A memorial hunt

I hope you all had a good Christmas with all the presents you wanted and enough turkey, or the vegetarian equivalent, to satisfy the most jaded palate. Our sister site www.ancestrees.org.uk launched it's Christmas advertising campaign at the start of the month and, it has to be said, I was disappointed with the lack of response. I commented on this to H who told me that she was not in the least bit surprised. I had linked the page to all our contacts on facebook and when she showed me how it appeared, well I could understand the luke warm take-up. This is approximately how it looked; thank you fb for automatically choosing the picture to go with my caption (and well done me for not checking)

                                          The Ideal Christmas Gift for Friends and Family.

Horses are even more creatures of habit than I am as Kavi proved a couple of days ago. As you may have noticed it has been a bit wet recently so we have had to tailor our riding to when it is least wet. We normally head out after breakfast and Kavi is happy with this. However on this day it was nicer in the afternoon so we decided to ride then. After fetching them in.

                                                      "I think it's brightening up "

Kavi clearly thought that it was time for an early tea but when the tack appeared and he had his feet picked out and I got mounted a tantrum was well and truly thrown, there were equine toys everywhere,

 What fun we had alternately sulking and shying at blades of grass as we grimly went through Narnia via Stoat Corner past pitying glances from the locals. Still I stayed on and that was a bonus.

Many thanks to those of you who sent kind messages about DJ. As you can imagine Ari has been very subdued so much so that Housemate has moved him indoors, here he is in his new lair;

                          
We were worried that he had lost his mojo but on Boxing day he showed a glimmer of his old self. It was the big hunting day and as a special treat Cruella's daughter the Vowelstrangler was riding. Now she has previous experience with the hounds, in the summer she had come down to ride and had been confronted by DJ who bounded over woofing in her normal friendly manner "Eeek Mummy that doggy smells howwid" she squeaked beating a hasty retreat from our fragrant friend who thought that this was a fine game and chased her round the yard, one squealing, one barking.

She arrived in her full fox bothering kit as (the muzzled) Ari emerged from the tack room. He almost jumped for joy at seeing someone to chase and snarling happily he made the hunter the hunted, his view being to see how she liked being chased by dogs. I managed to grab him before anything drastic happened. He grinned and I'm sure he looked up saying "That one was for you DJ".

Gone but never forgotten

A sad sad day here at Barns Cottage as I have to tell you that our Romping chum DJ is no longer with us. She had been a bit below par for a couple of weeks now, but still got out a couple of times a day to potter around the yard and upturn any buckets that may have needed examination. She will be sorely missed by all of us but especially by her Kennel Mate Ari who came and stood morosely by us when we found her.

You would have needed to have a heart of stone not to laugh when she romped across the yard with her ears flapping in the wind, she even gave to people with visual impairment as her "perfume" meant that she could be appreciated by all.

She was buried behind the house next to the paddock with full doggy honours, and a few tears.

                                     
                                                RIP DJ, tonight she romps in a better place

Cheesey Bees

It was the time of year when we at Km decamp down south for the annual family Christmas and Birthday celebration weekend. This year Reading was the venue and H & I found our hotel in plenty of time to go into town for a couple of liveners before the family event started. We asked the nice receptionist for directions into town; "You turn left out of the Hotel and go past the Garage where you will see the main road. Cross it, when it is safe to do so " I could sense a certain horse nodding in agreement.

                                                 "What an intelligent lady she sounds"

Anyway after a quick half or two we all convened at the poor restaurant that had been chosen to have the ensemble alight there. There is always at least one of the family who will ask for something that is not on the menu. Saturday was no exception, one of them (and you know who you are) decided that four separate menus were not enough. "Can I have a small portion of pasta with a cheese and tomato sauce please ?" "I'll just go and ask chef" said the, shortly to become long suffering waitress. She returns "Yes that will be fine " "Thank you so much, so just a small portion... and I don't want any tomatoes in the sauce Thank You" "So pasta with cheese and tomato sauce without the tomatoes ??" "That would be lovely thank you"

So a fine night was had by all, sadly the next day it was time to take our leave and head for home. We usually travel the same route and have always been intrigued by the sign near Hartpury that advertises one of the seven wonders of Gloucestershire; the Bee Shelter. We had the time so we followed the thronging crowd down the side road agog with what it might be. H opined that it would be like a drop in centre for bees who were down on their luck, a sort of nectar kitchen, if you will. I erred towards it being where the bees stood waiting for the number 36 Bee bus.

