Two little puppies looking for homes

I know I have not written anything for a long time... busy with stuff and I tend to use Facebook to keep up to date with friends.

Last week we had torrential rain, which was great because now the well is full and the land can get some greenness back.  Not so good was the terrible damage it caused.

On Thursday I spotted two children throwing rocks at two little puppies that had been born to one of the neighbour's dogs.  I had resolved to get the dog neutered as soon as possible but was quietly hoping that I wouldn't see the puppies and that they would be boys and people in the village would take them in..... neither of these things happened.

I have a week to try and save their lives.  The animal rescue centre is full and overflowing with unwanted dogs so

Their mother is a very sweet natured girl and the puppies seem to be well nourished and bright and would make lovely pets.

Nearly June

Sorry again for the long gap between posts.

Life goes on, time passes....

I am getting much more mobile and so far no back pain - a little stiffness and I am still not as fit as I was but I am getting there.  Trying to do exercises everyday in addition to walking the dogs.

The weather has been pretty good - we had some horribly hot days but it has settled down and this morning it was even rather cool.

I am a bit worried about Prince at the moment as he is very unstable on his legs... I thought and still hope that he had pulled a muscle that was making him lame and unbalancing and I am trying to get him to rest up a bit. This is made difficult as Snitch is having a false season and we have a load of dogs round the back door which Prince feels honour bound to bark at and chase and he hates it if I go out without him - and the other dogs hate it if I go out without them so walking him separately is hard work all round!

Mohamed is studying for his final exams and has also finished his TEFL course.   Once that is over we will find out if he will be accepted for teacher training this year and if not start to think about what will happen.

We are still trying to sell the land at Ait Iazza and still no luck though we did get a phone call last week from a simser asking about it so maybe we will hear something soon.  If we do get it sold we will, among other things, be able to get the title sorted on the land at Ouled Said and then get that sold which will free up a lot of capital for other projects... so fingers crossed we can get moving soon.

Next month I will have to reapply for my carte de sejour which will be interesting as I still haven't got round to renewing my passport - which I will also have to do... so it looks like a month of bureaucracy ahead.  Oh my :(

Well this made me laugh

DOG FOR SALE 




A guy is driving around the back woods of Montana and he sees a sign in front of a broken down shanty-style house: 'Talking Dog For Sale 'He rings the bell and the owner appears and tells him the dog is in the backyard.


The guy goes into the backyard and sees a nice looking Labrador retriever sitting there.

'You talk?' he asks.

'Yep,' the Lab replies.

After the guy recovers from the shock of hearing a dog talk, he says 'So, what's your story?'

The Lab looks up and says, 'Well, I discovered that I could talk when I was pretty young. I wanted to help the government, so... I told the CIA.

In no time at all they had me jetting from country to country, sitting in rooms with spies and world leaders, because no one figured a dog would be eavesdropping.'


'I was one of their most valuable spies for eight years running...

But the jetting around really tired me out, and I knew I wasn't getting any younger so I decided to settle down. I signed up for a job at the airport to do some undercover security, wandering near suspicious characters and listening in.

I uncovered some incredible dealings and was awarded a batch of medals.'


'I got married, had a mess of puppies, and now I'm just retired.'

The guy is amazed. He goes back in and asks the owner what he wants for the dog.

'Ten dollars,' the guy says.

'Ten dollars? This dog is amazing! Why on earth are you selling him so cheap?'

'Because he's a Bullshitter. He's never been out of the yard'

It has been a long time since I sat down and wrote a blog entry... what's new?

Well the last month has been pretty eventful.  Looking back over last year I realise I did spend a lot of it with varying levels of back pain... mostly just a niggling pain but in December I had a very, very painful episode.  Five days and nights without any sleep - not able to sit or lie down.. until I finally got some painkillers that worked.


