Here I Am Again

I have been unwell.  Paul and I were both hit by a nasty flu-like bug that left us with a cough, chronic fatigue and loss of appetite.  I even stopped drinking wine!  Today I am starting to feel more like my usual self again.  The weather here hasn’t helped, cold and wet.  Poor Rick has been a very soggy doggy but he does enjoy being rubbed down with a warm towel when he gets home from his walk.  Well, who wouldn’t?  The trick is to catch him before he gives himself a massive shake and splatters the wall with mud.

We have tried and failed to get Rick to walk to heel on the leash without pulling.  Finally, as a last resort, we bought him a Gentle Leader, a collar that goes around his nose as well as his neck.  It’s not a muzzle, he can still bark but it stops him from lunging forward. It works like a dream and he doesn’t seem to mind it at all.  It’s great for walking in traffic and busy areas when you want good control; we will use his other harness and loose lead when we’re in quieter places.  I certainly feel more confident that he won’t catapult me into space now.

Kat is flying out to Cyprus today for a two month posting. I think she is going to enjoy that sunshine. I have asked her for regular updates but I'm usually the last to hear about her escapades. I really must stop being an inquisitive mum and living vicariously through my children.  Now, I wonder what Sarah is up to in Australia....

Long Winter

The snow fell again overnight and we awoke to a wintery scene this morning, all the daffodils and Spring flowers are covered by a thick blanket of snow.  I’m still suffering from a nasty cold virus so Paul took Rick out for his morning walk.  It was very quiet with little traffic about so Paul took him over to his favourite field to run free, he had a wonderful time. 

I stayed at home with a bowl of steaming water and a towel over my head.  I hope the summer gets here soon.

It seems strange to see Salisbury constantly in the news headlines, it will forever now be linked to Russian spies and nerve agent attacks.  For me Salisbury is the beautiful city (more market town than city) that I adopted as my home in my mid twenties. It’s the place where I met Paul, got married and where Sarah and Kat were born. I bought my first home in Salisbury and worked in the city for many years.  It seems incredible that something like this has happened in such a quiet and idyllic corner of Wiltshire.

In The Doldrums

My blogging is in the doldrums. My whole life is in the doldrums.  House buying and selling is a stressful time and I’m not dealing with it very well.  This time last year we were touring sunny Spain before heading north to a long summer at our French home.  Right now we are cooped up in our flat watching the rain come down.  Bah! I need some wind in my life, if you see what I mean.

At the moment we have no date in sight for returning to France.  Although we have sold our coach house, we also have another ‘investment property’ to off load and this house is proving to be a tricky sale. Until we have a firm offer for both properties we cannot sensibly view any other houses.  So everything seems in limbo and I can’t plan anything.  I guess if we don’t get an offer within the next few weeks we will pack up and return to France anyway. It just means another long car trip with Rick if we need to come back to sign papers and look at properties.   

The day is getting worse.  Paul has just gone to the supermarket and there are absolutely no frozen peas left to buy! In fact this new Tesco ‘superstore’ is still suffering from the effects of last week’s snowfall and hasn’t caught up with their stocking, half the shelves are empty. Perhaps it’s just poor logistics but it makes you wonder how this country would cope if there was a bigger crisis than just bad weather.

I’ll go now before I make you all depressed just reading this!

Walking In The Air

The snow in this corner of Wiltshire has all but thawed.  The field has turned into a slushy, muddy quagmire so Rick and I kept to the estate paths this morning.  At 5 degrees it feels positively balmy outside.

It was very quiet so Rick was on best behaviour and trotted alongside me like a good dog; I’m sure he missed not being able to run loose in the field. 

There were a few heaps of snow where it had been cleared from pathways and I came across this poor, melting snowman.  He looked very sad.  I shall be humming Aled Jones’ Walking in the Air for the rest of the day now.

Snowdog

The snow arrived yesterday, only a couple of inches but enough to create chaos on the roads.  This morning everything looked white and pristine.  Ice and more snow are due this afternoon.  I joined Paul and Rick this morning for a walk across the fields.  It wasn’t too slippery underfoot so I didn’t have to walk like a penguin. Rick seems to love the snow and became super excited, racing about and launching himself into the air. I tried to take some photos but my fingers froze as soon as I removed my gloves.  The wind chill factor was extreme.

Poor Rick had lumps of ice in his paws when we got home so we had to dunk his legs into some warm water to thaw him out.  I wonder where we could buy some doggy boots?