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Hi all

Its sad that I am having to write this, but due to unforeseen circumstances I am having to find a new home for Cassie. She is a great dog, with a great tempermant for a loving owner. She is great with kids and any other dogs.

She has become a couch potato over the last few months and just loves being around her owner. Please if anyone is interested let me know on here/pm and any questions also fire away. Need to find someone rather quickly that I can trust to give her a good home as I don't want to give her to the greyhound trust or whatever...

Thanks

Edit

Hi All,

What started out as an exchange of a truly loved dog has evolved into more than what was originally intended.  Cassie has become a part of our family and will still be included as such in posts.  She's adored by us and many on blonde and that'll will never be ignored.   

But she's not the only member of my family and since the thread has grown to include 'the lot', it has been agreed the title of this thread should be changed too.  Hope you enjoy!

Laxie

xx

Must have been a difficult decision Rooks, all best finding her a good home.

 
Thanks mate.

I'd snap her up in a heart beat if you lived closer.  Sigh.

What does that matter, arrangements can be made!

Rooks - sorry you have to let her go, she's a cracking dog but glad you've found a good home for her.

Laxie - congrats on your new dog. She's fab!

Yes exactly Greyhound Transporters travel every week to England/Ireland and it would't be a problem. I have a number of a N Irish Transporter if youse need it.

And good luck Rookie getting her re homed.

We're working on it.  lol 

Good luck all.

This

well home has been found and arrangements have been made.

rooks is in spain so muggings here has been left with the dirty job of dropping her off and saying the goodbyes, im gona have a tear in my eye when i drop her tomorrow.

her old trainer has arranged for her to be transported to ireland to be rehomed with laxie and she should be there sometime on saturday. the journey might be a bit daunting for her but it will be worth it in the end.

im sure she will have a fantastic new life in ireland with dawn and dawn is getting a fantastic dog.

when we started out with our greyhound adventure just under 3 years ago i never would have thought that within 3 years we would have one wonderful greyhound dead and another beautiful greyhound being rehomed. its a sad day :-(

Sad day, but she'll be happy in Ireland. She's a star is that Laxie.

Tank's right, while it's sad she'll be happy (if a bit confused at first in the madhouse) and well taken care of. Respect to the ITB boys for making a tough decision & thinking of Cassie's best interests first & to Laxie, Tim & co for giving her a home.

Was no easy task for the Lads to sort her transport, but really looking forward to her arrival now!  We've already got an Old English Sheepdog named Lily (she's 11), a cat named Rocky, a lizard and a turtle...plus 3 teen agers.   rotflmfao

Will be a lively spot for Cassie, but hopefully she'll enjoy it and us.  Promise to post plenty of pics once we get her settled.  Thanks for giving us the chance Lads!  xx

hats off to you laxie.

All the best with this, im sure she'l be happy with you.

Keep an eye on her with the cat!!

Not worried at all about Lily and Cassie.  Rumour has it Cassie's grown to be a bit of a lazy bones and that will suit Lily even better as she's getting old.  In fact, Lily is the last of her family still alive.  She still loves to run and play now and then, so they'll have great fun together in the fields/beaches near us.  But they'll also have plenty of laying about time if that's what they want.

Rocky (the cat) is a whole other ball game.  He's a moody little fecker, but he and Lily have an understanding.  Rocky is the only cat Lily allows in the yard.  She even lets Rocky sleep on her back now and then.  I reckon Rocky's only moody because Lily's allowed in the house and he's not.  Rocky will probably lose the plot at first when he looks in the window to see TWO dogs sitting by the fire.  Don't know what to expect from Cassie, but hopefully they'll get used to each other and can eventually share the same space outside.  That said, we've a 6' tall picket fence in the back yard.  Rocky can get through it at speed.  The dogs can't get through it at all.  lol 

leg one of cassies journey done, i handed her over to the guys taking her across to ireland this morning and they set off with cassie at 2.30pm to liverpool to catch the 9pm ferry.

was strange taking cassie back to her old kennel, was the first time i have been there since rodney died. as we got closer cassie got restless and excited and when we pulled outside she was shaking like a leaf. i wasnt sure if she was shaking through excitement or was scared.

i gave her a big kiss, chatted some shit to her and gave her a big hug. walking to the kennels her tail was out so that was a good sign.
they placed her in a holding pen whilst i sorted some paperwork then i stroked her through the bars and left.

i hope she forgives me and realises why i done what i had to do this morning, and if i didnt live in a flat there isnt a chance i would have ever let her go.

 but once she settles at laxies she will be very happy i know that. we have done what is best for cassie, we have great memories of her on and off the track and she deserves the best in life.


look after my bestest little girl laxie xx

Just got the call.  After a tense week-end of waiting while delivery guys got their act together, Cassie should be here within the hour.  Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

Will report back once she's landed and we've had a wee bit of time to settle in.

photos with her new friends please dawn

I will of course!  Just ran around the house tidying up a bit.  Bowl of her fav food and water at the ready in the kitchen and had a wee chat with Lily.  So we're all set. 

Only catch now?  Ling was telling me she used to sing show tunes to Cassie when she was nervous.  What will I sing?  Keep in mind, I can't sing to save me life, but will give it a go...quietly.   rotflmfao

Irish Rover ldo.

Could not agree more, let's hope they get on..

Have picked the song!!!

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LzmdovYoAI

Greyhounds love cats... but they struggle with a whole one in one sitting!

She's here!!!!

Cassie checking the place out.

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/15032010132.jpg)

Didn't take her long to find the food and water.  Maybe 60 seconds...lol

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/15032010127.jpg)

Lily had been put upstairs for a few minutes to give Cassie a chance on her own, but that didn't last long.


Who are you?!
(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/15032010131.jpg)


WFT?!
(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/15032010130.jpg)

Sigh.  Ok then.
(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/15032010129.jpg)

Then I took her out for a walk around the neighbourhood to let her stretch her legs.  No pictures of that as I had her on the lead and was on me own.

When we got back, I took the two girls (Lily & Cassie) out to introduce Cassie to Rocky - the cat.  That sure went well.  lol  Rocky isn't impressed, but he'll get over it.  Cassie took no notice at first, but she gained interest big time once she had the yard checked out.  We'll have to keep an eye on them for a bit at the start.

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/15032010134.jpg)


You ARE kidding, right?!
(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/15032010135.jpg)

Cassie isn't bothered....yet.  lol
(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/15032010136.jpg)

she looks quite well, am glad the journey hasnt taken to much out of her .

tail out is a good sign shes happy, so am i x

i really like the 3rd photo look at the smile on his little face GL Laxie

Lily and Cassie will spend most of their lazy time in front of the fire. 
(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/15032010133.jpg)

But Cassie hadn't gotten the memo yet and threw down on the hall floor for a bit.
(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/15032010137.jpg)

She's since figured it out though.
(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/15032010139.jpg)

And the pair of them are sharing the space by the fire without a bother
(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/15032010141.jpg)

FYP

She will love the fire lol.

I love that you have a traffic cone in your back yard, you're a proper drinker

this thread is blonde at its best imo

Apologies for the blurry photos.  Wanted to get pics, but wanted to make sure they settled in together as well, so I was a bit shaky with the camera.  lol  Will get some more once the kids come home from school.  They haven't stopped texting me all fecking day and can't wait to meet her!

I can't believe how easy it was to get the two girls acquainted.  Yeah they did the usual stand off and sniffing, but once the business end of things was over it was like they'd been expecting each other.  Lily always follows me everywhere I go when she's not sleeping and Cassie is doing the same.  What a wee (HUGE really! She towers over Lily when they're stood lol) pet!      

Will take plenty of pics and keep you updated on this thread as time goes by.  Cassie may have a new home, but her family has only been extended a bit.   xx

That was *cough* - 'relocated' one night.   ;whistle;

PS  Lily snores.  Cassie doesn't.  Cassie isn't sure if Lily's sleeping or growling so she has a look up now and then to be sure.  lol

lovely photos, do you want a german shepherd!?

 rotflmfao  Buy me a bigger house and ya got a deal.  Otherwise I'm afraid we'll have to decline.   rotflmfao

and she's still not heard the warthog........:D

How about a rotty?

Sure.  I'd like a 5-6 bedroom house with 1 acre of land.  Kthnx

let's all send a random animal to arrive at the same time. I'm gonna track down the pig that some bloke was walking past my window earlier

Did Cassie know someone driving the likes of a dark blue Berlingo over there Paul?  Because Timothy just pulled up and Cassie jumped straight up, tail wagging mad and went for the door waiting for him to come in.  She's been following him around the house since he landed too!

no dawn not that i know off. cassie very much a mans dog thats what shes mainly used to. all but 1 of the staff at her kennel were male and since leaving there has been around rooks or myself at the club all hours. apart from some interaction at home with ling and when at mine with charlotte the majority of her time is around men at the club.

FFS at least wind them up a bit and get the barbecue and a skewer out :D

Kids just landed home from school and brought a few friends to meet Cassie.  She handled it like a proper star.  The wee lad sat in the back on the sofa?  She was taller than him so it kinda freaked him out.  lol

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/15032010142.jpg)

The pair are worn out!  Just took them for a good tear around the local football pitch with my girls and a friend of theirs.  Cassie has already bonded big time with our 12 year old Sarah.  Sarah's the only one who could convince her to get in and out of the car.  Here's where she'll get her runs until we're sure we can let her off the lead in random fields.  Sarah's the one wearing the orange top...and she loves to run too. 

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/15032010147.jpg)

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/15032010148.jpg)

Amazing pictures. TY so much Laxie - FYI - she has a particular penchant for Les Mis and Miss Saigon - primarily, as those are the shows i know the words to!


Axx

Hanging around men all the time.  Sounds like Cassie and Laxie will get on well... ;)

Freudian slip? something you're not telling us?

He totally whooshed me

It was a typo - lol!! 

MEN...I meant MEN!!

;marks;

Ahhhhh, in that case...fair point.   rotflmfao

Great pics Laxie, thanks... Enjoy xxx

I'm really loving this thread.

I would like to be the first to nominate it for BOB  *g

I'll second that!!

More pics of Dawn chasing after a greyhound and it gets to legendary status........

yeah right

Been thinking about it and if the pig is a pot belly pig, send him on.  They're well cool.

fyp

For all you cynics out there, you'll enjoy this one.  I probably made a wee mistake...which definitely led to jumbo size consequences.  

In an attempt to make up for Cassie's long journey, I left a big bowl of food out for her all day.  She'd eat it, I'd refill the bowl, she'd eat it, refill...rinse repeat.  You get the idea.  Lily is a 'once a day' kind of dog, so this was new to us.  With Lily, you feed her a big bowl and she might not even finish it in the day so I assumed (wrongly I hope) that poor Cassie must be abso starved.

Despite the pair being left out a number of times before bed last night, I'm sure you can guess what's coming next.  Woke up this morning to two of THE BIGGEST piles of poo you'd ever want to meet.  In my life, I've never seen so much gathered in any one location.  Didn't know it was possible.  Never mind TWICE from the same animal!  

And Cassie?  She woke up this morning abso beaming.  Suppose you would too if you had that much shit cleared from yer system.  Tail wagging all over the shop.  Each person that woke was greeted by her wagging tail in hopes of a rub...which she got.  

I've cleared the mess and come up with a new plan.  They've a new big bowl of food out now and I'll give her a 'snack' amount around dinner time, but that's it.  Fingers crossed it works because as each new pet arrives, it's my job to sort the 'welcome home' messes.      

what about a couple of Labrador's .you choose the colour.

 ;shitfanhit;

Nice present to wake up to!

Day 2 - Brian phoned from school asking me to collect him as he's suffering from 'man cold'.  Stuffed up and sore throat with a few days.  Not the end of the world and he'd really want to buck up, but said I'd collect him as I'm a pushover. 

Gathered keys off the table and Cassie went ape!  Tail wagging mad, she was even trying to rally Lily in her efforts.  Suppose we can stop at the field on the way home from school, so come on girls.  Off we go. 

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/16032010149.jpg)


After they had what I felt was a good run (Lily was wrecked trying to keep up!  lol), it was time to head home. 

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/16032010152.jpg)

Or so I thought.  lololololol  Cassie decided to play a wee game.  She's such a ham!!!  With a smirk on her face, she'd get just close enough to tease us before tearing off around the field.  It's a big field.  Cornering a 'greyhound on a mission' in a big field is no easy task.  Trust me.  I now know.  We tried.  For ages!

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/16032010150_2.jpg)

Luckily I'd stopped at the shop on the way to the field.  Eventually we thought of it and tore the end off a fresh loaf of bread we'd just bought.  Sure enough.  She loves her food...any food really.  lol  Caught and safely tucked back into the car, we made our way home.  They're thrown down by the fire for now.  Once the girls come home from school, the madness will kick off again. 

It's a learning curve for all of us, but seems everyone is enjoying it.   

 

Haha, she loves playing that game Dawn, I love the smile she gives you too when she runs away. Just give her a firm voice, and she gets a little scared and tends to just look down at the ground and wince as you walk toward her..

Or to get her used to coming to me I used to let her off the lead, but while walking just give her a call over to me every minute or two and just give her a pat on the head, then when you finally want her in she'll come expecting a pat on the head but you put the lead on :)

This will work best Dawn without doubt.

The problem most owners have with recall is that they don't practice it until they need it to work.

Next time you're in the field make it a training session. Just randomly recall and treat every time.

I make it a habit to recall Ronnie at least 20 times whenever he's off lead. That way he's always expecting a recall and listens out knowing that a treat could be waiting if only he gets to hear that whistle.

The chasing thing might seem like fun on day 1 but in all seriousness I'd leave that game until you sort the recall. Once her recall's good then you can play chase games knowing that when you want the game to end you can get her to come to you.

Lily is a rarity. Most dogs will keep eating while ever food is there. They know that if they eat too much they can just dig a hole, regurgitate it and store it for later.

Cassie is in a new home and she doesn't know when the next meal is coming. Too right she'll eat everything that placed in front of her.

Greyhounds don't actually need much food Dawn. They are generally very slow dogs and unless they are being worked (racing) their dietary requirements are minimal. You should be more wary of over feeding than under feeding a dog like her.

You'll know if she's starving because she'll look skinny. Her shape now looks really good. You can see her ribs but only just and she has a clearly defined waistline. They're two great indicators of a well fed but not over fed dog.

RESULT!!!  No food after 4pm (despite the best efforts of all the kids) and we had a clean wake up call this morning.  Wasn't easy.  Cassie whined like a baby during our dinner and every time someone grabbed a snack later on.  I caught the kids sneaking her wee nibbles now and then, but they stopped once they were told they'd be responsible for this morning's clean up.  Fear is a good thing.  lol

Lily hates going out the back yard unless she's really busting to go.  She much prefers to stay put with me.  Cassie's copped this.  Now the lil darlin' takes off running for her spot on the sitting room floor when I open the back door!  I've always just had to say 'out' in a firm tone with Lily, but now she's following Cassie's lead and takes off for the sitting room too.  Getting 2 big dogs out the back when neither of them wants to is great fun, but we got there in the end. 

Thanks for the recall advice Lads.  I'll give it a go and keep at it.  We next to never have Lily on a lead as she always comes back.  She's able to run around the fields right near our house where the kids play and has spent many a day there with them.  Would be great to let the pair of them run loose in the fields near us, but don't want to risk it until I'm sure Cassie will return without hassle. 

Sarah says I need to stop using the camera on my phone and has insisted I use her proper camera from now on.  Will give that a go too.  I'm really enjoying the pair of them.  Cassie has brought new life to our old Lily and bar the odd spat over fireside positions, they're getting on great.

as long as cassie is let out before everyone settles down for the night to do her business you will be fine.

in time you will be able to keep cassie off the lead at the fields, she just needs to get used to you all and to settle into "home".

i rarely had cassie on a lead in open spaces and she  was fine and ben was the same with her.


looks like your all having lots of fun lol x

Just back from a long walk with the pair of them.  Kept them on the leads during the walk and once we were near home decided to chance me arm with the field.  RESULT!!!  Not a bother in the world.  They were still in 'walk' mode when we first entered the field, so now and then I'd call them back. 

Happy with the result after a bit, I turned to Cassie with an excited voice and said, 'Go on girl, give a run!' whilst pointing across the field.  Off she went, with Lily in tow.  Called them back a couple of times during their play and they came back without a hassle...Cassie leading the charge.  Would give them both loads of praise and cuddles before letting them off again.  Don't know if it made a difference, but I was sat in the grass at the time just watching them when they'd get the call.  Almost like I wasn't a threat to ending their fun.  Brian reckons Cassie will cop on to the 'sitting down' trick in no time, so we'll need plenty more practice before I'm sure.   


Had a wee jog with them on our way to the field.  Sooooooooo glad there was no camera!   rotflmfao  On the plus side, I'll surely lose a few pounds with all this running about!

This is the reason for recalling often during your walk. They come back, get a treat then get to go again. The recall becomes a good thing to them rather than a signal that play time is over.

It's also worth recalling, putting the lead back on and then taking it off and letting her go again. That way if you've got her lead out she won't be worried that it means her free time is about to come to an end.

Is it me or does the white dog look like it's about to eat someone?

 rotflmfao  Lily's as harmless as they come.  She has funky eyes though.  One's blue and the other's dark brown.  Tales of oddness aren't so odd in this house.

that's just going to confuse her. she's always been given commands in english before

Ah but you know as well as I do - it doesn't pay to ignore the mad one

Cassie can open doors.  Marv.  Luckily she's not interested in going out, just wants back in all the time.   rotflmfao

The coat.  Once I put it on, Cassie goes wild!  Lily never used to be bothered, but now she goes wild too.  They love road trips - and being the taxi for 3 teens means they gets lots of them. 

The kitchen.  Not their favourite place to be, but as Cassie's in season that's where they go for the night.  Cassie whines from the minute the kitchen door closes as she prefers to be with me.  Lily has taken to digging out any remaining ashes from the dead kitchen fire...and spreading them all over the kitchen!  Swell.  Her face was as black as Cassie's on Thursday morning, so now we put a chair in front of the fire guard to stop her.

The fields.  I've not had to take them to the footy pitch in the past few days!  It's great because now I don't have to load them into the car every time they want a run.  Behind my house or across the road from it.  Loads of fields with plenty of space for them to run and have fun and close enough to do it without trashing the seats of the car after them. 

Here's a quick snap from this afternoon's jaunt.  Just to the right in the pic is a young forestry.  They had a blast swerving in and out through the trees!  In fact, they were worn out before I was because it was so much fun to watch them.  I can't tell you how much I'm enjoying the pair of them.  Lily has really come to life since Cassie arrived and Cassie is such a ham you can't help but adore her. 

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/20032010154.jpg)

:)

this thread makes me want to get a second dog! 

Watched Marley and Me last night with Sarah...dogs at our feet. 

Half way through, "Mom...thank God Cassie is sane.  One looper is enough for any house."

"What are you on about Sarah?!  Lily's as quiet as they come."

With a sly smile, "I wasn't talking about any of the animals in the house."

Sighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

What a girl!!!! Tell her well done from me!

QFMFT

looper=great word

Ireland tends to be a nation of people who believe (for the most part) Greyhounds only have one purpose - racing.  If they can't manage it and manage it well...adios doggy.  Wouldn't occur to most people in this country to keep one as a pet.  I'll admit, wouldn't have occurred to me either until Cassie came along.  So today I decided to do a bit of google research on Greyhounds.  Don't know why, other than I just felt like it.  Turns out I learned all sorts of new things. 

There are 3 Greyhound adoption agencies in Ireland.  Apparently they're working hard to change the mindset of the Irish, but at the minute their dogs are mostly adopted by people in the US & UK.  How crazy is that?!  OK, not such a big deal shipping a dog to or from the UK (although Rookie might disagree after Cassie's escapades lol), but to ship them to the US?!  So many people around here say they'd love a new dog, but those same people cringe if you mention a Greyhound.  What a waste of time and money to send these lovely animals across the ocean when so many here are looking for their next new pet.  Sigh.

Popular myths -

They're hyperactive.  Yeah.  Righto.  They've never met Cassie or any other Greyhound for that matter.  Greyhounds sleep most of the day.

They need loads of space.  Not so much.  She picked her spot on the first day and hasn't moved from that spot since, except to eat or go out.  When I'm alone with the pair of them they do tend to follow me around the house.  But once the kids land home I take them for one last run and they throw down in their fav spots for the rest of the night.

They're too timid to be a sociable pet.  Again.  BS.  Yeah Cassie was a wee bit nervous - for about 5 minutes!  lol  Once they get to know a person, they're no more nervous than the cheesy dogs you see on the telly.  And we've already established how well she and Lily are getting on, so other dogs aren't a problem either.   

They're constantly on the run when left loose.  Nope.  Cassie gives a random sprint now and then when the mood takes her.  She never tears road for more than maybe 20 or 30 seconds.  But that's it.  The rest of the time we spend just rambling in the fields together.  That said, she's just as happy going for a walk along the road on her lead, same as any other dog.   

Wee facts -

They're a bit like us in a way.  We're not supposed to go swimming for at least an hour after a heavy meal.  They're not supposed to go running for at least an hour after a heavy meal.  Didn't know that until today, but will be careful not to break that rule as it could hurt Cassie.

They don't have an undercoat, so shedding is next to non-existent.   

Some sites claim the Egyptian Kings were partial to Greyhounds.  Dunno if I buy that one, but it was a cool tale to tell the kids.  lol

Last wee bit which never occurred to the kids, but totally impressed them once mentioned - Santa's Little Helper on The Simpson's is a Greyhound       

So on to my message for today.  If you're looking for a new dog, why not consider a Greyhound?  They are the most loyal and affectionate dogs you could ever want to own and you will be delighted you took the plunge.  Plenty of adoption centres in the UK and 3 in Ireland to choose from, so no excuses.  But you can't have Cassie...because she's already taken.   

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/24032010158.jpg)

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/24032010157.jpg)

:)

Lily is grounded!  Lil darlin went into the ashes again yesterday - TWICE!!! 

And I washed her...twice.  Sigh.   

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/27032010165.jpg)

Lily's always slept near one of us, so I've put the foot down as of last night.  Lily goes upstairs to one of the kid's rooms to keep her from trashing the kitchen fireplace and Cassie sleeps near me in the sitting room as it's not fair to make her feel she's on her own.  No more of this kitchen carry on.

Recall has been going great for the most part, but I lose Cassie to the wilds when she's in 'sniff mode' through the trees.  It's like a drug to her.  She's abso obsessed with sniffing every inch of the forestry and not happy until she does.  Thought Greyhounds were only sight dogs?  Luckily it doesn't take her long...because I'm partial to letting her at it.  lol

Recall when it works

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/27032010168.jpg)

WTF is in here that has her so obsessed?!

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/27032010162.jpg)

So yesterday was different.  I needed to run to the local shop for a few bits.  Put on the shoes and the madness started.  The pair of them went nutters.  They didn't even wait for the coat to come out this time.  Ok then...off we go.  But we're NOT doing the field!  Famous last words.

Walked through the village to the shop no hassle.  Tied the pair of them outside and they sat quietly waiting while I got the bits.  Then I decided to visit a friend on the other side of the village as she hasn't been feeling too well.  "Come on girls, we're calling to Margaret's."  Only Margaret wasn't home when we got there.  Mobile call FTW in future!  lol

Feeling a bit let down by a bust of a trip (even the dogs were feeling it, I could tell) I caved and stopped to the field on our way home.  We were pottering around minding our own business when we heard cheering from the football pitch.  Cassie tried to ignore it, but it got too much in the end.  Even Lily was starting to take notice.

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/27032010169.jpg)

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/27032010170.jpg)

Nothing else planned for my day, so we may as well go watch the match.  Four feckin fields later (I had no idea how far away it was!) we got to the last stop before the pitch.  A barbed wire fence.  Marv.  Sarah phoned while I was out and by now had caught up to us.  She searched the whole length to find a break where the dogs could get through without risk of being hurt, but no joy.  Ah well.  We tried.  By now the pair of them didn't give a toss about the cheering anyway.

The four of us turned around and made our way back to our neck of the fields.  Only our return trip wasn't as care free.  We'd only gone as far as the first field when we were met by 2 other decent sized dogs.  Sarah knows Banna.  Hell, every kid in the village knows Banna.  Banna is a perv.  Just about every kid in Knocknagree has been accosted by him at one point or another.  The lucky few who've escaped his 'affections' were just fortunate enough to be very short...with little leg room for the Banna lovin'.  Sarah's not short, God love her.  So she's had experience of clearing Banna when need be.

Only Banna had a friend with him.  And his friend wasn't too pleased to see us.  Sarah and Cassie had taken the lead in our walk, so I got a bit worried when the other dog started to growl.  In a calm voice I told Sarah to stay put.  No sooner had the words come out of my mouth when Lily leapt forward with a growl of her own.  One I'd never heard out of her.  She put herself between Sarah/Cassie and the bully and made it quite clear she was ready to kick some arse if need be.  Sarah and I just looked at each other in shock.  We had them on their leads, but there was no holding Lily back if it came to it.  Was all I could do to hold her at all at this point.  Not sure if the bully was taking Lily serious or just got bored, but he turned round and headed off...Banna in tow.  No bites, no fights and even Sarah's leg survived.

After getting over the fright of it, we went back to our usual hang out and celebrated our escape.  Cassie and Lily were strutting around - proud as could be.  Sarah and I threw ourselves down for a rest and the girls kept calling over, more so than usual, to check on us.  They were greeted with big hugs and praise every round so I reckon they weren't worried about us - just lapping up the cuddles.

I'll be taking a walking stick with me in future...just in case.

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/27032010167.jpg) 

Three cheers for woop woop - thats my girl

 rotflmfao

Woop Woop = Lily obv.  When we first got Lily, Sarah was little and didn't know how to whistle for her.  So she'd put her fingers to her mouth as if to whistle, but instead of whistling, she'd shout "Woop woop".  For the longest time Lily wouldn't come to any of us unless we did as Sarah did.  According to the vet back then, Lily thought Woop Woop was her name!   rotflmfao

They were given run of the house last night.  Cassie stayed put with me.  Lily went on a wee walk about.  I swear, she must have been a ninja in a previous life.  She got in, tore the ashes apart without a sound, got out and was pretending innocence in the girl's room this morning.  


This was Lily yesterday complaining that we don't need a walking stick...we have her.

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/28032010173.jpg)



"Wasn't me"

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/29032010177.jpg)



It's abso pissing rain outside right now.  Washing her with the hose would be a punishment to me as much as it would be to her.  In fact, I think the bitch is starting to like the hose FFS.  Off to the bathroom we go.  Power shower at the ready.  She's gone too old to jump into the bath herself.  This should be fun.  Cover me...I'm going in.

