Very Wet Saturday!

What a night! It poured down all night, the wind must have been near gale force and the power kept dropping all evening and then all night. We were woken up countless times by appliances trying to re-boot themselves - not to mention the bloody ansa-phone going off all night! Consequently we didnt realise what the time was an overslept - it was nearly 11am before we actually got out of bed!! I took the dogs out and we got soaked - mind you with all that water it wouldnt matter if it was raining or not - Harvey is a true skuba diver and any hint of water and he belly flops straight into it! Despite this winter being incredibly mild and late (there are still roses in bloom in my garden) the silt season is truly here - by this I mean that all I do in the house every day is sweep up dust left from the dogs walks! The only saving grace is my patio that I put down earlier this year - its a life save and I reckon has cut the silt down by about half! All that hard work paid off!

Alan did some over-time, so we met up afterwards with Shahida and Rod at the White Hart in Pirbright. This pub has taken on a total transformation and the food is fab. I had corned beef has which I havent eaten since I worked at the stud over 20 years ago! It was good to see Shahida again and Rod is beaming as he has a girlfriend (at last!) Good lunch - and it even stopped raining for a while.

Then went onto the aquarium and bought some Dwarf Gourami's my favourite along with angel fish.

Black Friday!

Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving in the US, is historically one of the busiest retail shopping days of the year. Many consider it the "official" beginning to the American Holiday Season. Most retailers will open very early and usually provide massive discounts on their products. How and why have I never been to the US on this weekend!!!

And another reason for it being black was the death of Russian dissidant Alexander Litvinenko. Incredibly intriguing, real James Bond, James le Carre stuff - almost makes you want to join MI5 - especially as they were advertising for spies last week.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving day.

I was morbidly tired all day and I have no idea why, I didnt drink the previous night, I went to bed incredibly early and felt appalling all day. It must be the bad feeling and stress at work. This is the first Thursday in a long while there hasnt been a leaving do - thank God!

Life's full of weird coincidences!

The strangest thing happened to me today. I was walking at lunchtime along the usual path where I very rarely see anyone and this lady came towards me without a dog (which is even more unusual) as she approaches she points at my boys and says 'Gordon Setters, my mother breeds those' . It turns out that her mother is Yvonne Hunt who breeds the Gaidheal Gordons Setters and even more of a coincidence is that my Harvey is the very lines of Boyers and Yennadons that Yvonne uses. I was amazed to discover that she is now 88 and still drives herself around to all the shows. It just goes to show how these active, lively dogs keep you forever young!

I still cant get over such a coincidence. Yvonne lives in Gloucester so for her daughter to live a few hundred yards away from me almost freaky - there are barely more than 4000 Gordons in this country at any one time so the chances of meeting someone whose mother not only breeds them but someone I know is quite incredible.

Grim Monday?

These days every Monday I seem to get to work and feel like crap all day. It's gotta be this bloody place - the stress, the injustice, the insecurity - once upon a time loyal employees were respected and treated well - these days an office chiar is treated better than skilled IT staff all for the sake of the greedy british share holder.

Alan took Shahida's futon over to storage so we met up after for a quick drink down the White Hart at Pirbright (our White Hart is currently being re-furbed) and what a transformation this pub has had! The food looks superb, the decor is cosy and warm and the staff are attentive - a long way from when the Vintage Inn took it over and called it the Moorhen! It's just further proof of people power - the villagers boycotted it when they changed the name and campaigned for its orignal 16th century name to be restored.

'once upon a time this sofa was all mine' Bailey

Just a Perfect Day!

Yet again I was on my own as Alan earns more overtime for me to spend ;)

It was yet another beautiful winters day. I just love this winter sunshine as do the Setters - they enjoy this far more than the summer.

We set out on another long walk round the woods at the bottom of my garden. Bailey is getting even better. I've ordered him a magnetic collar and put him on glucosamine - I'm not really into giving drugs for life, I'd rather try homeopathic or organic cures before using drugs which are after all just poison.


We had another wonderful walk, no-one to bother us, peace and at one with nature. I practised my gundog training with Harvey and beam with pride when he gets 'down' from a distance. His only problem is that he's so pleased with himself that he wriggles toward me after I've told him he's a good boy - he's so willing to please.

A lot of fireworks tonight and for the first time in her life poor old Daisy was actually scared - I think she was near the neighbours house when a fe went off - she's hiding in the downstairs loo now, poor old thing but knowing her its only temporary - she may look precious but she's really a tough old bird!

There's nothing better than a Gordon Setter...

....well, at least when they are well trained, biddable and well socialised! There is possibly nothing worse than a badly behaved Gordon Setter - they are a liability! Which is why this special breed needs special people to be owned by them!

Anway, enough of the preaching - they are after all my passion - here is today's blog:

Bailey (before his accident) in the bluebell grove

For the first time since Bailey's accident, we (by that I mean me and my two Gordon Setter's Bailey and Harvey) went out for a decent walk. Bailey still has a pronounced nod but it didnt seem to worry him - he was truly back to his normal cheeky little boy self (despite being nearly nine with a greying muzzle). Two weeks ago I wasnt even sure he'd make it through the night let alone acompany me on long walks again. It felt good to see him back to normal. He's a wonderful dog.

Harvey the Terrible (doesnt he look the guilty party?)

The weather was gorgeous, frosty in the morning but sunny all day. I can handle winter days like this, its the grey, wet days that get me down. We walked all the way over to Tangley Manor, over the hill towards Frog Grove Lane - it was beautiful. With all the tension, stress and anger that's going on at work this was pure tranquility - the only noise was the occasional bird twittering after being flushed out by Harvey. Here are my two wonderful companions on the top of the hill, showing how well trained they are - the little darlings (or were they just posing for the camera ;) !

"If you take a dog which is starving and feed him and make him prosperous, that dog will not bite you. This is the primary difference between a dog and a man."

- Mark Twain

Roll Out the Barrell!!

So onto the next party. Today's event was arranged by friend and colleague David Loveder - a tour around the Surrey Hills Brewery in Shere/Albury.

It was freezing cold and this tiny farm outbuilding doesnt exactly look like a brewery from the outside, I half expected the door to open to a herd of cattle!! We needn't have worried. It certainly is only a tiny, cold building but the tour was incredibly interesting and the beer was superb! I totally admire anyone who says goodbye to the rat race in favour of something they feel passionate about and boy does Ross Hunter the owner of this business elude passion - he lives beer! How can he call it a job/business? It may make money but its more like a full time hobby - the lucky sod!

I liked the Ranmore Ale, pale but very hoppy and very moreish! The Shere Drop bitter is their best seller but to be honest not my favourite - maybe its just the favourite because people think that a real ale has to be a bitter - I dont know but it wasnt my favourite. My favourite however, which is no surprise because I love dark and spicey winter ales - was the Albury Ruby - superb and an ale named after the village I was born in - superb!

I should just point out that I was the only woman on this trip which is a shame because more and more women are getting the taste for real decent ale. It's no longer the ****** of the middle aged men with beer bellies and beards - reall ale is serious business here (and they are even taking it up in the US now with Microbreweries srtarting up all over the place - of only they'd learn not to serve it so cold) and becoming more and more fashionable amongst the young and old, male and female as we all get fed up with cold, fizzy, weak yellow water!

We then went onto the White Horse in Shere. A wonderful pub but by the time the food showed up I was completely knackered. I am sooo looking forward to a night in watching crap TV and vegging out tommorow!

http://www.surreyhills.co.uk/9089.html