Eeeek . . .

Well if yesterday was cold, today is super cold. Everything was white and frozen.

 

Rhea wore her coat again as she has some many shaved patches, I don't want her to catch a cold. That shows how thick their own coat must be is because even with the coat, she was kind of shivering. I didn't walk too long with either of them because it was really tough although we went out at 10am.

I love this shot a lot, I think it's because of the kind of pastel surrounding. Winter weather makes color change so much.

We came back to a warm house and it's so much more comfortable. I managed to be a good girl and went to pick up a full bag of leaves on the drive, but since then I have been delaying the dreaded visit to Asda, though after I finish writing my blog, I won't have any valid excuse anymore !

 

Project 365+1 - Day 335: Asymmetry in nature

I hesitated a lot but then decided for this shot :

Take care everybody, xxx
  

WOW !

Well Lynne, I didn't get to my own bed last night as Rhea was still a bit upset, so it was sofa again. Additionally to the fact it isn't very comfortable ( we only sleep in it when my parents come and we give them our bedroom ), it's very low. Upstairs, the girls can only manage to put their head on the blankets. On the sofa, you get a cold nose on your face starting with 5:30, but when I told them to go back to bed, they behaved themselves.

Oh and something funny about your comment that pink suits Rhea ( Dennis emailed the same comment ), it made me realize there might be something wrong with my phone camera ( or you both need glasses ) because her coat is actually bright red, lol.

Today is a gorgeous day, very cold (0 degrees on the thermometer). There was even some ice in my outside bucket.

Look at the park. Isn't it beautiful ?

There were also signs of the cold there

I had a long walk with Bubbles and I must say it was really biting. She found some squirrels and ran after them. 

The tree of the ancestors is almost transparent now.

If I had one like this in my garden, I surely would decorate it with Xmas lights.

Rhea also had a walk around the block and she was happy sniffing. She is doing much better what in one way is good, but on the other one, I found her upstairs just now, so she is up to nonsense and I will have to keep a close eye on her. She has 3 times 6 stitches and I don't fancy a catastrophe !

I was really happy to come back to a warm house but actually I am in T-Shirt and absolutely cooking at my desk due to the sun shining through the window.

Before I forget I received a 25% off voucher at Hobbycraft with no minimum purchase valid until Dec 2nd. If you are interested in having one, just say so and I will PM you the Voucher through UKS.



Project 365+1 - Day 334 : Debris

Each time I see a French word in British Language, I get highly suspicious because normally the meaning has been changed. So I double checked, but this one stayed the way he was.

I needed to open a new packet of Bonio biscuits, what was ideal for today's word. These are the debris left in the girls' biscuit container.

According to them, debris or not they still taste yummy.

Take care everybody, xxx
  

Patchwork

Yesterday after not getting a call from the Vet, thanks God, I then called at 2, to know how Rhea was. They said she is fine but extremely sleepy so I probably would only get her back later afternoon. I was a bit concerned because that meant picking her up at night and during traffic hours, so they advised I call again in an hour to check on her.

She was a bit more awake at 3, so they allowed me to come. She wasn't operated by our Vet but by another Vet who is also really nice. I had to go through British humor again, because when he saw me, he said that I could start nicknaming Rhea " patchwork ". They made the decision to remove the 3 cysts ( although only one was really big ) because in case the other 2 also would grow, it wouldn't be too good to operate when she is much older and now, she was under anyway. So when I saw her, I understood the patchwork joke.

The 3rd cut I couldn't take a photo of, is under her top right paw. Poor thing.

Good news are that they did the blood test for her kidneys and the values are within the brackets, so that's really good.

When I took her back home she was still sleepy, with wobbly legs, but she was happy to be back. Bubbles had a 10 minutes madness because it became obvious she wasn't the center of attention anymore, but then she calmed down.

She understood something was going on with Rhea, even the smell they carry on them when they come out is very powerful and kind of makes me sick. She then laid down a couple of meters away and looked at her constantly.

Rhea couldn't suck her scoobidoo as she normally lays on it so she used it as a comforting cushion, bless her.

I then prepared some rice and tuna fish for her. She ate everything happily and then the world was turning round again.