LoL, just look at her face, she really knows she has been a bad un.

Dogs can't equate bad behaviour with scolding/punishment unless they are caught in the act.


The contrite/guilty demeanour is simply a reaction to your body-language and tone of voice.

Yeah yeah yeah...I know.  Lily hasn't a clue why I'm cross when she's caught after the fact, but no harm to keep her on her toes.  Mightn't do anything for her training, but keeps me sane...kind of.  lol 

Still haven't attempted her bath.  None of the kids were home to help me get her in the tub earlier.  They're home now, but I've gone all comfy on the sofa.  Gathering up the motivation for what I can promise will be a messy washing. 

"Has to be done."  Will keep saying that to meself until I'm sick of listening to me talking and get round to actually doing it.  Talking to yourself is a good thing.  I rarely argue with me.

Lol  rotflmfao

That's a great (and very honest) reply Dawn.  :respect: ;tightend;

Well, the rain never stopped so we had use the bath tub for Lily's ash wash.  Sarah made the mistake of showing her the doggy shampoo before we got started...and Lily ran for the hills.  Ok, not 'hills' really.  Don't have those in our house.  But man oh man, she sure ran.  

Kitchen table was shoved around, chairs went flying and we were laughing the whole time as Sarah and I tried to get hold of her.  Got there in the end.  Much to Lily's dismay.  Once we landed her into the tub, we had to wait for Lily to 'balance' herself.  She was never known for being graceful, God love her.  She flopped about so much, we were both soaked by the time she was settled.  I was lucky there was water left in the tub for her bath.

Sarah the took photos this time...much to my dismay.  Had to leave a few out of the thread.  Not suitable at all.  lol  

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/29032010184.jpg)

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/29032010192.jpg)




We tried to convince Cassie to hop in, but she wasn't having it.  She stayed put on the hall floor waiting for us to finish with Lily, showing up just in time for the 'good girl' rubs after.

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/29032010185.jpg)


Must remember to put a chair in front of the fire guard tonight.  Please don't let me forget.  My hands are turning to prunes with all this washing, ffs!  




 

Can't get a word in?

 ;whistle;

Amazing how a big strong looking dog looks incredibly sheepish and skinny when in the bath ;D

Good luck to you with that big one though - the wee terrier we've got is enough hassle. I've had to change how I prepare for giving her a bath - once she sees the bath mats getting lifted she's straight behind the couch - and it takes a couple of us to move it. She hates the bath, loves getting towel dried though - annoying part is she now likes to go for a walk in the rain becasue she gets dried afterwards - sigh.

By chance, we stumbled across a whistle.  One of those cheesy Christmas cracker jobbies.  But not from the cheap crackers with plastic stuff.  Oh no.  These were the posh crackers, so the whistle is metal...and green. 

Sarah blew the whistle in the house yesterday and Cassie perked right up.  Every time the whistle went off, Cassie looked like she was ready for something.  Today Sinéad tested the theory and sure enough, Cassie must have been trained with a whistle back in the day.  Blow the whistle and she'd take off.  Blow it again and she'd come right back.  It even works when she's in 'sniff mode' so we're delighted!  Up to today, Sarah and I were the only two she'd come to unless she really wanted to.  Now the lot of them can get involved...as long as they have the whistle. 

Meanwhile, Lily has come up with a new party piece.  She's decided the mat she's always thrown down on isn't nearly good enough.  Now she pulls one of the blankets off the sofa and throws down on that instead...even if one of us was hoping to use it.  Think I'll have to have another wee chat with Lily soon.     

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/31032010195.jpg)

Trying to get in touch with Mike the Vet.  This should be fun.  My first mistake was attempting to ring him before 4pm.  Although, maybe I should have phoned him by 1pm.  Yer never sure with Mike.  He's a bit of a pisshead to be fair.  Makes me look like a saint.  Depending on how things went the day before, you run the possibility of ringing when he's not up yet or ringing when he's already in the pub.  It could go either way, but neither way gets a reply.  There's a wee window when his belly takes over and he goes looking for food.  THAT'S when you must track him down.  I'll get to him.  Always do.  But man, he doesn't make it easy.

Mike is an odd character.  You'd nearly wonder is it a good thing to let him in charge of your pet when you first meet him.  But he's the only vet in the area who doesn't look at you like you have 3 heads for caring about an animal.  Most vets in these parts deal with farmers, so it's strictly business.  Keeping an animal for 'fun' doesn't make sense to them.  Mike is the exception to the rule.  He'll do everything he can to save a cat or dog when most would just put it down.  And he doesn't charge the world for his services either. 

When he lands, it's important to have a tin of beer and a shot of whiskey waiting for him.  He doesn't get down to the business of checking over the animals until he's finished the whiskey and the tin is half empty.  If you don't offer it, he'll stand there talking for fecking ages until it dawns on you why he's still stood there.  So to save time, just have it ready.

So why am I ringing Mike?  Two reasons actually.  I always get him to the house when we bring in a new pet.  He gives them their shots if needed and has a look over them to be sure all is well.  Also, we found another wee lump under Lily's belly and he must call to make sure she doesn't have the cancer back.  He took a huge patch of it out last year and it was a fluke we found it in time.  She'd just had her twice yearly shave down.  When her hair's fully grown, it's hard to spot these things.

She'll be grand either way, because it's only a small lump this time and may only be a cyst.  So win win.  As it turns out, he just phoned me back and will be calling to the house in the morning.  I've the beer in, but I'd better check the whiskey stock...just in case.

Only in Ireland Dawn....

Fingers crossed for lily.

XX

Well, she wasn't - you've just got lucky.

Most dogs respond to a whistle Dawn but they don't necessarily associate it with recall.

If you want to whistle recall her then do it but if you don't make it clear to her that the whistle means "come to me I've got a treat for you" she'll just do random things.

Good to know...cheers.  Sinéad says she gave them a treat each time they came back.  Lily just follows Cassie, so she luckboxed the treats.  Will make sure the kids know not to randomly blow the whistle.  Random isn't so unusual in our house, so this will be a new thing for all of us.   rotflmfao

We used to buy disposable nappies for Lily when she was in heat.  I'd cut a hole out of the middle for her stump of a tail and she'd wear them while in the house.  Trying to decide if they make nappies big enough to fit over Cassie's huge arse.  I can manage the tail...just cut a hole in the nappy.  It's the rest of her backside I'm not so sure of. 

A great way to train whistle recall is to whistle and then run off. The dog will naturally chase you and then when it gets to you have a really fun game of tug or throw a load of treats on the floor for them to gobble up.

The most important thing is to make a big fuss whenever they come to you so they know it's worth doing.

Random whistle blowing could be a great btw. Whenever you're out just blow the whistle for the dog to come back but make sure you fuss or treat the dog. The thing most people do wrong with recall is not practising it until they need it to work. Practice at random times when there aren't any distractions then hopefully when you need it to work it will have become a reflex response.

Never met a sober Vet in Ireland ever - it goes with the job (should have studied harder at school)

I'm just glad we're his second call of the day.  Last time he landed some time after 5pm...and was abso blotto! 

Mike hasn't turned up yet.  Just phoned him and he was 'sidetracked'.  Sigh.  Won't be calling to us until either tonight or tomorrow morning.  I reckon he's gone off to the pub and will land this evening...after his day of drink and dinner.  Ran out of beer last night.  That's a whole other story.  Will deffo have to buy more.  Should be an interesting visit when he lands. 

Have some exciting news, but must run to the hairdresser.  Will post when I get back.

 ;popcorn;

;popcorn; ;popcorn;

My exciting news?

I got a haircut.  And colour.   Couple of new outfits too.  rotflmfao  Happy April 1st! 

(At least it wasn't as long to read as Red's news.)


No sign of the vet yet.  There's a shocker.  Pubs closed tomorrow so he'll probably do house calls all day to make up for it.  Just hope he gets to us earlier in the day.  I'm kicking around catching the train to Dublin (because I'm on the right side of the sea and can do that Cos).  Figured I'd hang out for the night and come home Saturday.  Will have the house to myself Saturday - Monday as the rest of them are off to Galway.  Just Lily, Cassie and I kicking back shooting the breeze.  Looking forward to it.

Mike landed bright and early this morning.  Lily usually sleeps until around 10:30 or thereabouts, but Cassie and I are up and about from around 7:00.  We were the only ones awake when he landed, so he gave Cassie some time to get to know him while I made him a cup of tea.  TEA!  Was gob smacked.  Turns out he'd a late night of it at a party last night and was a wee bit worn from it. 

While he supped his tea and chatted about Cassie, I went upstairs and tore Lily from her slumber with the girls.  She was less than impressed and walked down in a daze.  Mike was actually quite surprised by how well she looks since her operation.  Not sure what he was expecting, but happy to surprise him.  Meanwhile, I was pleasantly surprised that he'd remember to zip up his zipper for a change when he got dressed this morning.  Said I wouldn't mention it though.

Sarah and Sinéad followed soon after.  They figured I'd be busy holding dogs for Mike and offered to take the pictures.  They were careful to spare ye the rear shots.  Mikes pants were falling down.  Sigh.

We managed the vaccinations on both with no hassle.

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/02042010202.jpg)

If you try to pick Cassie up from under her front legs, she lets out a yelp.  Not sure why, so Mike had a check there too.  He didn't find anything to warrant her upset.  We just won't try to pick her up like that in future.

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/02042010200.jpg)

Then came Cassie's worming shot.  Holy crap, she yelped and yelped for nearly 5 minutes after!  She was NOT a happy bunny.  I held her and talked to her until she calmed down, but she gave Mike a fierce hop.  He very nearly considered the whiskey after that.  lol

While I stayed calming Cassie, he had a feel of the latest lump on Lily.  He's not thrilled with it, but not sure it's a bad un yet.  He's given me a 10 day supply of steroids for Lily to see if it'll shrink a bit.  If it doesn't, he'll be going in and removing our new mystery lump.  Either way, she should be grand. 

After all was said and done, he added the latest vaccine stickers to Lily's record book.  He asked to see Cassie's papers and vaccine book, as I knew he would do, but Rook's has to get those off the trainer for me.  Meanwhile, Mike's holding on to the info/stickers from today's injections so he can add them when the papers land from England. 

One more cuppa to settle his nerves (he still wasn't right after Cassie's yelp fest) and he was off. 

And so were we.   More to follow.

€40 lighter in the pocket (which wasn't bad to be fair), Cassie settled down after Mike left.  In fact, she was wired for sound within a few minutes.  Tail wagging and running around the place with Lily as if nothing had happened.  Sinéad gave them both treats.  Then Sinéad had the misfortune of picking up the leads.  She was only putting them back in the cupboard, but the dogs went ape shit.  Walkies time.  

Spring has arrived.  The sun was shining.  Birds were singing in the trees.  Cute bunnies  appeared in the fields hopping around enjoying the sunshine, doing whatever it is bunnies do.  We've bunnies in our fields.  Lots.  Cassie REALLY likes to chase them.  Lotser.  I know 'lotser' isn't a word, but work with me here.  

From the very minute we left them off the leads, Cassie looked up...and tore road - leaving us for dust.  She was a doggy on a mission.  And catching Bugs Bunny was her mission.  She was at the other end of the field before we knew it.  I was scuffling around looking for the whistle trying to find it before she got too far ahead of us.  Searched every pocket as fast as I could.  Cassie was heading for the second field.  Oh crap.

'MOM!!!  It's attached to the lead fer feck sake!  Hurry up!'    

Oh yeah.  I'd put it on the end of Lily's lead so I wouldn't lose it.  But I'd forgot where I put it with the worry and rush of things.  

'Cheers Sarah, but watch yer language fer feck sake.'  Where does she get it from?  I'll never know.

One blow of the whistle and Cassie stopped in her tracks, looking down the field at us.  One more blow of the whistle and she was barrelling back down the field towards us with that cheesy grin on her face.  RESULT!  The few days of recall practice with the whistle had paid off.  Bugs thanks us for it too.  Well, he didn't really, but I'm sure he would have if he weren't busy in the bunny A&E getting over his heart attack.

More bunnies were spotted as we rambled the fields, but I was ready for them.  Whistle to hand just in case.  Good thing, because Cassie wasn't finished yet.  Lily was clueless as to what they were chasing, but she knew something was up and didn't want to miss out.  

Sarah tried to talk them out of it for a few, but no joy...off they went.

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/02042010207.jpg)


I love this whistle.  Seriously.  I'd be screwed without it.  Don't do running.  We left them off as long as they were in sight, but when they'd get too far it only took a toot of the whistle and back they came for their rubs and praise.

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/02042010203.jpg)


Sarah and Lily having a chat while Cassie goes back to sniff mode.

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/02042010211.jpg)

We spent the bones of an hour in the field this morning.  It was such a lovely morning, none of us wanted to go home.  But eventually the dogs were wrecked and Cassie was nearly begging us to head home.  All that bunny chasing will do that to you apparently.  She's been thrown down since...lazy bones.  Meanwhile, the bunny A&E is packed to the rafters this morning.  



(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/02042010204.jpg)



  

Wow!

Recalling a dog from chasing a rabbit is really impressive!! My Ronnie's recall is almost perfect but when he's chasing a rabbit or a fox there's no chance.

Make sure you keep up the massive praise for recalling to that whistle and you've got easy street.

Fantastic pics and stories TY.

She's such a good girl - I'm so pleased she's become part of the furniture so quickly - I love being part of Cassie's life vicariously through this thread - so please keep it up!

Impressive? that's unheard of

Cracking thread, well done Laxie fair play to ya  ;hattip; ;hattip; ;hattip;

Just discovered this thread - great read, well done Dawn

We're screwed.  Cassie and Lily have a new friend.  His name is Max.  He's not ours.  He SHOULD be living up the road and a few fields away, but he's mad about the girls.  Sarah reckons he's stalking Cassie.  Sigh. 

Sinéad and her friend Mary Rose have just gone to the fields with Lily and Cassie.  Max in tow.  Will get pics when they return.  But for now, I must clean up after the roast lamb dinner.  Poor Cassie has been abso miserable smelling it and she's not getting any!  My floors will thank me for it later. 

PS  What should have been a quiet week-end got a little manic at one point.  For only the second or third time ever, someone was kicked out of my house.  He didn't like the dogs and didn't think they should be left in the sitting room with my guests.  Buh bye.   Don't let the door hit ya on the arse.  rotflmfao

Our friendly stalker - Max

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/07042010218.jpg)


Mary Rose and Cassie after the run around the field.  Poor Mary Rose.  Sinéad phoned her, "Come over.  I've something to show you."  When she landed, Sinéad handed her a lead with a wired for sound Lily attached and said, "Come on."  No debate was had...off she went.  lol   

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/07042010219.jpg)

Make sure he is carrying these..

 rotflmfao  He's got it bad, that's for sure.  But he can get lost.  Managed to keep Lily from many 'run ins' throughout the years, so just more of the same with Cassie.  Just glad it's only an issue a couple of times a year!

Not considered spaying Dawn?

Actually considering breeding her Tom.  Rooks and I have discussed it and I won't be going down that road any time in the near future, but maybe a year or so from now.  We would obviously keep one of the pups as a long term companion for Cassie.  As much as I hate to say it, Lily won't be around forever and that's what I've stashed in the back of my mind. 

The litter as a whole will be bred with the racing side in mind.  Rooks wants to be involved in picking her mate and I've agreed to that as I've no real clue what to look for.  But the one kept with us won't be racing.   

Good luck with that then. Try not to keep them all.

Non chaser!!! haha

She still chases...but she comes back when she's asked to.  Smart girl...so she is.

Also knows where her dinner's coming from on Friday night.   ;)

could've landed some big coups if she'd stayed racing. put her in a race as a huge fave, lay her big time and then recall her halfway through with the whistle

Playing the DTD 3.5gtd deep stack and we're down to final table bubble at the minute.  While I was busy shouting "HOOOOOOOOOLD" to my 10 10 all in call in the tourney, the girls were busy giggling their backsides off.  Cassie was helping herself to my pint glass of water.........

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/07042010220.jpg)

good word

Tim might have though  ;hide;

The cast iron stove in our sitting room was 'relocated' last night.  Brian had opened it a bit to empty ashes with intention if putting on a fire for me.  Cassie was thrown down right in front of it and not inclined to budge, so Brian didn't have much room to work with. 

Ashes cleared no hassle...well, not MUCH hassle anyway.  He went on to get sticks in for starting the fire.  Only now he needed to open the door a bit more as he wanted to scatter the firing around properly.  Quietly does it, he opened the door another bit.  Said door tipped off Cassie's back and she went MENTAL!!! 

Mayhem ensued.  Cassie jumped up and tore upstairs so fast I didn't know what had happened.  Only knew my cast iron stove had been moved the bones of a foot and was now off it's base.  Apparently when she jumped up, she took the fireplace with her for a bit.  It was now tilted sideways.  If the stove fell over, the glass would be in bits and we'd be waiting ages for a replacement. 

"Brian, hold tight and don't let it drop!  Girls, come help me check on Cassie!"

We ran up to check on Cassie while Brian held the stove.  Cassie is 100% grand.  She must have been sleeping and just woke with a hop.  Not a mark on her, but man she gave us a fright.  But what went on upstairs was comedy.  We'd get her off one bed and she'd tear road for another room/bed.  She'd let us pet her and check her over in one of the beds, but no way was she coming back downstairs with us.  This went on for a good five minutes.  We gave up in the end and decided to just let her calm down where she liked before trying again.  In the end, she managed to come back down to me of her own accord - and got loads of cuddles once she landed.

And the stove?  Brian and I got it back in place with a fair bit of effort, but we could only put down a small fire as the fire cement seal was no more.  I'd grand intentions of giving my car a good clean and maybe tidying the berry garden in our back ditch today, but that'll have to wait.  Will have to pull out the stove again later today and re-seal.  Marv.  lol 

Meanwhile, Cassie has decided sleeping by the fire is overrated.  She's now taken a page out of Lily's book and hits up whatever space she can find on one of the kid's beds.  This morning I found her on Sinéad's.............

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/09042010222.jpg)

Wouldn't be the only thing he's thought of.   ;)

"A bit to the left please.  Oh yeah...that's it."  Loving life.........

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/09042010223.jpg)

Said to my girls, "Any chance you could take a picture where ya don't make me look HUGE in it?"

Sinéad, "Mom, we're taking pictures.  We're not magicians." 

Sigh.

Always said that girl should be on the stage

It's been a bit manic in Laxie world, hence the lack of a tale on here.  However yesterday evening was one of those times where ya just throw in the towel and say, "Oh screw it.  Get through it and ya can start again tomorrow."

So we're into 'tomorrow' now and me brain still isn't awake, but we'll give a go at an old tale.

Ever have one of those days where it seems like the whole world crashes all around you?  Ya spend the day trying to work yer way through the rubble of life and just about the time you think you've got there...psyche!  Welcome to Laxie world.  By around 5pm, things were looking up a bit.  Was off to get some steaks for the dinner, the horses were good to me (Thank you AP) and Sarah was just about to take the dogs for a walk in the fields with her friends.  Natural rhythm of the house restored.  Famous last words.  lol

When I got to the shop, they were just about done putting away the meat stock for the night and my strip loins had already been sent to the back.  Sigh.  I'm a pretty regular customer there and I've a feeling the Lad behind the counter could sense something needed to go right for me that day.  He suggested the T-bones as they hadn't been put away yet.  Landed home with 5 HUGE T-bones...at a HUGE discount.  RESULT!

So I'm in the kitchen minding me own business cooking the dinner.  Visions of chilling by the fire with the dogs and my wine in less than an hour.  That's about the time Brian walked in with his friend.  They're going out for the night, but they need haircuts first.  "Sorry Lads, have to wait until I get the dinner done." 

My neighbour landed a few minutes later.  "Can you do my hair for me?"  "Sure, come back around 6:30." 

In walks Sarah with the dogs.  "They had a great run mom.  Only Lily started rolling again.  Checked her and she seems ok."  "Ummmmm, Sarah, put her out the back.  She's covered in it.  I'll wash her in a bit."  What is Lily's obsession with rolling in dog crap?!  In all fairness!  It's a good job I love her because sometimes she really does push her luck. 

Dinner served, 1 haircut done (his friend didn't want to wait), 1 neighbour's hair sorted for her night out and 1 dog washed later, I was finally ready to chill.  It was 9pm by then, but that'll do.  That's about the time Brian announced he'd need a lift to the next village over for his night out @ 10.  Cancel the wine.  For now.  Took Brian to meet his friends and got back to find Lily had dug out the kitchen fireplace again and was as black as Cassie...again.  FFS!!!  Luckily Sinéad beat me to the discovery and had already cleaned up the mess around the kitchen, so swerved that bit.  Lily's 2nd wash of the day could wait until tomorrow.

All the while, Cassie just sat there watching proceedings.  Once I'd sat with my wine, she rambled over and got a rub for her efforts.  And I got a kiss on the hand as thanks.  God love her, she really knows how to read a room.  Granted, it may have been the remnants of T-bone she was after too.

Anyway, today is a new day.  Lily needs another wash and the sun is shining so we'll head out back in a few to get the job done.  Then I'm going to work on my fruit shrubs in the back ditch.  Followed by a walk in the field with Lily and Cassie.  And if I'm REALLY up for it, will drive 25 minutes each way to a place I know has great stuff for a barbecue.  If that happens, expect pics of the pair hanging out drooling in the back yard later.

Have a good day all at whatever yer at.  xx 

PS  Are dogs allowed to eat the bones from T-bones?  I've the plate of them saved from last night for the pair, but can't remember if they're safe or not. 

loving your diary Lax, keep it coming.

Cooked bones are dodgy Lax, they splinter easily and can puncture yer dog's pipes on the way in, or on the way out.

are you sure it's not fox shit she's rolling in? that's more common, she's disguising her scent ready for the hunt

and what tom says about bones. ffs don't give 'em cooked ones

This Dawn.

Ronnie eats nothing but bones and raw food but none of it is ever cooked.

Contrary to popular myths they can even eat chicken as long as it's raw but cook it and it's lethal.

Cheers all.  They didn't get the T bones because I wasn't sure, but they did get pork bellies straight off the barbecue for themselves.  Cassie is thrown down next to me after her nibbles and Lily is still out the back waiting for more scraps to be thrown to her.  Think the heat of the day is almost too much for Cassie with her black coat.  She's mostly preferred to stay inside despite myself and the kids all hanging out in the yard.

So just to clarify, none of Ronnie's raw food is cooked?

genuine lol

Never occurred to me it could be from a fox.  We've a few living right near here too.  One of them calls to our front door at night to see if I've left out cat food for Rocky.  First time we spotted him/her (didn't want to scare it away by asking) we got a hop.  But it keeps coming back.  Kids love to watch them criss cross the fields behind us from their bedroom window in the evening.  But they love it even more when they catch a glimpse of one of them at the front door looking for food.

I'm tired, but still here.  Cassie and Lily with me as I type.  Thank god for pets.  They might be troublesome at times and I'm sure they get cross with me too, but we all still love each other at the end of the day. 

The house needs sweeping nearly every day.  It's like Grand Central Station here at times.  Seriously.  We've always had an open door policy.  If someone actually knocks at the door they obviously don't know us very well.  Lots of kids from the neighbourhood coming and going.  All sorts of other guests.  Madhouse, but I love it. 

Anyway, as I was tidying up around the place yesterday doing a bit of a spring clean, the dogs were under me feet every step of the way.  I'll be honest.  At one point they were doing me head in because I was afraid I'd accidentally trip over one of them.  Anyway, while playing the poker last night, I had an idea.  Wouldn't it be cool if there was some sort of doggy attachments you could strap to their feet so they can be sweeping/washing floors as they follow you around?  Would cut my housework load in half!  Not a realistic idea, I know.  But it kept me entertained for a bit. 

We're off to the field for a bit of fresh air now.  Pics when I get back.

In the meantime -- Table scraps.  Are they good or bad for dogs?  Not the type of stuff with bones obviously, just general bits and bobs left over from the dinner.  Discuss.

No Chocolate.

Dogs can't deal with chocolate, it's like poison to them. I kid you not, it's true. (Scout's honour).

So avoid chocolate and cooked bones and you'll be fine.

PS- Send surplus choc to me.

PPS- Don't go mad and give them something like a leftover takeaway, which contains about 2lb of salt. Only humans are daft enough to eat those.

Onions and garlic are also poisonous to dogs but only in large doses.

Ronnie has all my scraps and he's fine.

Knew about chocolate, ye cleared the air on bone types and we next to never do take away so we're safe on those counts. 

Onion and garlic were news to me.  Lily has spent many a year eating the leftovers of my home made Italian dishes so it's a miracle she's even alive in that case!

Thought I was taking a photo before our walk, but turns out the phone was set to video.  Uploading as we speak.  Makes a change from still pics for ya. 

Great idea, if you think of one for stopping my cat tearing up the carpet to get out the door as well please, I don't want a cat flap in my living room door.

Will give a think about it for ya Nellie, but I must warn you - Ger the Duke thought the doggy idea was daft.  Can't wait to hear what he thinks of the cat idea when it comes to me.  rotflmfao

Now then.  Earlier I thought I was taking yet another still shot.  I'd asked Sinéad to change my phone from photo to video for me the other day but assumed she'd gone out and forgotten.  My bad.  Her good.

Lily and Cassie had a great wee tumble around the house today.  Jumping around and playing, happy out.  Eventually Cassie wanted a break from it and threw down, but Lily was hoping for more play time.

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWMwzxP-T7E 

That was just a quickie, I know.  But I really thought I was just taking a photo. 

Took the pair of them for a walk through the field an hour ago and this is some of what went on.

First we have the lower field where Cassie does most of her full on running to stretch the legs.

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p87IorS0sQE

It's turned into a bit of a routine for us.  Big runs around the main field followed by a good sniff around the forestry field.  It's got to the point where they lead the way to the forestry for a break from the running.  lol  As I was walking to the field today my daughter Sarah and a couple of her friends joined us.

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bR5uEZaOAr0

PS  Apologies for the constant chatter and giggling, but that's me.  Can't be helped.   rotflmfao

Don't start me on cats -- it will be ugly

it is?

Not how I remember you.

We had similar probs with one of our dogs a few years back Nellie.

You can get a clear plastic carpet protector, basically a clear plastic mat that can be tacked to the said area.

Geo

Great vids Laxie,

so glad that Cassie has settled in and looks to be loving it.

Geo

Cheers Geo.  Must practice keeping me mouth shut (good luck with that) and sort out the settings on the phone for a brighter picture if possible.  Waiting for bright sunny days in Ireland would mean ye next to never see them.

