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