I was determined not just to take the painkillers so tried to find a physiotherapist who would help me get my back into shape.  No physios would see me without a referral from a doctor so I finally found a doctor who would send me for physiotherapy rather than just dole out pain killers and other mind altering medication.  I consulted a spinal specialist who explained exactly what my problem was - which was all sounding great and sensible - until he then told me that I needed surgery to avoid becoming permanently paralysed.

It was a huge shock for me as I have never had any serious illness or need for hospitalization.  I found myself getting very very scared about having general anesthetic and anxious about having to stay in hospital but after listening to the surgeon and seeing the x rays I came to the decision that I would rather risk the surgery than risk being paralysed.

I had lost one disc - between L5 and S1 and the two vertebrae had fused in bad position - restricting the spinal cord (numb toes and other symptoms) - and was about to lose the disc above.  The operation consisted of separating L5 and S1 and inserting a new plastic disc and replacing the disc above and then building a framework of titanium bolts to hold my spine in place... 

The doctor (surgeon) had said that I would be out of bed in 3 days and home in 5... but then he had to go off to France after my operation (to do an operation there) and the staff at the clinic would not let me get out of bed without his say so.  This meant that I was in bed for an extra few days.... raring to go but not able to move as I had a drain, a catheter and a drip in.  Finally the doctor came back from France, expressed surprise to see me still in bed and set things in motion.  On the Sunday (I had the operation on 22nd January) I was finally allowed out of bed.  

What a shock it was to find that first of all I could not stand up without just about fainting - all the blood rushing to my feet - and then when I got my body used to a vertical position to find myself so weak.. barely able to shuffle from one side of the room to the other.  Lying in bed I had felt so strong.  In my head I was ready to leap out of bed and resume normal life.  It took a while to come to terms with the fact that that was just not going to happen.

I have been home for 2 weeks now... I have been back to the clinic three times to have my dressing changed and stitches removed (I think I still have more stitches to come out) and everyone is very pleased with my progress.  I am trying hard to take things easy, not push myself too hard or far and ask for help and looking forward to the time when I can get back out into the hills with the dogs.

At the moment I can walk (slowly and for shortish distances) get up and down stairs, in and out of chairs and bed, drive (none of which I could do last week) - but I still can't bend down or carry anything heavier than a cat.

I am not experiencing any back pain - apart from what you would expect from having a large wound on your lower spine - but have been surprised at the pain in my right hip and leg (now cleared up).  The doctor says this is the pain he has given me.  After all this time of moving around with a spine out of balance and in poor lordosis my leg muscles and joints are finding it hard work to adjust to the newly balanced me!

In the meantime Mo is doing his best - both with me and the dogs.

It has been a really good learning experience.. .okay not one I would want to repeat or recommend (unless you have similar back problems) but I think I have learnt a lot from it - eg I have a lot more empathy with my dad and understand how frustrated he must feel at the difference between what he thinks he can or should be able to do and what he finds he can do.

I have to say the whole general anesthetic thing was scary ... I felt quite calm going into the operating theatre - surprisingly to me but I think I had all the fright and nerves when I first found out about the operation - but had a major fright when the actual moment came.  The staff were working around me getting ready for the operation and the anesthetist put a mask above my face and told me to breathe and that I would fall asleep...  Believe me it was nothing like falling asleep.  I was aware of someone doing something with my hand and was breathing in the gas when all of a sudden I found I couldn't breathe.  I had a moment of sheer panic - trying to shout out that I was still awake but not able to breathe and only managed to drop my arm over the side - which was promptly put back... then I felt air being pushed into me and I relaxed and then I woke up in the recovery room with the surgeon looking very pleased with me.

I should add that I was very lucky to end up here in Morocco with an internationally renowned expert surgeon to hand. Though time will tell exactly how successful the operation has been, I do not think I would have fared better in the UK.  I know a lot of French people come to Morocco to have this surgery performed by Dr Chliyah.  The nursing practice may not have been up to the standards in the UK but they were all very kind and caring.