NEED



OXYGEN




FAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!





Good God Cassie's farts stink!

Me neither. Talking, no.

Snoring like a Warthog...now that sounds more like it!!

Oi!!!!  Nobody's perfect ffs!   rotflmfao

Laxie Taxi's at yer service.  Yep.  It's that time of year again.  Gaelic Football season has started for the girls and Sarah's first U14 match is tonight.  But before we hit the pitch at 7, she must go to some hip hop dance class from 5 - 6.  Marv. 

From now til November we run around the countryside visiting various villages I've never heard of and couldn't even begin to pronounce.  Makes for great amusement with the locals when I'm lost and ask for directions.  Glutton for punishment, I take no notice if the smirks and giggles and eventually find someone who can stay composed just long enough to give me said directions.  Followed by roars of laughter.  Sigh. 

Anyway, tonight isn't too bad as it's their home pitch.  I know where that is and can just about pronounce it.  Lily has seen loads of matches throughout the years and tonight Cassie will be joining us too.  Trip report upon our return. 

Gooooooooo Dromtarriffe!!!!     

Lovin the vids chick, just hearing you giggle makes me miss yer.

Looks glorious over there ... room for me a and a wee one, one weekend he he

x

Yer always more than welcome ya goose!!!  See ya soon!  xx

wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

OMG Mich loose in Knocknagree -- bit like putting the gamekeeper in charge of the Pheasants

Had a great time tonight.  Dromtarriffe crushed a city team called Mallow.  Was great to watch at first, but bordered on embarrassing in the end.  Mallow was given permission to use unlimited subs for the second half.  lol 

Ah well, that's one down and marked up as a win.  Don't ask me the score.  We lost count in the end and I didn't have the heart to ask the ref while the other coach was stood there. 


Sarah about to clash with #9 from Mallow's team

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/15042010233.jpg)



Cassie looking on

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/15042010241.jpg)



Half time chat

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/15042010236.jpg)



My neighbour minds Jessica and her small brothers now and then.  Jessica's taken a bit of a shine to Cassie.

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/15042010228.jpg)

Lily loves going to matches.  She's spent her entire life going to them and is spoilt rotten by all the kids at each one.  We don't take her to away games, because the drives are sometimes too long to keep her cooped up.  But she's well known and adored by the locals.

Today was Cassie's first proper outing.  She's not been around more than maybe half a dozen kids at a time because I didn't want to make her nervous.  Well, she was put to the test today and passed with flying colours!  Myself and the pair sat in the grass watching the match and she really was interested.  All that bothered Lily was who was going to pet her next, but Cassie wanted to know when she'd get a run with the team.  If a group of kids walked up to us, she'd humour them and accept their rubs.  All the while looking over their shoulder - trying to get a glimpse of the action on the pitch. 

Once we got home, myself and Sarah took them to 'their field' for one last tear around before the sun went down.  She thought I'd been a bit daft to land with TWO big dogs to a match, but they did her proud and Sarah was delighted they were there in the end.  And so was I.

Sigh - two rub downs, on two different threads in two different forums in the same night



THIS IS WAR!!!!!!!!






Those heels are gonna getcha  :P

would the game not be easier if you didn't have both teams in the same colour?

LOL -- Looks like Sarah's right hand is about to deliver a beaut of an uppercut to the #9

'Cassie looking on'

LOL like the dog gives a fk about a game of football. Probably scouting out in case she gets a surprise root from a labrador behind rotflmfao

Wilkinson Sword titanium waistcoat on order.......

Sarah's definitely her mother's daughter.   #9 from Mallow was our biggest threat...and Sarah was her marker.  ;)

Can't remember how many teams they play with similar uniform, but the yellow of this lot spilt the difference.  In other matches, they flip a coin and one of the teams must wear their tops inside out.  I kid ya not.  Girl's football in Ireland just about survives thanks to the dedication of the people involved.  But when it comes to home and away kits - they're just lucky to have a kit - and happily make due with what they get.  

From the minute the dogs got out of the car, Lily was bursting with excitement.  She knew what she was there for.  Oodles of pets and cuddles.  Cassie picked up on this and was wagging her tail wondering what's up.  Once the match started though, she couldn't take her eyes off it.


The video gets a bit dark for some unknown reason about 10 seconds in, but rights itself again soon enough.  Kept me mouth shut this time.  Until the end that is, when Lily left out a bark because I wouldn't let her move closer to a potential cuddles target.

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUoq7y3S6Mk

It gets dark because you are filming towards the (setting) sun, as soon as you move away from that direction the settings revert to normal.

Keep up with the thread Lax, I'm muchly enjoying it xx

Rules of Gaelic football please. What are they trying to do?

Is Sinead still playing years above her age group?



p.s the reds won, the reds lost. Get a change of kit!

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee  ty muchly for that!  I shall do me best to avoid setting suns in future.  

I now know how it feels to ramble on, all the while wondering if anyone's interested.  I'm happy to hear you're enjoying it.  Thank you.  xx



Rules can be found here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaelic_football  with the rules for females varying slightly.  

Female changes are as follows and taken from wiki to stop me rambling:

Differences from men's football

Although most of the rules of the game are parallel to those for men's Gaelic football, there are some differences. The main ones are:

    * A player may pick the ball up directly from the ground, so long as she is standing
    * All matches last 60 minutes; in the men's game, senior inter-county games last 70
    * Kickouts may be taken from the hand
    * A countdown clock with siren is used if available; in the men's game, the referee decides the end of the game
    * It is permitted to change the ball from one hand to the other
    * All deliberate bodily contact is forbidden except when "shadowing" an opponent, competing to catch the ball, or blocking the delivery of the ball.

The rule I've highlighted is mostly BS.  They can't even afford two kits, where the heck are they going to get a count down clock and siren FFS?!  Ref blows the whistle up...end of.

Sarah will be 13 next week.  Sinéad will be 15 in August.  Sarah plays U14/U16.  Sinéad has been pushed to U16 and can train/possibly play with Minors if she wants.  We're actually quite lucky one rule has changed.  In the old days both girls were playing for the Lad's teams as well.  THAT'S where Sinéad was kept truly busy.  When she was only a wee one she was playing up to U15 with both groups.  Last year they changed the rule.  Girls are not permitted to play with the lads beyond U12.  She was gutted and so were her coaches, but at least now Sinéad can concentrate on just the one or two teams as opposed to 4.

Ps Red and white won, red and yellow lost.  DTD/Blonde want to sponsor a kit for them?  They'd be delighted!   rotflmfao  

Lily's partial to a rub of ears and anywhere around the face/neck which works out well because that's the spot most kids aim for, but Cassie LOVES belly rubs!!!

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdzAog-MicQ

We have a dishwasher.  A real live electric one.  No elbow grease required.  So why are my counters cluttered and my sink full of dirty dishes?!  Wonder if the whistle works on kids?  Have just tidied the kitchen for the 3rd time today and am heading out to the field with the dogs.  God help the kids if the kitchen doesn't look the same when I return.

/rant

Keep up with the updates Laxie. I always check em out, they are great  ;hattip;

This is the first thread I look at, it's like an irish version of neighbours. 

PS  Helpful to press the 'on' button once loaded - especially if you expect them to be washed at some point.  But I blame me for that one.  Sigh.

Black and gold? Kilkenny colours? Where you live?  rotflmfao   rotflmfao   rotflmfao 

Of course they're cultured in Kilkenny, none of this football nonsense just the Hurling.

Excuuuuuuse me?!  Cultured?!  It's the only blinking sport they know how to play in Kilkenny.  Granted, they play it very well...I'll give ya that. 

In Cork we're multi talented see.  We've a bit of luck in both sports.  We don't like meeting Kilkenny in the hurling or Kerry in the football as both teams are a constant pain in Cork's backside, but has to be done now and then. 

And man oh man, what a day when they meet.  Especially Cork v Kerry.  We're in a border village.  Kerry is only 2 miles away from Knocknagree and Knocknagree is a bit of a mad place for pubs.  On match day the village pubs are packed with Cork supporters from 2 hours before kick-off.  If yer not into sports, may as well go home because it'll do yer head in and if Cork win there's every real possibility you'll be soaked.  Everyone forgets they have a pint in their hand when the final whistle blows. 

Here's where it gets tricky.  If Cork are losing at half time car loads of Kerry supporters start landing in Knocknagree.  If Kerry win, they stay on for the night taking the piss out of the Cork people...on our own side of the border, ffs!  Luckily, most Corkonians around here have a great sense of humour and the banter is unreal for the night.  However, if Kerry loses in the end - they take off out of here as fast as they landed.  Kerry can dish it out but they can't take it, poor craters.     

(All of the Cork v Kerry info above was based on Gaelic Football.  They don't do Hurling.  It confuses them.)

Another day another match.  Dromtarriffe U14 takes on Mournabbey @ 7pm.  It's another one of those trips where I'll get close to the place, then have to ask for directions.  Marv.  At least I can pronounce this one.   

Won't be taking the dogs this time as it's nearly 90 minutes each way from what I can gather.  They'll be gutted when Sarah and I walk out the door without them, but Brian is on strict orders to spoil them rotten while we're away. 

Text just in.  When we get back from the match, I've to turbo mode get meself ready for another night out.  My neighbour Bridget wants to go out for a couple and I'll need to do her hair before we go.  I've no clue what I'm wearing, where we're going and I'm tired, but she's lucky I'm not as tired as I could have been or she'd be heading out on her own.

Gently does it though as tomorrow I will mostly be outside painting the walls around the yard.  Love that job to be honest!  Anything to do with yard work (when the weather is decent) and I'm there.  Get things tidied up and get a tan at the same time.  Result.  Sarah asked to help with the painting and I'm going to let her.  Child labour FTW.  lol  Means I can get other bits done around the yard for the day too. 

Usually Lily and Rocky sit by my side as I go, but Cassie and Rocky haven't agreed on shared space yet.  Cassie doesn't chase him when I'm there, but by all accounts Rocky's been kept on his toes.  We'll see how it goes.  Should be interesting.

Well, they got absolutely crushed yesterday.  Missing 4 key players and a good few subs, we didn't even have enough to field a team.  Luckily, the younger sister of one of the girls was kitted out and willing to play so we didn't have to forfeit the match.  Don't know what the score was.  Lost count after a while but we had a bit of a comeback towards the end, so may not have been too bad.  Proberly. 

Mournabbey is between Mallow and Cork City.  I reckon lots of city folk must live there and commute to work because they have some set up in their GAA!  The average village couldn't afford it in a month of Sundays, so has to be 'city money' keeps them ticking over.  They've this HUGE community centre building on site, as well as lovely dressing room facilities.  They've even got a sprinkler system for their pitches.  Sprinkler system?  In Ireland?!  Must be some drainage set up they've got too if they're throwing on the sprinklers now and then.

Sarah and the rest of the team played well enough.  Just wasn't their day.  I reckon they panicked when they realised so many were missing.  Hence the crickets scores in the first half.  Once they settled down and got their act together, the second half was more like a match should be.  Coach is furious over the number of 'no-shows' so they've called a team meeting for 7pm tomorrow night.  Sure am looking forward to it.  Should be fun.  Think I'll take the dogs so I have an excuse to stay outside rambling the fields while they get on with it.



No coin flip for kits required this time.

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/17042010244.jpg)   



Their dressing rooms

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/17042010248.jpg)

So tonight's the night of the 'big meeting' in Dromtarriffe.  The coach will give out about lack of attendance this past week-end and everyone will have to sit and listen to it...parents included.  Hoping Sarah forgets about the meeting.  In all fairness, we were there on Saturday and we live the furthest of anyone on the team.  Surely we get to dodge this one.  If she happens to remember the meeting, I've a sicky planned as back up.  Horrible headache coming on.  Oh crap.  She reads this thread.  GG me. 

Timothy's father spent the day with us yesterday.  The Mrs. was gone out for the day with some friends and he'd no interest in their outing, so we got to mind him.  Whatever about anything else, I absolutely adore the father-in-law.  He's a heart of gold and we've an understanding.  I speak my mind and he doesn't give out to me for it.  In fact, if it kicks off in his own life I get the call to help sort it out for him.  Thing is, he has a mind of his own and can speak up, but years of running the local shop in the next village over has trained him to bite his tongue most of the time.  If he gets riled up, he fills me in which riles me up then he asks, "Can you sort it?"  "Of course I will!  How dare they!"  Rinse repeat for many years now. 

Michael (the father-in-law) isn't a dog man.  Well, that's not entirely true.  He likes them if they're small enough to fit on his lap.  Lily sees him landing and she knows the routine.  Straight for the back door without saying a word to her.  Only Cassie wasn't filled in on the drill.  Her tail was wagging to beat the band and she was sooooooo happy to meet Michael for the first time.  Lily thought she'd get in on this new act, wagging her stump and looking for a rub from Michael too.  She's an optimist, God love her.  Bubble burst, they were escorted to the back yard.  Bad beat, but things were about to improve for the pair of them.

Cassie stayed put in the sitting room during the last barbecue, but thanks to her earlier bad beat, she was right where the action was this time.  She's discovered the perks of the barbecue and I'd be very surprised if she willingly hides in the sitting room for the next one.  The pair of them ate like royalty for the day and I still have a mountain of food left over, despite the dogs and handing bits over the fence to my neighbour.  I've a bad habit of doing that for the first couple of barbecues.  Can't decide what I'd like most, so cook the lot and sample a little of everything.  My mouth and belly thank me for it, but the hips aren't quite as impressed.  Must really cop on in that regard, but I'd imagine the same mistake will be made at least a couple more times this season before it happens. 

We never got to the yard work so I didn't get to test the Cassie/Rocky theories.  Michael wasn't too keen on sitting outside as it was a bit chilly for him and we didn't have the heart to leave him on his own in the sitting room.  Saving the work for some day this week.  Probably should do it today as I don't have to cook a dinner.  If the sun cooperates that might just be the plan.

Whatever you're doing for the day, hope it's a good one.  xx

Yeah right - no one told Sinead that when she back elbowed that girl at the match we went to

Sinéad and Sarah are both aware of the rules.  Because the coaches know what they're like (fearless) they're encouraged - 'just don't get caught'... if possible. 

Best thread on blonde at the moment.

lol it is great, the energy of your household reminds me of when my children were young. Great thread Laxie.

+1

Wow!  Thanks everyone!  Makes it all worth while when I find out a few are enjoying it now and then. 

Swerved the team meeting last night.  Get in there!!!  Phew.  It was a close one though.  Sarah remembered, I went on strike as I couldn't bluff the sicky (poker player me eye) and she'd conned her father into carrying her.  But as it turns out, even Timothy swerved.  Luckbox.  A group of her friends landed 10 minutes before she was due to head out asking her to join them on a run about around the village.  She flipped an imaginary coin in her head and off she went with the crew. 

Amazing how something soooooo important one minute, becomes a non-issue the next.  Have stored last night's coin flip for next time she insists something is that important.  I do that with all 3 kids.  It's good for one 'get out of jail free' card at a later date which I will happily utilise.  In turn, she will make damn sure I carry her to wherever it is the next time.  And round and round we go.

Today I went to lunch with friends and ran a few errands.  Cassie and Lily looked really comfortable and I didn't have the heart to put them out the back yard.  They'd no real need anyway as we'd already had our morning jaunt in the field.  So I left them to it in the house and off I went.  But I forgot to put a chair in front of the fire guard before leaving.  Yep...you know the rest of the tale...................


Lily strikes again!!!

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/20042010252.jpg)


Sigh.  There was rubbish and ash all over the kitchen and hall floors when I walked in the door.  Cassie was exactly where I'd left her earlier...thrown down in the sitting room.  Lily was missing in action.  She'd thrown herself down on Brian's bed and was quite pleased with herself.  A few mumbled expletives later as I swept the place up...she called in to find out exactly how much trouble she was in.


(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/20042010255.jpg)


Another hosing down awaits.  I've the kitchen and hall swept and mopped.  Dinner is done and dusted too.  Just building up the motivation now to drag her out the back for her washing.  Will chance my arm asking the kids if they'd like to do it.  Just have to figure out how I'm going to sell the idea.  All going well, they'll land with a bunch of friends.  Peer pressure isn't always a bad thing.  Another day down. 
 

Today my youngest officially hits teen status.  Yep.  Sarah is 13.  Where does the time go?  

We moved to Ireland on June 15, 1996.  We'd a rental house arranged before we ever made the move, but Michael decided not to tell us it wasn't ready for us yet.  Well, not until we landed with our two wee kids at Shannon airport.  That's when he broke the news.  We'd be staying with the in-laws for the foreseeable future.  

At first, we were told it would only be two weeks.  In the end it took six weeks.  They weren't used to my mad Yank ways yet and I wasn't used to the reserved Irish Catholic ways of his parents.  It was a long six weeks for all...after what had already been a very long year.  

Brian was 4 at the time and Sinéad was only 10 months.  I'd been diagnosed with thyroid cancer while pregnant with Sinéad, so it was a pretty stressful last year in America.  Sinéad was born just in time to have the op and radio treatment before it spread, and by May of '96 I was given the all clear.  Living in New York City is great when you're young and single, but not the best way to go about life with two young kids and health issues, so off we went to Ireland.  

When we first arrived, it was more like a holiday.  Everyone just kicking back getting used to each other and the area, meeting up with the locals.  That sort of thing.  Was during our stay with the in-laws that I became pregnant with Sarah.  I'm late for just about everything else in life, but when it comes to 'that' I'm on time to the minute, so when I'm late I know the score.  Off to the doctor (just for official confirmation) and sure enough.  

Headed back to the in-law's house where they were making the brekkie.  They'd spent the first couple of weeks saying we'd enough in two children.  No need to have more.  Not like it was in the old days.  And on and on it went for the first few weeks.  We were now into week six of our stay and just about to move to the rental when I had to sit down at the brekkie table and break the news.  Timothy was gone to work, so it was all up to me.  Now THAT was a fun chat!  Wasn't hard for them to do the maths and figure out where she'd been conceived either.  

The in-laws call her the Irish baby, for obvious reasons.  I call her my 'container baby' because we'd only just received the container of furniture we'd shipped from America.  Sarah doesn't mind the title.  She giggles about it, thank God.    

In the end, Sheila and Michael adore all three kids, but Sarah is their shining star.  She heads to their house even now for sleep-overs at least once a month just to hang out with them.  The three of them watch the telly and snack on late night pizza while having the chat.  They take her shopping and she helps with their yard work.  And they're delighted I never listened to their advice way back when.

Sooooooooooooooooo......................

 :birthday: ;letsparty; :birthday: ;letsparty; :birthday:

Happy Birthday Sarah!!!  Hope you have a fantabulous day Chicka!!!  xx

 ;mexicanwave; ;mexicanwave;

Have a great day Sarah!

Happy birthday Sarah


Great thread Laxie.

I know you mentioned previously that Sarah reads this, so Happy Birthday Sarah. Biggest advice would be to enjoy your years at school, I know everyone probably tells you this and you're sick of it being rammed down your throat but trust me (a 21 year old) being at school is the best time of your life.

Superb stuff this Laxie,

well done hun

If Carlsberg done homes for dogs.........................

Quality writing this Dawn. More "Life" stuff please.

 ;charmaine; ;charmaine; ;charmaine; ;charmaine; ;charmaine; :birthday: :birthday: :birthday: :birthday: ;charmaine; ;charmaine; ;charmaine; ;charmaine; ;charmaine;

Happy Birthday Sarah..xx

+1

Happy Birthday Sarah!

+1

Thanks for the birthday wishes everyone.  She was dead chuffed.  Although, she'd like to meet pleno for a wee debate regarding school some day.   rotflmfao


Michael, Sarah, Sheila & Sinéad
(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Sarah%2013th/21042010258.jpg)

Just caught up the last few days Dawn, I'm really loving this thread.

XX

Wow so jealous of that cake!

Ok, well if she wants to come and do my dissertation then I'll pop over to Ireland and go to school. It's a deal.

Whenever I'm in a mood to give the house a proper tidy, first things first.  Off to the desktop where we have an obscene amount of music stored to pick my cleaning music.  The music changes from session to session, but I've two or three that never get the boot from the list.  There's a old memory to go with every song I play, volume pumped up to the last and I tend to dance around the house as I go.  Lily's well used to it and takes no notice.  Cassie was just introduced to it today.  She wasn't at all impressed with the first song, but by the fourth song the pair of them joined in chasing me around the kitchen...tail and stump wagging mad.  Amazing how much cleaning you can get done if you're having fun doing it.  Apologies in advance...lol

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bomv-6CJSfM 

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuZrHIvQ_u8

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tM0sTNtWDiI

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14IRDDnEPR4

Blimey...almost forgot one of my abso FAVS!!!

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAdaQhitdKg

I was feeling a wee pang of guilt for about 30 seconds the other day when I was hoping to swerve that team meeting.  But then I thought about it.  My kids really are lucky.  For the most part I'm always here for them.  I've not worked a proper job in years.  Not because I don't want to, but because the kids wanted me home...and we could just about afford to make that happen.  I rarely miss a match or anything else important in their lives and for that I'm grateful. 

It wasn't like that for me growing up.  My parents were divorced by the time I was four.  Had the pleasure (NOT) of being asked to sit in a court room and announce who I'd rather live with - as was the way back then.  Marv.  I picked my Mom and as my brother was too young to have a say, the decision of a four year old stood and off we went to live with her. 

My Mom was broker than broke.  She was working full time for the phone company but also going to night school which is where the 'broke' bit came in.  She had an apartment she could afford on her own, but not with two small kids.  So at first, the three of us went to live in a convent.

Sr. Marie was one of my Mom's teachers in High School and they remained good friends after her graduation.  She had it worked out that the retired nuns would mind us during the day while Sr. Marie was at school.  Then she'd take over once her classes finished until my Mom returned from her own night classes.  We managed this until my brother reached school age, but then it got too much and my Mom had to make the tough decision and sent us to live with the dad. 

Those few years are a bit of a blur.  He'd re-married to a widow who had three kids of her own by her deceased husband.  They weren't too keen to see us land on the scene.  To be fair, they didn't like him at all so they reckoned 'same cloth' and all that...as kids do. 

Bonnie had a horse farm which was established during her previous marriage.  Apparently her husband was a lovely man who died very young of cancer, but he worked his tail off while he was alive.  Good thing, because the same couldn't be said for Bonnie's second husband.  Sean and I got through those years, just about. 

We lived in the middle of nowhere.  Halloween was a total bust for us back then.  Not at all like what you see on the telly.  Our nearest neighbours were a mile away...in each direction!  It took fecking AGES just to visit 4 houses on the night and we'd be collected by our step-brother on the tractor once we reached the last house.  But that was the highlight of our year, every year while we lived there.     

Eventually Mom got herself sorted and was doing well enough to take us back.  By then we were just about old enough to make our own way home from school where we'd do our lessons until she arrived from work.  She really did work her tail off to make sure we got to stay this time and we did what we could to pick up odd jobs to help out with our own spending money. 

By the time I was 12, I was delivering the daily newspapers door to door each morning before school and at week-ends.  In the summer I managed to get a gig as a golf caddy.  Not a proper one, mind.  Basically just a donkey carrying around clubs for a couple of old men out for their day's leisure.  Would do an 18 hole round in the morning for 2, quick lunch and back out for another 18.  At first they gave out to the Club Manager over a 12 year old girl walking the course carrying two golf bags, but once they got to know me I ended up with a regular list of customers who didn't mind the wee girl.

That's about the time I got into sports.  I was into just about everything going.  Soccer, baseball, basketball, track...and those were just a few.  Luckily we went to a school where the team were carried on a bus to away games and we lived close enough I could walk to the home games.  My Mom was always working and looking back, I'm not sure if she ever saw a game.  It was kind of gutting at the time.  All the team had at least one parent there to cheer them on.  I had me. 

On the plus side, I never felt pressure to play a certain way.  No eyes were on me apart from the coach, so I was pretty fearless.  Senior year in High School, I'd moved out of our house and was still motoring on with things when a call came from a University.  They'd seen me play at a basketball match and wanted to know if I'd be interested in a full college scholarship to play for them.  'No thanks.  Appreciate the offer, but I have some living to do.'

Good stuff Dawn. Keep it coming.

I've a call put in with Mike the Vet.  Even brought out the big guns and sent him a text.  I'd imagine it'll be another while before I hear back.  It's Friday and he will no doubt stop off for 'lunch' and a pre weekend chat in the pub.  Ah well, at least he's a couple options to focus on when he surfaces.  Just hope he can focus!  lol

Lily's lump hasn't shrunk and she's been limping around a bit for the past couple of days.  She may have pulled a muscle from all the running or it could just be old age proper creeping up on her, but will leave it to Mike to figure out.  He's in charge of keeping them going and I'm in charge of the cuddles.  Wonder if Cassie will run for the hills when she sees Mike?  Will let ye know how we get on once the dust settles.

Mike phoned at 8:45pm.  He was here 10 minutes later.  Cassie went tearing road up the stairs 30 seconds after that.  No way, no how was she going to be seen in the same room.

He had a good check over Lily and he reckons the lump is stagnant so no need to tear into her just yet.  I'm not to be checking daily for fear I'd upset it, but about every two weeks give an old grope to see how it's going.  If it stays the same, we'll leave her be.  The minute it grows, it's out.  Until then, great news and no panic.

As for the limp?  That's where the bad news comes in.  No big deal in the grand scheme of things and not unexpected, but Lily has arthritis.  Apparently she has it bad.  He gave her an injection and another week's worth of tablets to help her feel better. 

Normally, you'd say 'Great!  She's sorted so.'  Except he dished out the meds with a new rule to boot.  She's not allowed to run any more.  Try telling that to a dog who's just found her youth again.  Sigh.  We're to keep her on the lead in future so she won't try to keep up with Cassie.  Even the kids knew this request was going to cause problems.  Double sigh.

Thing is, since Cassie landed Lily reckons she's invincible.  And to be honest, we've been blinded by the pair of them and hoping upon hope Lily would last another good while due to Cassie's arrival.  As it turns out, Cassie's arrival has done more harm than good.  Lily's arthritis has flared double time trying to keep up with a Greyhound, but at the same time Lily has never felt more alive.  Sighhhhhhhhhhhhh

Mike gave her an injection and gave us another week's worth of tablets with instructions to hold her back.  Marv.  On the plus side, he only charged €20 for the house call.  Granted, he was fed another tenner in drinks.  Only in Ireland.

