Soop's Kindly Kitcheners

What a lovely pup, judthepud. I'm so envious! My ex neighbour had a young cocker among a family of labs. She was by far the most mischievous - be warned!

Oh Jud how adorable is she? No wonder you couldn't resist her!
They are so lovable that I almost want one!

How lovely! I am very jealous.

soop you haven't floated away then?

We are going to collect a 'new' (to us) table and chairs this afternoon, I am very excited. It has a leaf so that we can extend it, it is getting to the point where the GCs are getting too big to squeeze up at one end of the table and we can't see when DGD is poking DGS under the table...

Am I feeling the effects of the recent change in the weather? I'm feeling much more creaky - shoulders, arms and wrists - especially in the morning. Anyone else affected? It could be a polymyalgia flare but I hope not.

Thanks everyone. Her Kennel Club name is Golden Trisk but my grandsons have named her Georgie. She is very lovable but indeed mischievous. Currently ripping apart a cardboard box which I keep her toys in! Nothing is sacred. It's like having a hyperactive toddler around.

At the moment she is going stir crazy as the rain is too torrential to get our usual walk and free run on the beach. She is even reluctant to go outside to toilet, resulting in a few accidents .

Georgie is a darling. How lucky that she has you and you have her.

Apparently the village shop cannot sell fuel. The flooding at that point has been made very much worse because a trailer (used as a store) was washed into the swollen burn and acted as a dam. Several people living beside the burn were taken to Tarbert overnight.

I've been with the ladies in the care home. A new gentleman has joined the residents. He has a super sense of humour. "M" tells me that she may need to "check out his pedigree..." I rocked with laughter and this in turn caused a lot of chortling all around the room.

Judthepud2 Georgie is a darling as I previously described. Once she is house trained I may well have a go at puppy snatching- she is adorable. The minor problem is that Tara would have her eyes out in a flash.

Me too, anno. Also more twinges that wake me. Yet here, the drop in temperature has been minute so far, we are still 16C during the day and usually double figures at night. All that is set to change this weekend, so I shall be back to having to roll out of bed.

An osteopath once told me that the changes in atmospheric pressure caused the sinovial fluid in the joints to expand and contract. So when the pressure is low the fluid expands and causes discomfort. He could be wrong - he misdiagnosed my bad back at the time!

Jud what a lovely puppy and what a happy solution to a family problem. I always wanted a dog but was unable to have one as a child. I had to wait until I was married before I got one. Hope you have lots of fun with her.

Georgie is a bundle of mischief.

Sorry Charliegirl no way can you have Georgie! I would never be forgiven by DGSs. We have an elderly cat too and he is violently opposed to this intruder onto his patch. Has already gone for her eyes while she was asking him to play. We have to keep them separate which is the hardest part.

Just back from our first obedience class. Georgie behaved beautifully. No wee or poo. Sat and lay down when asked. The instructor said that cocker spaniels are the easiest to train, but can be the most mischievous.

I am home again having done the ironing for my pal.
Awfully blowy outside the house. A friend is cleaning our chimney. I'm aboot to take my seat for the Andy v Rafa match. It may get noisy in this part of Kintyre. Back to update and catch up a little later.

I will keep the windows closed then soop, thanks for reminding me.

Judthepud2 please keep us updated re that bundle of fun. I love dogs but could not have one because I could not give it the walks it needs and Tara would hate another animal entering "her" house.

I was lucky- a couple of upended wheelie bins and the garden furniture on the move but luckily all fences intact as is the roof.

Charleygirl I was a little disappointed with Andy's attitude during this afternoon's match. He is a terrific tennis player but his moodiness often works against all the physical effort he expends. I feel like shouting for him to stop being so touchy. I still love him though.

I'm finishing a portrait of my granddaughter's adopted young cat, Juno. I shall share a photo with you once it has been mounted in readiness for posting to London.

It continues to be awfully blustery. The rain has ceased (for now)...the fields are flooded. Part of the wee bridge over the burn in the village, has been damaged. Detritus all over the place. A new Saltire has been delivered. When there is a lull in the wind, we'll attempt to replace our neighbour's sorely tattered flag with something more befitting the entrance to his driveway.

Good night for now. Keep snug and stay safe.

soop I agree, Andy's attitude, especially so early in the match does him no favours and I felt that he talked himself out of winning. It does not help him having words with the umpire and then talking to himself afterwards for ages, just playing into Rafa's hands.

Exactly as I see it, Charleygirl Andy can at times be his worst enemy. I have yet to see Roger be anything other than totally professional.

MacSporran took the portrait of Juno, our granddaughter's adopted cat, to the local post office. The post office remains out of action, due to the floods. He's therefore taken the parcel into Tarbert. That's a good long journey from here. I love and totally appreciate his kindness.

Portrait of Juno for our granddaughter

Back to the ironing board. After which...a certain puppy dog to sketch in readiness for painting.

Juno is gorgeous soop. Is he related to Rory?

That was so kind of MacSporran to travel so far in this awful weather to post the portrait for you. I am well aware that he is appreciated by the two admirers in his life, yourself and Rory.

Hello, Soopies! I've had a lovely time today meeting up with hildajenniJ in Glasgow. Turns out her DD lives not far from me so I could drive hildajj round on my way home. Just as well as the ferry she usually catches has been cancelled a few times in recent days because of sea choppiness.

soop, as usual, you have made a lovely painting. I almost wish we still had chickens so I could commission some portraits. Oh wait! There must be some photos somewhere...

I dare you, bags...I bet I could have a damn good try at hen portraiture. I'm so pleased that you managed a trip to Glasgow to meet with hildajenniJ Awfully blowy hereabouts. Haven't seen the ferry this afternoon.

Charleygirl Juno happens not to be one of Rory's multitude of kittens. Our granddaughter (a cat lover) living in London, went to a cats' home and adopted her. Juno will be very well cared for. Hannah works mainly from home. They will be company for each other.

Roger's match was excellent. Both contestants played an interesting match. At one point it was difficult to predict the outcome.

Care home visiting tomorrow morning. I shall pop in for catch up with our lovely Granspals in the afternoon.

Stay snug.

soop please do not forget that Andy is playing tomorrow but I forget who his opponent is.

Juno definitely has some of Rory's qualities - how old is he?

Stan Wawrinka (sp?) tomorrow, which could be tricky. It's said that Andy's mind is more than half on the forthcoming Davis Cup matches in which he (along with Jamie) will have the greater part of the responsibilty for beating Belgium, none of whose players is playing this week.