Anyway that is what I have been up to the last couple of months and here I am ready to start life as hazel v.2.0

17 stitches in all

Some Photos

Funnel Dog and Fat Cat ... and Breakfast with Dickens and Martha.

some of the flowers that are coming up from the leaves sprouting from the bulbs.

Almost June

Some time since I last posted, but peeps on Facebook and Tumblr will have been kept up to date.

I had a lovely 10 day visit from Rosie.  We didn't get up to too much,Mo had classes at 8 am a few days and we weren't up to getting up that early.  Having said that we did have a very early start to go and do some bird watching in the Souss Massa National park.  Despite the crappy directions on how to find the guide, we did see some lovely birds - flamingos, avocet, Great and Little Egret, Grey and Purple Herons, Mallard and Ruddy Shelduck, Moroccan Cormorant and the famous Northern Bald Ibis.  The National Park lies along the coast between the rivers Souss (Agadir) and Massa and covers quite a range of habitat.  We visited 3 sites along the Massa river.

Ruby and Rosie hit it off, poor Ruby was quite folorn when Rosie went (both of us were) but she is over it now.  The other dogs are all well.  It's nearly time for Queenie to go for her op - well actually it is overdue as she is 8 months old now but no sign of her coming in to season yet so I will wait for Mohamed's holidays.

Mo's exams start tomorrow then it is the summer break and back for his final year.  He has snagged a temporary job - just one day at the moment facilitating for a group of American students visiting the Dar Sihmad in Sidi Ifni.  Hopefully something more will come of it... though not sure about travelling all the way to Sidi Ifni for work.

... and this all my news really.  Hope to get going on making my office habitable next month and also looking forward to seeing Helen and Charley.

my doesn't time fly

I can't believe that it was October that I last updated this blog. I have been posting news and pictures on Facebook so I guess most readers will be as up to date with my life as I am.

My dad came and went and we have had Caroline and Ian and then Kate and Douglas visiting as well along with a variety of Mohamed's family. When Kate and Douglas arrived we had managed to get the floor done in the guest room and by the time they left there were also doors.... but there is still some finishing off to do. AT the moment we are concentrating on getting the rest of upstairs wired.

We managed to get Trot and Snitch along to the vet and they have both been neutered - though Trot still seems to be very interesting to the male dogs in the district, I hope that it will not come to anything. We have kept Trot's two puppies - they have been adopted by my friend Caroline (Queenie) and my Dad (Prince) and are now 5 months old and doing very well. I will have to think about taking them along to the vet soon as well. Snitch's last litter of puppies have all been sent away apart from one. Despite telling myself not to, I did get very fond of them and they all came out for walks with me - except the one that is being kept by the neighbours - so it was with a very heavy heart that I let them go. I know that I couldn't keep them all and they were a bit of a large pack of dogs and caused some disturbance to the local herds of goats and donkeys. I hope they are lucky where they are. I know that Trot and Snitch and Prince and Queenie will do better now that they have gone - less mouths for the food to spread around.

Update on the building work

Sorry I have not been saying much on this lately - or posting many pictures.

Our efforts are going on getting the ground floor guest bedroom complete with en-suite ready for my Dad's visit - next weekend now. After many hours walking round Dcheira looking at wall tiles I have ended up buying something very similar to our downstairs bathroom.... and the tiler is coming on Friday to start work on that. The builder has to come back to fit the window and door frames (haven't actually got doors yet)and then we have to get some tiles for the floor and the wc, sink, taps etc, It will be nice to have one complete room - though I am not convinced it will be 100% ready before dad arrives.

Miluda is finally getting married this weekend - this is the wedding that was supposed to take place at the beginning of September. So I have been dusting off my takshita and generally getting myself ready for a party.

