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Urgent - Foster Mum Needed...Desperate help needed for 4 x 1 week old Red Setter puppies who have lost their mother and are in need of a foster mum. They weigh approx 2lbs each so need a medium to large foster. The owner is hand rearing but as she is recovering from chemo feels unable to cope long term . Contact Jackie Roberts 01225 868574 she lives at Bradford on Avon Wilts. Please can you cross post this October 30 I Stand Corrected!Yesterday afternoon was spent wondering around town with the family, just enjoying spending time together, watching the children playing and catching up on gossip.
We popped into the Early Learning Centre for the children to try out some toys (Christmas ideas!) and for us adults to get warm! In there was a box of figures. I identified the Minotour and picked up the two headed dog. Impressing myself with my knowledge, I proclaimed that it was Cerberos, the guardian of the gates of Hades. Out of nowhere, my ten year old nephew appeared at my shoulder and announced that it couldn't be Cerberos, as he had three heads not two.
It was stated with such confidence that it was myself that I doubted, not Dan. Which meant that the first opportunity I got, I had to look it up!
I find that Cerberos is indeed most often depicted with three heads, although apparently on occasion he may be depicted with only two. So I think Dan won that round, although I was close!
Apart from that, the Health Visitor called round yesterday, she is happy that as a mum of three I do know what I'm doing with Theo, and he is gaining weight well. He is now 12lb, and is following the correct line on his chart. Which I think is outdated, but I'm sure there'll be more about that as he gets older!
Right, I'm off to get ready to go and meet Christian and Nicki, my brother and sister-in-law who are up from Crawley for a few days. October 29 Broken downLast Wednesday, as the Hubs was on his way back from the local shop, the van made an ominous clunking sound and the engine cut out. Hubs managed to freewheel the van home and left it on the road instead of the drive.
"What's wrong with it?" asks I.
"No idea" answers Hubs.
"But you're a mechanic" says I.
"It's dark..."says Hubs.
Anyway, what we discovered was that the timing belt had broken, which in turn causes damage to other parts. Add to this the fact that the van needs a new clutch and a set of glow plugs anyway, and it's starting to look like a costly repair. The van itself was due to be scrapped a year ago, but has served us well. Unfortunately, we can't afford to replace it at the moment, so it's looking like the Hubs is going to start getting the bus to work. Which hardly saves us any money, we worked out that it would cost around £60 per month for his bus travel!
Now I discover that the water pump on my car is failing, meaning firstly that the heater doesn't work as well as it should, unless you keep the revs up at about 3000rpm. Not good for fuel economy!
On another note, the frosted grass in the field was beautiful this morning, the ponies were warm with their winter coats (although I think rugs will be needed soon) and I had to break the ice on their water. By stamping on it, it was that thick. Will have to remember to put a big stick by to break it with in future...
October 25 How To...Indicate on a roundabout.
OK, so. You know those little sticks on the side of your steering wheel that make that lovely ticking noise when you flick them up or down? They are INDICATORS. They make pretty orange lights flash on the outside of your car so that people know where you are going. This is especially important on ROUNDABOUTS.
As you approach a roundabout, decide which LANE you need. DO NOT swap at the last minute. Usually, if you are turning LEFT or going ATRAIGHT AHEAD, you need to get into the LEFT HAND LANE. If you are turning RIGHT, you need the RIGHT HAND LANE. Simple, eh?
Now, this is where it gets more complicated. For turning left, if your indicator switch is on the left of your steering wheel, push it DOWN. You should see a nice GREEN ARROW flashing on your DASHBOARD. This means that OTHER PEOPLE can see you indicating. WELL DONE! If your indicator switch is on the right hand side of your steering wheel, flick it UP. The effect is the same as above.
So, now we can turn LEFT. We need to consider going STRAIGHT AHEAD at a roundabout. This, however, does not mean ploughing through the roundabout, you must still go AROUND it to continue on your straight course.
