Autumnal Sunday Sunshine

I hadn't intended taking Alfie out for his routine jaunt across Eaglestone Park, but he kept following me around the house and peering at me in the way he does with the expectation that I might get the hint and actually change my mind. I was even washing up at the kitchen sink and he came in a prodded the back of my leg to get my attention, so, considering the fact that he's being such a good dog and has had to spend so much time cooped up in the house when I'm out, I thought otherwise and did eventually give in and take him out. The sun was making a tentative effort to shine. There was a sort of rosy glow over the tops of the houses as we walked down to the grassy area where I let Alfie off his lead and then a streak of golden light across the path a little further on. Not exactly warm as the air was still quite cold. Well, we are almost into October and there is a definite feel of autumn as well as a look, with drifts of leaves along the paths as we walked along.

We got part-way round the circuit when something black shot across the path in front of us. I thought it was a dog at first, but I couldn't see it clearly. It ran from over near the Redway towards Saxon Street and The Academy. Thinking about it now, there's a small possibility that it wasn't a dog and might well have been one of those small deer that are running around wild. I think they are muntjak, probably escaped from Woburn Park. You see them occasionally if you're driving in the country and I think I've seen them on the occasions when I used to drive to work at Everton and went through a particularly wooded area. Possibly the ideal habitat for such creatures. Anyway, this creature moved fast and, thankfully, Alfie wasn't interested. Just as well, because I didn't want the possibility of him chasing it. Funny little dog that he is, he'll make a commotion if a cat so much as sets foot in our garden, or even a squirrel, but if one comes any where near him when we walk through the park, he doesn't so much as bat an eyelid. Just totally ignores them. Perhaps them coming in the garden is a sort of territorial thing and meeting them at more or less close-quarters doesn't come into the category of anything in the least bit territorial.

We walked on and then, in the distance we saw a lady walking a chihuahua. Also caught sight and had to make friends, but the poor little dog was so nervous, it almost tied it's owners legs up in knots with it's lead, because Alfie, in his excitement at meeting this dog, had no doubt thrown the poor thing into a panic. The lady said the dog suffered with stress, and I apologised for Alfie's behaviour, but she was understanding, thankfully. We walked on, and managed to see them further along the Redway, but this time I decided to put Alfie back on his lead so as not to upset the poor dog.

I went to church at Shenley Christian Fellowship as usual, to the 9.15 service. Nothing untoward happened, except I got a coughing fit during Ross's sermon (poor man, must have really worried him when I collapsed four weeks ago.). Because I couldn't stop coughing, (no amount of cough sweet I sucked would help.) I decided to leave the hall and had to go to get  drink of water. It didn't entirely relive the coughing but I sat out in the lounge area and could hear the rest of the sermon on the Tannoy system.

The cough did eventually settle down. But it's somewhat embarrassing when you can't control it. The Ramapril have definitely left their mark on me. I just hope it wears off, but I reckon it will be a while until it goes completely.

Morning Rain

As I write this blog post it's raining. (7.30 a.m.) Not very heavily, but certainly enough to refresh the grass around here. There's a certain amount of water running down the side of the road at the front of the house which I could see when I was in the bathroom having a shave this morning with the window open. Someone just walked past with an umbrella up, so it must be of a certain level to need to use an umbrella. I means I won't be taking Alfie out for his, by now, routine walk around Eaglestone Park, which he won't think too much of. I can always take him that bit later when it's stopped. I just hope it soaks the ground sufficiently to revive the grass around here. At the rear of the house the grass is looking somewhat shrivelled and brown, large areas have more or less given up, so a sudden soaking should do the trick. A lot of the Gridroads around Milton Keynes are looking decidedly patching and brown. 

We were going shopping on Tuesday morning and had intended going to Morrison's at Westcroft. . Carol was driving and we went along Chaffron Way but couldn't get through due to the road being closed off, most probably because they are gradually resurfacing the Gridroads, which in places are in a real need of this sort of work, but it was annoying and we weren't given sufficient warning in advance so we ended up going to Morrison's newer store near the railway station.

I spent some time on Monday and Tuesday morning tidying up the garden at the front of the house, using the Ozito cordless grass trimmer (not actually a Strimmer because it doesn't use the plastic fishing line that an actual Strimmer has, but a similar plastic blade like the lawnmower, which is better because you don't have to keep stopping to pull out the fishing line which keeps on breaking with a Strimmer.) As this machine is cordless it makes things easier when you don't have to connect it to the mains electricity supply with a cable connected to a power point. You just have to remember to keep the battery pack charged. I managed to cut the grass which has grown in the flower bed in front of the kitchen window (if you can really call it a flowerbed as it hasn't ever had any flowers in it, except a few pathetic spring bulbs which appear each Spring.) and then I hooked the cut grass out with the rake we got in The Range the other day. I got the mower out of the shed and used this to cut the lawn at the front of the house, although the grass wasn't really long enough, it's got very scruffy and most of the growth is tusky and tough weeks, giving rise to yellow flowers a bit like dandelions, but which I have an idea are actually called coltsfoot, but I may be wrong. Does it really matter? Our landlord's wife, who visited us the other Sunday, only had one comment about the house, not having done an actual house inspection, and that was 'have you cut the grass?' which is why I'd made this effort with the front of the house, as I imagine, when they'd drawn up in their car, they'd noticed how scruffy things were looking. I also had to hack down the saplings (no doubt they're called that, otherwise the tree-like plants which seem to spring up at the front of the house as well as in the back garden. They always appear along the left-side fence as well as under the lounge window.) I used the loppers to cut it all back and the  put the bits in the green Wheelybin. I've also managed to clear some of the weeds and grass that come up between the concrete slabs at the front of the house which is swept up and put in the Wheely bin as well as the brambles which put out runners all over the slabs and since cut down it all looks somewhat tidier and should now be easier to keep clear, but there is still more to be done to keep it clear. The Wheely bin isn't really large enough for this operation and is soon filled and then put out at the edge of the garden at the roadside, on a Wednesday so that the dustmen can take it to be emptied. So it's a limitation as to how much you can actually manage to trim each week.

