Being Creative

Scooping the poop

I'm pretty certain that when Faith No More penned the lyrics "it's a dirty job but someone's gotta do it" they were not talking about cleaning up after their dog. It seems to be something that's deemed impolite to mention; something that we would rather sweep under the carpet, though in a metaphorical, rather than a literal, sense! As you will see elsewhere on this blog, our two canine pals are rather large and naturally what they leave behind them is in proportion to their size. We decided at the outset that we would be responsible dog owners; that we would always carry bags and that we would always clear up after them. Unsurprisingly then, there are pooh bags in just about every pocket we possess, including my dressing gown.(By way of explanation, Zephyr sometimes likes to check out the garden at some ungodly hour now and then and I prefer to clean up after him while I remember). Most responsible dog owners seem to be similarly minded nowadays, especially where we live. Worryingly, with  regard to the remainder, if it's too much trouble to pick up after their dog then there is probably little chance of their pets being wormed or even possibly vaccinated. That they are posing a health risk to other people and animals does not appear to be enough of an incentive. But there we are.

Having said that, dog pooh biodegrades quite rapidly and while shovelling it into plastic bags may overcome any immediate health risk you are then encasing something that will break down quite quickly within something plastic that will not. So for a while now I have been on the lookout for some biodegradeable ones. And not just any old biodegradeable bags. We wanted them to be roomy.(A friend I went to school with works in our local branch of Boots. I bought something there recently and declined the small plastic bag she wanted to put my purchase in. She asked would it not do for clearing up after the dogs. I replied that it would need to be much larger to be of any use for my boys! Enough said). We also wanted bags that would have some strength to them, something my Lancastrian husband refers to as 'bant'. Our local council had a spell of issuing free poop bags at one point in an effort to keep the streets cleaner. That was an excellent idea except that in practise they chose bags with the thickness - and bant - of tissue paper. Moving on quickly now, we wanted handles that were long enough to tie the bag up without coming into contact with the contents. Now you might think that these seem perfectly reasonable requirements but it has taken a long time for me to track such an item down, particularly when I recall that a particularly pressing further requirement was that they should be reasonably priced. Enter Mutts Butts.com.

Not only do Mutts Butts do biodegradeable bags in a reasonable size with lovely long handles but you can buy them in three different thicknesses - economy, standard and premium. They also give you the opportunity to try them out in a sample pack of five of each type. Personally I think this is an excellent idea. The chance to 'try before you buy' means you are not wasting money or sending stuff to landfill because it's unsuitable for your needs. At first we thought we would opt for the premium brand but we dutifully tested all 3 and even the economy line didn't give us any problems. We chose the middle option and went for 500 of the standard bags at a cost of approximately 2.5 pence each, which is what we're already paying for our non-degradeable ones. If you buy a larger quantity the cost per bag is even less. Postage and packing is free in the UK and the sample pack arrived first class delivery the next day (our main order took a little longer because I ordered over a weekend). I was also happy to note that for every sale Mutts Butts makes a donation to Guide Dogs for the Blind.  What's not to like?

A dog's dinner

In my last post, I mentioned that I was thinking of holding a little competition to celebrate this, my 30th post, with one of my photographs, printed professionally, as a prize. I asked for reader's thoughts on this and the response was an overwhelming, "yes, please!", so the competition details follow on below, after this dog tale (or should that be 'tail'?). I had hoped to launch it over the weekend and apologise if you were looking eagerly for it. Typepad - who host this blog - have made some changes to their site and I am trying to get to grips with them. I think I mentioned previously that I am not naturally gifted with computer software and, given that it took me quite some time to find my way around in the first place, I confess to being more than a little peeved that I have to re-learn several aspects of it now. In a few posts time, I will probably be singing its praises and wondering how I ever managed with "the old way". Until that time, please bare with me through the gnashing of teeth!

