Friday 30 May 2008

May Blog Part One

Good Evening One and All

It's a short blog tonight but one of two so watch this space. My mistress and I have been looking at putting pictures on the blog and have got so far but now have run out of steam. We hope to have pictures on Sunday

Its been an interesting week though. At the begining we all watched a drama documentary discussing what would happen if the human race disappeared off the face of the earth. Dogs apparently would be the first to suffer. It was so depressing that my mistress and I left Himself to watch it. Crashed out on our respective beds we had a long chat about the awfulness of humans to animals. Since the credit crunch more and more domestic pets are being got rid of. It is hard to understand logically and almost impossible emotionally. (Bernie came to join us - he was able to get onto my mistresses bed. Because he is of a different world now, he doesn't leave dog hair anywhere!!)

After asurring me yet again she would never leave me we turned onto more general things such as my new bed, one we could fit in the washing machine more easily. My diet is getting better with her cooking although the real problem is - I don't like the medicine she and Himself put into it. My mistress said what was I complaining about, she had to drink aloe vera to make sure she stayed well and that was truely foul. (It works well though, she takes it for migrains and has only had one in the last three months -truely a record). We have come to a compromise though - meidcine with a prime bit of beef cooked to my taste.

I took the opportunity to ask why she was so nutty about quite ordinary things such as birds herbs and flowers. She explained that as a child and young adult life had been so fast and complicated she had not had the time or encouragement to notice more simple things in life. In her family city life was much more exciting and really anything to do with nature was pushed aside. Now she is just getting used to the excitement of watching such things as ants at work carrying a leaf home and like all converts - she wants to share it - with everyone

She's off again. Hopefully we will be bringing you pictures of the dog roses that have burst out everywhere locally. They are absolutely exquisit being creamy white with a hint of pale pink on the petals

Ah excuse me, dinner time and I'm starving -as usual

TTFN

Samwise

Friday 23 May 2008

The Wise Woman Of the Town, The Wise Man of the Woods And Gentle Mistress Blue

Hello, Hello, Hello

Well we have just come back from a damp walk in the local field. I had to push my Mistress off the sofa for a trot after hearing of the terrible events that happened to Mistress Blue. I find walking a good way of getting my Mistress to settle her thoughts. In many aspects it is a scrub land out there but with the steady tread of our feet and the constant chorus of bird song to accompany them it makes thinking much easier in such circumstances

We were going to try for pictures on the blog today but in light of what has happened these seem minor things that can wait. Since this evening Mistress Blue and my mistress have decided to have a telephone one to one in a little while in the meantime my mistress and I will be practicing taking photo's for you all to see. While I think about it, our greetings to Archie and Agather. Archie is working on smell o vision a fine cause for a blog - and a dog!

Mistress Winter and I have been sitting quietly thinking of Mistress Blue hardly knowing how to express our feelings of horror at the events and sympathy to our dear friend. Like many of you Mistress Winter and I have known such a dark side of life. Some like me were born into it others fall into it.Most of us manage to get out of such times and places but others never do and they are the ones who often attach themselves in one way or another to such gentle souls as my Mistress Blue. There are few things sensible that one can say at such times but only extend our affection to help and protect Mistress Blue as much as possible.

Photo's have made an interesting dimension to our walks these days. Until now my mistress has never been that interested in taking pictures. Unless of people or events, my mistress finds that scenic pictures quite often only interests those who have taken them for they have particular memories of such places.In the last week though we have been out taking photos and learning lessons about such matters. The first of these is, if you are going to take photos for others to see then you need an actual camera, not as in my mistress's case a phone. She managed to take some photos of the secret bit of herb bed in the park and some of the park itself and some of me but a phone doth not a camera make!. The second lesson we found was that taking photos actually make you look at what you are taking. When Mistress Winter described the herb bed to me, such was her excitement that it seemed much fuller than it was. Looking at the photos of it, it was not half as impressive. My mistress was tempted to do a little furtive gardening of her own there - I would help with the digging of course. We'll have these pictures with you soon.

