Life as a dog owner

Well, I'm very pleased to say that we now have 2 dogs.  Logan & Chance, a 4 year old springer spaniel & 3 year old Jack Russell have come to us as their owner is seriously ill, and bravely asked for them to be rehomed.    They've come from Yorkshire, as I was checking the South Yorkshire English Springer Spaniel Rescue website for dogs, saw these two & thought that they looked a beautiful pair.  We brought them back on Saturday, and they are settling in incredibly well.  I've taken time off work so that they can get familiar with me & the house, but they are just so relaxed, it's wonderful.  We've met a few dogs out on walks, and despite being intact boys (until the end of the month) they aren't at all aggressive with other dogs.  They did a bit of  wee marking in the kitchen when they arrived, but this has stopped, and they haven't chewed or done anything remotely  naughty.

They are 2 lovely characters, and we're all very happy.

January

It's 12.15am & tomorrow is the first day back at work after 2 weeks.  But as I've got used to going to bed later, and as there is a gale blowing very loudly outside I'm going to just be very tired tomorrow.

I found another lovely blog to follow today http://www.littlehouseintown.co.uk/ via the delightful http://higgledygarden.com/ & there was a kind of review of the year, remembering good things that had happened.  And also looking at a list of intentions & realising that she'd done more than she realised.

Now 2011 was a strange year as I've previously noted, but there were some lovely positives about it:

• The pond thrived & even had baby newts
• I had a couple of very good holidays - Portugal & France
• I got to know 2 spaniels & their owner very well, and am now hoping to get a spaniel of my own
• I discovered the sweet drawings of  http://www.sophie-parker.com/ & also other treasures at Etsy
• I had lots of new moths in my trap (which I released afterwards!)
• I've done a lot of reading over the Christmas break which has been fulfilling
• And I've had a very relaxing Christmas with L which I hope bodes well for the next year 

Now in September I set myself some goals.  Haven't done the exercise, haven't done the vegan meals.  Did manage to get a lot of locally-sourced Christmas presents.   So I shall reset the goals:

• Exercise 15 mins a day 
• Make a vegan meal a week
• Get a dog (will help with first aim)
• Keep proper moth records
• Learn how to use new DSLR to take good photos

That'll do.

As you were.

Christmas

I love Christmas.  I don't have many  presents to buy, or lots of food to prepare, so it's always a chance to see people,  overeat, watch telly, go for walks.  Last year was my first Christmas single probably since my teens.  Part way through the year L asked if we could try again, so we're trying again.  In the run-up to Christmas I felt uncertain, I was looking back to last year, and how sad I felt.  And it seemed slightly unreal that he should have come back.  Reconciliation is a hard process for all concerned.  And I'm not sure if you can ever feel it's totally over.  But I've had a lovely Christmas, and am feeling settled and happy, so I hope this positivity will continue long into the new year.

Ebooks

I've just been reading my first ever ebook.  I downloaded Jennifer Egan's Visit from the Goon Squad to my netbook from the public library.  I've got it for 21 days, after which it will dissolve into bits & disappear.  I've almost finished reading it, and have been thinking about the experience of reading electronic versus print.  I found it very easy to read on the netbook.  I read quite quickly & what I hadn't liked about trying an e-reader previously was that not much text is displayed on the screen so you have to keep 'turning the page'.  However I found that hovering my cursor over the down arrow was very simple, and I could whizz through the pages, more easily in fact than holding a book.  However, what I find interesting is that I miss the sense of knowing where I am in a book by looking visually at where the bookmark is in the book.  It's made the story feel a bit disjointed.  The Goon Squad is a series of chapters about a group of people at different times in their lives, and with different narrators, so it is perhaps more difficult to follow than a traditional consecutive narrative.  But I think there is something about the physical sensation of getting through a book that's missing.  Also, I often read in bed, lying on my side with the book resting on the pillow a page at a time.  And I can't do that with the netbook, and I don't think I'd be able to do it easily with an e-reader, because of needing to turn the pages quickly.    The other thing which feels completely counter-intuitive is using electricity to read.   I know I could get some sort of solar recharger (maybe?) for my netbook, but at the moment it draws power ultimately from the national grid, and so seems wasteful.

But it's been a very easy way to get a library book.  And as someone who sometimes reads very quickly, and then forgets to take the books back, it's a good alternative to print, but I wouldn't want it to be the only method of getting books in future.

Good intentions

Start of academic year, autumn pretty much here, bit of a steep curve up to Christmas, time for some resolutions.

• Have bought a vegan cookbook to make a vegan recipe a week

• Will try for 3 blocks of 15 mins exercise a week (setting the bar v low)
• Will try to look out for locally sourced Christmas presents

Last time I set some resolutions I didn't keep them.  But the nature of being hopeful is to just start again.

And finally saw this today, and I just like it.

Dog Poet Transmitting....... 'May your noses always be cold and wet'

Gardening

I find gardening very therapeutic, but getting new plants is becoming addictive.  It's interesting to think about the garden in different stages, and to attempt to get colour & interest throughout the year.

My garden is at its best in early spring; there are lots of bulbs, and also spring flowers on the gravel area such as pulmonaria & aquilegia which spring up every year.

I'm now trying to introduce some more colour for summer, and also to improve the soil which is a fairly heavy clay.

The pond has been a big success I think, and has given me lots of pleasure looking at the snails, newts, frogs & water beetles zooming around. 

In a couple of weeks I'm going to get some shrubs pulled out that don't seem to support much.  And possibly I'll get a greenhouse, if I can bear to spend the vast price they cost.

Ideally at some point the garden will be perfect, and the weather will then become perfect for enjoying it.  I can but dream.

Autumn approaching

End of August, and autumn is on its way.  It's been an unsatisfactory summer weather wise I think.  No prolonged periods of sunshine to enjoy, and some cool temperatures.  What I always enjoy though is the easier commute, longer evenings, and the feeling of being off school even when you're not.

The run up to Christmas can be a drag.  But I always feel quite excited because of migratory birds.  And this year, I'm going to plant some flower seeds to overwinter, & I might even have a greenhouse which will add some new pottering possibilities.

Work seems to be entering a very irritating and frustrating stage.  I suspect that the budget cuts will make it increasingly so.  People become more defensive of their little areas, and rather than pulling together set out to fight for their own corner.  And I feel less and less proud of working in a university, the more it becomes an economic factory etc.  Read a good article about this today, can't find it now, but from these guys http://plutopress.wordpress.com/tag/des-freedman/

And I hope I'll get a dog before Christmas.  I wonder if it will be like a child, and give my life a purpose?