I could do without the excitement....

[flick]

In the garden, everything except the autumn squash and the sweetcorn is either planted out or in final pots. Fenced off from the beans, Zu Zu is taking it out on the tomatoes and has managed to kill at least one plant; I’ll have to figure out a way to keep her out of the polytunnel, at least until they get bigger, which is annoying as I want the runners in there (and in the veg bed, really) for pest control.

We ate the last of last year’s squash this week, and are near to the end of the passata. I’m hoping to pick a few broadbeans soon, as there are a few plump pods.

We were very hopeful about yesterday’s thunder storms, but in the end we barely got a quarter of an inch of rain (and hail). They were sharp but short.

(My mother has potted on her tomatoes. I’m still getting photos twice a week and detailed updates on how they’re doing!)

GB’s been looking quite stiff, which is worrying: it won’t be long before he has to walk up and down the hill to the summer field, hopefully he’s still up to it.

We had a bit of drama in the week, when Bob slipped his head collar and went for a couple of dogs. We were very relieved when all that came of it was a tiny cut on one of them, because it looked like it was going to be bad, but we’ve taken to walking him with his muzzle on for now. The woods are much more crowded than usual (both with locals who don’t usually go for walks and with people driving here) and seeing lots of strange dogs seems to be making his behaviour go backwards. A shame, given how much progress he’s made over the years.

We went to Costco in the week (no part-baked bread or vitamin D, still one-per-customer on pasta), and to the garden centre (vain hope of getting aubergine plants).

I was wondering how my sewing group ladies were doing so I emailed around and got them to send me updates, which I’ve put into a little newsletter and sent out for them all (didn’t want to risk them sending photos to the whole group, which was definitely the right call based on what they sent me). Slightly alarmed that one of the ones I know is good with email didn’t reply, but hopefully there’s a benign explanation.

Comments

[juliet]

Ugh, sympathy re Bob. It's rough when it gets harder again when it's been getting better. I do Sid's afternoon walk and it's busy enough when the weather's good that it's all on-lead (Pete is able to let her off for a bit in the mornings).

[flick]

I'm so glad that we've got the field for him to run around in. *Very* occasionally, on grim days in winter, we can let him off the lead at one particular spot in the woods to have a run with The Only Dog He Likes, but even then we have to keep a sharp eye out for anyone coming.

[juliet]

Sid is (after a lot of work) OK with a certain amount of clear space, in Southwark Park where there are usually other dogs *around*, but it's flat and fairly clear and you can see them coming, and P and I both now have an accurate sense of what she thinks of as a relevant distance, if you see what I mean.

So as a result I am very good at spotting other dogs on the move from a distance (also people who move like they have a dog in the vicinity, etc etc).

Much harder at the moment with more people in the park.