When continuing straight on at a roundabout, it is NOT necessary to indicate on your approach to the junction. It only becomes necessary to use your indicator as you approach the EXIT that you wish to use. Then, as above, you must indicate LEFT to leave the roundabout.
Now for the more difficult manoeuvre. Turning RIGHT. On your approach to the roundabout, use the right hand lane, as stated above. INDICATE RIGHT. This will be UP if your indicator is on the left of your steering wheel, and DOWN if it is on the right. Do remember that the flow of traffic around a roundabout always travels CLOCKWISE. That is, towards the LEFT. DO NOT turn right onto the roundabout. As you are indicating RIGHT, turn LEFT with the flow of traffic. Go all the way around the roundabout to the exit you wish to use and indicate LEFT.
Do not forget to CANCEL your indicator if it doesn't happen automatically. You will know if it has cancelled because the clicking and flashing from the dashboard will have ceased.
Indicators are also for use at other JUNCTIONS, such as GIVE WAY signs and SLIP ROADS. Also use when changing lanes on MOTORWAYS or DUEL CARRIAGEWAYS.
If you indicator appears to be clicking and flashing at DOUBLE IT'S NORMAL SPEED, you may need to replace a BULB. This will mean that one or more of your orange flashing lights on the outside of the car is not working, and will likely lead to you being SWORN AT by other road users as if you were not indicating at all.
Next time you leave a roundabout without indicating, spare a thought for ME, because it's probably ME sitting at the next exit waiting to get onto the roundabout...
:) October 24 The Doris Banham SanctuaryYesterday I met a man who works tirelessly to save dogs on death row. Dogs that are picked up by wardens are only given one week to be rehomed or reclaimed before they face being put to sleep. This man, and others like him, drives a van around collecting these unfortunate animals and trying to buy them some more time. Some go to sanctuaries such as Thornberry while others are put up in boarding kennels, paid for with whatever donation come in, sometimes an extra day or two can be bought with a few spare blankets and a bag of dog food.
The Doris Banham Sanctuary has no kennel block of it's own, relying instead on other sanctuaries, foster homes and permanant adoptive homes. Their funds are running out as they have no time for fundraising; every spare moment is spent saving lives.
Take a look at their website, and if there is anything you can do to help, please do. I have met one of their success stories, and it is hard to believe that such a wonderful dog was due to be put down on the very day she was rescued.
October 23 Catching UpAs most of you guessed, yes, I have been back on my steed. Not with the approval of my physiotherapist or doctor I might add! However, the Hubs saw that I was going to go crazy if I didn't go riding soon, and took charge of the children for an hour. Winston was a star, he enjoyed his little jaunt (neither of us were up for going far!) although Alfie threw himself around the field in protestation of being left behind.
I visited Thornberry Sanctuary yesterday, and sorted the paperwork for Archy, who was still listed as being on trial with me! He's now signed over, and is settling very well. We have some problems, not least is the food issue, but he is still young and will learn. Jasper is very tolerant towards him, it's almost as if he understands what Archy has been through.
I discovered that Archy had a brother who was somewhat calmer than him, so in their first home (before Thornberry) Sooty was allowed to live inside, while Archy was kept outside. This explains why he cries whenever I put him out and shut the door behind him. Archy is still learning that both the dogs will get fed every day, usually around 6pm, and he doesn't need to steal or fight Jasper for meals. But as I say, Archy is settling and we have realised that he just needed someone to give him a chance. He will turn out to be a really nice dog.
Theo is still growing and growing, he is now 11lb 6oz. He's doing everything he should be, but I did spend too long this morning trying to explain that 4am is not playtime...
Hannah is about to be upset, she won't want to be on holiday next week as she enjoys school too much, and Louis will miss his toddler groups. I hope the weather is reasonable so we can wrap up warm and go on some nature walks. October 21 Autumn RideThe creaking of leather and
The smell of warm horse;
Steaming, blowing.