                                      A day's entertainment for all the family

No, I'm none the wiser either.

Mens Sana in thingumy doo-dah

To get the perfect physique some people go to the gym, some run marathons, others maintain a strict diet, me, I muck out barns and stables. Yes, you can keep all your fancy cross-trainers, expensive training shoes and lycra. All I need is a wheelbarrow, a pair of wellies and a bobble hat.

My morning domain is the big barn where Rooster and Kavi spend the night, obviously I have to ensure that alll the paperwork and permits are in place before I can go into Rooster's part so I normally wait until he is out in the field. However this morning I was in a bit of a rush and while Kavi was trudging round the horsewalker I went in to do the work. At first he just ignored me as I laboured away picking up the poohs and loading up the wheelbarrow ready to take the contents to the muck heap.  I was making good progress until I heard a thump behind me.

                              "Unguarded trip hazard there mate, I've sorted it now"

So I had an especially long and thorough work out this morning, tomorrow he is so out of the way before I start. Kavi came over afterwards and sighed, I knew how he felt.

Yesterday H took his Roosterishness to a dressage competition with her chum J who had journeyed from North Wales to call out her test. For the uninitiated this is the only occasion when someone can tell H what to do without getting into trouble, as she says obscure things such as "20 metre serpentine A to K". No, I've no idea either.

 Anyway, shall we say that it was not entirely successful, a crestfallen H was discussing what went wrong with J "I wish that I could get inside his head" H sadly said. "There's plenty of room there" J bravely rejoined. Nice one.

The film version of Great Expectations has been released and, as we at BC, love a Dickens (settle down now) we can't wait until late summer 2015 when it will be showing at Ludlow's  multiplex, the Assembly Rooms. Although the cinematic experience has been a bit spoiled in the past. Last time we went you could barely hear the soundtrack for the sound of people eating canapes and uncorking bottles of champagne.

Thanks to Victoria Wood for the title.

The Eye Of The Tiger

As the weather has been pretty awful for the last few weeks we have been keeping most of our equine chums in their barn and stables overnight. As they are free roaming creatures I was a bit concerned that they might be bored. I need not have worried. I went out last night quite late on to check that they were ok, as I left the house I could hear the thump thump thump of some heavy dub-step coming from nearby. I rounded the corner and made my way to the barn but my way was barred by a pair of Door-Cats.

                                          "I'm sorry Sir, it's members only tonight"

Over Sharkey's shoulder all I could see was flashing lights and was that DJ DJ slamming the platters on the decks ? Surely not.

                                  Making sure everyone is sorted for E's and Whizz

I have to say that I was a little surprised to see the Sharkmeister on the door as she is only a small cat however this morning I caught her in one of her sparring sessions with the aptly named Rocky.

  What happens is that Sharkey sits on the fencepost, Rocky strolls over and nudges her, she then turns round and goes back on her haunches and punches him in the face. One day we will capture it on video and make a fortune.

                               "Do that one more time and you'll get a thump"

And they're off

Carly is a very friendly and indeed popular horse, at least with people who don't know him. He loves to go out on adventures, providing that they are not too adventurous of course. He has been out most weekends to various rides and hacks and is usually greeted by lots of people and new equine friends most of whom say how lovely he is. This is, to him, a good thing.

                                                   Who is a lovely boy then ?

Today H loaded him into the trailer, or Carly's conveyance as it is known, to go off for a ride around Nordy Bank Iron age Hillfort, which is about five miles from here. With a nice net of haylage to keep him occupied on his journey he was looking forward to another fun day out. When they arrived he dismounted and looked around to see who had come to see him and go and have fun. No one, nada, not a soul. he couldn't believe it. As he later said to Rocky, "There is only one Billy No mates and it isn't me"

Although his breeding was for showing we did think about racing him once. "Pah ha ha ha ". Sorry, that was Kavi showing his thoughts on that idea. As much as I love racing I'm not sure that it would be ideal for our equines. Carly would enjoy going around the parade ring whilst everyone said how lovely he was. When his jockey was up he would do his lovely extended trot down to the start before standing stock still watching all the other horses tearing off saying "Well done, good show, now where are my polo mints?" before cantering grandly back to his stable for a hard earned snack whilst congratulating himself on another job well done .