Thanks to everyone who sent me birthday wishes. For my birthday this year I want to take the females in my little dog walking crew to get neutered.. I guess we will have to ask Snitch's nominal owners if they are OK about that. I can't see them objecting as they take very little to do with her. I also have to wait till Trot has finished rearing her puppies first - though I am not sure how many she has and if they are still alive.... She went away to a little hidey hole to have them and although I have visited a few times I have only heard a little bit of puppy squeaking and not actually seen one so I don't know how many she has had or if they are boys or girls. She spends a fair bit of time at our back door but does not like it if the other dogs go any where near her den so I haven't been able to get a good look. The pups should be getting more mobile now so I will try and visit again this week.

Mohamed's university term has finally started. This term he has to read The Old Man and the Sea, Animal Farm and Jude the Obscure. What a strange set of books!!

Well back to work

Saying goodbye to Little Rag

I have some very sad news. Little Rag was asleep under our car yesterday and Mohamed did not see her when he got in to drive into town. We took her to the vet but she died just as we got into the surgery. She lost a lot of blood and didn't seem conscious so I hope she wasn't in any pain.

Mohamed is really upset.

We buried her in the garden last night.

October Catch Up

Sorry so much time has passed again without an update.

Life goes on. My friend Kate came out a couple of weeks ago and we had a lovely time, swimming in the sea, eating late breakfasts and lunches and driving through the mountains in search of saffron, caves and waterfalls (well I didn't need to search for the waterfall) and talking....



We drove all the way out to Talouine in the Anti-Atlas mountains to see the saffron harvest but were a month too early (so much for the website I looked up). Still it was a good day out and we saw some amazing countryside and had a lovely lunch - and it will be harvest time in late October and November so will be worth another trip in that direction when my next visitors arrive.

We also did the trip to Immouzzer but I could see from the hillside that there was no water in the falls so it didn't seem worth while driving all the way down just to be hassled by the local guides and souvenir sellers. We had previously gone on quite a detour looking for the Ouitinedoume (?) caves which I have seen signposted (everytime I drive along that road) but never visited. We followed a road up into the mountains but it just stopped in a carpark. There was a rough track heading off round the edge of the mountain but no signs of life and it was too hot to trek miles up the side of a mountain so we got back in the car and carried on to Immouzzer.

Back at the house we have the wiring and most of the plumbing done on Dad's room and should get a window next week. The builder is due to come next week to install the window and render the walls, then we need to get the tiling done and the bathroom fitted out... painting.. door - almost there! but less than 3 weeks to do it!

Dad is coming out for a month on 29th October and will be here for the Eid. I think Aicha and Said and the kids are coming over as well... so it will be almost like Christmas!

Ruby and the cats are well. Trot has had her puppies... not sure how many as she has them hidden away. Snitch did have puppies but I think something must have happened to them as she doesn't seem to spend much time with them - but maybe she just has them hidden away as well.



Mohamed is still waiting to hear when the new university term will start... they have started posting timetables so it looks like it might be soon but then again it might not be till after the Eid.

I think that is all the news... now to try and post some pictures (if you have already seen them you will know this has worked!)

Happy (re)Birthday Ruby

It was a year ago today that Ruby first appeared at our back door as a little skeletal dog. I can't believe it is a whole year already and can't imagine life without her now. She is such a good tempered and affectionate dog.



We are in the last few days of Ramadan now.... just hoping for a clear night when the new moon arrives. It has not been as bad as I thought it would be, but then the weather has not been so unremittingly hot as it usually is this time of year - in fact some days it has been distinctly cool.

Mohamed's sister Aicha and family are here for a few days. It is nice to see them but quite hard work... they are all staying up late and eating late and then sleeping late while I would rather get a good nights sleep (not really possible with a house full of fully awake Moroccans) and get up early (which I have to do to work and feed animals) and so would prefer to eat earlier.... but I guess it is only for a few days. It would be better if it wasn't Ramadan though.

I think his other sister Khadija will be here for a few days next week.

We have just about cleared up all the concrete dust and rubble and are getting things together to start on finishing a room upstairs so that guests (who don't want to sleep on the living room floor) will have a bedroom with ensuite - with the aim of getting it ready for my Dad when he visits in October/November.

and that is about all the news.

