Brave New World

I'm back!

Actually I was never away but I had things to do, places to be, humans to comfort and all that unsung hero type stuff that is a dog's lot.

There have been good bits and bad bits in the last few weeks - my neighbour dog Pepper (a bit of a dumb redhead setter type) has upped sticks and gone to live with Lindsay's wee brother, leaving me to make free with her doggy chocs. There has been an awful lot of scene shifting going on next door and I don't think it is done yet.

Lindsay's big brother stayed for a while so I managed to blag some milk and cookies by doing the big sad eyes routine. Now it is all quiet but there's the promise of a visitor lady this coming week so I may try the same tack then.

The incessant rain has caused grumbling by Hugh - can't get out to cut grass with the tractor, can't get to do his regular gardening jobs for others, poly tunnel is flooded, hen run is flooded etc etc. There are supposed to be pics inserted at this point to display waterlogged strawberries and the sad sight of a mudbath where the purple sprouting broccoli should be but someone has failed to load them onto the computer...

Hugh did manage to marshall at an off road event elsewhere in the Borders last weekend - he really enjoyed the landscape on the private estate the club were using

The exhibition is up and running - the private view was last Friday evening which was a very wet and miserable one. But our generous friends came along and livened up the proceedings considerably - and three of Hugh's works were sold that night! Then yesterday Humphrey, our website building hero, went along to photograph the work so that we can get them onto The Workhouse website - images here soon too!

Thank you

This is just a big thank you to everyone who has sent cards and e-mailed support. Lindsay and Hugh are doing OK though there's still a bit to get through. The good news is that a stash of dog treats has been uncovered next door and I am doing quite nicely, thank you very much....

Sad Day

Bad news at home so no posting just now. My lovely supplier of biscuits next door, Lindsay's Mum, died quite suddenly and we will be at sixes and sevens for a while.

xx Ash

Part ll -

Some herby views here, to start with. The healthy bits...
As to slugs, Lindsay has only read about using sawdust to keep the critters off but she has been out today putting mounds of very coarse shavings round the tenderest of the plants. The shavings are sold as horse bedding and we usually use them for the hens if we don't have any straw for their houses and nest boxes. This year, though, the slugs that are doing the damage are titchy teeny wee things which are difficult to spot. So we'll just have to see whether the sawdust idea works or whether they are so wee they just squirm underneath or through the soil. Coffee grounds worked for a while last year but you have to drink a mountain of coffee and also every time you water the plants you wash some more grounds away.

An admission about fennel tea - Lindsay loves its light aniseedy taste but it comes in a paper sachet that you drop straight in the cup! So this was (is?) to be the year when she grows her own and gathers the seeds, dries them and uses them to make her own tea. No research has been done by her ladyship - typical, really - and she's out of Dr Stuart's Wild Fennel Teabags at the moment so she cannot even dissect a teabag to examine the contents. However, this will be remedied and you'll get the full saga before long!

Roll on summer

Lots of growth in the garden though not all of it is edible (I know, I've tried...) First we had a sunny April, then a rainy May, so everything is up and running, including the slugs which have found their way to some of Lindsay's seedlings. She's planning to build some sawdust walls to stop the little blighters in their tracks but she'd better be quick.
Either slugs or rabbits have been feasting on the more tender leaf type herbs too - a new wild fennel plant has been eaten to the ground. L was looking forward to drinking it as she's a bit of a fennel tea freak these days (it balances out the less healthy cake and chocolate habits, she likes to think).
Apart from gardening, it's quiet here, as H and L are forever up in their workrooms, slaving over masterpieces - I'll post some work up once we have decent shots. Humphrey who built The Workhouse website will be photographing all the exhibition works later in the month.

Dog Days

Yesterday, folks, was a peach of a day! It was obvious there was something up since the vacuum cleaner and duster were in evidence early on - always a giveaway.

Hugh took me out first thing (Exercise No 1) and I was just snoring in my bed (essential when recharging the batteries) when my long lost friends arrived in force. I was fussed over and petted for hours. Louise and Frances had been prewarned so they had jeans on and no-one (except Lindsay - so what?) shouted at me when I jumped up at them.

We did a tour of the garden where H & L showed off the wee hens, the big hens, the polytunnels and willow fences and all that stuff, then more coffee and wine and a huge big buffet salady lunch and more attention.

And then a ride in the Land Rover - 6 humans, one dog (and let me assure you that I was in a front seat, not relegated to the back like L) - and then Exercise No 2 - a run around up and down a forest track and a bit of playing chase with my best pal Dougie.

