Light Manoeuvres

L is still enforcing light manoeuvres on MD. He may have sat looking at her with puppy eyes and his ball at his feet but she says she didn't cave in. Doggo meanwhile is still on hunger strike and refused all attempts at food until she dropped half a softly boiled egg on to it. Then he cleaned his dish out.

This could all be down to his diarrhoea which now seems to come with chunks of blanket in it. Perhaps he's eaten his bedding in the car? I wouldn’t put it past him.

He seems to be totally fine when he does his usual supervising at dog training, which tonight is at Hilton.

(Monday 17^th July)

The Hunger Games

We get the train back home from London today, collect the car (after a bit of trouble with the ticket machine) and then collect the dogs. As a bit of entertainment for all of us I cut the lawn, which nicely exercises both of them.

As is often the case after going in to kennels Doggo goes straight onto hunger strike. I’m never sure if this is actually a protest at being sent way or perhaps a protest at being fetched back home again or maybe he’s just detoxing after the kennels food.

(Monday 6^th June)

Forced Feeding

Back on the bike today and it was a bit grim, very grim in fact and wet but the legs are fine which is the main thing.

Doggo’s hunger strike is over and he no longer has to be force fed, that is until the next time.

L has a friend who is about to start a blog, so L told her about mine. Well that’s about doubled the readership.

L’s ankle, which she had hoped to break on holiday but didn’t, which she then announced as ‘great’ after a week in a ski boot and promptly cancelled her physio appointment has now relapsed a touch after she went out for a training run. Oh dear. She’s rebooked for tomorrow.

Bizarrely after this morning’s total grimness it’s a really sunny ride home. 

Tonight it’s dogging, if I can get my overweight dog over the hurdles and then afterwards I meet L in Masons for some more vital body flushing.

(Wednesday 6^th April)

That Monday Feeling

Back at work today with the old bones aching a touch but improving slowly. I convey a brief synopsis of my weekend activities to a few bemused colleagues.

After another weekend away, Doggo is again on hunger strike. He takes Monday mornings worse than L and I do.

MD on the other hand is glad to be back, or perhaps simply glad to be anywhere, and is apparently well fired up on his walk this morning. L wishes me good luck with him at training tonight. 

An interesting article on the BBC about wine corks. Not sure it’s snobbery but I avoid screw top wines like the plague. Milk has those silly foil tops, beer has its crown tops and wine has its cork. That’s just the way it is, its tradition, why change.

As for old corks smelling of wet dog. Hardly. Clearly they are not as familiar as us with Eau de wet dog as we are.

I try and pay the Windermere car park online. Yet again their cameras haven’t seen us arrive, only leave. I think of a number and pay it.

(Monday 17^th June )

Making Plans For The Hunger Strike

I walk the boys this morning. It’s uneventful. L is incredulous. We did see a few of his favourite things:- squirrels/cats/dogs/people, but he was fairly chilled about them.

I’m walking the boys because L is cramming in the swimming training as it’s Windermere in two weeks. She reckons she’s on target for an hour and a half for the two mile swim. Hang on a sec. L has a target? That slipped out. She takes it all far more seriously than she usually admits to.

I go to the Clifton Leisure Centre webpage this morning and yep, there are the secret plans to flatten the squash courts. Well they were there until the website was mysteriously updated at 8.45am and all reference to the changes removed, just as I was trying to fill in the feedback form. This is turning into a full blown conspiracy. It looks like the hunger strike and chaining ourselves to the squash court door is the only way to proceed with this.

OMG... Look what they've done to the Birmingham Half.


It's been Bupa-ised. The event has become part of the Bupa Great Run series and has been relaunched as the Bupa Great Birmingham Run. So that's the end of EDF’s 'Race Against Climate Change' then... I wonder who won? Bupa are taking over everything at the moment and fast becoming the Tesco of running. I’m not looking forwarding to next year’s Bupa Great Nottingham Run.

Well, at least it should run like clockwork, though they still seem intent on starting 15,000 runners on Broad Street but I'll be doing it anyway, I have unfinished business.

At lunch time I collect old faithful, so I'll be back on my old bike next week.

Then at night we revisit the Ruddington Beer Fest. It is split over three pubs. We start in the White Horse Inn, which is incredibly busy and has a very good range of beers. Then on to the Red Heart, which you can tell isn’t quite as into its beer but they made a pretty good effort and had even got bands playing on their back lawn. Then we finished up back at the Three Crowns where we were last night and take advantage of the curry deal offered by their own Indian restaurant, which is in the back of the pub. A very good night.



(Friday 3rd June)