So now we're to stifle her new found love for life...just to try and save her from more pain.  Lily's going to be gutted.  And so are we.     

loving the life stories Dawn.  Sorry to hear about Lily :(

All is not lost, it seems.  Today we waited until Lily hobbled her way upstairs so we could sneak out with Cassie.  Once she got to the field, Cassie ran more than she ever has!  She didn't have to worry about Lily cutting her off at the pass so she was delighted and just kept going for what seemed like ages.  Was great fun to watch, but of course I forgot to take the phone for pics, so you'll just have to trust me on this one.  When we returned home, Lily was still upstairs oblivious to what she'd missed. 

We've decided we'll take Cassie for the sneaky run in future, then come back and get Lily for a stroll around the village.  She's still to be walked, she's just not allowed to run. 

Meanwhile, I'm not long back from shopping in Killarney where I bought a big old bottle of cod liver oil tablets.  I'm to put one a day in their food from now on.  Supposed to be good for their joints and stuff, so we'll see.

We've the whole 'separate walks' thing down to a fine science now.  Cassie gets to have fun and Lily doesn't feel left out, so all is right in doggy world again.  Sarah and her friend Laura took Cassie to the field just now while I kept Lily company at home.  Laura managed to get a couple of good shots on her phone and here they are.


Tearing through the trees.....
(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/Photo0317.jpg)


Hide and seek....
(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/Photo0319.jpg)


Caught!....
(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/Photo0318.jpg)


Worn out.....
(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/Photo0323.jpg)

Shopping.  Man, I hate it.  No...seriously.  I REALLY don't like shopping.  Would much rather have a tooth extraction.  

This past week-end, I had no choice.  After sifting through the wardrobe on Friday night, it occurred to me I haven't been worried about new clothes for two years.  Had a wee debate in me own mind, 'Pleeeeeeeeeease don't make me do it!'  'But it must be done.'  'Sigh.  Ok then.'  And with that, off I went Saturday afternoon into the depths of hell.

I treat clothes shopping like a military operation.  If I have to do it, it's going to be done in the quickest most efficient manner possible.  First and most important rule - no shopaholic friends are permitted to join me.  I'm not messing about for the day.  Get in, get out.  End of.  I won't visit more than 3 shops and this is where bringing a shopaholic friend along can be dangerous.  No thank you.  

It doesn't take me long to scope out an entire shop.  I grab what I like and head for the dressing rooms as quick as can be.  No doubt trying clothes on wastes time.  But I live too far away to risk bringing them home, only to find out I must go back to return something.  Sooooo...loose clothing worn for ease of trying on new items.  Also, loose clothing must be of a neutral style so as not to clash with new items.  Once in the dressing room, I've a five second rule.  If you aren't in love with it within five seconds of putting it on, it's not coming home with you.  Move on to the next item.  Why do people insist on standing in front of the mirror twisting and turning, tugging and pulling?!  Fer feck sake!  It's not rocket science and yes...it makes you look fat.  Now get out of me way so I can try this pile of stuff on.

The dressing room clerks are evil.  They smile, but you know they don't mean it.  Well, not until they tell you with great pleasure you're only permitted to carry four items into the dressing room...and you have 10.  This is where I turn it around for my own entertainment.  As she takes all but four items off me, I sweetly say 'I'll give you a shout when I'm ready for the next four.  Thanks, yer a star.'  It drives them batty to do anything other than give hassle.  You hassle me, I'll hassle you Sunshine.

I haven't even touched on the sizing debate yet.  Just the thought of it riles me right up, so will spare you.  

No.  I lied.  Can't help it.  Has to be said.  Why does sizing vary by shop/brand?  How hard is it to come up with a universal sizing scale and stick to the fecking thing?!  Luckily I'm wise to this after years of experience.  You call into one shop and try on what you reckon is your size with ease.  In the next shop, you suddenly morph into a Sumo wrestler and the same size might (if you're lucky) fit over yer ankle.  How is this possible?  I haven't even had lunch yet.

In the end, I managed to find two tops and a pair of capri pants for the summer.  My neighbour Bridget was disgusted with my lack of effort on the day.  She has no idea how much effort it took just to get into the car.  Now she's threatening to take me to Cork City on Thursday for a 'proper day of it'.  [ ] I can't wait.
 

urgh - with you on the sizing thing.  I'm a size 12/14.  In some shops I need a 16.  In Sainsbury's I can get away with a 10.  Sainsbury's are right imo.

and there in lies the answer to your sizing problems........ not everyone can be sainsburys!

Trouble in the Dromtarriffe camp.  Sarah and her friend Laura play for U14 & U16.  They're two of the stars on the U14 team and can hold their own on the older team as well. 

Despite the clueless U14 coach being told not to book a match for tonight on two occasions, she went ahead and did it anyway.  U14 have a match in Dromtarriffe.  U16 have a match in Banteer.  At the same time.  Sigh.  Just been on the phone with the U16 coach.  Expletives were flying over the mix up...and we're going to Banteer tonight.  That leaves the U14 team short numbers and short two of their better players. 

Fingers crossed for the girls.  Sinéad was home sick with a bad cough that's been hanging about for the last week, but they want her on the pitch tonight too if she's able.  Had her at the doc earlier today for meds so she'll be grand - and probably worn out within 20 minutes of hitting the pitch.  lol  They've been warned so won't be expecting much from her tonight. 

Meanwhile, Sarah and Laura have been dealing with the brainless wonder that is the U14 coach and feel like they've been wasting their time.  I mentioned that to the U16 coach and they're to train with the older group from now on.  The girls are delighted. 

I'd imagine there'll be war when the dust settles after tonight, but luckily it's not our war.  They'll have to sort it out in their own camp and get back to us.   

Have you tried the magnetic dog collars on Lily, it worked wonders for one of our old dogs... Can't be placebo affect on a dog can it?

http://www.vetuk.co.uk/joint-supplements-magnocollar-c-4_385/magnetic-dog-collar-p-2131

move to the USA  you would be size  8

Wow!  Thanks for that!!!  Will ring the posh vets in Killarney tomorrow to see if they sell them, because we just KNOW Mike doesn't.   rotflmfao

Dromtarriffe abso CRUSHED Banteer!!!  Sinéad, Sarah and Laura all started the match and played a great game of it.  Too tired now to post trip report or pics, but will get to it in the morning.  Night night all.  xx

3-10 (19) to 1-7 (10) was the final score in last night's match.  Not exactly cricket scores, but considering the opposition it was a solid win.  Banteer have a massive club with a HUGE player field to choose from.  Dromtarriffe's team is made up of a few small villages joined together...just to form a basic team. 

The coach for the U16, Mick, makes it for the girls.  He is an abso sweetheart off the pitch and a complete nutter during matches.  Even in the heat of battle when one of his girls messes up, he'll shout 'It's all right, no worries.  You were just unlucky.'  I know other coaches who shout all sorts to their players...and none of it's positive. 

He's not so nice to refs though.  He's been asked for his name on a couple of occasions so he could be reported to the county board.  The names he comes up with are comedy!  Never his own obviously.  Once last year he was even told to leave the pitch because he was so irate with the ref for ignoring the fouls the other team were dishing out.  Sinéad was like a bear when that happened.  She and Mick are on the same wavelength most of the time and he's the only coach I've known who can get around here when she's in a mood. 

We were down a good few points.   Sinéad went on a scoring spree.  She was very nearly sent off for delivery of an upper cut to her opponent, but was able to show the red mark on her own face to prove she'd been dealt a blow first.  That put a halt to the ref's dodgy calls.  Dromtarriffe came back in the last 10 minutes to draw that match and they won the re-play a couple of weeks later.

Last night Mick mostly kept his cool with the ref until he was given out to for not supplying the ref with the bits of paper for subs.  'Bits of paper?  You want bits of paper?!  I've LOADS of those!'  Then he turned to his subs bench and shouted with a wink and a grin, 'Girls, get tearing!'  His wife Liz just looked to the sky and said, 'Oh no...here we go again.'  Then she turned to Mick and said, 'What name are we going with tonight Dear?'  Poor ref had more bits than should be allowed by law by the time it was over because Banteer had asked for unlimited subs...and we were winning so well, Mick agreed. 

Didn't get many pictures last night and the ones I got are desperate quality, but feel I must post just one or two for Gatso.  The kits are bound to tilt him.  No need to thank me.   rotflmfao

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/sarah%20forum/26042010267.jpg)

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/sarah%20forum/26042010266.jpg)

No need to thank me either

(http://i618.photobucket.com/albums/tt261/Sargossa/SargHome4.gif)

 rotflmfao rotflmfao rotflmfao

Those are Knocknagree's colours.  Our home village.  The girls wore those colours when they played on the Lad's teams.  I have pictures.  Would probably be a nice change for ye, but they're dated at this stage.  Plus I'm enjoying the red/red posts far too much. 

that's barely a clash compared to the last time when as far as I could see the only way of telling the 2 teams apart was eye colour

Damn!  He didn't bite.  Must try harder!

Another day another birthday.  Brian is 18 today.  He's the oldest of the three and completely different to the girls in that he's not a sports nut.  He likes football, but was never mad enough about it to deal with the abusive coaches the Lads have.

From the day he was born he's always been an easy going Lad.  Don't know what set me off 18 years ago, but I just had this 'feeling' today is the day.  I wasn't in pain and water still in tact, so not sure what caused me to think it was time, but anyway.  I was already overdue, so when I rang the doctor he told me to come in straight away.  We'd push things forward regardless and he'd induce if necessary. 

Rang Timothy's sister-in-law to pass on the message that we're off and she sent out the troops to find him on whatever construction job he was working that day.  Meanwhile, I casually had a shower, packed my bag and was taking my sweet old time drying my hair 'just so' when Timothy and his brother came tearing through the door all panicked.  They nearly lost the plot when I said I wasn't ready yet.  'Ye watch too many movies fer feck sake...calm down!  I'll be ready when I'm ready.'   

20 minutes later we set of for St. Vincent's Hospital in NYC...we lived in Brooklyn.  The Lads were NOT impressed with my delays.  After some manic driving I was checked in 25 minutes later without hassle.  An hour and 20 minutes and not a whole lot of effort later, we had a 9lb 7oz baby boy named Brian.

When he was only a few months old, he and I were on our way into the city for something.  Can't remember what.  Anyway, we were stopped by this woman walking through the subway station.  I thought she was a bit odd, so I kept my guard.  To be fair, you would have thought the same too if some random woman walked up to you and said, 'Excuse me, but can I just have a look at your baby?'  With proper NYC attitude, I replied 'Now, why would I do that?'  She handed me her card.  She was a Margaret Models talent scout.   

That was the start of a crazy, crazy year.  They signed him immediately and we were being sent all over NYC for 'auditions'.  We'd trudge through feet of snow in the winter and deal with the unreal heat of subways in the summer to get to those auditions.  They usually chose four children to come back.  Those four would be paid for a photo session and the advertiser would pick the best shot for the actual ad.  He was often picked as one of the final four, but only once was his shot chosen for an ad. 

Johnson and Johnson diaper rash ad.  There's something to put on your résumé.  lol  During the shoot, they have a special person hired just to make the kids smile and laugh.  That person asks the parent what their child likes, and that's what the entertainer does for the whole of their shoot.  Ya know...things like peek-a-boo, blowing raspberries that kind of stuff.  Not my child though.  Hell no.  She wasn't getting off easy on this gig.  Brian thought sneezing was absolutely hysterical, so she had to sneeze for an hour.  His reaction had the crew on set in hysterics and that set him off even more.  He didn't stop laughing the entire time.  Meanwhile, his 'mom' in the shoot was supposed to be kissing his (according to the ad) ' rash free, soft bum'.  Even she had a hard time keeping a straight face.  We still have the ad.  It's a cracker, but I won't post it here.  If you're ever in Knocknagree for a visit, will be happy to show you.  Just don't tell Brian.  Every time it comes out, he's mortified. 

Brian was four when we moved to Ireland.  He'd come out with phrases the local kids never heard before and have them rolling with laughter.  But every now and then he'd have the elders in stitches too. 

One day not long after we moved here I took him to the in-laws so they could mind him for a bit.  I was heading to town, but before I left he asked if he could go outside.  'I want to go do my farming business.  That ok mom?  It's only across the road and I'll be careful.'  Gave a quick glance over to Sheila and Michael who gave the wink and said 'Yeah, go on then but be careful and listen to your grandparents while I'm gone.'  With that he was gone fast as could be.  He loved to hang out in the field with the cows I was told.

When I returned, the yard was full of cars.  I immediately worried something was wrong and ran into the house.  I was greeted by a house full of people in stitches and Brian wearing an outfit borrowed by the neighbours.  'What's happened?!  Is everything ok?!'  Through fits of giggles Michael said 'Brian, why don't you tell your mum what's happened.'  My sweet innocent four year old walked over to me, looked up and said in his wee American accent, 'Well mom, I was out doing my farmer business like I told you and everything was cool.  But when I went round to check out the back of the cow he shit up on top of me!'  Cue roars of laughter from around the room...and a wee giggle from Brian.  Apparently he was covered head to toe when he landed back to Sheila and Michael and came out with that line to explain what had happened.

Fast forward to the past couple of years and he's just as mellow as always.  When the Lads go for a night out, Brian asks our permission to join them.  Not like other Lads who 'tell' their parents they're heading out.  We give him a few bob spending money and send him on his way.  All the time I'm quietly worried hoping he'll be ok and come home safe. 

Fair play to him.  Not once has he pulled an all night job like his friends.  Not because he's been given a curfew or anything, just because it's not his style.  He likes to come home at the end of the night and is always in no later than 1 or 2 am.  He has the odd drink with the Lads these days, but never comes home rancid drunk.  We've never made a big deal out of drink in this house so he doesn't feel the need to hide or worry.  If he's stuck, he rings us.  Granted, that's only happened once, but I was delighted he felt he could.

He's taking his final year exams in a month's time and it won't be easy as he's not great with the books, but either way he'll be grand.  With some kids, you just know.

Happy Birthday Honey!  xx

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/brian.jpg)

I'm seriosuly moving in with Laxie - I love this thread.

The boys done well for himself there ;)

Great story - Happy Birthday Brian!

Stick the ad up though - we won't tell him :)

You sure paid attention to most of her!

Seriously, he's such a calm Lad I'd hate to post the actual ad.  But.............I might just about get away with posting his 'business card' from back in the day. 

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/27042010270.jpg)

hehe - thanks Dawn - fantastic hair!

They made me go to some special hairdresser for models to get his hair cut once he reached 2.  Sighhhhhhhh

This is some thread, keep it up Laxie :)

That's my girl, chip off the old block

As for Brian - gawd knows what block he came off....

Well, to be fair...we can't ALL be lunatics.  Need at least one sensible one in the house.   rotflmfao

Chinese for dinner as it's his favourite, chocolate cake I made earlier has been dented hard and we'll soon be taking him out for his first legal pint in our local village.  Had planned to take him to a few of the locals just so they'd know who he was and that he's legal now, but he refused.  Says there's only one pub in the village he'd ever have interest in going to, so he'll humour us with ONE pint in that pub and no more.  I swear he's my kid...honest.


He was hoping to swerve the whole 'candles' thing, but humoured me in the end allowing a few.

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/27042010271.jpg)

1 white candle and 8 blue....was the closest he'd let me get to 18.  lol

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/27042010272.jpg)


Now then, shower time and off to the pub...for ONE.  Sigh.  lol  Have a great night everyone!!!

 

Yum yum can u pm me some of that cake please,  some strawberries will suffice tho.

I used to love to bake.  All sorts of breads and cakes, all the time.  Not done it for ages though.  The only thing that's stood the test of time (and my will power) is that cake.  I've been making that same cake every year for each them since their first birthday.  When they were younger, I'd put fun 'kid stuff' on them like sprinkles, novelty candles and other bits.  Always used coloured icing for writing Happy Birthday and their name/age.  Once they hit 12 years, I just about got away with the sprinkles.  Now they all just want the cake...with strawberries on it. 

Brian put in a special request tonight though.  It came out of the blue.  He asked me to please make my NYC Cheesecake some time in the next couple of days.  Apparently he's really missed it.  As he rarely asks for anything, you just know I'll be baking that tomorrow.


And.............we never made it to the pub.   rotflmfao

Brian's friend Marie showed up and kidnapped him for a bit.  By the time they got back he said it was too late to go (9:30pm) as he had lessons to do.  Where was he got?!

Nice story! Like everyone else has said I'm enjoying the read, excellent writing WP.

Me Mam is just the same she used to bake loads but hardly does anymore,sigh

She once made me this amazing cake for my birthday,and I don't even like cake :) It was absolutely huge,it was a full street of houses made out of different things such as smarties for the roofs etc. I don't remember that much about it but I do remember I wouldn't let anyone eat it for ages because it looked so good lol.

As said great thread,keep up the good work :)

My Mum started baking again when she decided to make a recipe book for my Sister's birthday last year, she scanned her old recipe books (with scribbled notes included, but made everything again & photographed it, the then compiled it on the PC and had it printed - not bad for an Old Dear of 65!! The book was that good I made her get me a copy printed.

Since then my sister has got her the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook - for which I'm eternally grateful.


http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hummingbird-Bakery-Cookbook-Tarek-Malouf/dp/1845978307 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hummingbird-Bakery-Cookbook-Tarek-Malouf/dp/1845978307)

Mother's eh,what would we do with out them.

may i request a change to the thread title please? (i know the creator is now banned so cannot do it but is there a way the mods can?)

the whole thread has gone seriously off topic and is mostly updates on laxies life rather than updates on cassie (this isnt a problem as it makes interesting reading for some and i can get updates by pm or facebook from dawn)

this isnt a dig i just feel it wold be more appropriate, tkshan

I'd intended to discuss it with Rookie first if that's ok and will think of an appropriate title when I have time later today - provided he's cool with it.

May I suggest "Laxie Through The Looking Glass".

I love it!!!  That'll do grand.  Cheers Ralph!  xx

Will just have a quick word with Rookie to make sure it's ok before I ask the mods to help us out here.

dawn, i know for sure rooks will have no objections whatsoever, we discussed it the other night.

by the way i love the new title suggest by ralph  :)up

I'm sure he won't Paul, but I made a promise to deal direct with him so I'd prefer to keep my promise.  Don't worry.  It'll be sorted soon enough.   ;)

Laxie through the Looking Glass

as requested.

Spoke to Rookie and all is sorted as agreed - with a wee addition to the original post in case newcomers get confused.  Cheers all for working it out so fast!

Now then...where was I?  I'd a proper good 'un planned for today but me brain is mush now.  Woke at OMG a.m. and couldn't get back to sleep.  That's when I thought of whatever it was and I should have just posted it then.  Had me giggling away at the time.  Damn!  I really wish I could remember what it was.  Ah well, you'll just have to trust me...was a good 'un.   

As for the dogs?  Cassie and Lily are doing great as always.  Sinéad and Sarah swapped bunks the other day.  Sinéad loves her sleep and she's too tall to be sharing her bed with the dogs, so she's on the top bunk now.  Sarah loves sharing the space, so everyone's happy.  Cassie is usually first to join her.  Lily needs help getting into the bed so if she's not keen when Sarah goes up, she misses out. 

Once the kids head off to school, Lily usually heads upstairs to the bed and I help her up.  Cassie stays downstairs with me which works out perfect for our new dog walking system.  At some point during the day while Lily is sound asleep upstairs, Cassie and I sneak out for a proper run in the field.  She tears around the place and does her thing until I'm sure she's good and worn out. 

When Sarah lands home from school, she takes both dogs on the leads for a walk around the village.  This way Lily gets a walk - minus the running - and they all get to hang together with some of Sarah's friends.

I've the special collar ordered, so we'll give it a go when it lands and report back on it after a few days trial.  We all miss watching the pair of them running in the fields together, so it would be absolutely BRILLIANT if it helps her!

That's the latest for the minute...until I can rattle me brain and come up with what had me giggling so much.  Or think of another tale to tell.  More than likely the latter, as rattling this old brain could be dangerous for it's health. 

That's better, Ralph, great suggestion for title. After all Lax, it is about you, your family and your dogs. I enjoy it. Keep it up please.

Free tip for your day -

1)  Rice may be small, but when washed down the drain in bulk...it WILL clog your drains.

2)  If you serve rice at a later date, please do yourself a favour and refer to rule number 1.


This has been a public service announcement.  No need to thank me.  Sigh.

If your dog gets in to your cupboards he won't be aware of how much a large box of dry oatmeal expands once eaten.

He is therefore likely to not move for 3 to 4 days.

lol gg ronnie

ZOMG!!!  Is he ok?!

How many times is that now -- LOL

I know.  I know.  Sigh. 

At least you swerved having to help clear it this time.   rotflmfao

more please!

It was a bank holiday in Ireland this past week-end.  I really should leave the country during bank holidays.  Seriously.  They never end well.  To be fair, a great time was had.  But I am currently injured.  Everywhere.  I blame Bridget and for a change, she's not blaming me.   rotflmfao

Friday was tame enough.  In fact, even Saturday was tame.  Stayed home watching movies with the girls and chowing on popcorn.  Bridget landed after the APAT omaha event Saturday night and we took over the remote for a 'Chick Flick' night.  Brian was gone out with friends and Timothy was outnumbered.  He mumbled a few things as he went to the kitchen to get us some wine, but he never attempted to take back the remote.  He knows when he's beat. 

The plan on Sunday was to watch the rugby in the pub, then back home for some yard work and a barbecue.  It was a good plan and I was really looking forward to getting the few jobs done.  But then things took a wee turn...as they do. 

After the rugby a group of us ended up in a mini bus heading for Killarney.  We said we'd watch the Cork Hurling match at 7:00, then head back to our own village around 9:30.  Only, once the match was over everyone was in rare form and showing no signs of heading back.  To make matters worse, Bridget and a few more took their own taxi out to meet up with us so we couldn't head back home just yet as it wasn't fair on the late arrivals.  That's about the time things got messy.   rotflmfao

I've an old injury from a couple months back on my right ankle.  Been wearing an ankle brace with the past week as it was acting up.  But I was also wearing heels.  That sure was a good idea.  We were rushing to catch up with the gang when myself and a street curb had a bit of a falling out.   Managed to take out my left knee and my phone in the carnage.  Marv. 

At this point Bridget had already made her way into our next port of call, but she came back out when she realised we weren't behind her.  Injured badly, I was being carried to the club.  Only we were met by a bouncer who was obviously having a bad day.  No way was he letting us in if one of us was so bad they had to be carried.  I was calmly explaining the fall and just as I was showing him the ankle brace, Bridget decided to go mental.  She didn't realise I was getting us in, but when she's cross there's no stopping her.  Sigh.  That poor bouncer was called every name under the sun.  At that point, the rest of us were allowed in, but no way was she being left.  That's about the time the guards showed up. 

Well, it was only 1 guard to start with.  Bridget was still letting fly to anyone who would listen when the guard suggested she find a different place to hang out.  There I was, being held up by a couple of friends, trying to calm Bridget down and apologising to the guard for her behaviour when Bridget came out with a corker that was sure to see her in heaps of trouble.  'And you wonder why people call the guards pigs?!'  Sigh.  Well done Bridget, well done.

As she was pulled to one side and he brought out his book, the rest of us had a wee chat.  Would we follow her to the station and bail her out, or let her sit there for the night?  We decided she'd gone way over the top this time and we'd let her sit it out in the station for the night.  She needed to learn a lesson as she'd stepped miles over the line.  That's about the time this woman who had been sitting in a doorway, stood up and screamed at the top of her voice, 'I DON'T KNOW WHERE I AM!!!!' over and over.  Out of nowhere, a half a dozen guards stormed on the the scene to this other woman...and Bridget was forgotten about. 

We managed to get through the rest of the night without a hassle and arrived home around 4:30am.  Not quite the 9:30 we'd planned on, but there ya go.  I woke up yesterday to an unreal sharp pain in my knee after the night's gymnastics.  Was just about hobbling around the house when Bridget landed. 

'Will we go for the cure?  There's a good few out.'  Sigh. 

'Go on then.  But we're only having one or two!' 

That was around noon yesterday.  We got home at 11pm.  What masochist came up with the term, 'the cure'?  I'm deffo not cured of anything...and still need to replace my phone. 

Any suggestions for a good phone? 

(http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:EjaKTYti8zvhIM:http://www.textually.org/textually/archives/archives/images/set2/old_mobile_phones_010.jpg)

Might last a wee bit longer on jaunts into Killarney.. FFS will you ever learn

Last time I went to Killarney for a proper day/night of it was this time last year - and you were with us FFS!  Don't worry...will be the bones of another year before I'm seen around that town again.  Proberly.

Spent the afternoon researching phones and have decided on the HTC Desire.  Has great reviews and isn't as bulky as my broken N95.  Off to the shop tomorrow to pick it up.

Was really missing my phone today when Cassie and Lily got into the mother of all play fights.  They were wrestling mad and having a really great time.  Was good fun to watch too and I'd have loved to video it.  They really do get on well and they both read me like a book.  Normally we have a run around the house playing 'tag' but they knew today wasn't a good day for that.  Sarah gave them a good run when she landed home from school and they've been thrown down since.  One so young and the other so old, yet they work together perfectly.  Couldn't ask for more.

I assure you that day has been scoured from my memory LOL

Can't sleep again.  Marv.  Don't know what to do about it, but been tossing and turning nearly every night with AGES!!!  Just tucking in to a warm mug of milk and said I'd give a wee update while I'm waiting (hoping) for it to kick in.

Well, the phone issues are nearly sorted and I'll be back to taking pictures in no time.  Always wondered why that second wee debit was coming out of my account each month from the Carphone Warehouse, but wasn't losing sleep over it.  Just figured it was for Timothy's second phone.  Wonder no more.  Turns out I had insurance on the N95. 

They don't reckon it's worth fixing so I'm getting a brand new phone out of the deal at no extra cost to me.  The only beat - I must take something similar to what I had.  They mentioned the N97.  Not what I was hoping for, but even that has a silver lining.  Brian needs a new phone as his screen cracked a few months ago.  So he's taking the N97 and I can still get the upgrade owed to me for being on a yearly contract.  Roll on the HTC I was after.  Win win all around. 

Meanwhile on the dog front, I've some great news on two counts.  Cassie had a few thinning patches around the place when she first got here.  Mostly on her leg joints, tail and backside.  Mike suggested I buy a different dog food.  He reckoned the baldy patches were caused by the high protein content in their food so we switched it a couple of weeks ago.  They weren't too thrilled about the new food at the start, but got use to it in no time.  And now her hair is growing back! 

As for Lily?  Since we've sorted their new routine of walks and runs, she's not limping!  Still waiting on the collar from the posh vet in Killarney.  Should have just ordered it online.  Sigh.  But never mind.  It'll get here eventually and in the meantime, we have the pair of them sorted. 