Mist rising through damp trees and
The colours of fallen leaves;
Gold and red.
The sun hanging low in the sky,
Feathery clouds;
Rolling, tumbling.
Animals collecting food in
The undergrowth;
Whispering, scurrying.
A feeling of being free.
The joys of
An Autumn ride.
(C) R.N.
October 18 Busy Mum, Again!Yesterday was Hannah's friend's birthday party, and Pink Day at school. Which meant I had to run around desperately the night before trying to find some pink trousers for Hannah as she doesn't have any.
If I was willing to buy 'Barbie' clothes for her, I would have been in and out of the shops in minutes. But I hate 'Barbie' with a passion. In a world where people complain about models setting a bad example for young girls, they still allow them to play with a stick thin, big breasted parody of a woman. Would you want your child to aspire to this?
We eventually settled for some Lonsdale trackie bottoms as she will actually get some use out of them in the next few months.
The party was great, the kids enjoyed themselves, with a few organised games and lots of dancing. There was food galore, mostly pink, and chocolate cake with pink Smarties.
As for me, it was nice to let the kids enjoy themselves while I chatted to new friends and had a giggle. I have been invited on nights in and nights out, and a meeting with a medium. I think I'm starting a new phase of my life, and I think I'm liking it.
Yesterday was also a hairdresser day for me. No, I wasn't brave enough to get something done with my hair, I attacked Momma with scissors and hair dye. I haven't seen the finished result yet because before I had time to dry her hair it was time to pick Hannah up from school and I had to kick Momma out!
My big little brother (don't ask lol) takes official possession of his new boat today, it's so exciting! That's it now, I'm never going to see him or Rachael on a weekend again!
Oh well, they deserve it, they both work hard enough in the week to enjoy some time to themseleves at the weekend. October 17 I'll be your shelterIn times when you’re troubled
Seems more than you can afford And you feel, you feel you need a friend Someone to share the load And when your skies grow cloudy I want you to know got a friend that’s true Just like a shelter, in a time of storm I’ll see you through, that’s what I’ll do When your dreams are scattered Just like the wind blown sand And you feel, you feel you need a friend I’ll be there, reach out your hand And when the tempest is raging I want you to know got a friend that’s true Just like a shelter, in a time of storm I’ll see you through, that’s what I’ll do I’ll see you through your bad times I’ll see you through your fears I’ll see you through your hang ups Honey I’ll dry all your tears And when the tempest is raging I want you to know got a friend that’s true Just like a shelter, in a time of storm I’ll see you through, that’s what I’ll do I will see you through, I will see you through I will see you through, I will see you through When my load got heavy, did you see me through When my load got to hard to bear, did you see me through What would you do, what would you do What would you do, what would you do If you’re living on the dole and there’s no sugar in your bowl All you need to do is give a little knock Don’t despair he’ll be there with his loving and his care Marx will work for us right around the clock He’s alright, he’s alright He’s alright, he’s alright I love this, I had it as the first dance at my wedding, but have struggled to find the Housemartins version anywhere since.
Enjoy! October 15 Wake up to the NWOIt's a long one, but please watch it.
Make a stand, and bring them home now.
Share the video, and spread the word. So Much To Do!We have taken possession of a lovely new field, all that remains is to sign the paperwork and pay for the privilege! The ponies are going to be so happy in there with lots of grass, lots of space and trees to shelter under. It even has a shed for those cold winter nights and a hose to connect to a communal tap, although that gets turned off in winter. There is also vehicular access, which means no one has to trail up and down any HUGE hills to get hay to the boys! All in all things are going to be much easier now, and I can soon get on with riding Winston, which I can't wait for!