Looking through my most recent posts, it's been a while since I wrote anything about my 'boys'. I took the photo of Hector some weeks ago, whilst he was taking an illicit nap on the upstairs sofa. Hector and Zephyr have a sofa each downstairs and in an effort to maintain a hair-free seat up here, this particular settee is normally considered out of bounds. I was typing on the computer at the time and am not sure which surprised me most; that Hector had taken an interest in this settee, when normally he doesn't bother, or that I had completely failed to hear him climb up there. When I am upstairs, I can normally tell by the sound of their progress, which dog is approaching to seek me out. Zephyr is so gentle on his feet that sometimes I don't notice him at all until a wet nose is thrust under my elbow to alert me to his presence. Hector, on the other hand, has all the delicacy of a herd of stampeding wilderbeest, and has been known to collide heavily with the newel post from time to time, in his haste to get downstairs. Despite that minor shortcoming, he has maintained the sunny disposition he had on arrival with an "I'm-so-lovely-let-me-give-you-a-big-wet-kiss" attitude to life. He does, however, have grave misgivings over travelling in the car and about being brushed! To be fair, we took him with us to the car boot on Sunday and he never made a whimper, so I feel we are making progress there but the brush is quite another matter. When Zephyr first arrived, we brushed him regularly as his coat is thick and coarse and he parts with it most generously. Conversely, Hector came with such a sparse, silky covering over his pink skin that I was loathed to brush him for fear of scratching. His coat remained thin for quite a long time and then, suddenly, he was sporting a thick adult coat and needed an introduction to 'Mr Brush'. Even the mention of it is enough for him to vacate the room at speed. We have tended to give up in the past, as deerhounds are renowned for being terrible wusses, but now the writing is on the wall for Hector. We have recently received our copy of the schedule for 'Long Nose Day', the fun dog show held annually by Lincolnshire Greyhound Trust to support their work. Armed with a new 'slicker' brush and a bag of little dog treats - for bribery - we can get him to keep still for five minutes at a time now, if Si' holds him on his lead and I do the brushing. Deerhounds are supposed to be brushed every other day, so we're told, but we're making a start. Interestingly, Hector's dad has a similar hatred of the hairbrush, so he must have inherited it from him!

Zephyr, though, loves to be brushed and will stand, appreciatively, while you get on with it. Here he is, looking proud, with his collection of rosettes, at last year's event (photo, courtesy of Si'). Showing dogs on a regular basis has never really been our bag but we do like the idea of them mixing with other dogs and it gives us the opportunity to get to know other dog owners, with similar breeds of dog, in our area. In addition, we are helping to raise much-needed funds and enjoying ourselves into the bargain. A friend I used to work with first suggested we went last year when Zephyr - though you wouldn't know it from the picture - was still a puppy. She has a lurcher herself, whose party trick is being able to jump clean into her arms; fortunately he is not as weighty as either Zephyr or Hector! There are classes for other breeds - beside greyhounds and longdogs - and they can compete in novelty classes, such as 'Best Six Legs' and 'Nicest Head', in addition to the more standard ones. Each class only costs a pound to enter, so it is an ideal downshifter's day out and much more fun than spending Sunday at the shops. Hector's breeder is probably going to come along with Hector's mum and cousin and, quite recently, we discoverd that a deerhound we met there last year is actually Hector's half-brother. Lucy will come with us, too, so it could turn out to be quite a family day in every respect. I am hoping to make a few cupcakes - complete with fondant paw prints - to contribute to the refreshments. Later this week, we are hoping to extend Hector's car-tolerance further by taking him for his first trip to the seaside. As luck would have it, 'Seaside Capers' is one of the categories for the show's photo competition this year, so I shall be sure to take my camera. Given that Zephyr rushes about on the beach like a total loon, it will probably be much harder to get Hector to keep still long enough to photograph him at the seaside at all. Never mind; if the picture is a blur of movement it will be because he took the 'capering' to heart! 

The 30th Post Competition

I am really excited about launching this - my first - blog competition but since I sometimes miss things out in my eagerness to get started, do let me know if I forget to include any vital information. The prize is a 10" by 8", professionally printed matt photograph of one of the four choices shown below. It will be sent to you in a rigid cardboard envelope as quickly as the printer's workload allows after the closing date, which is Tuesday June 10th.

To enter:-

All you have to do is post a positive comment on the site and select which of the four photos you’d like to receive if your name is pulled from the hat first. 

Your comment can be about:-

• any of the thirty posts, not just the most recent
• your own favourite post/category and what you would like to see more of
• whether the blog has been particularly helpful to you in any way

Please choose from the photos below:-

A) Centaurea in jar

B) Walnuts

C) Tulip, close-up

D) Hector on forbidden sofa!

You've got two weeks and counting, so 'be creative' with your comments now!