Even got to play a light game of 'tag' around the kitchen today since my knee wasn't hurting near as bad as it had been.  All in all a good day in the Dineen camp.  Hope you lot had a good day too.  xx

Tried it on Tomothy yet  ;whistle;

 rotflmfao  Somehow doubt I'd get that one through.  Could be wrong.  But if I were a gambling girl...............

Still not got the new phone.  Apparently they're in high demand and the shop hasn't received it's next batch of them yet.  Usually it's my kids looking for that something 'hard to get'.  I don't get caught up in hype of the latest trends.  Just liked the damn phone.  And so does everyone else as it turns out.   Marv.

Ah well, just means I've no pics for the time being as Sarah's camera went busto too a couple of weeks back.  But we'll get there in the end with more pictures soon enough.  

Meanwhile.......Brian wants to learn how to drive.  And he wants me to teach him.  This should be fun. 

In American schools they have driver's ed classes.  It's an optional part of the school curriculum, but just about everyone takes the class.  You sign up to it once you reach 15 years of age, get a learner's permit 6 months after that and all going well, have a full license by the time you reach 16.  Wish it was as easy as that over here.  Granted, my own experience wasn't quite that hassle free.

At some point between getting my learner's permit and before I actually had a clue how to drive, my Mom booked her car into the local garage for a service.  We'd an early 80's Chevy Citation as back up, so she planned to bop around in that while they sorted her own car out.  Only she needed someone to follow her to the garage with the Chevy.  Enter Laxie.  She reckoned with all those lessons on a simulator machine, surely I could manage it.  I'd spent ages begging her to take me out for real live lessons, but she never had time.  Today was to be my first outing...alone.

"But MOM!  I don't even have a license and haven't driven a real car yet!"

"You'll be fine.  It's only down the road.  Just follow me and be careful."

Famous last words...

I reversed out of the driveway and out onto the the road.  Only I got the brake and the gas pedals mixed up in the panic of driving for the first time.  With an almighty bang I reversed right into the city's lamp post that was at the edge of our front yard.  Sigh.  This was NOT going well...and we hadn't even left the yard yet. 

She got out to survey the damage.  I stayed put in the car until I could catch a glimpse of the look on her face in the rear view mirror.  Pretty sure I wouldn't be killed, I decided to check it out for myself.  Luckily Chevy's were made like brick houses.  Only a bare dent in the bumper, but apart from that you'd never know.  Never thought to check out the lamp post, but I'd bet it got the raw end of the deal.

"Right.  I don't know what just happened, but you're out of the driveway now.  Do you think you can manage the few minutes down the road without crashing into anything else?"

"You mean you seriously still want me to attempt it?!"

"No, but I've no choice.  Just try to be more careful."

Managed to get to the garage without crashing into anything else along the way, but was absolutely terrified all the way there.  As a result of the day's events, my Mom decided I needed real live driving lessons...fast.  She gave it a go a few times, but even today she's a very nervous passenger.  I don't suppose my penchant for lamp posts helped to curb her nervousness, so in the end we had to call it quits.  Enter Sr. Marie.   

I've mentioned Sr. Marie before.  She's the nun who took us in when my Mom was trying to get on her feet.  Well, she taught a lot of subjects in school.  One of which was driver's ed.  My Mom phoned her and Sr. Marie booked the very next Sunday with me.  I was to be ready at 7am.  7am?!  On a Sunday?!  Oh ffs.

There was method to her madness.  She carried me off to the local shopping mall.  At 7am on a Sunday the place is one huge deserted car park.  At least nobody would get hurt during my lessons...all going well.

She pulled up to the curb next to the mall.  Once we swapped seats the fun began. 

"Put the car into reverse and follow the edge of the curb around the mall."

"In REVERSE?!  Think I've already shown that's not my strong point."

"That's why we're here.  Any fool can drive forward.  Only a proper driver can drive in reverse.  We will keep doing this until you have every inch of this mall covered without errors."

Took 3 or 4 Sundays before I was left drive forward, but we got there in the end.  And ya know what?  To this day, that lamp post is the only thing I've ever hit...knock on wood. 

Pity there aren't any big malls where we live now.  Luckily we have a football field with a big enough car park.  Even better?  We won't be getting up at 7am for the lessons.  Wish us luck.

On the dog front, we're ticking away nicely.  I REALLY wish I had a working camera because Cassie has started this new thing.  Well, it's not so new to me, but I was the only one she did it with at the start.  Now the whole family gets it when they walk into the room.  And so does everyone else. 

Lily has always been pretty outgoing.  Doesn't matter who it is.  Man, woman or child...anyone who walks into the house is enthusiastically greeted in hopes of a rub.  It took Cassie a while, but she's started to join in the fun.  Only she has this cheeky grin and shows her teeth as she doing it.  She almost looks like she's about to growl or bite if you didn't know better, but I've seen it so often I know it's just her smile. 

Before she would curl up next to me and I'd give her a rub while chatting away to visitors.  I suppose with all the comings and goings of so many people through this house, she was bound to get used to it eventually.  I'm just delighted everyone else gets to see that cheeky grin now too.

Teen age girls, their clothes and cat fights.  OMFG!!!!!!!!!!  FIND ME A BRIDGE!!!   ;frustrated;

LOLOLOLOLOLOL

So glad I didnt have to deal with this!

Dawn, have you ever had a sleepwalking dog ?
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2BgjH_CtIA

LOL

LOL - Very good!

Cassie and Lily both do it actually.  Not to that extreme (thankfully  lol), but the paws get moving, tails start wagging and they even do a wee bit of barking in their sleep.  It's really funny to watch too.  Always wondered what's going through their minds when they dream.  But do know...they definitely dream. 

Will have the new phone in the next day or two (just gave them an earful) so will be sure to video it next time one of them is at it.  Cassie does it the most and nearly every day, so won't take long to capture. 

Another thing I must video is their reaction when the 'w' word is used in this house.  When we're getting ready to take them out we ask them, 'Wanna go walkies?'  No need to wait for an answer...they go mental!  In fact, if one of them happens to be upstairs when the 'w' word is said, brace yerself for some serious tearing down the stairs.  Got to the point where we have to spell out that particular word because if they hear 'walk', we're stuffed til we take them out.  lol 

Picking up the leads is another good way to get them worked up, but they're easily settled down as long as you don't use the 'w' word.  God help The Duke.  Not sure why, but I've a feeling that information will be used for his amusement next time he's here...and I'll be forced to hurt the man!  Granted, I'll need the assistance of my girls.   rotflmfao

PMSL! great vid boo

Dogs beds and dogs get a wash every two weeks.  Whatever about their beds, is that too often to be washing the dogs?  I use warm water and special shampoo for dogs, followed by a leave in spray conditioner.  Neither bottle gives warnings about how often they should be used, so just curious.  Anyone know?

I've been keeping an eye on things since that video was posted and can confirm - Cassie has an 'active' dream at least once a day...usually around noon.  Had some things to do around the house the past couple of days which delayed things, but back on track now.  Will tear road in the morning for the new phone so I can video her sleeping antics at lunch.  Fingers crossed I get back in time.  If not, will catch it on Thursday for ye.  I'll try not to giggle when I'm recording it, but can't promise anything. 

Lily has been barking A LOT since Cassie arrived.  She's barked more in the past 2 months than she had in all the years before.  Brian and Sinéad were convinced it was because Lily thinks we've replaced her - and she's jealous.  I think they're wrong.  If Lily were jealous, the pair wouldn't be eating out of the same food dish together for a start.  Lily has just become more lively and since they've always known her as mellow, they weren't getting it.  Luckily, the oldest two kids 'get it' as of today.

Their latest party piece?  If it's raining when they go outside, Lily has this thing about grooming Cassie when they come back in!  Cassie stands still while Lily acts like the wee mother cleaning the rain water off Cassie's sides and back.  Once that's done, they tear around having a bit of play time for themselves before settling down to their next nap.  I'd only seen this a couple of times in the past week, so didn't mention it to the crew.  Today they were home when Lily and Cassie went at their 'routine'.  And the kids were gob smacked! 

'So then.  Tell me Lily's jealous now you lot.'

Sinéad in shock, 'Wow!  I guess she really DOES like Cassie.  Hey Brian!  Come here and check this out!'

Sarah shot back with, 'We've been trying to tell ye that for AGES, but ye were too thick to listen.'

As if they knew we were all enjoying the scene, Lily took extra time cleaning Cassie off today and their play seemed more animated than usual afterwards. 

And all is right with the world in Laxieland.

So today I faced a bit of a moral dilemma.  I've always been of the mindset that you're to cheer on your team even if you know they can't win on the day.  If you're part of a team, you're to show up and give it your all.  Again...even if you know you're about to get crushed.  Just get in there, do your best with your head held high and try to have some fun.  Winning really isn't everything and sometimes people learn much more from losing now and then.

After the mess over double scheduled matches a couple of weeks back, we parents pretty much asked the girls to just pick one team and stick with it to avoid future confusion.  They picked the U16's so we thought we were through with the U14's.  Not so much.  On Saturday we received a call which I duly ignored as I didn't recognise the number.  Turns out it was one of the U14 coaches.  He'd left a message pretty much begging us to get Sarah and her friend Laura to an important U14 Final on Tuesday night.  That was tonight.

Normally I'd insist Sarah go as she can't let the team down, but a few factors caused me to go against everything I've ever taught them.  First, Laura was refusing to go.  There are really only 3 strong players on the team.  They need all 3 to show up if they have any hope at all in a final.  Normally, Laura's absence wouldn't have given cause for us to stay home.  But there were a couple of other factors thrown in as well.

Sarah hasn't been to a match or training with the U14's since she decided to stick with the higher age group.  It wouldn't look right to suddenly show up on the night of a final making another girl lose her spot on the field.  Drove me nuts when Brian was smaller and into Irish football.  He'd be there for every training session and every single match, but rarely saw the pitch.  Other Lads would stroll in when it suited them and got a full game.  Brian would come home in tears, I'd give him a hug, rinse repeat the next time.  

That went on until he was 12 and another village tried to poach him for their team.  Our own village objected to the transfer and he was told he'd have to stay out of football for 2 years before he could play with the other village.  You'd swear we were talking about Roy Keane ffs!  That was that.  Brian said screw 'em and hasn't looked back.  I just didn't feel right putting some other kid through the tears tonight so Sarah could show up for the glory of a final.  Especially when she's not been involved with them for a bit at this stage.

Add to that, the town they had to travel to for the match is well over an hour's drive each way for us.  All that driving for a match she shouldn't be playing as she's not been around, they haven't a hope of winning as all 3 strong players won't be there, while another girl loses her spot to make way for Sarah added up to 'Sarah, I think you should give it a miss.'  I listed all of the above reasons for saying what I did...and that's when all hell broke loose.  

Well, let me tell you...my sweet innocent wee girl left rip well and truly!  She threw every life lesson I've ever taught right back in me face, tried the tears, tried the begging...you name it.  She had the full arsenal ready.  Personally, I think Sinéad gave her advance warning, but can't be sure.  Anyway, it got ugly in the end.  

She turned to me and said with pure venom 'I can't believe what a horrible mother you are.'  Enter the knife...cheers.    

Me, 'Sorry?'

Sinéad and Brian in unison, 'Oh I KNOW you didn't just go THERE.'

I was raging at that point, because we'd already had the chat and she'd made the choice to stick with U16.  Now I was the bad guy for asking her to please stick to that choice.  Deep breath.

'Horrible mother, eh?  Right.  Tell ya what ya do.  Ring your father and if he'll leave work early* to take you, you can go.  However your room looks like a bomb hit it, so you'll be up there cleaning it spotless until it's time to go.  If the room isn't spotless, you're not stepping foot outside this house.  How's that for horrible?'

Honestly didn't think she'd ring him.  But smug as could be, she picked up the phone and made the call.  Also didn't think he'd say yes.  But he did.  Marv.  After that she headed up to her room to do the cleaning.  All the way up the stairs mumbling about her mother not supporting her.  That's when I pointed out I've never missed a match yet and said she was best to zip it while she was ahead.  Sigh.

Well, they went to the match.  The female coach refused to start Sarah as punishment for not showing up the last couple of weeks, despite protests from the male coach.  They got their backsides kicked and some wee girl lost her spot on the pitch to Sarah before half time.  On the drive back, Sarah and Timothy listed off all the shows they were missing tonight as they wouldn't get home in time.    

She walked through the door and straight over to me for a hug.  Then she looked up and whispered, 'I'm sorry mom.  You're not horrible and I'm really sorry for saying that.'  Then she gave me a cheeky grin and giggled together with another hug, 'By the way, you were right about the match.  I shouldn't have gone and we got our backsides kicked anyway.'

All in all a win for the lot of us as it turned out.

*PS  'Early' in our house is 6pm as opposed to any time after 8pm.

I personally wash ronnie's bed every other day but only wash him once every 8 to 12 weeks or if he really stinks.

When I say I wash his bed I actually put a towell in it and put a fresh one in every other day which keeps smells off the actual bed.

By giving fresh bedding often a lot of the dirt comes off him on to his towel thus cleaning him a bit every day.

I actually washed Ronnie yesterday for the first time in about 3 months. I don't use shampoo, just water to get rid of any dirt on him but I give him a really good soaking. I'd only use shampoo if he had fleas or something which needed getting rid of.

Do you find they roll around in muck a lot? It's probably because they hate smelling of shampoo and spray conditioner.

If you don't wash them as often they won't have to roll in shit as much because they will actually smell like dogs instead of boots perfume counters.

I guess what I'm saying is that in my opinion yes, once every two weeks is far too often to bath a dog.

Cheers Matt!  Was thinking that might be why Lily likes to roll in so much 'stuff', but wasn't sure.  Cassie LOVES to be washed, but Lily runs for the hills every time.

Their 'beds' amount to 2 big fleece throws folded in half a couple of times to add some cushion under them.  At night, they usually end up with the girls at some point or other.  I shake the blankets outside every couple of days, but will give a go to actually washing them every couple instead...and lighten up on the shampoo baths.  Clean warm water and their big yellow car sponge should do the trick...minus the 'boots' smell.

This might just be turning into the best thread on Blonde at the moment.

Just home.  Dinner to throw on, dogs to walk and phone to figure out..........

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/insane.jpg)

Full phone review pls.

[X] Makes Calls
[X] Receives Calls
[X] Sends Texts
[X] Receives Texts

Job done

[X] Plus a whole lot more!!! 

Cassie tends to just hang about if it's too warm outside.  We had a scorcher yesterday!  To get 'round it, I took them out in the morning and again in the evening when it wasn't as warm.  We all just chilled the rest of the day.  And I learned how to use the new phone.

Murphy's Law says they weren't going to act half as nutty when they heard the 'w' word this time since I learned how to capture it on video.

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4FW1g6NDso 

Cassie had a good run about for herself...

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/IMAG0013.jpg)


and Lily was ok with just pottering around for the most part.

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/IMAG0004.jpg)


But despite waiting until the sun was going down, they were still wrecked in no time...

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/IMAG0009.jpg)

And one more because I liked it....

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/IMAG0017.jpg)

When we first moved to Ireland, I loved to walk the fields picking all sorts of wild flowers for a vase back at the house.  The neighbours all had a laugh saying I was picking weeds for my vase.  Sigh.  How can wee things like this be considered weeds?

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/IMAG0016.jpg)
(Need to work on my photo skills with the new camera, but you get the idea.) 

Anyway, the neighbours can laugh all they like...won't stop me picking 'weeds'.

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/IMAG0020.jpg) 

It's supposed to hit the low 20's again today.  That's tropical weather by Irish standards.  Going to take the dogs to the field for a bit.  Then I will mostly be out the back yard working on a tan while doing the ironing.  Don't have much time for messing about though.  

Kids are home at 2:00 on Fridays and it's all systems go once they land.  Sarah has a hair appointment at 3:00, then I must run herself and Brian to town for a few bits.  More of that shopping carry on I love so much - marv.  After that we'll throw together a quick dinner before they get ready for their night out.  They go to this youth club thing every Friday night, but once a month is the 'big night'.  And tonight's that night.  Even Brian is heading down as it's his last one with that group.  I'll drop them at 8:00 and another parent brings the lot home around 11:30.  3 hours of silence and a bottle of wine on a Friday night...bliss!

Hope everyone has a good day!  xx

  

It's boiling up here,sure is nice weather to be grinding in.

Enjoy your day

The ironing sure got done on Friday.   rotflmfao

As it turns out, I did get 'round to it 'eventually'.  Yesterday.  I really hate ironing.  It's right up there with shopping imo.  Good job it was sunny out or I'd still be looking at a mountain of wrinkled clothes.  On the downside, I didn't wear my usual oils or lotions because I didn't want to get anything on the clean clothes.  5 hours later...I'm a lovely shade of red.  Tea tree gel FTW!  All going well, the red will be brown in a day or two. 

Took the dogs for their usual run in the field after that.  Still not use to where everything is on the new phone...hence the finger in the way.  Sigh.  Ah well, will keep at it.

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kjcPJfhCuw

Once they've had enough, they tend to hide in the shade of the trees until I give the word. 

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/eec38247.jpg)

After the bit of play time, we headed back for a barbecue.  Cassie has her 'spot' now for our barbecues.  Right in line with the chefs, throwing her big brown eyes up at us in hopes of some early scraps.  Also the perfect spot for food that rolls off the other side before we can catch it.  She's no fool.

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/97fe5a5e.jpg)

 

RABBIT ALERT!!!

Not long back from our Sunday stroll and have some news of a different sort.  Everything started out as usual.  The dogs headed straight for the play field and were already well on their way sniffing and messing about through the trees by the time I got there.  They called over for a quick rub before disappearing into the trees again.  Next thing I heard what I thought was a yelp from Cassie. 

Into panic mode, I was tearing around through the trees trying to find the pair of them.  Called them a few times, but no joy.  Had swerved back and forth a good bit but just couldn't spot them.  Starting to get seriously worried, I headed back towards the open section of the field to ring the troops at home for help.  Just about the time I reached the clearing, through the trees came Lily and Cassie.  But they weren't alone. 

Cassie had a wee rabbit hanging from her mouth!  She set it down at my feet and looked up at me proud as punch.  Felt bad for the wee bunny, but I gave Cassie a rub anyway because I was delighted they came back to me and were ok.  Next thing, she started having an old check of her prize.  She turned it about a couple of times checking it out then threw down next to bugs like she'd no intention of leaving!

To avoid the 'yuck' factor, I didn't get a close up.  Plus the bunny was a wee one, so you can barely see it.  But it's there.  Right by her hind feet.

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/f8e2bca5.jpg) 

I rang a neighbour who's big into hunting and the like.  Asked him did he have any use for a wee rabbit just caught and he asked what I was at.  Told him the tale and he said I should let her eat it.  WHAT?!  Not a hope!  Managed to get the lead on her and dragged her away...less than pleased about leaving her prize behind.  To be honest, I wasn't too pleased about leaving it behind either.  Surely there has to be some use for them.

So it got me thinking after.  Was I wrong to not let her have it?  Are dogs supposed to be left eat things like that once they catch them?  And if not, will some other wild animal at least get the benefit of poor old bugs?  Answers on a postcard please and thank you.

Free tip for today - flammable things catch fire really quick when lit.  No need to thank me.

lol  wp Dawn

Loving this thread more and more Dawn and looking forward to having a jar or two this weekend.

Was that flammable or imflammable btw ???

Flammable and inflammable mean the same thing. (imflammable, not a word so assuming was a typo by ya).  Inflammable was the popular term pre WW2, but health and safety peeps changed it to flammable after that. 

Luckily I have ninja like reflexes and me fingers were saved.  Will be well able and looking forward to those jars.   :D

Today was good news day!  I was sent for an MRI on my brain and upper spine at end of March, but didn't get the results until today.  Wasn't too bothered about it to be honest as they surely would have called me in sooner if there was a serious problem.  Brain is right as rain, although some may dispute that.  lol  Spine is as I knew it was, but they've decided not to do anything for the time being.  Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 

I've a thing called degenerative disc disorder.  Already had two discs removed and replaced with bits to make up for them.  They've spotted 3 more dodgy ones (1 more so than the others), but none bad enough to slice and dice just yet.  No big deal in the grand scheme of things, just means we need to keep an eye on it. 

The dodgy back is the reason I started playing poker.  When the first disc went busto, I was laid up for the bones of a year while sitting on the specialist's waiting list.  Wasn't able for anything and was gradually losing me mind from boredom and frustration.  I started watching 'Late Night Poker' a lot.  After a couple of months of watching and seeing the ads for online poker sites, I eventually downloaded my first site. 

That's when 'Laxie' was born.  I was sat there staring at the screen wondering what alias to use.  I've never had a nickname, and was on copious meds so couldn't even attempt to think of one.  Don't know why an alias was giving me so much grief, but I very nearly shut down the poker site and said forget it.  Enter a friend named Colleen.

Colleen was great to help out for that first round of back troubles.  She'd check in on me now and then for the old chat and a laugh and help out with grocery shopping if I needed it.  She'd even help out around the house if things were gone out of control around the place.  She was my lifesaver back then.  And she lives in a townland called 'Laxie'.   

Technically it's pronounced lox-eye, but I've gotten use to the way everyone says it at this stage and it wouldn't even seem right to pronounce it properly now.       

As I was gone a good bit of the day, Sarah took the dogs for their play time in the field.  Cassie caught another rabbit.  Sarah took pictures.  Close up ones.  I'll spare ye the gore of it.   rotflmfao

But seriously!!!  Are we to let her eat the rabbits or what?!

Personally I'd say yes.

I feed Ronnie raw food and he's fine on it. A whole rabbit complete with fur will be absolutely fine.

She probably won't eat it anyway if she gets the chance. It's the chase she likes, that's why she caught and killed it.

Most dogs don't know that it's food because they're used to dried food.

Yep right

 
OMFECKINGGODTHATISSOFECKINGSURPRISING

She's not necessarily partial to dry food.  Trust me on that.  NOTHING is safe in this house if it's edible!   rotflmfao

Sarah said she had to drag Cassie away this time and it wasn't easy.  Cassie threw down next to her kill and no way did she want to leave it.

UGH.  Here's the yucky part I've been avoiding.  Wouldn't it be better to bring bugs home and 'clean' him up a bit first?  That way she just gets the raw meat...minus fur.

I've a neighbour I can ask to help out with the tidying bit.  Granted, the same man will probably insist I learn how to do it.  That sure will be fun. 




 

You don't have to dress the rabbit for Cassie, but the bile from it's liver and the acids in it's stomach might make her a bit Moby Dick until she gets used to it. Anyway, if you clean a newly caught rabbit straight away the meat stays fresh much longer because the bacteria from the gut doesn't get a chance to migrate to the rest of the flesh and spoil it.

To clean your rabbit, turn it onto it''s back and incise the skin between the scut (Tail) and the ribcage, being careful not to cut into stomach lining, then simply turn it the right way up, give it a little shake, and the offal will fall out.

Sounds simple enough.  Just have to figure out how far in the stomach lining is now so so I can avoid the damn thing.  Will get Benny to show me a couple of times just to be sure.  He's a hunter dude and does this stuff all the time.  Has been getting a great laugh over my rabbit concerns, but yet to give me any answers* so cheers Lads!

*Not entirely sure he believes I'm serious.  Wait 'til I come knocking with a bunny in a bag to him the next day!

Watch out England.  Laxie is on her way!!! 

Am currently sat in the airport bar taking advantage of their free WiFi to kill time.  As I'll be bringing a few extra bits back with me, decided to treat meself to a checked bag this time.  This meant very little to carry through airport security and a speedy run of it...so I thought. 

I've me wee netbook and handbag, not wearing jewellery or a belt and wearing flat shoes.  How hard could it be, right?  Sigh.  I swear, some one of ye must ring them for a laugh when ye know I'm on the way over.  Walked through the metal detector and as usual...full on alarms. 

'Step over here please miss.' 

Sigh.

'It's just the scaffolding in me bra...honest.' 

She wasn't seeing the funny side of that statement.  By the time she was done frisking me we were on a first name basis FFS. 

Get through that part confirmed to be 'safe' and head over to gather my things which have long since gone through the x-ray machine.  Only they aren't there.  I can see my lappy and wee bits in a container off to the side, but no handbag.  WTF?!

'Is this your bag miss?' says another woman. 

Sigh.  'Yeah, that's mine and so is all the gear in that box over there.'

'Come with me miss.  We need to go through your handbag.'

'Ya do of course.  Wouldn't be a complete security check otherwise.'

She ever so carefully removed every fecking thing from every nook and cranny of me handbag.  It only took me the bones of 30 minutes to pack it 'just so' back at home, but ya can be sure I re-packed in record time once she was finished...and confirmed I had nothing illegal on me. 

I am currently sat in the airport bar having me second pint to kill time while waiting to depart Cork for the sunny setting... of England.  Not quite Spain, but it'll do.  And I'm really looking forward to it!  See you all on the flip side!!!!!!!!!!!!!

lol - just as well we're not playing footie this time or god knows what they'd have found in your handbag :)

Wow!  What a week-end! 

Thursday - landed in Manchester and was greeted by the Duke.  Went to his local card room for a wee re-buy.  I will never hear said my own local is a fish tank again after what was witnessed there!  lol  Just glad it was a 'wee' re-buy so we could have a laugh and forget about the cards.  On the plus side, did manage to bluff the Duke off two pots when he was well ahead.  Anyone who knows how he plays knows that's not an easy task.   

Back to Duke's where I decided ringing my Mom to say Happy Birthday - from my mobile - while on roaming charges - as ya do.  Was a good idea at the time.  Of course, nothing doing only Ger had to say hi too.  30 minutes later we managed to say goodbye to Mom.  Can't wait to see the bill at end of the month!

Rumour has it I managed an amazing attempt at 'Bohemian Rhapsody' afterwards.  This was done in front of a webcam and there's talks of posting it.  Marv.  Can confirm, professional singing will never be one of my career choices.  You have been warned. 

Friday - After the largest fry up on the planet, we headed off for Notts.  The usual meet and greet at the hotel was nice.  Gives everyone a chance to catch up before the madness ensues and gave time for some of the more sensible people to grab a bite to eat.  Pre-drinks stomach lining FTW!

The rest of Friday night was just one twist after another.  We tore road to meet up with Kate and Fran in Chambers.  Haven't seen them in ages, so was delighted they could make it.  Can confirm I'm not the only one on blonde who can't sing.  Asa and I proper owned the lot of ya on secret missions.  Bongo's tea pot - blimey.  What was in that again?  A great night from start to finish.   

Saturday - Had my first trip to Nando's.  It's grand.  Will feed a gang and they serve drink, but honestly don't see what all the fuss is about that place.  Apart from it's proximity to DTD.  We were slow getting up that morning, so I suppose proximity mattered to be fair.  lol 

The bash tourney was a bit of a bust for me, but then I wasn't worried about playing poker this week-end.  Was all about catching up with friends and having a laugh.  If I'd been hit in the face by the deck it was only a bonus.  But alas, the deck deserted me.

