not much of anything

No Blogging for days , in fact on reflection not much of anything for days .... nothing except coughing , blowing the nose , taking sudafed and headache pills in various strengths and juggling between this one and that one , trying to work out is this a migraine or a sinus pain or a rebound headache or blah blah .... its boring which is why I wasn't blogging .



And apart from that trying hard to keep going at the Day Job , and just about managing , ....



Dogs seem to have an inbuilt sense of when its raining . Alice has two mornings running scampered to the top of the stairs( where the stair gate stops her coming any further to give the cats some privacy ) to raise me as usual at five thirty am , for me to stumble down pulling on the thickest bathrobe as I go , tripping over cats on the stairs , to find she has already lemonaded on the sitting room carpet ... rather than go out into the drizzling rain in the yard . pah ! !

I have several comments , if she has to do this , why not at least let me sleep on , so that at least I get the benefit of a slight lie in ( she likes her breakfast at six anyway ) .....

furthermore if she really cant hang on , or cant bear to go out , why not widdle on the wood floor . At least two thirds of the floor area downstairs is wood , with two carpeted areas , and where does she chose ? Double Pah !



Ah , but when I give her a Look , she looks so chastened ....and draws herself up very small as if to say , " I know but look at me , I'm a teeny little greyhound really . "



And later , this afternoon , after work when I took her to the beach and she played Silly Dog , fleeing after nothing and crashing into me and wagging that big skinny tail , she looked as if she was saying where would you be without your big daft greyhound .

And shes right really .

I can still look ....

Though I'm not buying clothes , it still being only twelve days into January and thus nowhere near the end of my New Year s Resolution , I can still look . This blissful coat , not at all my usual style , caught my eye ....Duffle Coat from Celtic Sheepskin

Miserable Git

Am I the only one finding it hard to write at the minute . Harder and harder in fact , to write , to do anything ? I didn't even manage Alice's walk this morning . The hacking cough , which gets worse when I'm upright and outside in the cold ( conversely hardly troubles me at all when lying flat watching a dvd or in the warm bed , preferably with a paper or a book ) , the difficulty I had dragging myself back up the hundred odd steps off the beach up the cliff side yesterday at nine am when the temperature was five degrees higher , and then D saying to me " you go back to bed , I ll take Alice out " , all came together in a wonderful conspiracy to get me back up those stairs .
Later in the day I vacillated between the various plans we had considered and eventually yes , the bed won . Yet even when D brought me a second newspaper and a kit kat , I couldn't be shaken out of my Miserable Git feelings . Largely underpinned by fear ( I fear ) as the cough bears a striking resemblance to the one of last Winter which succeeded in breaking four of my ribs ( How did it do that ? Do I have an underlying condition like osteoporosis ? These are thoughts that flash through my mind but seem not to trouble the medics who have examined my medical records and x ray results . Thus was it ever ? ) and threatening my job in the process. Coupled with the fact that there has not been a day since New Year's Day when I havent had a headache , albeit most of them chased with pills and tablets , but disheartening non the less .

I've concluded that staying in bed never did anything to lift the mood , and am now plotting ways to raise the spirits .
I have a feeling that until this streaming cold and cough move on , and the headache gives up the ghost , the Miserable Git may take some shaking off .

The seal pup has gone from the beach ...

... but look at me , I'm quite cute here parked up on the sofa . The seal pup CatCalls: Seal pup on the beach , King Edward's Bay Tynemouth was gone yesterday and none of the local news reports mentions it so we assume it went safely back into the sea , though maybe thats just us and wishful thinking .

Seal pup on the beach , King Edward's Bay Tynemouth

We have a very perceptive greyhound . The beach was deserted this morning . This usually means that after a shifty look around when Alice ascertains that all 's clear and there are no Big Nasty Dogs out there just itching to get at her and bite off her head ( or worse ) , she will happily flee after balls , seaweed or all manner of things thrown for her ( though admittedly she doesnt really do Fetching yet , though occasionally she will shock us by landing at our feet complete with ball , drop it at our feet and sit waiting for a reward . She maybe has played with a ball at some stage .....