This would be seen as a great success compared with what would happen if, God forbid, Rooster was entered. First off he would have the crowd lined up in straight lines. He would be wringing his head and getting in a right state. When he went to see the first fence that would be it. He would have it coned off straight away as a trip hazard, he would herd all the horses behind the starting line until he was happy for them to leave , which would only be when all the hazards had been removed

                                  Exhausted by a long and complicated risk assessment

Finally tomorrow is the Betfair chase at Haydock, I don't know who will win but one thing's for sure none of them will be able to hold a candle to King Kauto.

                                                             Nearly as fast as Kavi

Horses and more horses first !

Aaarghh a blank page and a blog to write. how long has it been ? Oh goodness I'm sorry. Actually I'm lucky to be here at all. H and I had a day out today and got back after dark. The four horses of the apocalypse are currently occupying the NLND's field. This field is turning into an infirmary, Rooster is recovering from a poorly leg, Rocky impaled himself on a blackthorn (ooohhh), Kavi is looking sad so there must be something wrong with him too.

                                    "Baffled Veterinary science I have "

So anyway we went to collect them from the field, I put the headcollar on Kavi and led him to the gate while H assured me that she would guard the gate while I extracted the Worcester three mile chase winner. "No, Carly" were nearly the last words  I heard as the small blonde one was pushed aside and Rooster and Carly barged out bumping into me and K who reacted in a calm and measured manner for about two seconds before leaping into the air and throwing the most immense buck, I still have the burns on my hand from gripping the rope too hard. Rooster and Carly , now that they were free, trotted calmly off to the barn to await tea. I suppose that it was no good saying "I told you that this would happen".

I have become addicted to the Game of Thrones books recently, I know, I know, but one gets sooo bored with reading A la recherce du temps perdu in the original French, and lets be honest nothing much happens for about 200 pages of most Kafka novels .Anyway I have been espousing them so much that Darcy Dawg has started reading them too
Here he is explaining the plot to me.

                                     "I like the bits about the Wolves"

Ari has been busy too, this chap appeared in the barn, but sadly the Hound has no Gagnam Style and what the photo does not show is Ari attached to the guy's bottom.

                              "Sexy Sexy dogggeee ....owwwww"


I suppose that a trip to Korea is out of the question then

Here be Dragons

Tremendous excitement this evening at BC. We had just gone to the big field to collect the horses to come for their tea when we could hear a strange roaring noise from across the fields. Looking up there approached a huge, roaring, fire breathing dragon. The horses went ape. Sid had them galloping up and down the field whilst Rooster was in his element, he was doing his best "Don't panic Captain Mainwaring !" impression.

                                                          "Growl Roar Snarl"

The only one who was not bothered was the youngest, Rocky, he realised that it was tea time and strolled off to the stables for his tea, (He makes his debut in the dressage arena tomorrow) He will be doing the Walking in a straight line without falling over test.

                                           It's ok it can't see us hiding behind this tree,


Thankfully it died and we were able to bring them safely in, and we didn't even say "Get orf moi laaand" to the worried looking balloonist and his passengers.

                                                  Die Dragon Die.

Darcy Dawg and I were sitting watching the racing the other day when he said to me "Why don't you tell me any jokes ?"
I said "Well I'm not sure that you'd understand them "
"Typical anti- hound prejudice, it make me sick " he scoffed
"OK OK, I'll tell you one"
"Good, I'm sitting comfortably" he said.
"Knock Knock"
"There's someone at the door, there's someone at the door"
Sigh
                                     

Talking bullocks

Rocky has settled down well and has his hooves well and truly under the table now, he has taken on the role of ambassador to the estate. This he pursues with a rather too much fervour. Some bullocks have been put into the field at the bottom of the hill and were getting used to their new surroundings when the grey gamesmaker arrived. He soon had his head over the fence and was nodding his head in an animated fashion at the hapless bovines.

                     "We're all dead dead mad here yeah"

They were looking at each other as if they were lost in a strange place and asked for directions but had mistakenly quizzed the village idiot, he was playing them this to make them feel overawed .http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hM0fiegRbTg

Now you all know DJ, she is a smallish dog as this picture shows.