The Liquid Lucky Dips were harmless enough.  Only a few had to suffer through a drink of my choice and I think most were pleasantly surprised.  Another late night of chatting and Toffoc and we were heading for Sunday.

Sunday - Just about got up in time for the quiz.  Was a great quiz!  Claw and AndrewT should be well proud of themselves and I nominate them now for all future quizzes.  However I think I'll just help keep the scores next time as I very nearly got a question wrong...about ME - ffs!  lololol 

Lots of blonde Lads have piles apparently.  This was discovered at the pub round the corner from our hotel.  Loads more was discovered, but we won't go there.  Was a good giggle though. 

Back to the hotel for Tighty sit n go's and a nap for Laxie while they played on.  Around 8pm we were back to DTD.  Managed to get into the £15 tourney as late alternates, and what a table it was!  Tears streaming down the eyes from laughing so much.  Gatso, Ger, Wee Man, Sharplea, Skippy -

'RAISE!!!'  'And in other news, the Titanic sank yesterday.' 

Skippy was the only one still in by the time the carnage was over...apart from the couple of randoms who had a nervous twitch by the time they were done playing at a table with us.   

Later there was the most shocking call I've ever seen at a cash table by the Duke... with TWOS!!!  Every card on the board beating him, not to mention the rest in the deck...but no way was he folding.  Took down the pot for over £400!  lololol  MBN to run so good. 

Back to the hotel with Delboy, Mrs. Delboy, Wee Man and Duke at a more respectable hour this time we had a night cap and one last giggle session.  I even managed to leave everyone at the bar and headed for an early night's sleep in the end.  Needed to be in reasonably good shape for Brian's graduation mass the next night. 

Monday - We had to be on the road for Manchester airport at 11am and I thought I'd get a good run of shut eye.  Woke at 5am...as ya do.  Sigh.  Duke dropped me back to the airport safe and sound.  Yay Duke!  Managed to get my overweight bag through check in without added charges.  Yay Aer Lingus!  Might cost just a few € more to travel with them, but well worth it in the long run.  Security didn't bother me this time.  Yay security!  And I didn't fall asleep in the departures lounge so managed the proper flight home this time.  Yay me!     

Landed home with just enough time to quickly unpack and throw on mass clothes.  Was a bit concerned considering the long week-end of it, but luckily they'd painted the church and varnished the seats in the last week.  The fumes from varnish were more than enough to hide any fumes from tea pots I might have exposed them to.  Got through it and was home again by 9pm. 

I've a bad habit of taking cat naps lately and last night was no exception.  Wide awake until 2am and up again at 7am.  Surely I'll hit a wall at some stage.  Just haven't found the wall yet. 

Thanks to everyone for such a lovely week-end.  Was badly needed.  xx

Not played much cash with Ger before then?

His reads are legendary.  Sometimes...

No way it was a read.  He was abso wrecked at the time!

The teapot was full of Jager, Goldschlager and JD. It was served by the most miserable and unhelpful barmaid ever.

Ahhhhh, it's the goldschlager stuff I keep forgetting about.  Just glad I took no notice of the miserable staff.  Should possibly have taken more notice of the ingredients in the tea pot though.   rotflmfao

I knew exactly where I was on every street - AHEAD - so there

(http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/thumb_277/121268281027T6Kv.jpg)

Sigh.  Some of you already know but for those who don't, Cassie injured her left front leg really bad yesterday afternoon while playing in the field. 

We started off as usual.  'Walkies' was announced, the pair of them went nuts and the three of us headed off for the field.  Once we got there, I let them off their leads and Cassie tore road for her rabbit hunting ground as Lily and I pottered away up to meet her. 

We were only about 1/3 of the way up the first field when this almighty roar of yelps from Cassie was heard.  As it turns out, she was heard all over the neighbourhood.  Lily and I took off running to find her and when we got there it was plain she was in big trouble.  She stopped yelping once she set eyes on us almost as if to say, 'I'll be ok now.  They'll help.' 

After surveying the damage it was clear there was no way I was walking her out of the field.  She'd need to be carried.  First phone call was to Sinéad to come and get Lily.  Next phone call was to Sarah to fetch the other local Greyhound owner for help.  Then I phoned our local vet Mike to let him know Cassie needed treatment straight away and be ready for us.  Meanwhile, neighbours appeared out of nowhere to see if they could help.  They'd all heard Cassie's cries.

God love him, Mike knows his limits.  When I described the injury to him, he said he'd have to call in a favour to the specialist at the posh vets in Killarney.  And that's just what he did.  By the time Ger (greyhound guy) met us and carried her down to my car, posh vet was on the phone with me arranging an emergency meet up at their place in town. 

Sarah took the trip with me back to Killarney.  Mike had warned over the phone we had to be very careful as they have a big artery going down their front legs and broken bone has a bad habit of tearing that, meaning gg Cassie.  Sarah held her leg just so all the way back to be sure it didn't move and we both talked quietly to Cassie telling her we loved her and would do whatever we could to sort her out.

The on call vet saw her and said it didn't look good, but we'd have to wait til morning when the ortho guy's on duty to decide what (if anything) could be done.  She was kind, but also realistic and tried to prepare us for the worst.  Sarah and I just abso broke down bawling. 

Cassie was given a bowl of chicken soup as a treat, then she'd be sedated and given pain killers to keep her still and comfortable for the night.  We were sent on our way and told they'd ring in the morning, but when we went to leave Cassie thought she was going too.  Broke our hearts to leave her there for the night, but it was the best place for her if we'd any hope of saving her.  The rest of last night was spent in a fog of tears by myself and the kids.

I've phoned Rooks and Paul so they're aware of what's happening.  The ortho rang me this morning for permission to give Cassie an xray.  He's not entirely sure from looking at it on the outside but thinks 'just maybe' we can save her.  I'm to meet him at 12:45 to find out the results and we'll go from there...one way or the other.  He's also agreed to lower his usual fee and will do the lot including last night's stay for €600 if we go ahead with it.  (TY Mike for calling in that favour.)  Must collect Sarah from her school tour on my way as she's insisted she wants to be there. 

I know some will say 'she's just a dog', but we really do love her.  We'll do what's best for Cassie, regardless of what that may be.  Whatever happens, it's been a long night and it's going to be a long day to follow.  Will let ye know what the outcome is once I've talked to the specialist.  Keep everything crossed please and thanks.  xx

everything crossed here Dawn xx

shiiiiiit, really hope everything works out for Cassie and everyone involved :(

Everything is crossed Dawn xxxx

Oh noooo! I feel I really know Cassie the way you write Dawn and really feel for you.  Hope Cassie pulls through this xx

Get fecking in there! Just off the phone with Rooks giving him the news. The break is above the joint so it shouldn't be as hard to fix as they'd feared. Surgery tomorrow. On phone now but will explain more when we get home.

oh that's fantastic Dawn - I know how devastated you were last night and it all seemed pretty hopeless.  Looks like we have another blonde fighter on our hands. xxx

Phew


more news when you have it please

Wiii

 :)up

Great news

Home again.  The orthopaedic vet said Cassie was a couple of inches lucky as the break is above the 'wrist' area of her foot and while both bones are broken, they're clean breaks.  He's going to operate tomorrow putting a plate on the big break.  He mentioned some other thing he'd do with the wee bone, but me brain was rattling with thoughts so that part kinda didn't sink in.  Will ask again tomorrow to be sure.  All going well, she'll be home on Saturday.  

I asked him what her chances were of being able to run and play again because to be honest, that's what she loves to do and she'd have been miserable any other way.  He said 9 out of 10 dogs go on to live perfectly normal lives after a break in the same spot as hers.  Those odds were good enough for me.  

His only concern is the fact it broke the skin.  Apparently there's a big risk of infection once the skin is broke, but with the proper meds and care (which she'll have), we should be able to swerve infection.  God knows we'll do our level best anyway.  

The fee we were given over the phone wasn't accurate.  Fecker wants €800 due to all the extra care and meds she'll need.  She'll be under his care for 6 to 8 weeks and we're to bring her back to him every 10 to 14 days depending on how she's going.  As we'll be visiting him so often, he's said we can break it down into mini payments during our visits - so we'll get there in the end.  

Once we got finished with the consultation I asked to see Cassie.  We were taken to the room where all the overnight visitors are kept and there she was.  'Hiya my wee baby' was the greeting she got as we walked over to the kennel and with that she lifted her head straight up and the tail came out.  Sarah reckoned our Cassie was getting VIP treatment as she was the only one with a heat lamp on her.  It's the little things in life that keep Sarah happy.  lol  

As we knelt down to give her a rub, she started to whine a bit and tried to get up to us.  With that she left out a wee yelp and I said, 'No Cassie.  Lie down or we'll have to leave again so ya don't hurt yerself more ya goose.'  Didn't take convincing...she settled back for herself.  Once we had the kennel door open and were rubbing her I phoned Rookie with the news.  She kept her head lifted up to us for a good bit, but eventually her meds kicked in again and she nodded back to sleep.  That's when we took a couple of pics and said our good byes...for now.

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/IMAG0032.jpg)



The big bad ouchie

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/IMAG0033.jpg)

Respect Laxative.

So pleased, she will be fine Laxie, a little slower to begin with but fine very soon. XXxx

So good to hear they are able to get Cassie on the road to a full recovery, gr8 news Dawn xxx

Don't panic too much Dawn. All dogs have a natural will to survive so once she's back on her feet she'll be just fine. She won't even know that she's got a dodgy leg. If it had been amputated it wouldn't have upset her, she'd have just got on with it.

The best thing you can do right now is try not to feel too sorry for her when you're with her. I know it's next to impossible but just act as normal as possible or you risk changing her perception of you in some way.

She has no idea what's gone off but knows that she hurts and that her pack are suddenly all acting very differently to normal. Very stressful times for a dog.

Be thankful that it's only €800 as well. When Ronnie was ill a few years ago the total bill came to just under £5k. Good job he was insured although the same as you I would've found it somehow.

Good luck for the next few weeks of rehab. I'm sure it'll all be fine.

 
Too late.  Pretty sure I had that well and truly covered.   rotflmfao  A few blondes had the misfortune of being the other end of a phone line last night...ty to them for keeping this lunatic semi-sane.  xx

Pretty much sucked big time at that today too, but will give a better go of it. 

They're both very attentive to my moods at the best of times.  Will deffo have to be careful with them.  Lily has only just now settled down a bit since it all kicked off last night.  She knew something was up and not sure if she was looking for Cassie or what, but she's walked from room to room NON-STOP for nearly the last 24 hours.  She's finally thrown down at my feet for her first wee nap as we speak.  If that's how the relatively healthy dog has reacted to our mood, we deffo have to be careful to act normal so Cassie doesn't suffer more physically or mentally through this.  Thanks for that reminder.  xx


 ;gobsmacked;  Fkin ell!  Did they make you sign a contract to hand over yer first born too while they were at it? 

When I spoke to the vet's office on the phone this morning, they said €600 and we'd be allowed to spread it out over a couple of months.  Sarah and I had already discussed how I'd sort that amount, saying everyone would have to cop on for a few weeks.  No pub for the adults (Brian included) and no shopping sprees for the girls.  Not the end of the world and we'd get through it. 

Once we got to the vet's and met the specialist, he'd bumped the price to €800...and said he wanted it all now! 

'Oh fer feck sake.  I was told €600 on the phone and was already working hard to pull that off over the course of the 6 or 8 weeks I was told we could stretch it.  Jesus Sarah, what am I going to do?'

'It's ok Mom.  I've got enough to cover it in my credit union account.  We can just use that.'

My heart melted and sank all at once, god love her.  With that, the vet said he doesn't normally allow it, but we could stretch it out over the 6 weeks and no more if that would help any bit.  Sarah looked at me with a wee smile.  In turn I looked at the vet and said, 'Right, let's do it.'  We'd get it sorted one way or another, but we had to keep our promise to Cassie no matter what. 

On the way home Sarah was still insisting we use her money and I was working out how we'd avoid that.  In the end I said to her, 'Look Sarah, don't worry about it.  Honest.  We've never left anybody in our house without what they needed and we aren't about to start now.  Besides, good deeds usually come back round for people so surely something will come up to see us through.' 

As it turns out, I'd been telling Rookie the tale of Sarah's offer while we were at the vet and he's been in touch since.  He and his Dad want to help out by shipping half the cost to us.  I was in shock to be honest.  But they still love Cassie loads too and wanted to help get her better.  And we could do with the help, so I've accepted.  Life sure is a funny old sort sometimes.   

Nice one Paul & Rookie

Good luck Laxie. I'm sure Cassie will make a full recovery.

^^ THIS ^^

 ;applause;  ;applause; and Get well soon Cassie!

Sinéad just showed me this video and said there's hope for Cassie yet.   rotflmfao

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7f1ovurzU2s

:)up

Nice touch rookie and Paul, glad she is going to be ok!

Just off the phone with the vet.  Cassie's had a good night and is in good form this morning too, all things considered.  He's operating on her later this afternoon and is going to ring me once he's finished.  Will post as soon as I hear anything, but sounds like she'll be back home with us on Saturday!!! 

Sooooooo can't wait to have her home again.  That first night without her was unreal.  I kept waking up and would see the black stove across the room and think it was Cassie for a split sec.  Then I'd proper wake up and realise she wasn't there.  Will be nice to have her there again. 

The girls have gone off shopping with their Irish grandparents, Brian is studying for his final exams and Lily and I will mostly spend the day hanging out.  The mood has deffo picked up in this house. 

Thanks for all the good wishes and messages over the past couple of days everyone.  Really have meant more than you know.  xx

The vet just phoned and the op was a success!!!  He reckons she can deffo come home on Saturday and the stitches are to come out in 10-12 days.  She's had a plate put in and new post op xrays to show the job done which we'll see when we go in.  I wanted to visit her tomorrow but he's said to let her have the day's rest and we can see her when we collect her Saturday.

She'll only be allowed out the back yard for fresh air and potty breaks to start.  No walks of any sort for about 2 weeks.  Then gently does it after that.  They've it wrapped at the minute and she'll come home with it wrapped a bit, but he's said it's ok if it comes off as long as she doesn't pick at the stitches.

He also says she'll be able to hop around easy enough on the 3 legs until it's healed.  With that said, she loves Sarah's bed so we've a baby gate borrowed for the bottom of the stairs to stop her getting up there.  Will put extra bedding downstairs for her and she'll stay put sleeping with me for the time being.  Knowing Sarah, she'll probably try to take up residence down here too for the first few days.  lol   And that's the lot...for now.   

This house has a whole new kind of energy around it today.  What a roller coaster ride!  Two days ago I felt like I'd let Cassie, my kids, Rookie and basically all of blonde down.  I made a promise to look after her and I know these things happen, but FML...they've never happened to me before.  Kids have accidents, but animals are supposed to be easy to look after.  Ah well, we've got through it.  Onwards and upwards and roll on Saturday!!!

 ;yippee;

 :)up

You've turned a horrible situation into something quite uplifting - good on you (& your family)

Ah well...that's just how we roll in this house.   rotflmfao

Seriously though, cheers!

Vet phoned just now.  Cassie had a good night, is in good form and has taken food and water without hassle, so we're to collect her at 11am tomorrow!!!  Only 23 hours to go....   ;yippee; ;yippee; ;yippee;

wheeeee

Good news Miss Irelan(D)

Thats fab news Dawn :)

FYP

Great News Dawn

Just caught up with all of this Dawn, hoping everything works out.

xxx

She's home!!!   ;yippee; ;yippee; ;yippee;

And she's in GREAT form! 

While we waited for them to bring Cassie to us, one of the staff came out to make sure we were being looked after.

'Are you Dineen's?' 

'That's right.  We're here for....'

'For Cassie the greyhound!  OMG She's SUCH an ANGEL!  She was the best girl all week.  So quiet and loveable.'

'Aye, that's our girl.'

A few minutes later, the vet landed with a very happy, hopping Cassie.  When she's excited, she lets out this wee whining, wags her tail mad and her mouth has this funny twitch.  She was well excited to see us today and the vet got a fit of giggles when she saw how much so.

While we were getting our instructions Cassie rolled over on her back, tongue hanging out the side, looking at Sarah and I for her belly rubs.  Which she got.  The vet got a fit of laughing so I said, 'She likes her belly rubs.'

'I see that.  She's such a dotey ol' slob.  The staff here just adored her.'

'They're not the only ones.'

Then she went on to tell us Cassie was well keen when a cat was brought in as well as a couple of chihuahuas.  She reckoned Cassie thought they were lunch.  Also, another greyhound was brought in yesterday and she and the new visitor became quick friends.  So all in all in wasn't a bad stay for our girl, considering the circumstances.

Our Instructions -

We're to make sure she stays calm, obviously.  Mind her first few minutes intro with Lily to make sure they don't get too worked up with 'hellos'.  The intro went really well as it turns out.  Lily followed her around a bit but seemed to know it wasn't play time.  They gave each other a couple of sniffs and kisses and that was that.

She's only allowed out the back yard for the first couple of weeks and must be kept on a lead even for that - to make sure she doesn't get too excited and try to play about.  No problem.  We can handle that.

She's got a wrap on it now which stays on until Tuesday and must be kept dry.  I'm to give the tips of her toes a wee squeeze twice a day to make sure she can feel it.  The swelling from the operation means the wrap may become too tight and that's how we make sure it's not.  Was shown how and where and we've got baggies to cover it for her trips outside, so won't be a problem.  If I notice any funky smell (infection) we're to take it off immediately and ring the vet. 

She's two tablets to take twice a day, morning and evening.  They're to help prevent infections.  Bit of bread and butter with the meds wrapped in it will do the trick.  Sorted.

We're to bring her back a week from Tuesday to remove the stitches.  They'll tell us then if she's allowed out the back without a lead yet.  Will be another couple of weeks after that before we're allowed to take her for lead walks around the village.  In about 3 months time they reckon she can run again...but we won't be calling to THAT field! 

Our friend Ger who helped bring her down from the field has a whole set up at his place for greyhounds.  He's said we can let her jog on his treadmill thingy any time we like.  Handy because they live in the village right near us. 

Apparently loads of people want to call for a visit to see her and welcome her home.  Sarah's got a schedule going with all of them so they don't wear her out.  lol  Despite being 18 degrees outside Brian and Sinéad had a wee fire put down for her as they know how much she loves them.  Cassie and Lily are thrown down by the fire as I type this.  And I've a window open ffs!  lol   

 :)  Such a feelgood thread, through all the dramas!

Cassie and Lily catching up

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/IMAG0037.jpg)





The kids want to know can they sign her 'cast'

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/100605_145509.jpg)





Trying to keep up with the action from her rested position

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/IMAG0039.jpg)





She went out for a potty break and came back to find some extra padding thrown down for her.  Seems to like it too.

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/IMAG0040.jpg)

Since Cassie's landed Sarah has taken a keen interest in greyhounds.  Last week Ger invited her to join he and his daughter, Ava, to the greyhound races in Tralee.  He was the breeder of a dog running on the night.  Her big night out was last night.  Sarah's never been to the races before and she had a great time.  Ger's dog (Lenghty Lee) was meant to be favourite but only managed 3rd.  According to Sarah, 'He got cut off on the 3rd bend and didn't make the break.'  I sure knew what she meant.  lol

Here's the pair of them in Tralee

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/100604_205335.jpg)



She was pretty proud of herself for catching this shot with her phone

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/100604_205251.jpg)





Ava is mad into her dad's greyhounds.  Kyle, Dave, Lulu & Mafi...but we're not sure which is which apart from the white guy.  He's Dave.  Here they are in her back yard.

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Cassie/100509_190038.jpg)




Cassie may meet one or two of them in the weeks to come as she gets her recovery exercise at Ger's.

Cover me...I'm going in.  It's time to take off Cassie's wrap.  Will get the dinner done and tidy up around the place first then tackle the wrap.  Want to make sure the house is calm for the rest of the evening so we can all get use to her having it off. 

In other news.  I'm on the job hunt.  Been many years out of circulation doing the 'mom' gig, but times are changing and time for me to get back out there.  Have done the odd bit of bar work throughout the years when local pubs needed help, as well as working reg desk at bigger poker festivals in Ireland.  But apart from that, nothing to put on the CV other than 'mom'.  Should be interesting.  Wish me luck!

Good luck in the job hunting ..x

Ideally suited for a PA job somewhere  ;angel;

Just caught up with the good news Laxie, brilliant.

GL with the job hunting, maybe you can learn to tile  ;D

Been a busy few days around here.  Cassie's wrap came off without a hitch and she's getting on grand.  She's a bit too giddy for her own good at times so we've had to work really hard to keep a calm environment around the place.  Never thought constant 'calm' was possible in this house, but we're just about managing it. 

Brian has started his leaving cert exams and Sinéad is doing her junior certs.  They'll be glued to the books for the next couple of weeks and giving it their best - which is all I ever ask from them.  One way or the other, they'll be grand.  I'll never understand parents putting loads of pressure on their kids at exam time.  They know the score and they've enough pressure without our help.  Get it right or go again another time.  Not the end of the world.  Give them a break FFS! 

With that, Brian has just phoned asking for a lift home as he's a few hours before his next exam.  Wasn't finished with this post so will update more later.  Hope all is well with everyone else.  xx

My Mom used to visit us two or three times a year, but there's been a wee glitch thrown into the mix with the past couple of years which meant she's not been here.  Soooooooo, right before the bash she phoned to say she'd booked 3 tickets to America for the kids!  It's not the first time they've travelled over without me and they're really looking forward to it.  We'll be cutting it to the wire getting them there though. 

Passports are a key factor for any international trip.  Tickets were booked first, passports checked after...as ya do.  All 3 US passports expired last year.  Oops. 

'Ah well, Brian and Sinéad have Irish ones, we'll just sort Sarah with an emergency Irish passport and we're good to go.'  Only means a quick trip to Cork City.  Managed it for Brian when he went to Germany last year, so how hard could it be?  Great idea in theory, but the Irish passport offices are in the middle of some industrial dispute at the minute and 'fast application' doesn't exist right now.  Marv.

Desperation took over yesterday and I phoned the US Embassy to sort something out for Sarah.  Good job I did as it turns out.  If I'd sent Brian & Sinéad (as US citizens) on their Irish passports, immigration could have turned them away for entering 'under false pretences.'  3 kids with dual nationality visiting their Nan sure sounds like an international crisis to me, sigh.  But rules are rules.  And we've an appointment to pick up 3 emergency US passports on June 24th in Dublin.  We all have to be present to apply for them and have to catch a train at 5:30am to be there in time.  Not quite the Cork trip I was hoping for.  They leave fly out the next day.  No pressure then.

Ah well, it'll be worth it in the end.  They'll be spoilt rotten by their American Grandparents and it gives me time to sort some things around here.  Lots of changes coming about...and at some point I'll have time to breathe again.

     

My mum got me and my dad tickets to the Greece vs Portugal Euro 2004 cup final and as we're ready to leave we see my passport had expired. By all accounts my uncle had a great time with my dad.

sdjlgsdgl;sd

WTF,why didn't you go straight to the passport office and get an emergency passport ?

Considering my Mom spent over 1k per ticket for them, we REALLY need to have their passports sorted.  The joys of being from middle America...airlines get ya good for getting there.  Which is why we don't get there very often. 

I use to love doing silly things for the kids as they were growing up.  At Easter, we'd colour hard boiled eggs and leave them out for the Easter Bunny to hide.  Along with the eggs, there'd be 3 empty baskets for bunny to fill and a carrot for him to nibble on while he was there.  Just like my own Mom did for us when we were growing up.  

Once the kids would go to sleep, I'd get a wee bowl of flour and a mug of water to make 'bunny footprints' around the house leading to each of the hidden eggs.  Not exactly a proper scavenger hunt, I know.  But when I was growing up, my Mom forgot where she'd hidden an egg one year...and it wasn't found until a few weeks later.  To this day I get the 'smell' when I think of it.  Anyway, baskets would be filled with wee treats and trinkets and I'd chew away bits of the carrot and leave the stump on the plate.  Loved doing those 'bunny prints'.  

At Christmas we'd have a cookie baking party with 2 or 3 other families.  I'd have cookie dough made and divided into balls - one for each kid.  The kitchen was kitted out with rolling pins, cookie cutters, sprinkles and different colours of icing as well as loads of baking trays.  Each kid rolled out, cut and decorated their own batch of cookies while the few Mom's let them at it, only there to supervise the hot oven side of things.  Mess didn't matter.  And when they were done, each kid had their own plate of cookies from which they picked out that special cookie they'd leave out for Santa on Christmas Eve...along with a glass of milk.  Obv.  Loved doing it at the time, despite all the work involved.  But have to say, I'd rather cherish the memories than go through it again!  lol    

Halloween?  Well that wasn't heard of when we first moved to Ireland.  Sorry, but I pretty much missed out on a few years of Halloween growing up and wasn't about to miss out on it now just because they hadn't heard of it!  Every year up to recently (11 or 12 years in total) I'd decorate the Community Centre, hire a D J and make gift bags for up to 150 kids.  I'd help my kids sort costumes for themselves, showing them it wasn't always necessary to buy a ready made one from the shops.  And every year I'd dress up in something different to entertain the kids at their disco.  We'd play party games, dance like mad and just have fun for a couple of hours.  Anyone who didn't have a costume at the start needn't worry.  I also brought face paints and spare costume bits from our own collection to help kit them out.  They've carried it on since, but I've left others be in charge with the past couple of years.  Kind of miss it to be honest.  

The Tooth Fairy was supposed to be an easy one.  They'd leave the lost tooth under the pillow and wake in the morning to find it had been replaced with a few bob.  They had a bad habit of staying up longer than I could, so it didn't always get done in time.  If we didn't get to it in time they'd be told the Tooth Fairy must have had a very busy night.  Not to worry, put it under your pillow again tonight.  Then they'd get a bonus of a wee trinket under their pillow as well the following morning.  If I weren't so rubbish at staying up later than my kids, it would have been an easy gig.  

And the reason for this rambling post?  Well, last night Sarah lost one of her few remaining baby teeth.  We had a giggle about the old days when I was rubbish at staying awake and how it usually cost me more in the end as a result.  Then we chatted about what age each of them were when they found out the Easter Bunny, Santa & the Tooth Fairy were 'Mom gigs'.  Was a badly needed giggle at the time to be honest.  

Anyway, this morning I was giving Cassie her morning meds when I spotted Sarah's tooth sitting on the mantle.  With a wee giggle to meself, I collected up the tooth and replaced it with a €2 coin.  Finally beat them to it!  Just wondering how long before she notices.  