Our walks this week have been most helpful for calming my Mistress's mind in such busy times -and make my life calmer too for like all dogs I pick up on my Mistress's worry in a way only animals can. You will remember last weeks Friday walk, I forgot to tell you the fascination of watching a thrush bashing seven bells out of a snail that my Mistress found which was only tinged a little with some regret for the snail. The relief of mind just watching this tiny bird so intent on his meal was something new to my Mistress. It made her more awhere of birds than she had ever been before. So much so that for a few minutes standing somewhere, so mundane as a bus que in town, she watched a pigeon pecking away on a dropped cookie. The biscuit was too big for the bird to fly away with but so sure he was to make the best of this excellent meal that he went at it again and again, strutting away when people dashed by disturbing his work and then darting back to peck at it again. For a few minutes my mistress told me that she was completely fixed by this birds absolute determination to get this food. When she looked up again for her bus she felt that she had actually rested.

Something else to think of. Where my mistress works she meets many many people,.Most good and ordinary, some difficult and demanding others just plain bonkers, it's the way of the job but just occasionally she meets someone who is truly magical. This was so with a young man who walked in with a calm all of his own. He asked for some herbs that my mistress served him and as she did so he spoke of the neckless that she was wearing. My mistress often wears a little pendent of The White Horse of Uffington, a great carving made thousands of years ago into the chalk hillside of, I think Wiltshire. Such a place is older than old with a wisdom that cannot be described only felt when there. The writer Terry Pratchet sums up the carving beautifully by describing it as the movement of a horse rather than the physical accuracy of a picture of a horse. While looking at this pendant the man suggested that she was a wise woman and seemed surprised to find such in the city. My mistress smiled and said you could find such folk everywhere if you looked hard enough. The man said that he lived near the great horse in the woods there and could never live in the town. I know that my mistress has always been a towns woman but for one brief moment something far older in her soul that had walked the hills and wood of her land looked out at the wise man of the woods and the soul of the woods man nodded back in acknowledgement - for one perfect moment there was understanding. Then he smiled, paid his monies and left. No romance, no flirtation just that split moment of encounter that leaves one quiet for a while. Please note, all those who are reaching for matches as I tell you this that my Mistress has only one god and that is God.

Well that is it for this week. I am off for my usual pre sleep nap for this evening

TTFN


Samwise

Friday 16 May 2008

Good Evening All

Well here I am sharing the sofa with my mistress I am by her feet and Bernard (you know my big St Bernard cross friend who passed over) is sitting behind her. It has been an exhausting week and today has been no different. It is not bad, just exhausting. My mistress came in looking grey this afternoon muttering that there was too much to do so we sat her down with a cup of tea and a snuggle.

Then I persuaded her to come out for another trot, this time to relax. We went for a stroll around the local park which is both beautiful and comforting. It was designed in the early 20th century with huge tree's that a child would enjoy climbing and h formal beds of tulips and primula's. (Mistress Blue took some pictures of this park a few weeks ago when she came to visit so you could look at it on her website for the general idea). We went up passed the bowling green and by the glorious Ataxa tree which is in full bloom at the moment. It has leaves so white that the whole tree looks luminous and fairy like even in a dull light.

When we walked back through a little pathway to the bowling green keepers lodge my mistress found a tiny bed of herbs some of rosemary, lemon balm, lavender and mint and possibly a sweet basil. Ignoring everything else my mistress brushed her hands over the herbs and even stuck her nose near to the basil.(I thought only dogs did that!) I could see her physically winding down as she did so.

Hopefully in the next week or so we will be able to bring you pictures so you can see the above and judge for yourself but unfortunately we cannot bring you smell - a - vision. You will just have to take my word for it that those herbs smelled so sweet you could not help but be uplifted. Lemon Balm is especially good for this - just the smell of it makes you feel better and it makes a very pleasant tea Apparently this herb spreads like a weed but when turned into an oil is quite costly.

Now Himself is back and Bernard and I can take a break from looking after my mistress. She really ought to get a grip with this work /life balance.Apparently many humans have this worry especially if they work for themselves.(Needless to say dogs don't. We consider sleep work) As a good friend of ours often says working for yourself is the freedom to work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week 52 weeks of the year. The problem is that my mistress really enjoys work and enjoys life - especially with friends.She had lunch with one today again in the Old Chappel - no doggy bag this time though. There just is just not enough hours in the day.