Home for afternoon tea which included various home bakes and the biggest chocolate cake in the world baked by Frances - oh, and more games with Dougie as you can see from the stylish picture above. He was also quite good for slipping me the odd morsel of cake when no-one was looking.

Sadly, they had to go but L took me out for another walk in another bit of the forestry after my tea (Exercise No 3) before I collapsed into my bed. If only every day could be like this

..........................zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

The Evidence

Just in case there was any doubt, here's the proof of that sorry state of affairs last week. This photograph was taken one lunchtime when we had headed up a woodland track to find a sunny spot. The thermos and coffee are all too visible, along with some paint bespattered legs, but do you see so much as a morsel for me in the back of the Land Rover?

Back from the brink...

Well, here I am again after a fairly traumatic time spent in the back of a Land Rover. You're already familiar with the catalogue of neglect and hardship visited upon me by the arty ones - well they have surpassed themselves this time. I was lulled into thinking WE were off on an adventure. We set off, loaded up with thermos and nourishments for humans and canines, and my lead and my bed, and we drove ... for all of half an hour. Then parked up at an unknown farmhouse. I was presented with some water and a dry biscuit and left, for several hours, while they disappeared to paint a stable. They returned. We drove to a nearby footpath where I was allowed a little exercise and another biscuit and then the whole story was repeated, on and off, for three whole days. Admittedly every time they returned there was more evidence of paint and more general rattiness so I don't think it was much fun (not to mention the collection of flea (?) bites amassed by a certain someone) and I know we have to keep the wolf from the door and all that but could I not have been allowed in? Hmmm? Think of the wasted sniffs and smells! Mental cruelty, really.

I tried to get some chick pix from the latest hatching but they were all out of focus and not worthy of posting here. Herself's vintage image will have to suffice for today. Meanwhile it's time the older lot faced the big wide world and so they'll be going outside to sleep in their own henhouse from now on, instead of in the shed with a big heat lamp for warmth. As long as they work out to take cover when it rains they'll be fine but, if they run true to form they will not work out how to go to bed on their own for at least a week. This means H and L out there at bedtime every night, on hands and knees in the hen run, catching the daft wee souls and walking them up the ramp and into the henhouse, till they finally get the hang of it!

On a clear day ....

Hello! How come there's only a week left in April? Where did it go? Since I last posted there's been a Easter Egg Hunt for the local children, a 60th birthday party and then yesterday a Book Sale (with Coffee and Cake, naturally) all at the Hall across the road from here. What a thriving mini-metropolis this tiny village is! I managed to stick my nose in at the end of the Book Sale but otherwise these events happened without the benefit of my skills. Underappreciated again...

The lambs in the fields are getting fat, our little chicks are not so cute any more, although there are more due out of the incubator next weekend so maybe I will get photographs this time round, and the 'new' shed has been painted and re-felted.

On Friday night the arty types attended the private view at the brand new wee Gallery on the Green in Denholm which features Hugh's work as well as a very talented local pastel artist and other folks' too. Looks like it will be carrying some interesting craftwork and I believe Lindsay spotted some fancy locally made chocolate bars with exotic flavours- cue more 'testing'.

So far today Lindsay has been doing paperwork and splattering blackboard paint about (in a meaningful way...) while Hugh and his pal Joe and our neighbour Steve (of birthday party fame)and lots of others are all off doing a sponsored walk up the Eildon hills by Melrose. The pic is a view from the top on a clear day and here's a bit of explanation for you - isn't the internet wonderful?

Eildons, The, a “triple-crested eminence” near Melrose, 1385 ft., and overlooking Teviotdale to the S., associated with Sir Walter Scott and Thomas the Rhymer; they are of volcanic origin, and are said to have been cleft in three by the wizard Michael Scott, when he was out of employment.
Definition taken from The Nuttall Encyclopædia, edited by the Reverend James Wood (1907)

Chocolate Easter Greetings

I think we'll stick to purples and yellowy greens for this post, as befits Easter and springtime and all that stuff. It's been quite an exciting week for this brown dog as herself is now based at home. I have had longer walks from her which is A GOOD THING but I've also noticed a tendency to disappear up the metal ladder to her garret clutching jam jars of water only to reappear some time later with paint on her clothes and in her hair. She claims there's some on canvas too but I have yet to see the evidence.