I hope you are all well.

Ramadan Kareem

Today we have had a reprieve and it is not quite Ramadan here in Morocco - I think it must have been too cloudy everywhere for the new moon to be seen. Still it is going to be starting soon - probably tomorrow. Mohamed and I need to get to the souk today and buy chebekia and dates and chickpeas and everything else we need to buy to eat in Ramadan. It always strikes me as very contradictory all the food preparation that goes on for a month that is supposed to be about fasting.

Well the other week we went to the house-warming party at Aisha and Said's new house. It was the first time I had been to the house for a while and it was looking very lovely and surprisingly light - I was worried that it would be dark with the lack of windows.

The party was a big affair (not the family lunch and dinner I was expecting). We went on Thursday which was officially ladies night (though there were a lot of men there) and there was a disco upstairs on the roof for dancing as well as the out door kitchen with the cooks cooking up huge amounts of tagine and chicken and sfah (sweet couscous)etc etc.... My new best friend is Fatima the professional cook who was brought in for 3 days to get all the food prepared and cooked.

On Friday it was men's day where the men all come and read from the Koran and eat couscous and no doubt sit around talking seriously about weighty things.

And at the end of the night Miluda and M'bark got formally engaged. This wedding has been talked about for over a year and will finally take place in early September - once Ramadan is over. M'bark is the younger brother of the father of Jamia (Rachid's wife)... so large families grow larger. I first met them when I took photos of his sister's wedding. They seem like a really lovely family and live on a farm just at the edge of Taroudant - which I guess will be Miluda's new home. Mbark works in the Shell garage in town.

On the home front we are in the final throes of building building work. The walls on the roof are just about finished so now I can go on the roof without worrying about falling over the edge (my worry) or being seen by the neighbours (Mohamed's worry).

It was quite funny when the stairs were complete Ruby would not go up onto the roof. She was really freaked out by it all....and it is not about being at height as she goes rock climbing all the time. The cats went up and explored and started chasing each other round almost straight away. I think it is that cats are very much in the present. They know perfectly well that it is a new roof and that it wasn't there before... but it is here now and that is all that matters. Dogs on the other hand (or Ruby anyway) worry about change.

And our other news... well Mohamed's results for the year are out and it looks like he is top of the year. So well done to him.

I will post some photos some time when I have a better internet speed.

July

Thankfully, though still hot and sunny, things have cooled down a bit from the horribly hot weather we had in mid June.

What's new, well the builder is coming back on Wednesday (fingers crossed) to build the stairs up to the roof. That will take a week to set and then he will start on the walls.

We are slowly getting rid of all the rubble in the ground floor rooms. Process has slowed due to Mohamed discovering that he had another exam (today). The teacher had originally said that he would just give marks based on their classwork and work handed in but he only managed to mark a handful before he was taken seriously ill and died! Mohamed's was one of the marks he had given but we are not sure if they still stand or if everyone has to take the exam so .... Apart from that he has been doing well, at the top of his class or near it in all exams.

We, well I, had a nice day yesterday pottering around upstairs, grilling aubergines, courgettes and peppers on charcoal and then bottling them in olive oil.... and then we had lunch of grilled chicken and salad sitting at my table - all very civilised, cutlery and everything.

I went back to the doctor last week and despite my attempts to convince him otherwise he insisted that I keep taking the Lyrica and come back again in 2 months. I think this will be the last visit, regardless of what he says - unless something disastrous happens in the meantime.

I heard from Kate and Douglas from Innes Street and they are planning a trip to Morocco in September. Douglas is going to Essouira for a week long course on film making so Kate is going to come here and I think we might have a trip to the Saffron fields in Talaouine as it will be around harvest time.

Hope you are all well.

Scorchio

Well summer has arrived, as evidenced by the cats seeking out the coolest places and lying on their back, exposing as much skin as possible to the air (not very cool looking) and me putting the tent up in the proto-living room so I can sleep at night. Tent = no mosquitoes + cool night air. Ruby just pants all day.