                                                     Dog, to scale.

                                          Barn door, to scale.

Why, therefore can the small dog not get through this apparently large opening without bumping into the side of the entrance ? It's hardly as if she is travelling so quick that she cannot make the corner, every time there is a dull thud as she collides with the left hand side. Why ?

On Friday H and I went to see the left wing comedian Marcus Brigstocke at the assembly rooms in Ludlow, his ire was aimed at the government and what he felt they were doing wrong. He was very scathing and rather cruel (ho ho).Whoever had booked him to play Ludlow must have hated him. Surely someone should have told him that the sitting MP has been dead for 15 years but still won the last three elections. H and I rolled about laughing....alone. Ooops. People had come all the way from Leominster to be offended

Tailed off on the farm

Countryfile is a very popular programme at Barns Cottage. We especially like watching Adam on his farm spending the licence payers' money on a new rare pig before dashing off to gas some badgers. Sharkey is one of his biggest fans and unbeknown to us she has started  her own farm.

"I demand a subsidy"

Just down the green towards the road is a fenced off part in which a few trees have been planted or so we thought. This evening whilst out with Darcy and DJ surveying the view across the rolling acres to the Fungi decontamination Barn at Haytons Bent (yes that is a real name) and enjoying the fumes from the Stoat Abattoir at Hopton Cangeford we spied our feline chum sitting on a post by this enclosure. She was wearing a pair of gaiters, chewing a piece of straw and complaining about the weather. She could only have become one thing...a Farmer. True enough she was surveying her field of genetically modified mice. She has been conducting experiments and now has huge megamice which she is fattening up for market. DJ was so surprised that she almost forgot where she had hidden the tripe sticks that she had purloined from Housemate's secret stash.

Up and coming trainer has been busy training his charges for the new season and today he entered Darcy Dawg for the 4 o clock at Pontefract. We risked a few Bonios each way but sadly he was tailed off in the last furlong. (He's on the far right)

                                         And he had got rid of jockey.

Back to the magic pin for the next bet.

Does anyone have the foggiest idea what's going on in Mr Bates green jail in Downton ? Nope me neither. The new footman has started the gay or not gay debate here. If he is gay he may be sent to prison (it was illegal in the 1920s) and maybe he could share a cell with Mr Bates and let us know the score.

Earthlings, your time has come.

The incessant rain hasn't stopped H from carrying on her rehabilitation of Rooster as he fights to regain his old ,high level of fitness so that he can resume his (almost) international standard endurance career. It has to be said that at the moment he is not fighting too hard.

 He was frightened by a parked car a couple of days ago and got his pants in a right bunch. (It was causing a parking hazard and emergancy vehicles may not have been able to gain access to the stables apparently.) So he has to have a companion to go with him

                                                   "Wot ? Me ?"

So I dragged the protesting Kavi out of his comfortable barn to partake of the morning air. As usual leaving the yard he did his impression of a French aristocrat being dragged to the scaffold during a particularly busy morning in the midst of the Revolution.

Eventually we all got going and he even stopped sighing after half an hour, (Yes he does sigh). Rooster was well behaved too and we were on the last leg coming back down the Stoke St Milborough Rd which runs alongside the gallops when the telltale thunder of hooves on the other side of the hedge warned of the approach of some of Henry's Hopefuls excersizing.

 Kavi leapt into the air suddenly galvanised by the memory of being a racehorse,it was as much as I could do to stop him jumping the hedge and joining in. He leapt and kicked shaking his head fit to bust and it took a good five minutes before he calmed down, and ten before my trousers dried. Memory is such a wonderful thing, just wait until I see a football match, I'll be on the pitch showing them what to do.

The changing season is a great excuse to renew your wardrobe and DJ has taken to modelling a new coat;

Opinion here at BC is divided, I think she has a touch of the look of Audrey Hepburn in her Breakfast at Tiffanys period, H thinks that she looks like a mangy dog in a football manager's coat and Housemate thinks that she looks like Ming the Merciless.

What do you think ?

A dichotomy

Furrgall and Sharkey are employed for one job and that is to keep the yard, barn and feed room clear of mice and other assorted vermin. Very good they are at it too, especially Sharkey.

