Sleep, Rain, Sleep, Rain, 11.8.08

Today is my dearest departed Mum's birthday. Sadly she died in 1980 from lung cancer.

Also it's Rachel (aka Leatherdyke's birthday ). Happy birthday Rach, I hope you've had a good one and have been richly spoilt, as you so deserve.

I have been so tired today, every time I sit here I start to fall asleep. I'm yawning now, but I'll try and stay awake long enough to update bloggy. We've mostly had a fairly lazy time, recovering from yesterday's endeavours. Jim's been awake since about 5am, bad back and things whizzing around his head.

We've watched some of the Olympics and last day of the England v South Africa cricket Test. England won well today but lost the test itself. Good start for Kevin Pieterson's captaincy. We also watched Andy Murray get knocked out of the singles Olympic tennis by the 74th seed. What a pathetic attempt he made. Later on he was playing doubles with his brother and I turned off at 1 nil against Murray. Luckily our swimmers have got off to a fantastic start. One gold and one bronze in the 200m freestyle. Fantastic. Come on Team UK.

When I first started blogging, it was sad not to receive any comments, 2 at the most, usually from my daughter and Rachel. Today it was 7. Wonderful. Of course I do now spend ages reading loads of other blogs highlighted on various blogs. It's never ending but such fun to get a glimpse into other peoples' lives.

I must mention one or two other bits about the show yesterday. There was the inevitable bouncy castle, an ice cream van, not much frequented at first, but I did see a few people eating soggy ices later on. One enterprising seller had set up a stall with a huge chocolate fountain and was selling strawberry and marsh mallow kebabs, dripped in the chocolate, for four euros. I saw loads of people with them. What a splendid idea. There was also a good number of vintage cars, among them a Ford Cortina, (we all owned one at one time), an old motor bike and a couple of huge American affairs. All previously polished and gleaming but then coated in mud and rain as they drove across the soggy field, past the soggy dogs and soggy people.

Having been told by the doggy judge that Buster was a Foxhound, I have scoured the internet for information on said dogs. He certainly looks like one, that's for sure. Poor Buster, we've been telling him he's a beagle up until now and suddenly he finds out he's an English Fox Hound. He'll be more confused than ever.

It has rained almost constantly today, well, it didn't first thing, just long enough for me to peg out some towels to dry and get inside. Then the heavens opened. They got so wet, I've had to re-wash them. Buster reluctantly came with me for a walk, but seemed to enjoy it once he'd made the effort. I had to lift him out of the way as a large cement lorry squeezed past us down the narrow lane. The farmer at the end of the lane, Kevin, is having a very large barn built for his cattle.

As we approached the bottom of the track up to our cottage, Buster calmly trotted the opposite way into Joe and Hilarys' garden to visit their delightful little cocker spaniel, Millie. Their daughter came to the door and let Millie out and we let them play in the garden together for a while. Cassie, their lovely daughter, made me a cup of tea and I bored them with my woes of the show.

When I left, there were 2 very bedraggled and muddy dogs waiting on the other side of the door. Not much else to report today. Just recovering from our endeavours yesterday. Reading blogs. Chasing dogs, Jim chopped logs and lit Stanley this evening as it all felt rather damp in here.

As promised, a few more show photos:


This lovely chap, a Water Dragon, was photographed by me in Canberra, Australia in February this year. He didn't win but I liked him anyway.










This is the lane down which I walked Buster this afternoon. You can see with the lorry it was a squash. This won first prize in the 'Local Scene' section. The lake on the left is Loch Graney and we can reach the shores in 15 minutes walking time.




This super frog was sitting on my friend's window all night, keeping watch for cockroaches, which he eats in seconds, so I'm told. He was overlooked in the competition too. This was taken in Lismore, Australia. Lynne, the friend, I met on the internet, on facebook to be exact, where we play Scrabble












I felt sure that this photo of a wonderful bull would pull a first in the 'farm animals'. Not a mention, nor a prize.

















Sandy, one of our cats, came 2nd in the 'Pets' section. Poor Buster was sadly overlooked.













From Australia again, this is Sammy, my lovely great niece. She was so photogenic. Came 2nd. I was robbed!