 

 

        

    
  

Happy hounds

Being something of a technophobe, it took me quite a while to get to grips with Typepad, and the various aspects of creating a blog, but my confidence has increased as I've progressed. And I'm finding new things out all the time. Only last week I discovered that I can look at the statistics for my site, i.e. how many visitors I've had, where they reached me from (search engine/country/typed url), what pages they have been looking at and at what times of the day or night. In case that concerns you, it doesn't give any information about who is reading it or any of their account details whatsoever. So you can breathe out, now! For myself, I find it really helpful to know which parts of my blog are proving to be most popular and, now I've said that, I bet you want to know, too? If someone is looking for the first time, they go through all the pages, one by one, presumably to get a feel for the site. I deliberately wrote these when I first started out, as an introduction to each of my categories. I think it helps to give a flavour of what the blog's about and I also did it because, with seven categories, it's quite difficult to have a recent post for each one on the main page. I tend to write about whatever I've been doing, or thinking about, at the time so if I've been doing a lot of cooking, there will be a disproportionate number of Home-Made posts. Other people find me via search engines when they are searching for something in particular; for example, 'cupcakes' has been a quite frequent topic recently. I must be doing something right though as, increasingly, people are coming direct to my site and these make up the majority of my 'hits'. I enjoy analysing figures - an 'anorak'-type tendency in an otherwise creative mind - and some posts/pages are particularly popular. A lot of people look at the Home-Made page and the Recipes one. 'My cup(cake) runneth over' has been probably the most popular post but that is the one that gets the most referrals from the search engines. When visitors from the Country Living forums began looking a couple of weeks ago, there were a lot of visits to the Dog Blog page. If you were one of them, the following post is for you!

Pictured above, and at the top, is Hector, my eight month old deerhound puppy, who likes nothing better than to snuggle up in the comfort of my now-empty duvet, whilst I am writing my current blog post. He'll potter in at some stage (our 'upstairs' sitting room, where I'm typing, is in the next room), looking suitably bleary-eyed and then, seeing that nothing of interest is happening, will toddle off back to bed! The reason for the paucity of Dog Blog posts is that I always like to have a couple of pictures to illustrate each post with and Hector, in particular, is very hard to photograph. Once he's fully awake he likes to be 'busy' and it's hard to capture him a in a moment of stillness. As soon as you get the camera out he wants to know what you're doing and comes to investigate. He's also incredibly nosy and will spend ages looking out of the windows of the upstairs sitting room watching the world go by. A big incentive for this is that we live opposite our vets, so there's always lots of comings and goings but he's just as happy to watch people, or pigeons, come to that. Last weekend, we took him back to the breeders to see his mum. They had the most wonderful time chasing each other round the large garden, so much so that Hector slept all the way home, all afternoon and all evening, only rousing himself for his tea and post-prandial jaunt.

Zephyr is somewhat easier to snap by virtue of him being something of a couch potato. Here he is looking rather regal in his 'blogging' chair. We have an old armchair up here and at this time of year the morning sun shines directly onto it. He is quite happy to sit their, basking while I type, till breakfast time. Though I have had more time each day, while Lucy has been walking the boys, I have really missed our morning strolls. Things are turning green outside in my absence and it's normally the time I think of ideas, or find inspiration, for my posts. This afternoon, while Hector and Zephyr are napping, I'm going with a friend to visit a fellow allotment-holder who is currently recuperating from a slight stroke. We are taking blackcurrant jam, lemon cake and flowers from his allotment so that he can still have the enjoyment of them in his absence. At one time I never would have had the time for such a visit, let alone take hand-made gifts. I have such an awful lot to be grateful for!

Canine Chums

Here is Zephyr chilling in his favourite spot - the sofa - on a sunny Sunday morning.It's a popular myth that lurchers need loads of exercise but he likes nothing better after his morning walk than forty winks in a warm and comfy spot until tea time! Oh, and the odd biscuit after a bout of rough and tumble with his pal, Hector.

This is Hector. He is a six month old Deerhound puppy whose expression says that butter wouldn't melt in his mouth. Thankfully the butter is safe in the fridge but the very nice Hobbs scarf I bought from a charity shop for 50p on Saturday melted effortlessly into fine woolly shreds on the sitting room carpet!We are overlooking this departure from his usually charming behaviour on the grounds that Zephyr did so much worse on a regular basis at the same age. I was just considering their respective temperaments in terms of weather: Hector, whose general demeanour suggests sunshine in a cloudless blue sky and then Zephyr who, in meteorological terms, would be 'unsettled'. One moment you have the sunshine and the next a torrential downpour, triggered by nothing more complex than a plastic bag waving in the wind! As he grows up he is becoming calmer and we can detect steady progress towards high pressure! They do say, though, that opposites attract and these two are the very best of friends to each other, not to mention very dear companions to me.

My day begins with a cup of Earl Grey tea and a snuggle with my two boys who need no encouragement to abandon their own beds in favour of mine!