                                           Meaning business

Just last week Iwas walking up the field having given Kavi his late afternoon polo mint when I spied the dark destroyer staring intently into the hedge. A second later she pounced and came out with a mouse gripped in her jaws, the mouse was still alive and struggling and squeaking. Without thinking I picked Sharkey up and wrestled with her to free the hapless rodent, this I eventually did and it ran off back into the bushes.

Sharkey looked at me "Why do you have a cat ? " she said "To keep down vermin" I replied, having a bad feeling about how this conversation was going. "And what do you think I was doing ?"

It is the age old argument about closing your mind to realities, would I enjoy bacon butties half so much if I had had to kill the pig? When we put elderly relatives in care homes are we happy to close our mind to any unpleasant possibilities ?

Almost existential angst on a sunny afternoon in a field in the beautiful countryside of rural Shropshire.

Anyway enough of that ,back to Downton Abbey . Well, what an exciting episode this week. The abbey is saved when Lord Grantham out pompouses Matthew about his payout from mis sold PPI, at least I think that was how he got the money

. Plain Edith suffered the fate of all plain people in period dramas when she was left at the alter by the old cripple (who only looked about 5 years older than her). But most worrying is that Mrs Hughes has been given the all clear by Dr Clarkson, a man who has yet to get a diagnosis right. If I were her I wouldn't be starting any long books.

Darcy likes long books and is already onto the second book in the Game of Thrones series. Here he is explaining part of the plot to me.

                                          "No, Joffrey is Cersi and Jamie's son, stupid"

Not the thigh,

Last week H sent me to town on an important errand. I took the Armeister with me for protection, it was really hard to find somewhere to park but eventually we abandoned the motor and headed down the alley and into the town centre. Here we were greeted by a large crowd of people who were waving flags at me. I thought that was very nice of them until I discovered that the elderly chap with his hands behind his back and the odour of tweed, silverware, privilege and faithful hound was Prince Charles. Always nice to see a member of the royal family with all their clothes on.

                                      "Mmmm Royalty, my favourite flavour"
The mixture of Royalty and Downton Abbey has gone to Carly's head. Now when people come to visit his stable he has all the other horses and dogs lined up in height order to greet visitors

                                    "How marvellous to see you, my man will take your polos "

I may have been a little blase about Ari's people gnawing activities, thinking that his actions would have no repercussions. I was rudely reminded that this was not the case when I visited the NLND last week. She graciously invited me into her house and opened the door to the lounge when her doggie Miss Molly leapt out of the room and bit me on the leg. Sadly I reacted like a subscriber to Bunty magazine demanding first aid and an operation while she was wisely saying to Gershwin that what goes around....

Provocatively self indulgent

For reasons best known to racehorse trainers, tidiness on the yard is of paramount importance. Upandcoming trainer is no exception to this and at the end of her shift the scary stable lass leaves everything ship shape and Bitterly fashion (it's a local saying) for the up and coming to come and feed the horses at about six o clock. He always looks perplexed when faced with this;

Scary stable lass also has no idea how this happens, and neither does Dave (the horse nearest the camera). Dave is apparently so stupid that with him DNA stands for Does Not Achieve. However rather like Bill and Ben of old (ask your parents) we know what goes on don't we children ?

Our old romperhound DJ loves drinking out of buckets (No I don't know why either) and despite having ample water in her run she likes nothing more than romping around the yard and testing every bucket to see if it holds drinkies.

Despite her weight loss when she leans on the buckets to check their contents they tip up leaving the yard looking like some sort of bucket Kristallnacht. You should hear scary stable lasse's language. What larks !

It appears to be de rigeur in blogs to do some sort of 50 Shades of Grey pastiche, so here is ours.

                                        Only 46 left (it has to be said that Sid is not a convincing grey though)

Budgie Smuggling time

It was excitement city central at BC last night as the new series of Downton started, more of that later.

Most of you facebookers will have seen Rooster's swimming lesson yesterday. he is getting over a poorly leg and part of his rehabilitation involved having a swim. So we had to drive him over to Henley in Arden to the equine spa. He went into the stables by the pool and thoroughly read the risk assessment, he then watched a couple of other horses go through their paces, even offering them little wickers of encouragement.

It has to be said that he was a little reticent when it was his turn to go in, I had to take the rubber ring off him , help him into his Speedos and test the water with my elbow to check that it was the correct temperature. Then, with a little encouragement, he launched himself in and, using his tail as a propeller did seven quick lengths.