Made my day.  Hope the rest of you have good days too.  xx

FFS, now I want to be a mum mom.

 rotflmfao  Tbh, I wasn't sure which one to use at the start.  I know what I say, but I also know what you lot say.  Was a coin flip, but in the end I said 'feck it...going with my version.'

Cassie update - I'm no vet, but she seems to be healing well...much to Rocky's dismay.  Rocky had gone quite cheeky for himself knowing Cassie couldn't chase.  This morning I chanced Cassie off the lead in the backyard as it was just the two of us.  Rocky had to make a mad dash for it again.  Turns out 3-legged greyhounds CAN move a bit.  lol

Sinéad and her friend just took Lily with them to the shop and poor Cassie had heart failure at being left behind.  She pouted for a few minutes, but I've just treated her to a big bowl of food soaked in left over beef stew...so she's delighted with herself now. 

We're all looking forward to when she can head out on the lead around the village again, but will be another while yet.  Stitches come out on Tuesday and she'll get a proper check by the vet with more instructions then.  In the meantime, we're just chillin'.

[X] Thread delivers every time.

xx

Today's the big day - stitches coming out!  Rang the vet's office this morning to find out what time they wanted me to bring Cassie in.  The head guy (owner/ortho specialist) answered the phone and didn't realise who he had at first.

"Hiya, I'm just wondering what time you'd like me to bring Cassie in to have her stitches removed."

"3:30 is free, can you make it then?"

"Yep, no problem...see you then."

"Who is this sorry?  Didn't catch the name at the start."

"Dawn Dineen with Cassie...."

"Oh the Greyhound?"

"Yep, that's right."

"Can you make it 5:30 instead so please?  I want to look after her personally."

"Will do.  See you then."

So there ya have it folks.  No underling looking after our girl.  She's getting VIP treatment all the way.  Will let ya know how it went and what he says when we get home.

Meanwhile, we've re-named the pair of them lately.  Cassie has been affectionately called 'Hop-a-long' with the past week for obvious reasons.  Lily's issue is more to do with age.  She can't seem to get her footing on timber floors these days.  The legs literally fly out from under her so she resembles some sort of cartoon character running in place.  With that, Lily's been called 'Scooby' lately.  (Sorry Jack  lol)  

End of this clip (51secs) is our Lily...except on the ground.  And not the same dog, obv.  lol

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SR0-as9KbDE

The ortho vet is DELIGHTED with her!!!  He says she's healed up exactly as he would have hoped, with no signs of infection and in good form.  She's use to hopping now and we're to get her out of that habit by starting her physio straight away.  Four slow lead walks a day to get her using the leg again.  Still not allowed to go upstairs for another while, so we'll have to mind her that way.  The stitches were removed, she's off the meds and we're to see him again in two weeks time. 

His parting words..."Mind her well.  I gave you a break this time, but if she injures it again...cry, win the lotto and then call me."  Dunno why...maybe it was the way he said it, but his addition of the lotto comment had myself, Sarah and her friend Laura laughing our backsides off as we loaded Hop-A-Long into the car.  That said, pretty sure he wasn't joking so you can be sure we'll do our best to look after her.

I gather there's not vet's version of the Hippocratic Oath then.

Ah, he's grand to be fair.  He could have stuffed us for a goodly bit more considering the treatment she's getting.  His point was...if she messes this up with another accident, it'll be a right proper mess to fix. 

I will mostly be investigating pet insurance in the very near future just to be safe.  Murphy's Law says, 'If you have it, you won't need it.'  One of the few laws that twisted fecker ever mentioned that I'm happy to work with. 

This vet has been very fair to you by the sound of it.

Ronnie's last trip to the vets:

Symptom - Bit of a limp

Cause - Mild arthritis

Chargable items - 1 x x-ray (icluding anaesthetic), 4 visits to vets for check ups, some steroid tablets

Cost - £760. Kerching.

Compare this to what Cassie has had done and I assure you your vet has been really good. He/she could've charged a hell of a lot more.

Get some insurance Dawn. It's well worth it. It'll probably cost less than £20 a month and could save an absolute fortune if something serious happens.

Make sure you get good insurance though. It's a minefield out there and they're all very different.

You may struggle to get anything that covers the leg that has already been injured though.

I was talking to my brother in America for the first time in AGES on Monday.  Was great to catch up with him and I'd forgotten how much I miss him sometimes.  We mightn't speak often, but Mom fills us in on the latest happenings of each other.  He'd already heard about Cassie's leg.  Sean has a Greyhound too.  That was something I didn't know until Cassie landed, but Mom was there with the info again.  What she didn't tell me was he'd also broken a leg...running around their own back yard! 

Eragon is his name.  What a cool name for a dog.  Anyway, Sean and his family adopted Eragon from a shelter in New Jersey a few years back.  I've seen pictures of him lately and couldn't get The Simpson's out of me head.  lol  He different to Cassie.  Can't put my finger on it, but they just seem like two different breeds of dog.

Apparently when Eragon broke his leg, Sean was given 3 options.  Pin/plate job like Cassie had, cast (for God knows how long) or amputation of the leg.  Pin/plate job was $3k so Sean opted for the cast.  And 8 months later it came off.  8 months?!  That's how long it took to heal and it couldn't have been fun for any of them, but especially not for Eragon.  Their dog is grand now, but geez louise...8 months?!

Meanwhile, back in our world.  Cassie was using her leg last night during her first 'physio' walk.  Initially she tried hopping, but I followed the vet's instructions and just went really slow with her.  The 'slowly does it' plan worked and she got on grand.  Amazing how far she's come in just the two weeks!  Reckon she'll be right as rain in a month or two at the rate she's going. 

Will post up some pictures later today.  For now I must deliver Sinéad to her next exam.  Brian has the day off.  He looked a bit shook after Monday's exams, so I'm glad he gets the break.

great to hear Cassie is recovering so well :)

I was a bit harsh then, sorry. But I know I'd not be able to turn an animal away if I could help it whatever the financial situation. I'd also probably be unpopular for refusing to further treat  when the animal has no quality of life.

Probably as well I work with electronics ;D

Ahhhhhhhhhh, NOW I get what you were saying.  Takes me a while to catch up sometimes.   rotflmfao

No fear of him doing that anyway.  In fact, that's what had me so upset the night she was injured.  I was told if they couldn't fix it properly they were suggesting she be put down the following morning.  Sarah and I didn't stop crying the whole night at the thought of it.  Even Sinéad got teary eyed which surprised me a bit.  I think his comment was more to do with his  confidence in his abilities, but he would never treat an animal just for the sake of it if they're quality of life would be rubbish after.  Granted, he's also not a saint and won't be doing freebies.



We've a neighbour across the road.  I think she's 96, but we won't know for sure until she hits 100 and receives the big congratulations cheque in the mail.  Her real name is Margaret, but everyone (including her own family) calls her Baby.  Today Baby was sitting out on her porch so myself, Sinéad and the dogs planted ourselves in her front lawn for the old chat.  She loves when we call with the dogs.  And the dogs tend to calm a bit when they're with her.  Like they know she's not able for madness.  

All was going well.  Baby was asking how Cassie's getting on since her accident, we talked about the kids and their exams...all the usual stuff.  Next thing, Sinéad pipes up with, 'Ummm, Mom?'  'What's wrong Sinéad?'  'LOOK!'  I turn to see Cassie stood at attention and ready to tear road while Sinéad is doing all she can to hold her still.  Give a look in the direction Cassie's aiming and spot the problem.  Baby has garden decorations outside on her window sills.  One of them is a wee rabbit!  Gave Cassie the order to lie down and hid the window decoration for the rest of our visit.  Dead or alive...or even plastic, Greyhounds sure don't like rabbits.  lol

im getting a italian greyhound. weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

BUMP

 rotflmfao

Apologies for the lack of posts.  It's been abso MANIC in Laxieland, that much is for sure.  Man oh man there's so much to tell ye.  BUT......... 

Afraid I have to pull a 'Tikay' right now though.  About to hop in the shower before heading off to Killarney to rail the UK crew over here for the Stars UKIPT.  Here's where the 'Tikay' comes in...promise to update you on lots of happenings once the dust of this week-end settles.  Might get in a few tidbits before the week-end is out, but deffo can't promise it.  So we'll stick to the original promise for now...which is after the week-end.

Oh ok, here's a wee one for ya now.  Dogs are great, Cassie healing brilliant and Kids are half way to America as I type.  Not quite what you were hoping for, but there ya go.  Have a brilliant week-end everyone!!!  xx 

I should be absolutely exhausted at this point, but instead I'm wired for sound.  Sooooooo, may as well get this thing back on track.

Kate and the DTD crew landed in Killarney on Wednesday.  I adore Kate.  She calls me Momma DD, I call her my wee pixie and we always have such a great time - drink or no drink.  There was to be no drink for me on Wednesday night when I met up with them.  I'd found a different train to Dublin for the passports in the morning, but still had to be up at 5:30am for the trip.  

After hanging about chatting at the hotel for a bit, some of us headed off to dinner.  I led the way in my car.  Meanwhile, in the other car Kate was asked if I was ok.  Apparently I was very mellow compared to my usual carry on at DTD.  Suppose the following morning's early start was on the brain, but I really do tend to chill a bit on home turf.  After a lovely meal and chat with the lot of them, I noticed the time and kinda panicked a bit.  12:30 am...it was time for me to head home if I'd any hope of waking at 5:30.

Got home and it occurred to me...still hadn't printed off the US Embassy passport applications.  Sigh.  Powered up the dinosaur desktop and went about sorting it.  Or so I thought.  Their link to printing blank copies wasn't working.  I tried for ages, but no joy.  Then I noticed an option to fill them out online first before printing the completed app.  Perfect.  Go about filling in the first one for Brian.  Fifteen minutes later, click submit.  Internal error.  Marv.  We'll give it another go.  Rinse repeat complete with errors every time.  I gave up around 2:30 and set my alarm for 5:30.  It was going to be a loooooooong day.

I had a bad feeling in me belly all week in the run up to 'passport day'.  Was absolutely SURE something would go wrong and I was terrified it would mean one or more of the kids couldn't make the trip to America.  How crap would that be for them?!  Sure, everyone says 'You'll love the break while they're away', but I do miss them.  And nearly a month away is a long time when you're missing someone.  That said, they were looking forward to it and I really wanted them to be able to go and enjoy.

Well, we got up on time.  That's a good start.  And we got to the train station on time.  Excellent.  Even the train was on time...and didn't break down along the way.  Too good to be true. 

Once we landed in Dublin, I bought public transport day passes for the lot of us.  Trams and buses covered, off we went.  Once in the city centre, we had a choice of 8 or 10 buses for getting out to the Embassy.  Their stops weren't all in the same place, so I just picked the first one I saw with a number we could hop on.  At that particular stop, they only had one option for us.  So we stood and waited as bus after bus landed, collected passengers and carried on.  All the wrong buses for us.  Where's ours FFS? 

Didn't think to ask the question out loud until we were on round two of the same buses calling again.  'Oh, that one only lands every couple of hours.  You'd be better off walking a couple of blocks down to the next bus stop.'  It was now 10.  We had to get their photos done at some chemist near the Embassy and report for our appointment at 11:30 and we hadn't even found the right bus stop yet.  Why does this not surprise me?

Got there in the end.  In fact we were there with 15 minutes to spare when all was said and done.  Photos and all complete.  Except for those online applications I attempted the night before.  When our name was called, I was asked for said applications.  Explained the trouble I had the night before trying to accomplish said task.  After a lecture from the nice lady behind the counter for arriving unprepared, I was sure we'd be told go away and come back when we had them.  But instead she reached out to her side and grabbed hold of 3 blank ones for me.  Sigh.  Why do some people love power so much?

The embassy splits you up when you arrive.  US citizens in one section, all the rest in some other area packed with people.  Handed in the completed forms and sat for a bit.  We were the only family on the US side, so shouldn't take too long.  An hour later we were still sat there.  My belly starts the nervous thing again when I'm called to the window.  They were going about making the passports when they realised they'd run out of certain 'stock items' required for making them.  We were told to go have lunch and come back in an hour.  My mind is quietly racing.  The delivery guy will surely get hit by that 'once every two hours' bus on his way with said items.  We're screwed.

Off to lunch we go.  Eddie Rockets.  Sarah was having great fun with the wee jukebox they have at each table and all of them enjoyed their meals.  They were discussing shopping plans once we were finished at the Embassy.  I was working out pleas in my head for when I was told they couldn't make the passports.  I'm not normally a pessimist, so when the belly acts up I take notice. 

Got back to the Embassy and left the crew outside while I went in to 'collect the passports'.  The drill for getting in and out of that place is unreal.  Getting a family of 5 through it takes ages, so they said I could leave the rest of them outside this time.  Good thing.  Would hate for the kids to see their Mom when she loses it with the power hungry lady behind the counter. 

Only this time I was greeted by some smiling Lad who was quite proud of himself for producing said passports.  To be fair, I was quite pleased with him too at the time.  He was a lucky man there was a sheet of bullet proof glass between us or I may have been forced to hug him.  Checked to be sure names, birth dates and all that were correct before heading off.  My belly had warned me all week...surely this had gone too easy.  But no...all details were correct. 

Tucked emergency passports away safely in a zipped, buttoned and strapped to me bag before heading out.  Can't be too careful.  Reached the crew and they wanted to see the fecking passports.  'But I've just put them away safe!'  'Awwwww Mom!  We just want to see them real quick.'  'Sigh.'  Handed them out for inspection by the kids as ya do. 

While they were taking the piss out of each other's photos and commenting on the new look of them, I spotted something.  Brian and Sarah's had a red line from the top of the page, stopping just at their photo.  Sinéad's didn't.  'Let me see those please.'  They'd put the hologram film on the first two right, but Sinéad's was 2/3 missing...including the section over her picture.  Take that to airport security and they won't half think you've tampered with it.   

Back in I went.  Embassy security were in agreement.  She'd never be left on a plane.  Marv.  They made her a new one, but not without a five man man conference on the mound comparing her passport to one that had been done properly.  We'd hoped to catch the 3:00 train home.  We didn't leave the Embassy until 2:30.  Just glad the belly didn't give up on me until then. 

The kids still needed to do a wee 'basics' shop before their trip to America, so we tore round Dublin city centre and still managed to get the 4:00 train home.  Once we landed safe and sound, the kids finished off their packing while I took the dogs for a walk.  Gave Brian a quick haircut and we were finally hitting the pillows around midnight.  Good thing.  We had to be up at 6:30am to get them to the airport. 

Friday morning arrived and the mad rush to get bags out to the car began.  Checked for airline tickets, passports and money more times than I care to remember...even while driving to the airport.  Their bags were checked all the way to Cleveland, so no need to do the customs thing.  Excellent.  A staff member would point them in the right direction for their connecting flight in NYC.  Phew.  That's great.  And the flight was on time.  Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

They went without a hitch and landed safe and sound in Cleveland around 11:30pm Irish time.  Have talked to them since and they're having a blast as I knew they would.  Roll on end of July when they return. 

So now I'm free for the bones of a month.  Stayed at the airport until I was sure they'd made it all the way to their gate (they sent me a text), then tore road home.  Took Cassie for her 'therapy' walk, then went back and collected Lily so she could ramble with us for a bit too.  Cassie really is doing great.  I'm amazed at how fast she's healing.  And she's in such a good mood too. 

Once they were sorted, I got ready for my night out with Kate and co. in Killarney.  They were playing day 2 at this stage.  Kate and Simon were still in as were a few more, but no worries...plenty of people I could hang out with until they were finished for the day.  Alex from DTD doesn't even play poker, so as long as I could catch her not working for a change, I'd kidnap her to kill time.  By the time I arrived, Kate was out.  Hugh was too.  Pretty sure Karl was as well.  Sigh.  Ah well.  Never mind...we'll just relax and have fun for the night.  And that's what we did. 

Nothing manic as such.  In fact, Rob landed at one point giving out to me.  'You come over to my club and trash the place, but I bet we have to take our shoes off when we call to yours!'  'Ah now, to be fair...I might be a bit mental, but I've never TRASHED the place.  And feel free to wear your shoes at mine.  I've timbered and tiled floors.  One rub of the mop after you're gone and it's sorted.'  Don't know.  Maybe it's the 'holiday' factor when I call over to visit you lot, but I really am mellow on my own turf. 

Didn't get home until OMG am on Saturday morning.  The plan was to meet everyone at 10:30 so I could take them around the Killarney lakes and end up at Torc Waterfall.  Simon had made day 3, so we had to have him back by 1:30.  No problem.  

As it turns out, half the group had decided to go back to the UK early and were already well on their way.  The other half were still in bed, bar Simon.  Got there and was greeted by a badly wanting pot of coffee in the hotel restaurant before we headed off.  

Now I've done this walk before.  Lots of times in fact.  But usually we take the day to do it, so I've never noticed just how far it is when you're under pressure.  At one point Simon says, 'I'm starting to doubt your sense of direction.'  'My sense of direction is just fine.  It's my sense of distance that's apparently crap.'  We got there in the end, obviously.  'Told ya I knew where it was!'  

At the waterfall, we got the mad notion to walk along the rocks to get up closer to the falls.  A couple of hop/slips later, I was delighted I'd flip flops on and decided to head straight through the water to save falling.  Only I nearly fell doing that too.  By the time we got up to the last decent 'pool' before the falls, my legs were soaked.  But shorts FTW as it was a lovely day so I didn't mind.  

Some young Lads were debating a swim.  They asked me if it was cold.  'Not at all...get in there.'  Just about the time they were preparing to jump in, I turned to Simon and whispered, 'I haven't a clue how cold it is.  Lost feeling in me legs 20 minutes ago!'  Based on the roars they left out as they re-surfaced, I'm guessing it was pretty damn cold.  lol

Got a taxi back to the hotel in the end (my legs would thank me tomorrow) and Simon hurried off for day 3.  Hung out for a bit with Hugh and a few more, but as I was wrecked from the night before plus all the walking today - decided I'd make an early night of it.  Got home just in time to watch America get their backsides kicked out of the World Cup with friends in one of the local pubs.  So much for an early night.  Granted, I was one of the first to leave and found out later I'd swerved an obscenely late night.          

Sunday morning I pottered around with the dogs.  They seemed a bit down like they knew I was heading out without them again, so I decided I'd take it easy and spoil them for the morning.  We played around, had the usual walks and I gave them some special treats with their food before I got ready for the rest of the day. 

Arrived in Killarney just in time for the England v Germany kick off.  Sick match.  Sigh.  Spent the rest of the afternoon hanging about then decided to head back to my own village as my legs were now in obscene pain from the walking and climbing the day before.  I seriously need to get out more.  It shouldn't hurt that much to walk a few miles.  Ok, it was more like 6 miles, but STILL!

So well done to everyone who cashed in Killarney and great to see the lot of you on me home turf.  I carried the last of them back to the airport yesterday at 3 and have been trying to catch up on lack of sleep since.  Only catch being I've loads of things to sort before the kids return and my mind is racing too much to settle in for that much needed rest.  Will crack on with everything and surely fall into a coma at some stage. 

Today I have to go buy crickets for the lizard.  We've already had one disaster in that poor Rocky was walloped by a speeding car on Sunday night as he crossed the road.  There was no saving him this time.  Sigh.  Last thing I need is to lose another pet while they're away.  Can only get live crickets in Tralee and that's a 40 minute drive each way.  Have no other business there apart from the crickets.  The things we do for our kids and their pets. 

Have a good day everyone.  xx 

Oh...almost forgot!  Is pasta a good thing or a bad thing if yer going on a diet? 

Bad, I'm afraid :(


I love pasta but no more for me either.

DAMN!!!  It's my fav food FFS!  So easy to make and so many healthy options to toss in with it.  Seafood (minus the pasta) and salads it is then.  Sigh. 

Crickets for the lizard not in stock til tomorrow.  Good thing I phoned first.  Heading to the neighbour's for the weigh in.  This won't be pretty and can't imagine I'll post the outcome.  Possibly.  But I doubt it.  Here we goooooooooooo

Yeah, I just love my chicken/fish and salad dinner every night :(

Post it, I could do with some inspiration :)

[  ] You need to diet bold one.

I'm currently on a diet atm. GG @ DTD this weekend.

I feel your pain - really need to shift my stomach, but I pretty much live off bread and pasta and always cook too much obv.

Gonna try not eating any carbs in the evening for a while and see how I get on.

PS if you do a weigh in and updates I'll do the same - might be a good incentive for us both

Does the time you eat them actually matter?

just means your body gets the change to burn off the energy from carb intake earlier in the day before you go off to sleep I guess.  A friend of mine lost a bit of weight last year following this diet http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/DIET/reviews/no_carbs_after_5pm.htm.  I'm not going to go the whole hog coz i'm rubbish at sticking to anything too rigid, but cutting the evening carbs seems worth a try.

Just eat less stuff.

That's what the diet does apparently:

won't do me any good as I don't eat a lot - the problem is with what I eat rather than quantity. Anyway, don't really want to hijack Dawn's thread with this and really don't want to get into full on intake/exercise discussions - only mentioned it in passing as Dawn mentioned she was trying to lose weight - I'm not embarking on a serious diet effort.

thanks mate. :) I'm just off the carbs for a month or so and doing portion control, going to the gym 3-4 times a week obv works but the moobs and belly are hard to shift

I can't comment on belly as I'm the heaviest I've ever been atm and feel proper horrible.

However, do some chest stuff, bench pressing, light flies etc, will turn your moobs into muscle.

Doing loads of pec excerises..the problem is that I now have a very firm A-cup :( the pecs are pushing the fat out more than toning it all up....very not good.

As has been mentioned elsewhere, you can't target weight loss like that - the calories you burn from the exercise will help you lose weight overall but it's perfectly easy to get a layer of fat over well developed muscles if you don't get the balance right.

Flipping heck!  All those other factors to worry about and I was thinking pasta and bread were my only issues.   rotflmfao 

Was walking with the dogs this afternoon.  Pity all that walking doesn't seem to shift anything for me, but at least it gets us out and about. 

What about bike riding.  Would that help any bit?  And which bits does it help?

This is already turning into more of a chore than I'd been hoping for.  Just glad I like salads and seafood or I was in right trouble.

4th of July this Sunday.  Will be the first time in my entire life I didn't see fireworks with family on the night.  I've got the fireworks, but don't want to risk lighting them with Cassie still trying to heal.  Afraid she'd get spooked and injure the leg again.  It's going to be a weird one.  Almost like the first Christmas away from home. 

Walking is brilliant exercise Dawn (I would say that, wouldn't I?) but you have to step it out and get your heart rate up.

Get yourself a heart rate monitor - your heart rate needs to be between 60 & 80% of maximum to burn fat. I believe the your maximum heart rate is 220 - <your age> pulses per minute.

Keep it there for an hour a day, limit yourself to about 1500 cals and watch the weight drop off.

This is one time when I wouldn't mind adding a few years to the age.   rotflmfao

are fireworks legal in Ireland now? If not, where do you get hold of them?

PS no carbs since this afternoon - am fecking starving!

Yeah, I don't do the pec excerises to lose moob fat, it's just part of my excersise routine.

Timing is everything.  So many things to do, so little time to do them...but must get the timing right. 

A 'one time' wouldn't go amiss at the minute on sooooo many levels.

40 friggin minutes each way - for live crickets.  To feed to the lizard.  As ya do.  No other business in Tralee other than the crickets.  Crickets which must be kept alive and 'bulked up' by feeding them various things...before feeding them to the lizard.

Note to self - Do NOT agree to odd pets in future without researching them first!     

Have you tried feeding them grasshoppers from your garden? I have no knowledge of if it would work but I am quite curious.

Generally, you're not to feed them insects bigger than their head.  Not sure about the grasshoppers in the garden as I've never spotted one, but the ones in the shop are HUGE compared to our wee man.  Also, crickets seem to be their favourite.  They're loud lil darlins at night though. 

To 'bulk up' the crickets, we toss in dry dog food and fish food flakes with them as their basic stuff.  Now and then they get a slice of apple or lettuce, but you have to be careful not to leave it in more than a day or so to avoid the fresh food going off.   

We throw the odd headless meal worms into a dish for him as a treat as well.  We learned the 'headless' bit the hard way.  Leave the head on and the meal worm will eat the insides of the Gecko until it turns into into an adult beetle.  We didn't know that the first time so this is our second Gecko.  Sigh.

One of these days I'll give a proper insect hunt through the fields.  It's one of the few things I don't take much notice of on our walks.  Insects.  Pretty silly really when you consider I'll drive 40 minutes each way for something that may very well be easy enough to find outside our door.

DON'T let one of the crickets escape - I've a friends whose brother let one escape & her familly ended up removing all the carpets and most of the floorboards before they managed to kill the little fecker - 1 week of no sleep at all.

Tax returns.  Man I hate them.  Hate the fact I know how to do them even more.  Not an accountant mind, but the one time the tax man tried to take us on, I won the case and we were sent a nice cheque the following week for overpayment.  At the time they claimed we owed them more money.  Sure did.  That's the only time in 14 years they've come knocking.  They've not bothered us before or since.  Can't say I blame them.  Cost em a nice chunk that one time.  

Tax season in Ireland doesn't really hit until October.  But with Brian's college stuff coming up (hopefully) as well as some other factors, I need to get them done sooner rather than later.  With that in mind, I've set myself a deadline of Monday to have them complete.  

Will spend today tearing through the house though.  I'm one of those people who can't think straight when surrounded by any sort of mess.  Even if it's a load of washing in the hall closet that nobody else can see.  I know it's there and it does me head in until I tackle it.

So that's today's lot.  Windows and floors to wash, laundry to do and a general tidy up around the place.  Must fire up the desktop for my cleaning music too.  Any suggestions?  Lily and Cassie are already hyped up.  Lily knows it's dancing time and Cassie knows Lily is excited so she's joining in the hype just because.  I'm actually quite looking forward to the rest of the day.  Hope you lot enjoy yours too.  xx

All that over just 1?!   I've three cartons of the feckers in the back hall closet as we speak.  Would have to find the nearest bridge if they all got out.   rotflmfao

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGPhUr-T6UM

oooooooh...good shout!  TY TY!!!!

sorted

With the kids gone, I said I'd do a proper clean around the house.  The serious, 'every nook and cranny & clear out the clutter while yer at it' type.  So despite my original intentions of a standard whip round, I went about the serious clean.  And got as far as the kitchen.  Sigh.  

