Side gate

Fort Bert got an upgrade today. A new side gate has been installed. I’m doing my bit for the environment by using an old fence panel and a gate that was going to be binned.

It looks great and should keep Bert safe in the garden.

Breakthrough

This is the face of a little puppy who’s had two breakthroughs today. Firstly, he took himself off to his crate several times while I was on video calls. He curled up on his bed and slept.

He did it for the first time yesterday. But I didn’t want to count any chickens. Before, I’d had to put him in there. So the fact he’s now choosing it is huge.

Secondly, he’s worked out how to use the cat flap. Admittedly, he kinda fell through it the first time. But after that, he had a lot of fun going in and out. Out was much easier for him than coming back in. Much more of a scramble. He was most pleased with himself.

Unfortunately this has meant that he’s been in and out like a yo-yo. Most times bringing me a piece of old fence.

Speaking of fences, I took some flowers round to my neighbour to thank her for replacing my fence. She said it was a very last minute decision. But is really pleased that I’m pleased.

Assumptions

After days of hearing chainsaws from next door, it was a nice quiet day. Well till they started ripping the fences down to replace them. This involved clearing a lot of Ivy and such on my side of the fence line. More distraction.

So when I got a message from a friend asking if I was free for an arena hire with Buddy, I jumped at the chance to get out of the house.

The jumps were still out from Saturday’s clinic, so I foolishly assumed that Buddy would be happy to jump them. I was wrong. Again. Came into a fence he’d jumped beautifully on Saturday, only for him to slam on the brakes! He hasn’t done that for a long time. Bit of a regroup and he was soon jumping again nicely. Very odd. But not overthinking it. Well maybe a little bit.

Got back home to find 3/4 fence up. But a rather large gap between my fence and the new one that could leads onto the railway tracks. Not ideal with Bert and the kittens.

There was also a lot of debris and trampled plants. I needed to vent so wrote a long ranty message to another friend. Pressed send and then heard more fence ripping so went to investigate. The workmen were ripping out the two fence panels that are mine. I must have looked rather shocked and perplexed at this. They explained that the new owners had ask them to replace them as the same time. And they’d cover the cost. How wonderful is that?! Another job off my rather long list of house jobs.

Of course, I instantly felt bad for assuming, venting and complaining. The workmen offered to fix the gap too. I felt like a right arse. Well I guess that happens when you assume…

Rockstar

This is the face of a hacking rockstar. It’s a very handsome face too. Today Buddy had to overcome a lot of our hack. I hadn’t realised they were picking up the sugar beet. He put his brave pants on to walk under the dinosaur. Yes I’m sure it’s got a technical name. But it looks like a dinosaur hanging over the road. It also made a bit of a racket as it picked the beets up. It also made one hell of a racket as it dropped said beets into the massive lorry.

That made him jump, but still he held it together. Said massive lorry then came up behind him. Thankfully it turned right as we turned left.

Next we went past a fence being erected with banging and drilling. Lots of cars, dogs, prams and even a few cyclist. It seemed a rather popular time to go out.

Still he held it together. His undoing was a man walking round the corner. Fair enough, his little bucket was full.

After that spook, he didn’t break his stride with a cacophony of gunshots. Total hacking rockstar!

I have to say that there were some really lovely people out today. Who stopped, were patient and let us have space. It really does make all the difference. I’m also very grateful to have such a trusting and grounded horse. That makes all the difference too.

On the fence

The now traditional camp clean up was the order of the day. 5 loads of washing done. Managed to get some almost dry on the line. Even managed to rescue it all before the rain hit. Winner!!

The kittens are very happy to have me home. Dodo spent most of the morning on my lap. And Hugo wasn’t too far away either. He made me laugh when I went to get the washing in. He was definitely ‘on the fence’ about whether to come in or not. How on earth can it be comfortable sitting on something so thin?!

I brought the Buddymobile home last night to decamp. So that got a good clean too. It’s amazing how messy it gets being away. Sad that it was the last camp of the year. They really are my happy place.

Congestion

It’s total gridlock on the garden fence today. Or is it a Brundall stand-off? You decide. Whatever it is, it made me laugh.

Neither of them was moving. In the end Dodo climbed over Hugo. I guess that’s one way to resolve it. Probably a good job we can’t do that when we’re in congestion. Though there have been a few times when I’ve feared the Comedy Car would go under an HGV. It’s rather small!

Crash barrier

The kittens have been big fans of climbing over the fence in my garden. It needs replacing (it’s on the list) so has seen better days. Every time one of them has climbed over it, the panel wobbles. I was a bit worried they were going to take it down.

Seems they’ve decided that it’s safer to go through the fence! Noticed today that the bottom has been broken to make a rather large opening. Not sure if my neighbour did this or if it was the kittens. Let’s face it, Hugo can be a bit of a bulldozer at times.

Either way, they love running in and out of the garden and next door’s.