Things I Can And Can't Repair

I learnt a couple of new things yesterday.

Firstly, according to the veterinary nurse at her jab booster appointment yesterday, Daisy is chunky and we need to keep a very close eye on her weight. Her weight was 28kg which is on the top of average for a 1 year old labrador. Probably due to not as many walks during the school summer holidays, a week at the kennels eating and not running around the house as she normally does. I really need to measure her food and not use a gram more than she should have. I have been doing this though and she isn't fed treats and titbits all day. Must check it again. This is something I can repair though through responsible ownership.

Personally I don't think she looks chunky. This photo shows off her profile a bit clearer and she definitely has a waistline plus her ribs can be felt easily.

One thing I can't repair is my tumble dryer. I bought a new thermostat for my poorly ickle machine but it was having none of it and promptly blew up. A new one is on order and hopefully *fingers crossed* it will be here in 3 working days. I was amazed how technology has changed in the 4 years since I bought my old one. Apparently now they can sense how dry your clothes are and stop as soon as they are either iron dry????, cupboard dry????, hanger dry or bone dry. I have no idea what iron dry means - ready to iron so still a bit damp, cupboard dry I am assuming must mean they are dry and ready to put away in a cupboard ie bed linens, towels etc. This is the one I have gone for.

So my lessons learnt on Friday 4th September are that my dog is chunky and needs to lose a bit of weight and that repairing an appliance is not always the better option. Oh and that technology changes rapidly.

Lessons Learnt

My lesson learnt for 2nd September is that boys are so much easier to shop with for school shoes than girls. I must admit I was very tempted to get my phone out and take a pic of the 'diva' near us in the shop surrounded by piles of boxes of shoes and none were 'right'. My boys didn't care as long as they fit and they were school shoes. Hush Puppies are a fab alternative to Clarks as they fit them and won't sell shoes for kids to you unless they are fitted properly by one of their staff.

Lesson learnt today (3rd September) is that our new hospital is opening at the beginning of the year and walking past it this morning I found out where the new emergency department is going to be situated. Always handy to know especially when you have kids.

I also learnt that an umbrella is useless in the wind and that loose paving stones are mud hazards that spray mud all over your shoes and jeans. Not a good look when you are just about to go see the paediatrician.

Learn Something New Everyday

I have signed up for a scrapbook class in the hope of getting myself a big kick up the backside into actually doing some scrapping for a change instead of just looking at it.

The class is Learn Something New Every Day by Shimelle.

The general idea is to learn something new about yourself/your surroundings every day.

My learning yesterday was something I wasn't really expecting. A broken teenager's brace over the weekend meant a phone call to the dental hospital yesterday morning after the bank holiday. Having no car this week meant having to use public transport and our legs. I absolutely hate buses, they are smelly, stomach churning and for some reason despite the sun blazing through the window they had the heating on yesterday making it even worse. (yes I'm a snob).

What I wasn't expecting though was how often they run and how refreshing it was to walk the distance to the hospital instead of just getting out of the car and walking 5 minutes to the appointment. The walk seemed to take forever in the hot sun but yes I enjoyed it.

Coming back was like a different season - the heavens opened, the winds were bordering on gale force and it was thundering and lightening. Despite not having raincoats for any of us and getting soaked and blown about I actually enjoyed the walk back to the bus station. Even the bus didn't seem that bad.

Pic taken with my phone while I was walking so very blurry.

My lesson for yesterday was not to rely on using the car all the time and the alternatives can be pleasant if you allow them to be.

Road Tripping

Been on a bit of a road (and sea) trip to the Isle of Wight. It was a blustery few days but enjoyable all the same.

Here are a few pics of our time there. A bit out of order because blogger is having a funny turn.

Me having a paddle at Sandown

This is about as good as it gets when you are trying to get pics of teenagers. We definitely don't do posing anymore.

This was the ferry home. Think it must have been sponsored by Ikea.

Red Eagle ferry there

The Needles. We went there for the sunset but a big bank of cloud prevented us from seeing anything. There was an amusement park there but it was all closed up for the night. It was a bit spooky - kind of like Scooby Doo. There were also 100 and something steps down to the beach according to a sign and that was my original vantage point for the sunset looking onto the needles. The tide was in though so there wasn't much point going down.

A hovercraft at Ryde on it's way back to the mainland.

All I can say is thank goodness our car wasn't one of those. It doesn't look it from the picture but it was a very blustery crossing and those cars were wobbling about all over the place. The captain said it was gale force.

One Year On

Today it is a year since we picked Daisy up from the breeder. She has grown rather a lot, learnt rather a lot, loved a lot, provided me with lots of hair to clean up and produced the most disgusting of smells but she has certainly fit into the family.

Just a year ago she was a tiny little bundle of blonde fur

now she is a much bigger bundle of blonde fur

This layout is one I did a couple of weeks ago.

and a Steggie update ~ back and fronts are done and part of one sleeve

It is also a year ago today that my grandad died so pinched from here is this picture of a poppy