Ari blotted his copybook again today (I might as well cut and paste that remark). The dog that normally barks the cage down if someone stirs in Hopton Cangeford sat tight lipped as about 150 sheep trotted past his run and invaded the yard. H shot out of the house and  addressed them in a voice I know all to well and the ovine ones soon performed a volte face and trotted out of the yard while Ari watched impassively the useless mutt.

Downton did not let us down with all our favourite characters behaving in type. Mr Bates looked mildly annoyed at doing life in jail whilst annoying Anna busied herself trying to get him out. He wants away from you Anna love. Daisy the kitchen maid went on strike without anyone noticing and a tall footman started work to the disapproval of Mr Carson. The romance was supplied when Mary and Matthew made up from some pointless argument by chatting either side of a closed door. They had their eyes closed as Matthew came into the room to kiss her, it must have been a toss up between snogging her or the adjacent lamp standard, which had the same shape and charisma.

The wedding went ahead and Mary arrived at the Church pursued by all the tenants waving flags and cheering, of course they would have been evicted if they hadn't loyally tugged their respective forelocks

Into Autumn

Just when you think summer is over it starts again. Anyway just a quick update on all here at BC. Rooster has passed about six medicals, renewed his insurance and is gently finding his way around the roads. Kavi is over his poorly tummy and is back to his normal, doleful and grumpy self.

DJ's diet and exercise regime is working well and she is only half the hound she used to be romping around the yard with a spring in her step. She spent some of the summer researching her family tree and has discovered her German foredoggers and now wishes to be called Untersturmfuhrer Helga or some such.

                                                          "Which way to the Sudetenland"

Had she used ancestrees.org.uk she may have had different results.

Sadly the scamp that is Ari has not learned his lesson over the summer and still chases people before "muzzling" them on the ankle. Nuzzling is a nice word, muzzling is altogether more unpleasant. I should never have let him buy a brindle (a canine kindle). The first book he got was A Game of Thrones and he has modelled himself on the direwolves and has become a savage direscottie.

A conversation with one of his recent victims went something like;

Victim: He just muzzled my leg
Me: Yes, sorry about that, but you went a bit close to him.
Victim: But he looked so friendly, he was wagging his tail.
Me Ah yes
Victim. But dogs only wag their tails when they are doing something they enjoy.
Me. Mmm, well he does enjoy biting people.

                                       Wag Wag, Little boy mwah hah hah

Housemate was given a book on wild herbs and flowers and has been wondering around the fields at dead of night looking to pick Woundwort or Vervain or Vipers Buglos purportedly to aid  the health of the inmates here, by the way, has anyone seen the broom ?

                                             Moonlight over Middleton

Olympic Pull Out

We're all very excited here at BC with the 'limpics starting today. DJ has her uniform ready for the opening ceremony

Rooster, as he is currently injured has decided to enter a sitting down sport as it must be better than schlepping 50 miles up and down steep hills.

                             "Where's the rowing lake ? How hard can it be ?"

In the mad spirit of giving I stood an all you can eat buffet for the inmates, Carly made straight for the grass bank

                                                 "Om nom nom nom...as they say "

                                  Ari had a slightly different menu on his mind, horrid hound

                                                               Spoiler Alert

                                                     Who is favourite to light the torch ?

                                            "Will someone strike the match for me please"

                   Surely the Three day event winner (wearing purple) Representing Middleton..

                                                                      Kavi


                                                     Enjoy the games

Old and Crippled

Well it was only a matter of time. In my last blog I noted that Carly was outraged that Rooster was poorly and getting lots of attention. So yesterday, fed up with the incessant rain, he booked himself into the Barn Hospital with a slight bit of heat in his off fore. He took up residence in the room next to Rooster and spent the night there. Trouble is that this morning he is bored and wants to go out. I predict fun times ahead with a restless grey.

                                                       "Let me out, I'm feeling better now"

Rocky is making good progress with his education and is confidently strolling around the estate, as he is still a novice he has had to have a chaperone. The burgeoning injury list has meant that our doleful ex-racehorse Kavi has had to do the job. The problem here is that, while he will happily follow anyone anywhere he is a bit lacking in confidence when he has to be the leader. Things that he has insouciently strolled past a hundred times in the past take on new terrors.

