Things I like about dogs

The dogs have settled in very well.  They are very relaxed, and we're getting into a routine though we haven't settled on what food to have quite yet.

There are so many pleasures that I want to record:

• Logan wags his tail so hard that when it's wet it slaps his sides
• Chance stretches out his back legs along the floor in the morning & pulls them along & looks very sweet
• They keep my feet warm on the sofa
• Logan likes to greet you with a teddy in his mouth.  He holds it very gently, doesn't chew it
• Chance gets up on his back legs to see over hedges if he thinks there's something interesting
• They hardly bark, and they're friendly to other people & dogs
• Logan enjoys being brushed & blowdried.  He positively wants a towel thrown over him after a walk
• Chance likes to give a little nose lick - he's very affectionate

I'm sure all the health benefits are true, they just make me feel very calm and happy, they are a lovely pair and I'm so pleased to have found them.

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.