Beach Blues

Greetings from sun soaked Chesters. Blimey, we've had a couple of weeks of warm dry weather and I have to say these [still young] bones will soak up any amount of sunshine given the chance. Nothing better after a walk or dinner than to flop down onto toasty warm earth and just r-e-l-a-x..... zzzzzzzzz

Hugh had a birthday this month so we all took off to the seaside. Not one of the brightest or warmest days, it must be said, but this did not deter us. I tried to introduce Midge to the pleasures of deep water but she wimped out whenever a wave approached. We were inevitably made to pose for photographs again even though I was soaking wet and Midge would rather have been sniffing along the high water mark.

A major highlight of the year happened just yesterday - Lindsay received all the way from South Africa this painting by this talented lady . L has been scheming to acquire one of Arty Farty's artworks for quite a while and when she spotted this one on her blog she knew that was it. Fortunately when it arrived and was unrolled (it's about 1m x 1.5m!) Hugh immediately said how much he liked it too. This means its allowed to grace the living room wall, as soon as he's made a frame to stretch it over. Posh, eh?

Tres tasteful

Et voila, the cabin exterior is painted and the floor has been varnished. The curtains are made but not hung yet as H & L need to find a cheap and cheerful way of insulating the roof. Then, maybe, the arty stuff can get moved in and Hugh can splash paint on those walls instead of his current garret.
Fat lambs everywhere which means no running across empty fields for Midge and me. It's either walks along the road on a lead (bah, humbug) or trips to one bit of forest or another. Even that's getting complicated as tonnes and tonnes of trees are being felled and shipped south these days.
Hugh's all pleased as he's got work with the beloved little grey Fergie tractor this week, at a friend's house down the road. Just as well he's finished painting for his new exhibition which opens at the Cairns Gallery in Peebles in a couple of weeks' time.

Artistic Development ll

This morning was a touch frosty but then the sun shone and we were off to the forest. L was in snap happy mode so Midge and I were coerced into posing for her.
We are a good advert for 'no-nonsense well-priced complete dog meal ' says she.
Hmm, give us an egg now and then you'll REALLY see a shiny coat, says me.

And here we have proof that three polite Polish cabin kit builders can drive up from London, build a cabin in a matter of six hours, turn round and drive all the way back again for a very reasonable price and two cups of coffee each. Now H & L need to get on and paint it before the unseasonable sleet takes its toll on the raw wood. In the mere blink of an eye it will be magically transformed with Cuprinol Shades 'Wild Thyme' to a subtle 'you don't really notice I'm here, do you' sort of effect....

Artistic development

There's been a birthday - not mine, sadly, but it was an opportunity for me to teach Midge how to shred discarded wrapping paper into tiny pieces ready for the compost heap. It all goes well till you get sellotape in your teeth - oh and coloured tissue paper is pretty fine because if you chew it and spit it out you can stain all sorts of surfaces with it...
Last week Hugh had the inestimable assistance of his pal Jim and his mini-digger to clear the site for his fancy new 'shed'. Jim and the digger levelled it and laid hardcore and they both pegged out the area for the concrete to go down. The snow didn't really help. On April 1st (hmmmm) the concrete was delivered and Hugh and Lindsay spread it with the help of neighbour Brian and his little (vintage) dump truck. As I write this the concrete is continuing to harden off and should be fine for the arrival of the fancy big wooden shed next week. Hugh will use it to paint in and will graciously allow herself to use it too.
Today is a wee bit tortuous for canines. We had too many cockerels so two of them were dispatched earlier in the week. They are now being cooked up in various forms and the aromas are killing me... If I am lucky there will be some scraps heading into my dinner bowl tonight. (By the way, lest you think H & L are any good at this sort of thing, this time Joe did the dirty deed with the two birds and Lorraine cleaned them for us - it's great to have friends)

Yeah, well, you might have been right...

Ok, Ok, I admit having Midge about is not ALL bad, after all. I try the karate kicks, the sneaky stealing of her toys when she isn't looking, the occasional nip on the back of the neck, but she's a game wee lassie and just keep coming back for more. If she stops nicking my bed at every opportunity we may develop into friends.
She's eleven weeks old now and has had her jabs so in another week she can go beyond the garden gate and meet other dogs and perhaps stop using the flower beds with quite such regularity... Ha, just waits till she discovers the ignominity of being on a lead..... (teehee!)

[Editor's Note: For those of you not accustomed to dogs, the management seeks to reassure you that no puppies were damaged in the course of these pics and that this is normal playing behaviour, honest]

Jumbled Up

The Great Annual Southdean Jumble Sale is Imminent!

Sharpen your elbows in preparation for Saturday,

and sustain your strength on the day with

hot soup and sausage rolls, coffee and shortbread.

Saturday 8th March 11 am - 2pm at

Southdean Village Hall, Chesters

This great picture of the tawny owl who came down the chimney in the hall was captured by Martyn Harrison.

Pup, paintings, perseverance

Don't know where the last few weeks have gone, though I do distinctly remember spending a few days at the kennels. No complaint there - they are always pleased to see me and my room has central heating to make my nights comfortable. H and L were up in Dunkeld and then Edinburgh, the first to do with off road driving (except this was an AGM so it was in a hotel and apparently included beer and whisky), the second to do with having a break in the city. They walked on hard pavements a lot and had to keep stopping for coffee apparently, though they clocked up three exhibitions. I think L has probably waxed lyrical about them over at Tart's Tales.

Meanwhile, back at Planet Chesters, work has not yet started on renovating the cottage because the Building Warrant application has not been approved yet. Without that H&L cannot show plans to tradesmen and without them they cannot get the big bits of work done. Harrumph!

Hugh's most recent painting (that he is happy with...) is this one of the village from 'down the field' where he and I walk and I chase hares occasionally.

And you'll see, Lady Midge is now in residence. She has been here for four days, though it seems like forty four to me. Have you any idea how many meals she has had in that time? She is small, black and shiny. She bounces about and tries to get me to play but I am holding out. She wees A LOT, but mainly outside, though I notice no-one tells her off about walking over the flower beds. I think they have been taken in by the fact that she still looks cute. I walked into the living room on day two and she was sound asleep on MY cushion in front of the stove. I restrained myself to a sigh and pointedly left the room.