Mohamed has finished his exams and the results in so far look good. He is still in holiday mood though and has not finished clearing the rubble out of the rooms upstairs. (You can tell I have started to nag....)

I think we are going to build the stairs going up to the roof next and get the wall built that will surround the roof and give us safety and privacy. Then, as far as the rest of the world is concerned, the building work is complete and we can just get on and finish rooms.

Mohamed has been to see the man in charge of granting licenses and been told that we will not get a license as we are not within the boundaries of the village.... but that is kind of good news as it means we are less likely to get people building next to us. We will just have to go back to plan A and pay the local man in charge so that he loses us when it comes to prosecuting people for building without license. The man in charge of licensing told Mohamed just to go ahead and build as there are people throwing up houses all over the place and we are not the worst offenders so it's not like that anyone will bother us. And it is true, as we drive into Agadir I see a crazy amount of building work going on.

The new draft constitution has been released and there will be a referendum on 1st July. It will probably be passed as there is a lot of pressure from the "establishment" for people to vote yes. Apparently last Friday all the Imans advised people to vote Yes. The No voters will keep on protesting and demanding a true democracy, but I guess that it will take time to get there. I haven't managed to see an english version of the new constitution but I think it is good in parts. eg adoption of Human Rights law, but the king has not given up enough power for it to be called democracy.

On Sunday Mohamed went to join a Vote No rally while Ruby and I went for a walk on the beach. Poor Ruby was travel sick (as usual) but I think she enjoyed our walk on the beach.... apart from disappointment at not being able to chase seagulls - they were all landing on the King's Private part of the beach - or have a walk through the gardens of the Royal Atlas Hotel - I had taken preventative measures and put her on the lead and there were 3 very hostile guard dogs. We got home without any more sickness.

In the village there has been some construction work underway near the village pond, which is apparently related to the water supply, a pump room and a holding tank I think, and in Taazhout the water tower has been built.... so it seems that the next stage must be getting the water pipes in and around the village. Trying to contain my excitement.

June, Moon etc

So did you see the eclipse? For once it was not so late I was asleep or so cloudy there was nothing to see so Yes I did. The moon looked really strange, crepey and spherical instead of diamond sharp and flat.

All the wood (well there are a couple of bits still sticking to the ceiling) has gone - Hurrah. All the rubble is still here - Boo. I have been sweeping out the rooms a bit at a time but I am going to leave the serious rubble clearing to Mohamed and he has had his end of term exams this week.

I haven't been up on the roof yet as the builder took his ladder away. We need to sit down and work out what are the next things to tackle.... stairs up to the roof might be one, my dad's room a definite priority and my office I think.

I have another snake sighting to add to my collection, this time it was a Natrix maura - a completely harmless water snake.

We are waiting to hear what the new Constitution is going to look like... no date but it must be nearly due out and there has been some comment on what is in it on TV (leaks I think).

Bread fail

hmmm... I think I will leave the breadmaking (moroccan style) to the experts. Maybe the yeast was too old or maybe I should have left it to rise but it just didn't cook right. Anyway it sort of tasted OK and Ruby liked it!

I made scotch pancakes for the builder's breakfast.

More Roof

Weel this is taking longer than I thought it would, de-wooding the roof that is. They started this morning and by lunchtime had not quite finished one room. I think the wood is sticking to the concrete too much. Anyway from the bangs and crashes over my head it sounds as if they have moved on to our bedroom.

I think the truck was supposed to be coming today to take the wood away (except what is going to be used by the neighbour for their roof), but it has been put off till tomorrow. Though at this rate they will not be ready for it - unless we find a lot more bodies to throw at it. Mohamed could only find one guy last night.