                                                   Dragons may be hiding behind here

I have been spending the summer setting up a new service for everyone where I will research your family tree. Please take a minute to have a look at the website.

http://www.ancestrees.org.uk/index.html

It was my birthday this week so H and I went to Shrewsbury for a pub crawl and very good it was too. Shrewsbury is my home town and as we were walking between pubs we passed the house where one of my Aunties lived back in the day. We were standing at the side of the house and while I was boring H (It's raining and Salopian oracle is on tap in the next pub) the guy who owned the premises came out to see what we were doing. I explained what we were doing and he was very friendly saying that he had some old photos of the terrace that i might like to look at including ones that I might recall of the flooding that took place back in the 1920s.

Thanks Mat !, we made our excuses and headed off to pub number four.

News from the wards

Whilst Rooster has carried on with his rehabilitation stoically Carly has been extremely put out by all the attention the ginge has been recieving. He has been a remarkably good boy recently acting as Nanny to a young horse over Caynham way and being Rocky's chum and playmate.

     "If you reach over reeeeaaaalllly slowly you can bite their bum before they notice"

He was intrigued to see the vet, H and Housemate huddled over what looked like a Television screen while Rooster stood in the corner of the stable. As a rule vets only come to see him. His history of ligamental and tendon weakness has meant in the past that vets and therapists have always made their way to his stable. When they arrive he does a good line in standing and looking brave while they examine him. He had one particular favourite vet in Wales that he saw so often that they almost became an item.

The vet was very good with him because ,as Carly gained confidence that he was not going to be hurt, he started to have fun with him. He would gently remove the vet's hat or his spectacles when he was otherwise occupied. This sort of behaviour might have been looked back on with fondness apart from when the vet sent a locum, who happened to be a pretty young lady. While she was bent over examining his off fore he quietly leaned back and nudged her bottom, he quickly whipped his head back round so that when the vet looked behind her all she could see was me holding his head. Her look told me that my stammered protestations of innocence were not believed.

                                                               Innocent

The highlight of Rooster's day now is his 20 minutes on the horse walker. In an attempt to make it exciting he has taken to head butting the paddles and then standing still until the one behind hits his rump when he then leaps forward tossing his head. Kavi just plods round sighing at all the fuss.

Summer Special (1)

Ok, I said that I would be closing down for the Summer but a few things have happened that I thought that I would share with you all. Firstly, as suspected, Rooster did have an underlying injury and has been stood down for the season. It is a small problem with his check ligament and should be fixed in time. He has been put on what is called box rest which means that he has to stay in and cannot go out and dash about thus risking further injury.

Rather than be left on his own in the barn he is given a room mate, during the day it is Kavi and at night Ptracci (the P is silent remember).

                                    Kavi stares balefully at the patient.

Kavi is not chuffed at this as it has seriously curtailed his nom nomming in the field. He shows this by being even less friendly than usual. At the weekend I was showing a nice Swedish gentleman the yard (managed to not mention the football result which, I thought, was very restrained of me), we had looked at Rooster while Kavi was munching away and I said to Sven (of course) "And the other chestnut is the one your sister rides from time to time.. Kavi Say hello Kavi " He turned around with a look that clearly said "F off I'm eating my haynet" Nice.

At night Ptracci takes over, much to Rooster's dismay. She chats away incessantly "OMG I've got some new hoof paint, Do you think I should wear Blue or Red  hoof paint? I said to Shelley lmao you big lezza, why are you lying down ? Can I have some of your Hay ? Do you like Frankel ? I think he's lush. Is your leg hurting ? I said to Shells you had a bad head but she said."...etc etc

Ari has been out and about and was looking in on Rooster while I explained to him what the problem was. Unfortunately Ari decided that Rooster was receiving Private Health Care "NHS not good enough for him, the class traitor" he opined. I tried to tell him that the NHS did not cater for horses, or indeed dogs either. He has now decided that his manifesto at the next election will be Free health Care for all Horses and Dogs, Sharkey gave him a nudge and he has reluctantly included cats as well.

                              "I'll have a private room please and where's the hairdresser /"
Next time; witchcraft at BC, Carly's medical problems, a new get rich quick scheme (hint http://www.ancestrees.org.uk/ ) and What the Hell happened to Summer ?