She couldn't go upstairs, so I slept on the sofa. Gosh I had forgotten how uncomfortable it is. Anyway, the night wasn't too bad as I had given her some pain killers and she fell asleep pretty quickly, only waking me up a couple of times through the night.

Now this morning the fight started in order she doesn't scratch : 3 wounds and all of them being reachable by one paw or another. My luck. I threatened to put socks on her, I know she hates them, so she seems a bit more reasonable now.

I took Bubbles out to the park. It was incredibly cold but thanks God the rain stopped so the mud was a bit less. The trees started turning black and white. Winter is definitely on its way.

We got very good news this morning. Do you remember this project Dennis had to present to the Swiss government on the day his flight was delayed 4 hours and we were scared he would miss the meeting ? Well the project has been accepted and although Dennis only sent me an Email to let me know, I easily can picture him hopping up and down like a kangaroo !



Project 365+1 - Day 333 : Whole

The Vet said that Rhea still should go out for a bit of exercise, but should be kept on lead  and I had to make sure she doesn't get dirt on her wounds. I retrieved this coat that she didn't wear for years ( last time she had an op ) and it covers her whole body, so we could safely go around the block.

Take care everybody, xxx
  

Miserable

The day, my mood . . . you name it.

Yesterday I was updating my challenge hosting on the new blog that you certainly will see soon and you will understand why I chose what I chose.

I woke up at 7, managed to feed Bubbles without getting Rhea too upset. We then left at 8:15 and it took us a bit more than half an hour to drive the normally 10 minutes to the Vet. There are roadworks everywhere, pools on the road . . . I wasn't too late but there were people before us, so I only saw the Vet at 9:15. We discussed about what to do regarding Rhea. One of the cysts is to be removed. She has another 2 at 2 very different places, so we decided to only remove them if the analysis of the 1st one would show something bad. He said if he doesn't call, good news and I can get her back late afternoon.

So now I am hoping not to get a call on a phone that hardly rings anyway and of course it's the time the few people who have this phone number choose to call me.

When I left the Vet I needed to go to the bank as although the girls are insured they still cost me a fortune in excess. I then came back home and got ready to walk Bubbles, of course it started pouring down, so I had to wait a bit. We still got out under rain, but not too bad.

Eastleigh rice fields :

I surely don't look very pleased, LOL.

Bubbles had a good walk and got back dirty like anything, but at least I have one happy doggy out of two.

I was talking about the program TeamViewer a while ago, that let's you control the computer of somebody else. I hadn't seen my nieces latest photos because my parents didn't remember how to get photos out of their camera, so I helped them doing that and I could then have a look too.

Clara is 10 and a half and Margot is 14 months.

Margot recently discovered chocolate biscuits.

My brother with his second wife and Margot who is constantly in admiration towards her dad.

I unfortunately know for a fact that divorces can bring a lot of hatred and mess up the life of kids who are torn in the middle.

Well my brother's story is kind of incredible. He has a fantastic relationship with his ex-wife ( the mum of Clara ), who likes very much is 2nd wife (the mum of Margot, who also likes her very much in return ). They all come to visit my parents together,  one group from North West France and the other from Germany, so the 2 half sisters can spend time together (Clara and Margot are extremely fond of each other).
As of Margot's godmother, she is the ex-girlfriend of my brother (before his first wife) and they also all go together to visit her as they all like each other. What about intelligent relationships for a change?

Just got another call, Dennis who is worried and wanted news I don't have yet. Bless him. How am I going to survive the day ?




Project 365+1 - Day 332 : Worn

Our friend Google says :
Worn :

1. Damaged and shabby as a result of much use.
2. Very tired.

I have the perfect item for the photo. This is the trouser I use to go to the park. It normally only lasts one year as it gets extremely worn. I really don't know why this part as I don't sit down but the buttocks part is the one that gets worn the most and makes me throw away the trouser.

Take care everybody, xxx
   

British humor

Yesterday I went to our shed to get more food for Bubbles. It was raining and on my way back to the house, although I am always so careful I slid on a slab.  The food flew in the air ( not too bad as she gets trays ) and I tried hard not to follow the same fate, but acrobatics at my age is not free of charge. I managed to keep my balance but twisted my neck. I spent the rest of the day like a statue on the sofa with anti inflammatories  and a warm scarf. As I told my auntie, something I couldn't blame on Murphy as Dennis was still here !