In meantime I am about to attempt to make bread for the first time since coming to Morocco -- well for a long time really (apart from pizza). My oven is really crap so I am trying to make some flat bread that I can cook in a (dry) frying pan. I have in mind the really delicious bread that Mina and Miluda make while we all sit round the little charcoal brazier in their house in Taroudant. Everyone with a glass of tea waiting for more hot bread to eat, running with just butter or if we are lucky butter and honey. I hope my bread will be half as good... somehow Mohamed's mothers bread isn't as good.

The reason I am making bread is that we have run out and there is no bread in the village shop (they don't get much in as a rule as most women in the village make their own) and I have to give breakfast to the workers this afternoon. (They have about 2 breakfasts here ... this one is breaking the fast since lunchtime!)

Thinking of bread reminded me of the bread that our two guides cooked when we were horse trekking in China. They made a really big, dense loaf in a saucepan on the campfire. About halfway through the cooking they piled charcoal from the fire over the lid of the pan. I think we ate it for breakfast the next day, and lunch, and there was some left over which I suppose we would have eaten for dinner but luckily we had made it back to Songpan by then and had dinner at the guide Yo's beautiful wooden house. The food on that trek was both awful and amazing at the same time.

Anyway enough of the delaying tactics off I go.

The Roof (the whole roof.....)

Yes we have a roof upstairs now... which is a major step forward and means that we can do everything else a bit at a time. At the moment it just seems that everything is coated in concrete but next weekend we will get rid of the wood and be able to clear out the rooms and start working out our next steps.

Mohamed's priority today is to get some more water, all the water in our well was used in the concreting and at the moment the water in the aqueduct does not come all the way to the river. He needs to go down and clear where it passes under the road just opposite the house. This morning he has been setting up the electric cables and water pipes so that the pump will be ready when the water arrives.

I have been really tired this week, not sure why but felt totally wiped out. Cooked a mega lunch for all the builders on Thursday and I had a few late nights doing some research for Mohamed's homework - he has been trying to keep up to date with his course while making sure the building work continued on schedule and next week his exams start.

I found this beautiful lizard while out walking the other day. He was staying stock still in the hope that I wouldn't see him - which would have worked if he had been standing on a blue tile... but where he was I really couldn't miss him. He is an Agama impalearus, but that is all I know about him.

Other news that I have just heard is that one of my Dad's dogs has died. Kessie lived to a good age - I seem to remember going to pick her out on my Dad's 70th birthday and he is almost 84 (though I think my Dad says she was 15 so maybe I have got that wrong). I remember it was really difficult finding puppies, because I said was getting one for my Dad, Munlochy Animal Aid would not give me one. Anyhow we ended up going to look at a litter in Carnarc Crescent and Dad ending up taking two pups: Kessy and Bridie named after the Kessock Bridge. Poor Bridie will be lost without her sister and I know my Dad is also feeling the loss. The house will be a lot quieter as Kessie always had a lot to say for herself.

Work in Progess

Well we are almost there with the roof, tomorrow should be the big day of the concrete pouring... but this morning Mohamed got a phone call summoning him to the Caid. I am just waiting to see what the story is.

In the meantime here is a picture

I thought this was Ruby, but on closer inspection it is in fact Trot, sneaking in to eat leftover couscous. For some reason the neighbours decided to give everyone lunch yesterday. I will be doing lunch on Thursday (fingers crossed) when the concreting is being done..... and I do prepare a massive breakfast twice a day but have drawn the line at providing lunch everyday.

Well that is my life at the moment, working eating sleeping and walking the dog....

Will let you know what happens.

Quick News

Yes they have started work on the roof. There has been hammering upstairs since yesterday morning and they are about halfway round the roof putting up the framework of wood for the iron to sit in. Next stage is the iron frame and then the concrete is poured in.

Yesterday we (me, Ruby, Trot and Marmela) saw two snakes while out on our walk... the first was a large but mostly harmless Montpellier's snake. The second was (I think) a beautiful but deadly silver Moorish Viper. It was hunting in the thorn hedge. You can read more of our dog walking adventures on walkingthedogs.tumblr.com where I keep a daily journal of the walks.

I will get some photos of the construction online soon.