There was a birthday outing to the beach - it was grand fun although I can report that the water was not much above freezing. I ran miles on the sand with Hugh in hot pursuit (some of the time). Then H and L visited The Alnwick Garden which looks nothing like our own humble field. Huge great cascades of water and fountains and groovy metal and watery sculptures and a gigantic tree house. I would have enjoyed the water but for some CURIOUS reason dogs don't get to visit. Ho hum.

However, there were compensations - Lindsay moved lots of aged horse manure into the vegetable beds in the polytunnel, to give them a boost before plants go in and I was of inestimable assistance in this job, as I am sure you can appreciate. My friend Joe was here giving Hugh lots of help with a new (to us) shed which is going to be a very swanky kennel and maternity unit is due course, if L does not take it over as a potting shed first.

One of Lindsay's presents was a great book called Rustic Retreats - A build-it-yourself guide - H and L have over-active imaginations and are always rattling on about making stuff in the garden so it looks like we are in for hut/shack/bower thingy for all those romantic evenings that they (don't) spend out there - ho hum, more wasted time that would be better spent walking me.

I'll leave you with this morning's selection of sunny Borders images. If you see the Easter Bunny, he's mine to chase, OK?

All Fools Day

Well, the great day has arrived for her ladyship. The Border Tart is now launched. If you have not caught up with her at her own blog yet here you'll find there's a tea party going on and that some kind folks have already bought goodies from the site. Please help to spread the word - you know how it works - sales means happy people here at home and happy people means BONES...

Meanwhile, the sun is shining and Hugh has drawn the short straw yet again and is outside cleaning out the hens. There are lots of little bundles of black and yellow fluff under the heat light now too so I will get some pictures posted up here as soon as I can.

Now I must return to my assistant duties - I feel the teaparty needs my attendance.

Winter's back

The spring weather has been and gone and collapsed - we had a few days of sunshine last weekend which saw great activity in the garden and happy moods all round. Now it's back to grey skies and rain. As a well waterproofed hound I am of course only too pleased to splash about in rain-sodden fields but I do note a marked lack of enthusiasm in the arty ones.

April is going to be busy - her ladyship has now stopped paid employment to concentrate on arty pursuits full time. I hope the Workhouse name does not prove too apposite in the coming months. (Good word that, coming from a labrador, don't you think? I quite impressed myself) There's the imminent launch of the Border Tart and several outings lined up for Hugh's pics.

The ones above are both for sale online - they are acrylics on canvas panels, 30cm x 40cm x 4cm deep, and are £80 each including postage (UK) or £85 (all other countries). The duck is called Giles and he's a richer colour than may be showing on your screen, very orangey at bottom left corner. That's the commercial over with, folks. Update: BOTH SOLD!

I am contemplating allowing Hugh a monthly guest spot on the blog - possibly entitled The Oily Rag - so that he can rattle on about Land Rover adventures. Now don't hold your breath....

Mad March Hares

I've been chasing hares - not catching any, I admit, but I have been trying hard. And there was SNOW this morning which as any fule kno, makes for extra special sniffs. However, it was just as well there was fun to be had because yesterday was a very long quiet day with no exercise as him and her set off at five o'clock (without giving me breakfast) to drive down to Herefordshire and back (550 miles) to pick up some unsold pictures from a gallery. They has rain, wind, drizzle and then glorious spring sunshine (that was the farthest south bit) then the same in reverse on the way home.

I spent the day next door with Lindsay's mama - and they eventually re-appeared at nearly nine o'clock. It transpired they had decided to visit the Royal Air Force Museum near Telford on the way home, so they were both spouting bizarre facts about ejector seats, transporter planes and the Cold War. Bit of a mystery to me but they see to have enjoyed themselves, bless 'em.

Hugh's latest landscapes are gathering in preparation for various exhibitions locally over the next few months. The one above is called On the Skyline and is 36" x 14" with lots more detail than you can see here. Bulk supplies of paint and canvases have arrived. Lindsay is all excited because lots of them are for her and she is itching to clear a space in the scrap store up the ladder that she calls her room, and get started.

Meanwhile, she made lemon curd for the recent jumble sale - it always looks and tastes lusciously rich because it's our own hens' eggs - and those girlies know how to eat! There are eggs in the incubator which should hatch in a couple of weeks' time so watch this space for cute chick pics. L is also toying with the idea of offering people the chance to sponsor a chick for a year for a one off cost of £10 - you get chick pics and updates and then lemon curd or meringues made with your chick's eggs when she's old enough to lay 'em!