One great event to day has been the buying a bluetooth gadget to down load pictures to the blog. This should be most interesting to watch -almost like man first finding fire I suspect. We may have to wait for Mistress Blue to come and help. I almost envy her visit to Brighton but am very pleased she is going .

And now both my Mistress and I are considering doing some more sleep research. Girl Girl Hampster asked what sleep research is. Well it is a study made when your horizontal in your most comfortable position and in the best place in the house, often near a warm radiator. Then you just study the inside of your eyelids and see what comes up. Usually I am either eating gorgeous food or going on long, long runs I used to make when I was much younger. Mistress Winter also studies - usually in chocolate!.

Take good care of yourselves all of you and look after your owners well

TTFN

Samwise

Friday 9 May 2008

Good Evening Good Evening Good Evening!

It's been a beautiful day and I have just been chasing a cat. Sorry I just can't help myself being a lurcher. Cat got away no problem but it was fun running after it. I have just finished reading Agatha's and Archies trials for the Earth dog thing. I am not quite sure what that is but it looks fun. I do wish them well and really hope they get their ribbon. I used to race and I know how exciting training can be but now managing to chase the cat at my age is an acheivement

We have had a great couple of days. Yesterday my mistress had all the fun of getting sharp sand to mix in the soil for her herbs. She also came in in great excitement having been around the local farmers market. After buying the usual bread bacon and so on she came across a man selling soap that he had made himself. My mistress is mad about good soap (more so than me I am not keen on anything to do with water) This chap made a small range of his own just using natural ingredients such as palm olive oil and essential oils and cold processing them which meant all the goodness is kept in them unlike commercial soaps which are often hot processed milled and use tallow which is not so good and doesn't last as long. He had oat and wheatgerm soap, lavender soap even a hairy herby soap which you can wash your hair with. In the end my mistress bought a peppermint cream soap to try and see just how good it was. I'll give you an update when she has used it for a while. I could hear her excited chattering as she came through the door about this adventure with soap and she is thinking of even using the hairy herby soap on me.

My mistress was telling me one of the most noticeable things about the whole stall was how happy the man was who made them. When my mistress quizzed him he told her that he had been a manager of an indoor market which had been very stressful and had learned how to make soap by literally teaching himself from a book and how much fun he had had experimenting. Even with all the paper work of making the products legal to sell it was still much more relaxing than running the market

I, meanwhile have been out in the local fields where I met up with Sugsie a terrific little king Charles spaniel. We discussed food and diet with Sugsie telling me how he has a mixture of vegetables cooked meat and oats. He has a problem with his jaw which don't fit properly and make it difficult to chew. I told him how when I was very young I simply didn't have enough food so until recently I would eat anything I could get my head round. Now my stomach is a bit more delicate I am having to be a bit more careful. My mistress and I have decided that I might try this diet of Sugsy's (providing the vet agrees).

Today while I relaxed after my early morning trot Gamfer Dog (my mistress's father) visited with his wife to help celebrate Himself (my mistress partner) getting a new job in Dreaming Spires (he's a scientist). Gamfer Dog comes from London and it is always a pleasure to see him. For a cat man he is very understanding of dogs. They kindly brought me a doggy bag back with a little fancy sausage in it which I much enjoyed.

Apparently, according to Gamfer Dog, this restraunt is new and rather posh for Mixlowe but it has an excellent wine list. Gamfer and Himself chose a Boujurelais.The place is situated in the old methodist chappel and is rather lovely with many of the old features such as the gothic windows and timbers left in. The open plan of the place gives a terrific sense of space.I hope they go there again soon, the sausage was delicious (I can hear my mistress mithering over my diet again).My mistress and I are in negotiation of putting pictures on the blog. Next time they go I will ask them to bring photos back for you to see

And now I am going back to work on my instensive sleep research while my mistress goes and plans where she is going to put the new sage plants she bought in the market. She says the night makes them seem to smell stronger.

Be in touch next Friday

Until then, live well

TTFN

Samwise

Wednesday 7 May 2008

An Extra Blog For a Beautiful Day

Greetings All

I thought I would do an extra blog this week since I think I missed last Friday whilst Mistress Winter and I got to grips properly with this thing of blogging. My Mistress has an unexpected day home - which is nice

Today has been a perfect early summer day - too good not to report on. Not a particularly busy day due to the heat and the fact that my Mistress and I were not feeling particularly on top form but just walking round the field at the back was good enough

This field is very old, marking the boundaries of two ancient British tribal kingdoms. It is used by all the town for recreation ranging from football practice to bonfire night but my Mistress and I have been fascinated by all the flowers that are coming into bloom.