Theo is still growing well, although as we were doing repairs to the new field at the weekend his routine was a little disrupted and we're not quite back to feeding at appropriate times. This meant I became a little disillusioned with breastfeeding in the last couple of days and wondered if it would be worth putting him on a bottle. But I really don't want to do that yet, I'm just tired and occasionally it catches up with me. I did try him on a couplle of ounces of formula yesterday, as he seemed to have been attached to me for most of the day and I couldn't cope anymore. He showed his disapproval by refusing to drink it (I know he'll use a bottle because I have expressed before). Eventually the Hubs convinced him to drink the 2 ounces, but by the time he'd finished he wanted Mummy's milk too! Then he had tummy ache all night so I don't think it's going to be worth trying to change him over yet.
Archie is sitting outside my back door yapping in a pathetic, almost terrier way, because he doesn't like the rain. And now Theo is crying because he's hungry again. Louis will be hungry too, he's always hungry. Growing little boys...
Right then, off to sort them all and then toddler group this afternoon! October 12 Green Eyed MonsterIt had to come at some point didn't it? And I was quite prepared for the green eyed monster showing up. But it didn't quite take the form I expected...
As I was parked on my bed yesterday morning, feeding the baby yet again, this monster showed up. It climbed onto the bed and immediately began pushing and nudging at me to get me to put baby down and share my attention. I had expected this behaviour from Louis, but no. Hannah then? Not her either. No, this really was a green eyed monster, the only one in the house with green eyes.
Mehitabel.
Unfortunately for her, Theo was quite entertained. And newborns have this amazing ability to grab onto anything within reach, but not to let go. Her tail was within reach. Not to be deterred from her mission, Hettie decided the best place to get attention would be on top of the baby. I decided the other side of the room might be a better option...
I made some time for her after Theo finished his feed, and now she has warmed to him slightly. As long as her tail is out of reach!
 October 10 Thinking AloudIn reply to a couple of questions from yesterday, yes it is local kids with nothing better to do that vandalise the field and let the ponies out. And as for the lady across the road that calls me, she is terrified of the ponies! Winston is very stubborn too, not very many people can move him, including the police
 .I was up at the field at 7pm yesterday, has anyone noticed how dark it is at that time? All I could see of Winston was his blonde mane bobbing across the field towards me, and Alfie, being black, was nowhere to be seen. In actual fact, he was just behind Win. His snorts let me know where he was, he has a habit of blowing down his nose as a kind of greeting to people he knows.
Theo is asleep on my lap after yet another feed, and I have just noticed that the feet on his baby grow are a little small for him. Must get him changed, I don't want him growing up with squished feet! I have more pictures of him, but don't want to put too many on for fear of crashing everyone's computers!
Louis is happily going through all the junk mail that comes through form supermarkets and making me a shopping list. Apparently we need more juice, some buns and an apple. Not that 'apple' was singular...
I attended my first parent's evening on Wednesday, a 5 minute meeting to learn that my daughter is bright and happy, but occasionally away with the fairies. So tell me something I don't know.
Think it's time for coffee, although not sure if coffee goes well with paracetamol? My headache is starting again, and I want to stop it before it get to the stage it was at the other day, with me feeling so bad I was shaking. All because I kept forgetting the paracetamol from upstairs! Blonde moments...
October 09 Naughty Boys...Since I mentioned the ponies in my last (?) blog, I was asked what they have been up to this time. Well, I had a phone call at 7am the other morning, from the lady who lives across the road from our field. Very apologetically she told me that she thought my ponies were out and one of them was chasing a dog. As this didn't sound like my boys, I thought it might have been Charlie and Roscoe from the next field (also a black horse and a chestnut horse) but I decided to go and sort it anyway as I know no one can ever get hold of their owner.
Lo and behold, on turning onto the road, I spotted Winston, munching grass on the verge, and Alfie, conversing with some of the other ponies. I grabbed a headcollar and led Winston up the verge int he direction of our field, while Alfie followed on behind. I'm not sure how far he can see so every time he started lagging behind I had to call him on, but he managed to keep up quite well and made it down the path just behind us.