It started out harmless enough.  I was giving one wee section of back splash tiles a wipe.  That's when you notice the wee marks and grime on the few tiles next to it.  And the ones next to them.  And so it went on around the entire kitchen.  One old toothbrush and copious amounts of elbow grease later, the tiles look brand new...as do the grout lines.  Not to mention every appliance and movable object in the kitchen.  Right down to the spice rack and the spice jars on it.  Nothing was safe.  But nothing else in the house was done.  

Ah well, never mind.  There's always tomorrow.  Only I'd seriously want to consider getting up a bit earlier.  A 2pm start time is never good when you've a full day of things to do.  And I've just seen the true state of the kid's rooms.  It ain't pretty.   rotflmfao

Must be enjoying the kids being away then!

Sure am.   rotflmfao  Sigh.

I really am taking the cleaning and tidying a bit too far if truth be told.  Even Lily got a wash.  Granted, she asked for it.  Stuck her head in the fire again, the lil' darlin'.  Have since cleared out all ash and mess from the kitchen fireplace and loaded it with dry fire logs just for effect.  Death to anyone who throws even the tiniest of scraps into that fireplace now.  Until winter when it's actually lit again, obviously. 

Cassie is getting on better than anyone ever imagined!  The vet is well pleased with her and the rest of the village is just in shock.  She's bopping around the place without a care in the world again as if nothing ever happened.  I'm still a bit careful with her, but she's taken it upon herself to instigate our play time now.  It's great fun to see her so happy again.   Her hair is growing back and unless you know about the injury, you'd be hard pressed to notice the marks on her leg.

Rookie, true to his word, sent half the vet bill via Stars a few weeks ago.  However, Stars weren't inclined to let me withdraw it.  They said I must play a goodly bit with it first.  I'm not a cash player.  And frankly, even my tournament play had gone to pieces with a while.  So I was more likely to lose the lot before it would ever see the vet.  Roll in local Stars player...who doesn't have a credit card as it happens.  He hands over the cash, I transfer the dosh on Stars, the vet gets his final payment and we're all happy.  Wiiiiiiiiiiii. 

Really must get more pictures up.  I've a few from earlier when her wrap was removed as well as others from after the stitches were out.  Will add pictures to the 'to do' list over the next couple of days.  Promise. 

'To do' lists.  Amazing how they grow when you're a woman on a mission.  If you're a woman on a few missions simultaneously, the lists can get a bit manic.  Well - that's me at the minute.  Gone a bit manic, but trying to keep focused.  All sorts kicking off all at once.  Good job I work better under pressure. 

Hope you all have a great week-end.  xx

Brian has the tiniest bedroom ever.  He's got the bed, wardrobe, chest of drawers and 2 night stands in it and there's still just about enough room to spin around between the lot.  Just a wee box room.  But it does him grand. 

It also looked like a bomb hit it, so yesterday I decided to tackle his room.  Sweet Jesus!  How can one small room be filled with so much crap?!  7 frickin hours later...it's now spotless.  I don't like to invade their space, but after what I went through yesterday - afraid it's getting regular spot checks from now on.   

The girl's room is a whole other animal.  Was my intention to tackle theirs today.  I walked in this morning, had a look around and walked out again...closing the door behind me.  It can wait until tomorrow.  Maybe even Tuesday as tomorrow there's threats of sunshine.  Been pissing rain in my part of the world with the past week or more.  Not half jealous of you lot with sunshine and 30 degree heat.  MBN.

Say a cricket did in fact escape from the feeding box.  Surely they starve to death eventually?  Please tell me they do.  K thnx.

rotflmfao

yeah, gl with that

we had crickets in our student house, escaped from a guy up the road who kept snakes, and they certainly didn't die. bloody noisy though

on the plus side the landlord's refusal to do anything about it was matched by our refusal to pay him any rent until he did resulting in lots of extra beer money

GG Dawn - next stop, a shop for these

(http://stuffaspergerpeoplelike.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/earplugs.jpg)

So explain to me this.  Why is it the lil darlins in the storage box all kick it eventually, despite being fed regularly?  Meanwhile one random lone cricket runs free and unfed and just won't die!!!  On the plus side, it's reminding me of camping as a kid - which helps me get to sleep.  So I suppose it's not really a complaint as such.  More a query. 

Living off dead skin, bits of food dropped etc etc.

because you're feeding them to a bloody great lizard would be my guess

rotflmfao

x2

The kids are due back on Wednesday morning.  Looking forward to it now.  The house has been soooooo quiet without them - which is a good thing in a way.  Nice to know I can't be blamed for ALL the madness around here.  lol  

Had planned not to tell the kids about poor old Rocky until they got home, but they asked last week so I had no choice.  I'm the type of person that says it like it is and they know that.  Some people say I'm harsh in that regard.  Not everything has to be said.  But my kids never wonder where they stand in this house and they know I'm always there to back them up if needed.  The downside is I don't hide sad news either.  To be fair, they handled it well.  

Cassie and Lily are doing fab as usual.  Lizard and turtle still alive too, which is a bonus.  It's been raining for most of the past couple of weeks here, so I've not been able to have proper fun with the dogs outside.  We get the walks in and get home.  End of.  They hate the rain as much as I do.  Ireland is a great country...if only you could roof it.

Cassie still tears road out the back door in hopes of spotting Rocky for the chase.  She obviously hasn't received the memo yet.  Luckily she's found something new to bark at in Rocky's absence.  For the longest time I couldn't figure out what had her so worked up.  But the other day I spotted a cow through the trees grazing in the field behind us.  Sure enough...that's what she's giving out about.  We take no notice of them so it didn't occur to me before.  That's one added bonus of having Cassie here.  She points out things we tend to forget about.

Accomplished a lot while the kids were gone.  Didn't manage the more important tasks on my list though.  Sigh.  Almost bitter sweet really.  To accomplish so much yet feel like you've done nothing.  To be fair, not all on the list was down to me.  I was counting on others to follow through and they haven't yet.  Eventually it'll be down to me to do their jobs for them too.  That sure will be fun.  Ah well.  Getting there slowly but surely all the time.

Today I will mostly be tackling the girl's room.  Been putting it off long enough.  If you saw the state of it, you'd understand why.  Might even take some 'before' and 'after' shots so you can see.  Oh man - it's bad.  Sarah suggested I wait until they get home so they can help.  I know she means well, but I want it done right the first time.  They can 'help' by keeping it that way after.  Odds on it being the same way by end of summer?  lol  Cover me - I'm going in.    

 rotflmfao rotflmfao rotflmfao

Ya goose!  What I meant was - some of them die before the lizard ever gets a chance to eat the damn things. 

missed the post about Rocky first time round - sorry to hear that Dawn x

The room clean started out well.  I'd made meself a cup of green tea.  No milk one sugar.  And had just surveyed the room.  Battle plan was laid out in my mind.  Surely it can't be THAT bad once I get started.  That's when Bridget landed in the door.  Helloooooooooooo Bridget!  Close swerve there!

She's a great friend really.  We know everything there is to know about the other.  Every deep dark secret as well as all the fun stuff.  We know when to give the other space and when we're badly needed.  We're both stubborn as all hell too when we get our minds stuck on something.  We've had some proper good arguments.  Serious fights, where horrible things are said.  The type when if people are watching us, they reckon 'Those two will never come back from this one.'  But we do.  Every time.  And usually within 24-48 hours max. 

We've not had a row in a goodly while.  Mainly because we've both had our fair share of other things going on and now's not the time for debates.  That said, she's not the most 'worldly' type.  Her innocence really makes me giggle sometimes. 

Today she said something along the lines of 'OMG!  I Would DIE!  I'd have to leave the country!  Go some place small nobody's ever heard of and live there forever.'

Didn't have the heart to point out that if nobody else has heard of said small country, chances are she'd be hard pressed to find it.  Especially since location of even well known countries is not one of her strong points.   rotflmfao 

Really do adore her.  She puts a smile on my face even with the simplest of chats.

Now then.  Back to that room.  For real this time.  Honest.
 

Got sidetracked yet again...as ya do.  Not to fear though.  The day wasn't a total waste.  I did a full on grooming job on the two dogs.  Washed and brushed the pair.  Wasn't part of the day's plan, but there ya go.    

Lily escaped earlier today.  She's good at that.  Luckily Cassie doesn't bother to follow her.  Cassie knows where her next meal is coming from if she stays put.  Not willing to take the risk if you ask me.  Lily is more worried about checking out her surroundings...beyond our yard.  She never goes far and always comes home.  However she always manages to roll in some mess or other while she's out.  

So when I went out back to let the pair in before officially tackling the girl's room (honest, that was my next job), I was only greeted by Cassie.  She was wagging her tail mad, jumping up to me and smiling like she wanted to tell me just how good she'd been.  No sign of Lily.  Sigh.  Checked her usual escape route and sure enough, she'd moved all the barriers.  And there's a fair few.  Took some serious effort on her part to be sure.  

Called her once or twice from the front yard and she sauntered over from whatever corner she was in.  She was covered in muck as usual.  Sigh.  Dragged her round to the back yard and started the routine.  She wasn't getting the bath tub this time!  Pail of warm soapy water and big car sponge, followed by leave in conditioner and brushing her down.  Lily hated every minute of it.  

While looking after Lily, Cassie kept barrelling into the mix worried she was being left out.  She ran straight over to me when I picked up the sponge and called her name.  Total opposite to Lily who runs for the hills.  I figured may as well.  Gave her a nice warm wash and brush down as well.  Unlike Lily, Cassie loved every minute of it.  

Now I had a dilemma.  They were clean, but they were also soaking wet.  Couldn't let the pair into the house but knew they'd be gutted if I left them out there on their own.  Sooooooo washed down the back yard, did some weeding and gave a general tidy round the place while we waited for them to dry off a bit.  Once it was nearly safe, spent the next half hour following them around the house with the mop.

All that messing about.  You'd swear I was trying to avoid something.  The girl's room will be done tomorrow.  Hopefully.



  

PS  Lately Cassie has started shedding mad!  Would it be rude to use the hoover on her?  Lily never runs from the hoover.  Might test out the theory tomorrow.

Right after I do the girl's room.  Obv.

Kong zoom groom all day long Dawn then hoover up afterwards.

Best dog brush available imo. Doesn't leave the coat looking as nice as some brushes but removes more dead hair than anything else.

Only had to read that about 3 times before I realised you were referring to an actual product. 

So that's a 'No' to hoovering the dogs then, yeah?   rotflmfao

Cheers Matt.  Will hunt down that gizmo and give it a go.  Looks to be the business.

Try a rubber glove, or a hacksaw blade.

Note - Use hacksaw blade with side to side motion like a comb, not, repeat not backwards and forwards lengthwise.

This line tickled me, some great writing Dawn.

Geo

Sent a text to the kids yesterday requesting a Kong Zoom Groom brush and they've got it bought and packed for me.  Will have to keep them another while.  Good kids, so they are. 

They set off today around 5pm (our time) for their trip home.  The way the flights worked, we had no choice but to give them an 8 hour stop over in NYC.  At first you'd think, '3 kids stuck in JFK for 8 hours?!'  No fear though.  I've been on to their uncle who lives in Brooklyn.  He's collecting the kids when they land in NY and will take them back to his house.  They've a swimming pool in their back yard, so the kids have packed their suits in their carry on bags and they're good to go.  They'll have a great time hanging out with their New York cousins for the few hours and won't notice the time passing.  All going well they'll be wrecked after their day in the pool and they'll sleep on the flight home. 

I'm to collect them tomorrow morning.  From the airport we head straight to their Irish grandparent's for breakfast.  After that it's home time where they can finally throw down for themselves.  The house is in order...but not for long.  And I'm really ok with that.

Laxie, how did you come to move out to NY?

What was the reason for moving back to Ireland?

Would you ever move back?

Last night I was sat chilling on me own, enjoying the peace when Bridget came barrelling in the door.  

"Venus!  It's in Italy innit?"

"Ummm, no pet.  Venus is a planet in space.  Why?"

"No it's not!  OK, maybe it's that too, but I know there's a Venus in Italy too.  Google it right now!  I know I'm right"

Sigh.  So I entertain her by googling it and that's when I realise what she MAY have meant.

"By any chance did you mean to say Venice?"

"Yeah, Venus...that's what I said"

"No pet.  Venus is a planet.  Venice is a place in Italy.  Totally different pronunciations which is why you had me confused."

"Oh right.  How do you say it again?  And how do you spell it?"

Welcome to my world.

Men are from Mars........

I was working as a waitress in a cocktail bar......well, not entirely true.  I was a bartender in a big Ft. Lauderdale night club.  Only worked the waitress shift on my nights off if they were stuck.  Pretty sure there's the makings of a song in there somewhere though.  

Had moved from Ohio down to Florida 'just because I could' once I turned 18.  While I was working down there I met a group of Lads who lived in New York.  I'd been to New York a good few times through high school, so knew the place well.  Hence we had great chats about many a common ground.  They were only in Florida for a couple of weeks, but invited me to come up to New York if I ever had a week-end off.  So I took them up on the offer.  Timothy was one of the group.  That was back in '89.  

Moved to New York right after my 19th birthday in Dec '89 and we were married in '91...the night before my 21st.  All happened pretty quick looking back on it now, but there ya go.

I had a couple of health issues while we were living in New York.  Cancer.  Twice in fact.  Got through it both times and still have regular checks to make sure I stay on the right side of it.  First round was right before I had Brian, and the second case was diagnosed while I was pregnant with Sinéad.  Meanwhile, Brian was diagnosed with a kidney disorder before he was a year old.  Scary times all around if truth be told, but we got through the lot.  

Only problem being the medical bills were abso trashing our life savings account.  Despite having the best insurance there is in America, we were losing everything we'd worked so hard to build up.  Timothy is Irish so we could move to Ireland and all be covered without killing ourselves paying high medical bills.  Hence the decision to move.  Granted, the move cost us another 10k so we were basically starting from scratch when we got here.

Am I glad I made the move?  Well, mostly yes.  Especially for the sake of the kids.  It's a much better life style for them in my opinion.  I think they've learned to appreciate things more by growing up here.  In America everyone is so consumer orientated and they take many things for granted.  My kids don't go without, but they're happy just having what they need too if it comes to it.  

For me personally?  Lots of things I love about Ireland and some things I find hard to stick at times.  I do miss certain friends and family in America, but we speak a lot so that helps.  I've made a couple of good friends here so really can't complain.  All in all, I'd never move back.  Mainly because this is my kid's home now and I wouldn't drag them away from it.  No matter what happens, they come first.  

Phase one complete.  They're safely tucked away in Brooklyn until the late night flight home.  They'll get to hang out with their cousins for a bit in their pool, so I'm delighted about that. 

My Mom bought each of them ipods while they were in Ohio.  Sinéad's been keeping me updated via texts throughout their trip.  Turns out they can text for free from the ipods.  Been getting regular trip reports from Sinéad as a result.  She's well impressed.  lol  Really looking forward to having them home now.  Only 13 hours to go!

Been missing ye gang......

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLS0Y40WwlA

Meant to ask you about this...WTF?!  lol  I'm sure it makes sense, but can you please explain how?  I've visions of a very messy scene when combining dog and hacksaw blade. 

I'm not kidding just try using a hacksaw blade like a comb.

(Actually half a blade is easier to use just snap one in two)



(http://image.made-in-china.com/2f0j00YMKEdnIRYTkG/Hack-Saw-Blade.jpg)

But the rubber glove removes far more hair.

It only works on short coats btw....

Blimey.  Murphy's Law says I'd make a mess of it using a hacksaw blade.  I'll stick to rubber things.

You can always just use your hand Dawn.

Run your fingers through their coats and pull out any loose hair.

That's a very good way to bond with the dog as well.

Zoom groom's nuch easier and quicker though. There's a knack to using the zoom groom btw. Basically don't be gentle with it.

OMG!  Nearly had heart failure just now!  Went up to feed some of those noisy crickets to the lizard.  When he came out of his 'hide' to see what was up, he'd a bunch of skin hanging off.  Was a brief WTF moment until it occurred to me...he sheds his skin now and then.  I'd just never seen it before.  And pretty ok with never seeing it again if truth be told.  11 hours and counting! 

Did you catch the escapee? Wee Tip don't let the lizard loose to catch it.

Phase two done and dusted and they are currently in the air between New York and Ireland for phase three.  I've to be up in 3 hours to get a shower before heading to the airport.  Can't sleep though.  Even Cassie has been bopping around with me all night.  Think it's going to be a looooong Wednesday for the lot of us at this rate.


Think so.  Found one in the bathroom.  Crushed and flushed the lil' darlin'.  Seems his mates in the holding cage are staging a protest however.  They've been chirping loud as can be, non-stop since the demise of their rogue escapee.  One has been particularly loud.  I will mostly figure out which one tomorrow and introduce him to the lizard.  That'll learn 'em.

The Eagles have landed safe and sound.  First stop was their Irish Grandparent's house for a huge brekkie.  The kids brought a few gifts over for them and filled them in on the trip.  All that was worrying the Grandparents was the possibility of the kids moving to America some day.  They might have a problem as far as Sinéad's concerned.  I noticed she was a bit hesitant in her reply.  But she's not quite 15 yet, so there's a few years before we'll be worrying about that.

Next stop - home!  Cassie and Lily went abso ape when they met the crew.  Nothing doing only the girls had to tear through the luggage for the new zoom groom thingys and were out the back like a flash with them.  Lily just wanted lots of rubs, but Cassie was loving every minute of her new grooming regime.  And they work a treat too!  Thanks for the heads up Matt. 

The luggage was dragged up to their rooms where they got hold of anything they wanted to show us.  One bag was filled to the brim with food stuff.  That went back down to the kitchen for me to unload.  We now have more mac & cheese boxes and powder drink mixes than should be allowed by law!  Jolly Ranchers, Aunt Jemima, Lucky Charms & Nerds were just a few of the things I had to find a home for.  Will need the dentist next at this rate!  lol

We'd only barely pulled in to Knocknagree when the mobile phones started hopping.  Within 20 minutes of landing home, their friends started pouring in.  They asked if they could leave the unpacking until later.  I caved.  Now they're all out and about running around the village together.  And all is right with the world.

Ooops.  I lied.  Sinéad has just landed back to make some of the Kraft Mac & Cheese.  For half the village.  NOW all is right with the world. 

Glad the family are all back safe and sound, and I know you have missed them like mad ... but dont tell them that ;)

LOL - my Mum always brings back multiple packets of scalloped potatoes from the US/Bahamas when she's been back - enough that there's a fight over the space it takes up (you could get more rum in there!!!).

I suppose it's the stuff you remember back to.

If I'd someone building stuff back (apart from good rum), it'd be real waffles (ie not sweet, to put butter on & eat with crispy bacon), proper american popcorn (rettenbachers? - the stuff that comes with a sachet of butter sauce), Tang & rum of course.

Oh sure.  Murphy's Laws at it again. 

Poured rain while they were away.  Sure made dog walks fun. 

Kids get back, Sarah resumes her role as second in command of dog walks...and the sun splitting the stones!

The sunshine lasted for all of one afternoon.  Would be nice if we could get some of that heat and scorching sun I see so many others complaining about.  Facebook profiles riddled with complaints about nice weather.  Go figure.

Today is jam day.  We've to top and tail the berries picked from our back garden and get a move on making jam.  I was supposed to have 'help', but they've all bailed.  To be fair, they've got good reasons for bailing.

Brian has gone to the Grandparent's to cut their lawn.  They'll surely give him loads more gardening jobs before he's released.  Granted, they'll also stuff him to the brim with a dinner he loves around 1pm, so he's not complaining.

Sarah has gone to work with Timothy.  She went yesterday too.  And you won't believe this, but she ASKS to go to work.  Yesterday they were at a house with swans, ducks and geese.  She got to hold and pet the lot during her 'breaks' and loved every minute of it.  Today they're off to Killarney.  Timothy has to finish work in a tile shop showroom, which happens to be down the road from the new Penneys that opened this week.  She's been promised a quick stop to the new shop before they leave.  Hmmmmm, she really does run good when it comes to 'work'.

Sinéad has the least pleasant of tasks today.  A Lad from her class lost his mother this week.  All of the classmates received a text requesting they attend the funeral in their uniforms as a mark of respect.  I don't know the family, so will be giving it a miss.  But nobody should lose their mother so young.  Gutted for Danny in that regard.  RIP Geraldine.  

Something has come to my attention from a few corners.  I tend to ramble in my own way and forget that some terms or phrases aren't standard for the readers.  I've been told that people 'eventually' get what I mean as they carry on reading...or at least they think they do.  lol

So I have a request.  Don't be shy!  If you're unsure of my rambled meanings, just ask.  I don't bite.  Honest.  Some of the 'translations' have been quite funny by the few who've approached me, so feel free to add your translation if you have one too.  This isn't my personal thread.  It's for everyone to hopefully enjoy. 

xx

Anyone know how to make jam?  I've never done it before.  This should be interesting.   rotflmfao

one that confused me for a while was 'I shouldn't be left out'.  I was wondering who all these so called friends were leaving you out on your own pissed up in the middle of the night.  Eventually realised left=allowed.

grab your geetar and just let loose baby

Good one!  I'd forgotten that one.  Well, truth be told, I've forgotten most of the phrases that cause confusion because they're 'normal' to me.

Right so, I'll try to keep a list of 'Laxie Lingo' going and add to it as you lot mention them.

1)  "I shouldn't be left out" -  left = allowed  (Irish)

would be interesting to know which of the odd phrases are American and which are Irish too.

I've never made jam either btw - isn't it just a matter of heating up a load of fruit and sugar then sticking it in a jar?

Good point.  Have FMP.

Pectin and its use in jam-making. Discuss.

eh?  i'm just gonna carry on buying jars from the supermarket.

Pectin?  PECTIN?!  Huh?  Fruit, water & sugar were the plan.  Now you've gone and confused the issue with pectin FFS.

If you want to use all the available space in the jar then make sure that the jam is really pectin.

Yeah, I know it doesn't really scan but bite me.

lol works well enough for me.  excellent use of laxieism too.  8.5/10

Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

Sinéad just landed home and she brought a friend.  Child labour FTW.  It's berry time!!!

YEAH BABY!!!  Back of the net.  3 pointer.  Touchdown.  And bases loaded home run!!!

Turns out I know how to make jam now.  Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

Yes, that's right Ladies and Gents.  She took on the berries.  She cooked the kageebees outta them with just the right amount of water and sugar.  She ran the 'set test' by placing a small amount on a saucer.  And I can confirm said jam did in fact set!  I know, I know.  Hard to believe.  But trust me...it did in fact happen. 

Just wish I'd thought of gathering and sterilising jam jars BEFORE I went at it.  Now I've to wait a few for the begged, borrowed and stolen jars to finish cleaning.  Sigh.   

pictures or it didn't happen.

Knew some smart arse would say that.  So in yer eye ya bald dwarf!


Cooking Part 1
(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Looking%20Glass%20Pics/IMAG0065.jpg)



Cooking Part 2
(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Looking%20Glass%20Pics/IMAG0064.jpg)



The 'Set Test'
(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Looking%20Glass%20Pics/IMAG0067.jpg)




The Taste Test
(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Looking%20Glass%20Pics/IMAG0069.jpg)



So THERE!
(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Looking%20Glass%20Pics/IMAG0077.jpg)

Salivating

PS  It's really nummy too!

Just in case anyone else wants to give it a go:

Blackcurrant Jam

1 lb. blackcurrants
1 1/2 lb. sugar
water

Put sugar into a low heat oven.  I heated it at 150 degrees - but lower if yer using a fan oven. 

Toss yer berries into a big ol' pot and fill with water to just under the top line of the berries.  Boil that lot for 20 minutes. 

Take sugar out of the oven and add to the berry mix.  Bring to the boil again and stir mad for the next 20 minutes while it boils away.  You HAVE to keep stirring or it will burn. 

At the end of the 20 minutes do the 'set test'.  Place a small amount on a saucer.  If it goes squishy and jam like, yer good to go.  If not, keep boiling mad until it gets to that state.

Pour into yer jam jars and wait for it to cool a bit before you cover. 

There ya have it.  Happy jamming folks!

told  :)

good quote for a poker forum

That looks very tasty indeed.

We've a debate going in this house at the minute.  All the crickets (bar one batch) have been relatively quiet in the past.  We're debating whether this current lot tops the other loud lot.  I'm convinced they're louder.  In fact, I'm now hearing them even when they're quiet.  They're embedded in me brain FFS!  Make it stop.  Pleeeeeeeeease someone make it stop!

Conversation just now, "Sinéad!  Please feed the lizard some of the crickets from that top batch...and hopefully you'll get the loud fecker!"

She's just given me the executioner's nod.  She's on the case.  One time. 


(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Looking%20Glass%20Pics/IMAG0070.jpg)

(http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/Laxie/Looking%20Glass%20Pics/IMAG0076.jpg)

I've some very good friends.  Seriously.  Friends will come and go.  And when you're an outgoing nutter like me, it's almost like a revolving door at times.  It can be hard when one of them lets you down, but that's where the true friends come in.  Even when you're being a pain in the backside, they're there for you. 

You can count your true friends on one hand.  I've been thinking about it...and I've used all the fingers on that hand with my count.  How great is that?  Feeling very fortunate this morning. 

xx

I've a funeral to go to this morning.  I generally don't go to funerals as a rule - unless it's someone really close to me.  Luckily I've not had to attend too many as a result.  I know some people who make every funeral within a 50 mile radius even if they just barely know a second cousin to the deceased.  WTF is that about?!  I call them funeral chasers.  They just like to be seen to be there.  Granted, they also like to attend the post funeral pub session after. 

Anyway, today I'm breaking my own rule.  I've never met the woman who's died and couldn't even tell you her name.  She lived a long life and from what I'm told it was a happy one.  Only for she being the Grandmother of someone close to me, I wouldn't be there.  But she is, so I'll be there.  Sigh.

We're to go to the pub after the service.  I won't mind that part so much.   

Lol, a guy at my dad's work used to cycle to every funeral he could go to, within a 50k radius,....providing the people were catholic as he said "they do the best funerals".

He was some fella, also used to cycle to the other end of the city where he lived just because the lettuce was 5 cents (approx 1.5p) cheaper over there and he "had nothing better to do".

Don't know how other crowds do funerals, but the Catholics definitely have their own version down to a fine art.  Managed to get there and back in no time.  AND (shock horror) skipped the pub portion of proceedings.  Had a look around at the motley crew in the cemetery and just knew it was going to be an all day (and night) affair.  They're same crowd that show up to my house on New Year's Eve...and are still here at noon the next day.  They'll be back in the village by noon tomorrow for 'the cure'.  I just didn't feel up to the long haul...go figure.

my experiences of the Dutch people in two years of living and working with them, was that they made us Scots look like Richard Pryor in Brewsters Millions...