No Excuses

Wow, nearly March and hardly posted anything this month. Must be winter blues, well, that and the fact that YET AGAIN, I was abandoned at the kennels (seven nights in one year now, not that I'm keeping tabs or anything). H and L headed off into the Perthshire countryside for socialising purposes. To be fair the wee van was loaded up on Saturday morning with artworks and other people's belongings as well as their own essential travelling kit of a few ordinary clothes and vast quantities of boots and jackets so as to be ready for any variety of Scottish weather.

They delivered artwork on the way north and a painted parrot on the way south and returned a borrowed book while at the hotel but managed to come home with five litres of stuff for vehicle gearboxes, a bottle of malt whisky, a secondhand bread machine and twelve old German clothes pegs and some gingham ribbon. I wonder if they are safe out on their own...

The main purpose of the trip was to attend the AGM of the Scottish Off Road Club, of which the lad is a committee member. This involved a mini meeting, a proper AGM type meeting and then several hours thereafter, in the company of many other like minded souls and NOT A FEW DOGS in the bar.. so why was I not there? Hmmmm?

In attendance were a Labrador called Mel who is the same age as me, a West Highland Terrier called Roddy, another chap of mixed blood called Archie and my arch nemesis Lucy. I WAS MISSED. People demanded to know where I was. I could have had long and meaningful conversations with the hotel owner's two Bernese Mountain Dogs as well as the rest of the gang and perhaps scored for some extras from the hotel kitchen. But oh no, my beloved owners had to go without me.

They will pay.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch it is all work and precious little play. Hugh is trying to summon up the muse as two more openings for his work have presented themselves in the last week or so, and Lindsay is fussing over her new website plus making stuff for another outlet while studiously avoiding some financial paperwork. She has one month left of salaried employment before the family plunges into poverty so there's a lot of concern in the air.

No new pics because they forgot to take the camera with them at the weekend. Must try harder.

Grey Winter Sunday

The day needs cheering up so I thought I'd give you a new action shot of me, an arty image of the forest up the road from here in the low wintery sunshine and finally this delicious old advert from the Robert Opie Collection. I would have shown you one of Hugh's pictures but it was framed up and out the door before herself had time to capture an image for posterity.

Although there's been lots of snowy weather around the country, we have hardly had any here - sadly for Hugh and me as we could have had mad snowball games. Lindsay and I managed to find a wee bit of slushy snow for a walk this morning but we're back to rainy skies now.

In the creativity department there's painting going on (well, there HAS to be, really), rebuilding a trailer to go with the little grey Fergie tractor, muffin making (trust me, some of the flavour combinations have been 'different'), crocheting, small scale felting and lots of swearing at the computer as herself battles on with her grand website project - hope it doesn't all end in tears...

Winter Drawers On

Hello Folks! We've had all sorts of weather here recently but right now we are having it mild and springlike, and the days are stretching out a bit. Hugh's been attacking a bit of garden with a rotovator and adding compost as there are plans to move some fruit bushes from A to B - blackcurrants, a red and a white currant and gooseberries too. He's also been doing some maintenance work for an elderly couple a few miles away. Lindsay approves because he comes back laden with interiors magazines that the lady of the house is finished with.

There was a Wool Gathering last weekend (more here) which had to survive without Hugh's presence as he was doing vital Land Rover off-road things in Perthshire with the Wee Cherub and Baby Face. Like a good boy, though, he left a great pan of broccolli and stilton soup for them to enjoy in his absence.

Tomorrow he is off to recover some unsold work from a Borders gallery and Monday he and L will be heading up to Fife to hang a new selection in the coffee shop in Dalgety Bay. I suspect I will be relegated to the kitchen.

By the way, I have been tagged to spill the WEIRD beans. But, I ask you, what would a model of perfection such as I know about it? Hmmm? So I thought it would be a wizard wheeze to tell tales on L and H instead... (pity help Hugh when Baby Face and the Wee Cherub read this)

1-If Hugh cannot remember the name of something he substitutes the name 'Henry'. So we live with nonsense like - I can't find the tea henry, have you seen it?

2 - He invariably calls his long suffering wife 'son'. As in - I can't find the tea henry, son, have you seen it? L has lived with this for so long that she takes no offence and indeed has been overheard to call herself 'son' when she's talking aloud to herself.

3 - Lindsay is not the most delicate of creatures and probably walks into more items of furniture than your average labrador, not to mention the frequency with which she suffers burns from the stove, the oven, the gas ring, the iron etc

4 - If Lindsay was to win a trolley dash she would want it to be in a stationery shop - she can spend longer hours and more money on paper goods and unnecessary pads and notebooks and cards and pens than anyone else this dog knows, and is ALWAYS seduced by packaging.

