Dickens said it all

'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times' and ain't that the truth.

I can't tell you how pleased I'll be to see the back of 2013.

It's funny when you think about it as it's just another day that passes as we go from one year into the next and yet it has such significance... at least for me. And then of course the year doesn't truly seem to start for me until my birthday, so I shall have a good few days to ponder on what 2014 could bring. I do so hope it'll be a better year than this last one.
 
Don't get me wrong, I know I'm a very lucky person and I've had some truly wonderful moments and memories this past year, but the reality is they've been underpinned by difficulties that started almost right at the beginning of 2013. And the fallout has affected pretty much everything this year.

Anyway, I don't like this blog to be downbeat and it's a bit indulgent of me to mention it now, I know, but what's New Year without a bit of indulgence?

There... I'm indulged out now. Done and dusted.

Normal blogging of the up-kind will resume sometime in January.

Meanwhile I'm looking forward to my New Year's Eve with our dear friends Shirley and Andy, which this year is at our house. I've already been and raided M&S's party section to help us on our way, though I think MM and I might well have to try some of them out before tomorrow night... just in case, you understand!

So here's me signing off for 2013 and wishing everyone everywhere a very happy New Year and a wonderful 2014.

Been and gone

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas. I certainly did as my boys came home. I wasn't the only one... Odi loved having them here too. It certainly gave her someone else to bounce off.

No. 1 Son gets a dog collar!

I managed to get collateral damage in the shape of scars. I have rather a fetching one from my forehead down to the bridge of my nose, another on my forearm and a punctured thumb. I think I might have got off lightly.

And now boys have gone home and we're left in the quiet for today while we recover. The weather has been foul and we've stayed indoors watching crap films all afternoon while Odi's managed to massacre all her Christmas presents. She had a urinary tract infection (her second one in the past month) and is back on antibiotics, but it doesn't seem to have dampened her enthusiasm for life nor her growth spurt. She's now 3 times the dog she was when she came and weighs in at 10.3 kg... that's a whopping 2kg gain in 2 weeks.

Actually when I come to think of it, with the amount of food I've eaten, I'll be lucky not to have had a 2 kg gain too by the end of the holidays!

The moment you've been waiting for

Yes... it's here! The coffee plant Christmas post!

As you can see the larger one is still in it's winter wrapping, while the smaller ones, which were on the window sill for the summer, are now sitting without wrapping and without being directly under the light. The larger one is hogging it all, but the smaller ones are doing ok where they are. I had contemplated forking out for another light but I don't think they need it at present.

There are a few more leaves on them all, but that's all there is to report... no flowers, no berries, no nothing and, imho, not a cup of coffee to be had this side of 2023!

So there you have it... worth waiting for?

Happy Christmas one and all!

Thank you Teddy

There are lots of things that I can think of to do on the Saturday morning before Christmas and, after packing bags in Sainsbury's to raise funds for Border Search and Rescue Unit, shopping absolutely isn't one of them.

I couldn't believe the amount of money some people were spending. One person who, as far as the woman on the till and I were concerned, won the 'spending the most amount of money' prize for the morning, was a guy who spent £473. He kept apologetically saying, 'Well I have got 14 people coming for Christmas dinner,' but even he knew it was excessive. Not helped, I have to add, by his daughter (who was about 14) who had managed to put a few extra items into the trolley... you know the things, those essential items for Christmas dinner, like nail varnish and mascara.

By the time I'd finished my stint (9 - 1) I couldn't bear to do any shopping myself and just wanted out of the there.

We were very lucky because Lynne and her family, who live in Tweedbank and are puppywalking the gorgeous Teddy (aged 9 months), said they'd have Odi for the morning. She had such a fab time that when I went to get her she couldn't have cared less whether I was there or not. In fact I think I was greeted far more enthusiastically by Teddy.

Teddy shares his bed

Odi was exhausted when I got her home and crashed out for most of the afternoon. She woke up just in time for her supper and for our first round of snow of the year. It was quite funny really as her reaction was to rush around trying to eat it!

Odi's first snow experience

And this morning Odi was still quite subdued. So much so that when we braved it to Sainsbury's for a shop (the one that got postponed from yesterday) she behaved pretty damn perfectly and it's actually given me hope for the future.

Tomorrow... all being well... you'll get a coffee plant update. I know you've all been wanting one for ages... go on... admit it... you can hardly contain your excitement, can you?!

Cold

No, not just 'out there' but me... I've got one... and I'm not a happy bunny.

We were lucky to survive the storm yesterday with little else to show for it than the flower pots, so artfully placed outside our house, going for a small wander. I felt really sorry for all those who had real problems. Not far from here people were without electricity, trees smattered across the roads, closing them in all directions and yet, the roads around here were fine and I made the decision to go to Guide Dog puppy training in Penicuik (about an hour away) where there was a micro-climate all of its own and was sunny and hardly a snicker of wind.

I could feel my cold coming on while at training, but it was definitely worth going to as Odi and I learnt all kinds of new stuff. Odi behaved like an ADHD child and wouldn't settle to what she was supposed to be doing and decided biting me was far more worthwhile, but at least it exhausted her and she settled down for the afternoon no problem.

Meantime, in the afternoon, I was called to do bowls duty and be an extra for someone who couldn't make it to their league match. I played ok, which is more than can be said for the rest of my team and we lost by rather a large margin.

By the time I got home I had a sore throat and was beginning to feel awful, but the cold waited until the middle of the night to really get going. So with 3 hours sleep and now a nose that feels like someone has stuffed a whole roll of cotton wool up there, I'm having a gentle day of doing not much at all.

Hopefully I'll be back on track soon.

Getting bigger...

Those of you who are perceptive will have realised that tomorrow rarely exists for me. I said the other day I'd post more pics of Odi as she's grown so much recently, but then yesterday came and went, most of it in my car.

I had to go from Tweedbank to Edinburgh and made the decision to go up the A7. It just so happens that at the moment they are building a rail link between Edinburgh and Galashiels pretty much right along the A7, so just in case you are needing to travel on that road... don't! It took me so long my whole afternoon was put out and I didn't get home until well after 6 instead of at the back of 4. And the work is going on for the next 9 months to a year. You have been warned!

So here you go, a day late, a couple Odi pics for you to enjoy... one of these days I'll take them outside and you won't get the 'devil eyes'!