I digress. The sea was calm , the tide far out . I was streaming with cold and coughing to boot so had left the camera behind ( this becomes relevant later ) , but we had a great walk . the temperature was recorded as three degrees but with no wind , it was considerably warmer than yesterday , or the day before .

But ... there was something not right with Alice and as we headed up towards the hundred and odd steps to leave the beach , D commented that something was not right , that she was not relaxed . She then headed off over in the direction of what looked like a washed up plastic bag or a pile of debris washed ashore .

As I walked closer I felt my heart start to sink , as the thing began to take on some sort of shape . Way too big to be a body .... but ..... there was something about it . A dead dog maybe . ? Alice was getting closer and keener . And as I looked at it I saw it move , then realise a head was trying to raise itself . Worst nightmare , the body of a baby or child washed up by the waves ? I shouted to D " its moving " and as we ran closer , relief and wonder ..... a baby seal .

As Alice poked it tail end with her nose it was trying to raise its head to look round at her . D approached it and it made a baby snarling noise at him , showing its teeth .

We stared in amazement , wondering what next ? It loooked fit and healthy but a long way from the water 's edge . As we wondered what to do , call the vet , the coastguard , the RSPCA , a car appeared on the cliff tops and drove as far as it could down the ramps towards the sea , lights flashing . Oh Joy ... someone else , hopefully someone who had been called out already and would know what to do .

A man appeared and explained he was a marine mammal medic , was keeping an eye on it and the pup was fine . It had been examined , was fit fat and well , had taken a pounding probably in the high seas overnight and was now resting and sleeping on the beach . Once rested it would make its way back into the sea and all would be well . He was clearly posted to prevent people like us , well meaning but possibly trying to move it and upsetting it in the process .

We were thrilled to see such a beautiful baby at such close proximity . The one day of all days I had picked the camera up then put it down again . D had his phone camera but ....the quality is less . Its fur was indescribable . Various shades of grey , soft and thick . The baby looked warm and soft and very much like a baby . Seals I've seen before have looked sleak and shiny , their fur like rubber wet suits .

The delights of living by the sea , turning out to walk a greyhound on a damp morning in January . You can't beat it .

Clutter Clearing ?

Almost over but not quite , the poinsettia is still good .

And look at this , spurred on by the clearing of the tree and the decorations , I've cleared away at least part of the "things " that usually clutter the fireplace , almost without thinking . There was no big build up . I didn't make a Resolution about it ( For unusual Resolution this year see CatCalls: Socks and Things ....), didnt plan or put if off for ages . Just took the tree down and went for it .
So far so good .

Hmm my link isnt working . Oh well at least I tried . Back to the drawing board .

Well several hours later , Ive made the link work the way I always did . Oh well ....

I hate Christmas ...

...... When its all over .....Black bauble spotted on a tree in the foyer of Malmasion in Newcastle when we met C and N there to celebrate our joint birthdays all coming in December ( D now has an honorary one shared with N on Dec 2nd . )


Our own tree has now been dismanted at a fast pace , leaving a clear corner which I am wondering how to fill ( possibly a new state of the art cat house climber thingy the proper name of which escapes me , though it strikes me that with the cats still spending not a lot of time downstairs , we may also need an additional downstairs cat / kitten to make it a worthwhile purchase . )

I can tell you that Roomba s do not seem to be much in demand in UK . They are not advertised yet , nor are they available in the mainstream department stores , though the first generation is there in John Lewis . But my sister texts me to say the Mail on Sunday You magazine ( which I am sure she has purchased for its free Brideshead dvd ) is today advertising a Roomba alongside an ad suggesting the reader take some time to relax .
And not five minutes earlier I had said to D , you mark my words , this time next year the whole country will be dossing on the sofa while the Roomba does the work . Or at least if not , there will be articles and ads about them everywhere .