5 - Hugh's musical taste is stuck in the 1970s and 80s and he is still in love with Deep Purple, Thin Lizzy and the like.

6 - Perhaps Lindsay's taste is scarier - she likes everything from Tom Waits to Welsh Male Voice Choirs

7 - Oh, alright then, my favourite food is bananas - just don't tell all the other hounds or my street cred will be blown.

Winter Woes

Just a quiet little post from me today. Fed up with the weather and the mud. Hugh took me out yesterday and I could hardly stay on any of my feet due to slithering about in so much gloop in the fields. I'm resting up this evening, though, in preparation for dinner guests tomorrow night. Obviously I shall need lots of energy in order to pester them and ensure I am fussed over for long periods. Hmm, maybe short periods, actually, or I may find myself shut out of the living room. Oh well, another time.

Herself has been taking photographs for her shop so there are NO new ones of me to post. Here's a wee pic of Hugh with his beloved little Grey Fergie tractor and a bale of straw that we purchased so the hens could have somewhere dry to perch their weary bottoms.

Brave New Year

Happy 2007 - may it be a peaceful and rewarding year for everyone

Right, well, that's got the good cheer out of the way... to business!

And that business is BONES!

No?

Heard it all before?

OK, what about the fact that Lindsay's mother, my best friend next door, organised for me to give her a dog treat recipe book, together with a set of bone shaped cookie cutters . Subtle enough hint, do you think? The recipes are all full of good stuff, no junk, and I cannot wait for her to start experimenting. The only fly in the ointment is that she has been full of misery and snuffles and aches and pains all week so cooking is not on her agenda.

Before she succumbed, we had some good walks over Christmas, with great sniffs due to the heavy frosts. There was also the attraction of helping people unwrap presents and destroying any cardboard boxes that came my way.

There has been precious little creative work done here of late although we did deliver a painting of Hugh's on Christmas Eve. Himself is now back up in his garret with brushes and acrylics and herself is fed up being feeble and wants to get on with her next ptoject too.

I'll keep you posted on developments.

In the Bleak Mid Winter

Rain, wind, rain, wind, big wind, power cut, dark, dark, dark, more rain. Early starts for Hugh mean Lindsay walks me in the rainy dark in the mornings before she goes to work. If I am lucky Hugh takes me out again in the rainy afternoon before it is dark again. It's all a bit tedious and I am not overly impressed with December so far.

Mind you, the decorations are up and cards are strung about and there have been mincemeat goings on in the kitchen today so the festive spirit is creeping in. I've seen some gift wrapped boxes but none looks like a new bed for me which, given the sad state of my beanbag, with flattened beany bits which leak out if you shake too enthusiastically, is a pretty poor show.

I AM FAMOUS! Well, nearly. I have a whole page in the new winter edition of 'Border Life' magazine. I was asked twenty questions and I gave full and forthright answers. They have shown a fairly attractive profile shot of me in the snow and all in all I think I come out of it rather well. I did mention himself and herself a few times to ensure an easier life chez moi.

Happy Holidays! Merry Christmas! Season's Greetings! Festive Good Wishes! Love from ASH

Wild and Woolly

Busy old life - Open Days have been and gone - and I was only allowed to see the select few visitors who don't mind being bounced at. Otherwise I was next door with Lindsay's Mum, throwing a tantrum because all the fun was happening without me! Bah humbug.

However, H and L had a fine time talking to friends and new visitors, and selling goodies to them. Prints and originals both sold as did Lindsay's big collage in black and white that you can see on the wall in one of the photos. Jam and chutney and other edibles left by the basketful - thankfully, otherwise we might have drowned in the stuff. Hugh's fresh baked bread was a hit and now he wants to open a bakery!

After the weekend they abandoned me yet again to take pictures to a gallery an hour from here - I would have been more than happy to squeeze into the wee van with all those big fragile canvas panels and framed pictures but it was not to be. I don't think Lindsay has got over me removing one of her wee teddy bears from the 'shop' and nibbling its handspun jumper off, ever so delicately, as I lay in front of the stove one evening...

The weather here is grim - lashing rain and wind and lots of flooded fields (and garden). I've been out for a run and a paddle this morning and am now debating whether to stay in the kitchen where Hugh is making soup or in the living room beside the stove. Kitchen first, I think.