We went to bed early and were up by 3. Happy to report that my neck is 90% back to normal ! Rhea was up and upset though she normally sleeps through. I guess she must have called but I didn't hear her.

Dennis and her have a special bond, may be because she was our first dog. Every time he leaves, he takes her face in his hands and talks to her very softly, she absolutely loves the attention and looks at him right in the eyes. Her nickname is Boubounou. It's funny because as a British person, he can't pronounce that properly. I gave it to her when we got her, it came out of nowhere but it stayed. Bubbles nickname was the little bitch when she was young, as she was a little devil, but now she is called Bibinou. The 2 words sound close but they make the difference and if I call Boubounou, Bubbles won't come. Rhea won't come whatever name you call her anyway, LOL ( excepted if it is related to something she likes ).

It reminds me a story that happened a year ago or so. I was in the park with the girls. I was calling Rhea and of course she wasn't coming. I could see she was hearing me, because for each " Rhea " , she was moving her ears. Really upset, I screamed :
" Boubounou, here. Right now ".
There was a woman passing by with her dog and she looked at me like something was wrong with me, so I said " She is very disobedient " The woman looked at me and without a smile, she said " Well, with such a name, I don't think I would come either. " When I related to Dennis, he laughed and said that's British humor. I haven't met a French person yet who understand this type of humor.

It was raining when Dennis left, thankfully not too much. It was raining when I got up and still raining when we went to the park.

If you remember a while ago the word was Dangerous and I had taken a picture of one of the flat bridges they built on the small stream. This is the other bridge.

The first bridge is probably 6 meters long, this one probably 5 meters long. If something alive falls into the river and is dragged under the bridges, it will be a disaster.

This is not the river, this is just one of the lakes, you know, where the girls are supposed to wait for me. It's 15 cms deep now :

The trees are losing more and more leaves, I think another week or 10 days, and they will be all naked.

This is what we are walking in, most of the time and it is also extremely slippery :

We came back a bit wet, but what I describe as " acceptable wet ". With this weather no wonder that my kitchen floor looks like this within seconds we are back.

Project 365+1 - Day 331 : Lonely

Google was capricious today so I had to go to Yahoo.

Lonely : Solitary; without company; standing apart; isolated

Thankfully, that's not a feeling know to me, even when I am alone. It would have been perfect for tomorrow as Bubbles will wait all day for her dear Friend to come back from the Vet. She does look lonely when Rhea is not around. but as the word is for today, I had to look around and I found this pigeon. I might as well have taken the photo in black and white !

May be he is not lonely but taking a break from an annoying partner , we will never know but as he didn't come forward to complain, let's say for now that he is lonely.
 

Take care everybody, xxx
  

Good weather previsions

Unfortunately my title today isn't to be read good weather previsions but good weather previsions, LOL.

We didn't go out with the girls yesterday afternoon either. In 12 years I can't remember having gone through a day where it doesn't stop raining for a second.

The Skyfall James Bond was really good and we both very much enjoyed it. We came back home late and it was still raining. They had announced gale force winds at midnight and they started at 11:53, Pretty accurate! I thought about taking the girls up with us, but they seemed OK, so I decided against. I should have listened to my gut feel as I woke at 1:30 becasue Rhea was crying. So I had to get up and let them come.

I got up at 8 with a spotless blue sky. At 9 we went to the park and the clouds invasion has already started.

The size of the rivers and the damages in the park are getting ridiculous now, I wonder where we are going to with that.

 
By 11 it was back to yesterday situation and pouring down again.



Project 365+1 - Day 330 : Forgotten

That's a voucher that expired a week ago. Ooops.

Take care everybody, xxx
  

A good day in the end

Project 365+1 - Day 329 : Sad

It has been and still is a miserable sad day. weatherwise.  It has been pouring down without stopping for a second.

I considered taking the girls out as I am well equipped against rain but I thought they would come back completely drenched and with Rhea's operation soon, I didn't want her to catch a cold. They were both already pretty much annoyed by the rain, just going to the garden so I decided against and we stayed home. Of course, they got bored and they surely look sad if they don't have something special to do. We played with them, but it wasn't enough.

So Dennis and I decided to brave the rain and go out to buy them some nice toys.

When we came back we certainly had their attention

and now everybody is happy again.