My mistress is a town girl without question but she has always been curious about flowers and plants and what they can do - and today was no exception. In our short trots out we came across clouds of cow parsley (or Queen Ann's Lace) with billows of white dead nettle not to mention all the dandelions and daisies. We also found speedwell self heal and borage almost without looking.The bluebells are still out although now fading and the May flowers are still there. All this in one field. I didn't know this but apparently borage is also the producer of star flower oil which is the new wonder oil to help rejuvenate the skin.

All the time the sun was warm and bright. I have to be careful as Bernard says l about my heart. The vet says I have a big heart murmur and so I get out of breath very quickly, hence the short walks in the heat but I still managed to meet several other local dogs including Ringo Dozy Paws. He's a young Labrador who doesn't know when to stop bouncing. Decent chap Ringo but I did tell him last time I'd bounce him off the ceiling if he didn't pack it in. He did calm down and we passed the time of day. His brother is much more sedate and gentle. I also met George the most beautiful white Westie, young, like Ringo but not as lively.He could trace his parentage right back to his great grand parents, his owner proudly told us Had a good chat and sniff with him exchanging the news as you do. Now I am crashed out on my sofa, leaning up against the keyboard.

My Mistress is also tiered after a massive clearout of her wardrobes and what looks like a lot of my fur from underneath. Really I think I should be bald with the amount I have collected there. And how she can have so many clothes I have no idea. I have one coat and that's it. Now it is all bagged up everywhere ready to take down to the charity shop.(the clothes not the fur!) I think she should listen to Vivien Westwood who said something like ' Find your favorites and wear them until they fall off you'

Now I think it is an early night for both of us. Pottering about is quite exhausting. I am contemplating about making a request for some music such as the singer Agatha and Arther terrier listened to in their last blog but I am not quite sure what to choose

TTFN until Friday

Samwise

Friday 2 May 2008

Greetings From Samwise

Hello Hello.
Is she listening ?
Yes I can hear the keys clacking.
Well good afternoon I am Samwise a handsome if elderly lurcher sitting here talking to you from the sofa (Er is she still listening good right)
She is Mistress Winter, my mistress with whom I have lived with for the past ten years

To fill in a bit of background .
We met when she came looking for a dog at the local rescue centre.
My friend Bernard told me she was the one the same day she visited (more about Bernard later) I wasn't so sure but when we discussed it later that evening Bernard was quite certain. "You were too busy looking at all the cats about when you were out but she is the right one for you."
Bernard was always right about such things.
He was the one who noticed she was winter.
All of us dogs have names for our owners.
At that time I would have put her as Spring but Bernard said she was definately a Mistress Winter. There was a stillness about her right in the heart of her being which made her have the quiet of Winter.
The main thing is you'll always be loved.
Bernard was stamping his bed down to sleep. "It won't an easy posting, not like that Jack Russell that went home to the family last week".

And as usual he was right.
Bernard was a great friend still is when he pops in. He left this world years ago. Dogs as big as him don't usually last that long but all dogs work on different levels and we all meet at different times when it suits us. Bernard quite often pops in for a chat when the house is quiet.

Talking to you and listening to you is the same. All dogs do it, you just don't notice. And if we ignore you, your right ,we intend to.

When my mistress saw Bernard her jaw nearly fell off. "That's not a dog - thats a bear." It wasn't his fault that he was such a size a cross between a great Dane a St Bernard and something else that made him look like a walking rug. And often Bernard was always taken as big and brainless but in actual fact he was one of the brightest of the dos in the sanctuary ( him and the pot bellied pig ,another great associate)

Well it's been ten years sharing and we have had to learn our way through the world, me learning to trust people again my mistress working out which way of the world was up but as Bernard said I have never wanted for love.

Ah excuse us that's the bell going for my walk. A trot round the fields at the back and the possible run about for the hell of it. Mistress Blue is here and is suggesting we walk up by the stones and see if there are any bluebells left out

TTFN
Samwise