Now, when a horse decides it is getting out of it's field, it breaks down the fence and gets out. it does not break the fence down in two places, that would be a waste of energy. and it does not take the electric fence posts with it and spread them in the next field. So I guess the boys had a bit of help getting out. It was just fortunate that it happened on the day that the Hubs was going into work late because I was registering Theo, and the Little Man had already had his feed so I was free to sort it all out. It took me an hour to do but I got back in time to finish sorting the kids for school etc.
Very quickly, on another note, Theo has been weighed again today. Taking into account that he was 8lb 4oz when he was born and put on 7 oz in 6 days to be 8lb 11oz at his last weigh in, I was expecting him to be around 9lbs this time. The midwife frowned at me, looked back at the baby and said, "no chance". Hmmm, is that a good or bad thing? She lifted him onto the scales, and there it was. Proof that breast is indeed best. Ten pounds! Theo is 15 days old, and has put on a whopping 1lb and 12oz already. I'm going to need bigger clothes, bigger nappies... October 06 Here we go...Right then, here's what'seen going on...
I won't go into gory details about the labour, suffice to say I beat my old record by more than a day, this one took a mere 21 and a half hours. Hospital was busy, busy, busy and I was screaming before they would let me onto the labour ward for more than co-codamol. I was in labour, I didn't have a headache!
Theo was born with the cord wrapped tightly around his neck, not breathing. That's both the boys that have done this to me. It's really not nice to deliver a baby that won't cry. No making up for it now though, Little Man hardly cries at all. Unless I'm too slow to feed him of course.
We had to stay in hospital an extra 24 hours, as I was not given enough antibiotics to treat my Strep B, despite having been in hospital all that time. Also, Theo's body temperature dropped down to 34.7 degrees so he was very closely monitered.
All is well now though, and he is putting weight on very nicely.And now he's hungry again. Typing may go wonky as I feed him!
So that's how he came into the world, enjoy the pictures I have put up, I may even get round to captioning them at some point.
On another note entirely, I had a very interesting Sunday yesterday. It started out with a ride on the back of Jim's motorbike, a Kawasaki ZXR 1200, is that right, Highlander? My apologies if not. Anyway, it's a bit quick. Nothing like the only other bike I've been on the back of, a Royal Enfield Continental GT 250.
Then, once I had recovered my balance on land, we took off down to Lincoln to see the boat that my brother and sister-in-law are buying. Very nice. Think we'll be asking to borrow it! I should have taken some pictures but I forgot. I should be able to get hold of some in a couple of weeks.
So there we are. Theo is official as from this morning when we dashed down to the register office for 9.30am, but not before rescuing the ponies who were once again wandering the streets. Safe and sound now though, more about them soon.
I'm off now, I have a very smelly little boy asleep on my shoulder...
. October 05 Thank youOnce again I owe my thanks to Jim and Momma. Last night I borrowed Jim's computer to tax my car, only to find that I had forgotten to bring my purse with my cash card in it. Momma to the rescue and car is now taxed. Jim also lent me the money to pay my broadband bill so I'm back online!
Right, more tomorrow, because the Hubs is watching Harry Potter with the lights off and I really can't see what I'm typing.
Will try to upload photo's instead.
Thanks for all your comments and concerns, I will try to get round you all in the next few days.
Night all xxx October 04 2 Second BlogBecause thats all the time I have!
Theo is doing very well, and fitting in with our routine, more or less. The kids dote on him, and can't keep their grubby little fingers to themselves.
He was weighed at 6 days old, and had already put on 7 ounces. Not bad going!
I have lost all my pregnancy weight and more, I am now down to the weight I wanted to be. Lucky me, must be all the feeding I'm doing. Theo sleeps well at night, but I'm the naughty Mummy that allows him to sleep in bed with me.
Thank you for all your messages, I hope to be back online on my own computer soon, but I'm afraid the broadband bill was not a priority!
Thanks to Jim for letting me use his computer when I need it. xxx |
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