When we were out, we decided we could make the humans happy too, so I got these :

We bought a nice apple pie for dessert and we also booked tickets to go and see Skyfall.

Not such a sad day after all !

Oh and I caught a glance at the newspapers and they were saying that by Tuesday it would be - 15 degrees and it would last until mid December. They can't be serious ? ? ?

Take care everybody, xxx
  

Spot on

Both girls got their boosters yesterday and Bubbles got some additional meds. As of Rhea, she has a kind of cyst on her front chest since a couple of years and we check it regularly. It has now more than doubled and although the Vet doesn't think it's cancerous, he said we need to remove it as she is getting older and it wouldn't be good to have to operate when she is really old.

I knew that's what he would say but I wasn't a happy bunny anyway. I know Rhea is a dog, but she easily could be my daughter. I react badly to complete anesthetic and she does too, like it takes her ages to be back to normal, she is disoriented . . .  Anyway, it's planned for next Tuesday morning so that won't be a too nice day.

This morning Dennis needed to have his car serviced. He goes to a guy who is absolutely fantastic and does a terrific job, the only inconvenient is that his garage is in the middle of nowhere. I obviously had to come too in order for Dennis to be able to come back home and this is where we were driving.

After we came back home, I knew I had to go to the park but I wasn't looking forward to it. It's the time of the year where I start wishing I had 2 cats, well kind of , because what would I do without the girls !  But it is true that for the next couple of months, I don't enjoy anymore to go to the park as it is just awful.

That's the big river

and that's the small one close to us :

Its normal size starts on the right of the " islands ". It's really massive currently.

The park is full of mood ( you will see that in the 365+1 project ).

The trees keep on losing their leaves at an amazing speed now. That is the beautiful red one I showed a couple of times:

The sky today looked kind of apocalyptic, it was fascinating :

I took this picture as it reminded me of the take off of AirForce One in the Independence Day movie. I know I watch too much Science Fiction.

We came back home with dirty feet and dirty paws, the kitchen floor is even not to be described anymore. When did they say Spring will start again ? ? ?




Project 365+1 - Day 328 : Gloomy

Well Suzie, I don't know if you or your hubby selected today's word but one of you is plain spot on. What an end of a week we had ! I even heard we are going to get more this week-end.

That was the park this morning. Oh do I dislike that !

Take care everybody, xxx
  

You can trust seagulls

Well, the seagulls certainly didn't lie. Look at this :

The poor weeping willow doesn't look like one anymore.

The wind has been blowing all night and same this morning. Very uncomfortable walk in the park,  constantly check nothing flies in your head and obviously it is still drenched everywhere.

In answer to Viv, I don't wear a wetsuit (although if I still had mine, it would be a good idea ), but I wear waterproof boots, a rain coat and waterproof trousers (the type bikers wear above their clothes ). It only costs £15 and it does a wonderful job. I really recommend even if you don't have dogs and just want to go for a walk. It's so nice to be able to come back home dry.

Off to the Vet now. The girls need their annual booster and a check-up too.




Project 365+1 - Day 327 : Paint

I bought these a while ago because I wanted to paint my nails, but each time I am ready to do it, I break a nail and everybody has to be filed down. Only waiting since 3 months now. I guess by the time I am ready for good, the bottles will have dried up, LOL.

Take care everybody, xxx
  

Catch-up

I am not used to catch-up, it's a premiere for me. You can find yesterday's adventure is HERE.

Following our terrible day yesterday ( weatherwise ), we could see this morning it hasn't been much better here either. The park was a plain disaster, we had to walk in 3 to 4 inches of water basically everywhere and when it wasn't a paddle, it felt like a rice field.

The tree of the ancestors has almost lost all its leaves.

but some are still resisting hard

That was Bubbles' dalmatian face when we headed back and you don't want to know what the rest of her body looked like. Galloping in this mess isn't without consequences, lol.

They both got a serious wash when we came back home.



Project 365+1 - Day 326 : Crowd

The weather was so bad that anybody with a bit of common sense would stay in. I didn't spot a single person in the park, so crowds started looking like an impossible task until I spotted this one :

Older local people say that when seagulls come to land, it's the sign of an upcoming tempest ( as if we needed that on the top of it ).

Take care everybody, xxx