a good 10 minutes to my journey time and never fails in further ruining my already sorry looking shoes.

On the bright side, it has become quite the joke at work now and my colleagues have already started keeping tally of our encounters (one look at my shoes provides a tell-tale sign). I suppose the only other alternatives are cycling and public transport?

I think I'll just take my chances with the dogs.

Mustering.

Despite the sun's sudden emergence from what seems like an eternal hibernation, the air has remained bitterly cold over the past few days. English weather is a trickster; it tries it's damn hardest to dupe you into throwing on jeans and a t-shirt, only to find yourself cutting glass the minute you step outside the front door. It can be both depressing and amusing.

I took advantage of the beautiful sunset and took Skye for a woodland walk yesterday. It was so nice amongst the trees; waves of golden light flooding through the bare branches, spring draughts whistling through the undergrowth. I managed to snap a few photographs before becoming genuinely concerned by Skye's persistant attempts to hang herself from various boughs. Suicidal hound.

I've found myself rattling around the house on my lonesome quite a lot lately due to Adam constantly being at work. I'm 9 to 5 and he works shifts; unfortunately, his shifts are awkward times meaning that I am either at work or in bed by the time he finishes. I'm often banging on about how I love my 'me' time but, like all human beings, I'm also inclined to moan when it swings completely the other way. I guess you just can't win in these little old minds of ours. I suppose I also resent (a little) the fact that I am always left with the dog to look after despite being reassured by Adam that he would ensure he would undertake the majority of her care. Yes, I was the one that wasn't too keen on getting a dog - not because I don't love them but I've grown up with them and know just how much attention a young dog needs. Suffice to say, I gave in to Adam's constant badgering and now he is almost always at work.

Oh well, Skye is happy enough - I'm sure I can push my selfish needs aside for the time being. We were thinking of taking her to the beach on Saturday. No doubt you'll see us on some news report; found frozen to death in some northern cove. We should question our mental sanity really but I'm sure she'll enjoy it.

In the grand scheme of things, life is good. During a week of crazy news involving parents murdering their own children in house fires and countries attempting to provoke war, all we can do is take a breath and muster the strength to soldier on, enjoying everything we are blessed to have.

After all, it really isn't too much to muster.