I took Alfie out for his walk when the rain held off. It was actually drizzly as we crossed the road into the walkway down into Eaglestone Park. Alfie is generally a good complaint little dog. If he runs off and I call he almost always comes back to me. But as we got round to the open green leading to the shops he ran ahead of me and I couldn't see where he'd gone as there was another bend in the path and some brambles in the way. He ran towards the lady who has the two little chihuahua dogs we've met on a couple of occasions. When I called he just would not come back to me. Then I saw another lady with a Great Dane and Alfie ran away when he saw this dog. He doesn't usually run away from dogs, more likely he will run towards them and run in circles around them, attempting to make friends, which most large dogs don't like or are so stunned by his behaviour, he moves so quickly they haven't got a chance to respond, but this time he ran away. I wasn't sure whether the Great Dane scared him because I was further back on the path and could see, but it was odd that he'd run off.

Alfie got a bit of a soaking in the drizzle, not too much, but the wetting made his coat go all crinkly and wavy which always happens when he gets wet. Once we were in the house he tried to dry himself by rubbing under the over-lapping cushions on the sofa in the sitting room and upstairs he rubbed along the bannister rails which makes an odd sort of noise.

The sun has now come out (9.45 A.M.) so perhaps the day will turn out a good deal sunnier than expected.

Overcast Saturday Walking

I went out for a walk with Alfie at around 8.20 this morning. Carol was asleep up until then and if I'd taken him earlier he would have woken her up with his barking and noise. As we came out of the walk-way down to the park where I usually let him off his lead I could see the lady who has a disabled chair with her alsatian moving along one of the paths in the distance. I didn't immediately let Alfie off as I wasn't sure the alsatian might attack Alfie or at least bark at him or even go for him by picking him up in it's mouth. I'm not going to risk his safety so we walked in the opposite direction around the path, along past the houses and on towards the Redway which crosses Eaglestone Park and then up towards the shops and we came across the lady with the two small chihuahuas. One named Poppy, whom we have met on several occasions. Poppy, the black one which carries around a yellow rubber ball in her mouth, wasn't keen to relinquish the ball or to play with Alfie. The lady (who's name I don't know.) told me that her dog didn't want to play because she is obsessed by the ball although Alfie just runs around in circles and just wants to be friendly. He doesn't meet many other dogs so it's good for him to socialise like this. The lady told me that the woman in her disabled chair with the alsatian doesn't control her dog. She says it's a wonder the alsatian doesn't pull her chair over as it's quite big and I said I didn't want it near Alfie as I didn't trust it to not attack Alfie. She said the woman doesn't control her dog as she ought to.

It's currently much more overcast this morning which means it is so much cooler. Nevertheless,  I insist on continuing to wear my shorts as it is so much more pleasant.

Carol's into crafting and wanted some ink pads so we drove to The Range as they have a good range of crafting materials. We also wanted a rake to help to clear up the grass on the lawn at the front of the house. The grass trimmer does a good job but you are left with lots of cut grass which then needs collecting up. We found what we needed in the gardening section of the store. When we got to the till to pay we saw crisps and drinks which we added to what Carol had already picked up as we intended going for a walk with Alfie at the Ouzel Valley Park which we'd visited yesterday.

Once we got back home we organised ourselves so that we could go out with Alfie to the Ouzel Valley Park. We didn't put the cage in the back of the car, instead Carol drove and I held Alfie on my knee. It saved time and effort, but even so he made a lot of fuss and noise. It's not far to drive and we parked in the carpark at the park. We also took the food and drink items we'd purchased in The Range. We started off with Alfie on his lead, but once we went through the gate into the meadow we let him off. There was no livestock in the field and if there had been, Alfie would have ignored anything such as sheep or cattle. He doesn't run far and always comes back when you call him. We walked on and went through another gate and then walked besides the river, The Ouzel, where Alfie was quite happy to trot along beside us, occasionally running ahead of us.

If we'd had Poppy with us she would have been tempted to jump in the river and swim, but Alfie isn't interested, but on one or two occasions I was concerned that he might get too close and fall in. He did one end up in water when we went to walk along the banks of the Grand Union Canal and Alfie jumped over a low wall and found himself in the canal and had to be extricated by myself. I think he got something of a shock when he got wet and has never tried that game again, and who can blame him. Looking back it was quite funny, but at the time it was concerning that he might drown. He looked thoroughly miserable as a result.

We walked on, under one of the concrete bridges which carries Chaffron Way over the river and onward towards Woolstone, where we walked past the remains of the Medieval fishponds. There is a map on an information board which describes the landscape and the significance of the fishponds. We went through several kissing gates and eventually came to a wooden bridge and crossed over to the opposite side of the river and walked back towards the car. We met several people with dogs, at one point a couple with two West Highland Terriers. Poppy was a schitsu/Westie cross. She is greatly missed since she died. Both these little dogs barked when they encountered Alfie, butwe kept him tightly under control on his lead. He just wants to be friendly, but these dogs were determined to be somewhat aggressive towards him. We walked on and actually found we'd walked too far along the patch once we'd crossed another wooden bridge and had to walk back, eventually walking back across the open meadow which lead us back to the carpark and our car.

We sat at one of the conveniently placed picnic tables and ate our pasties and crisps. Alfie ate most of Carol's. I'm not surprised he was so hungry, because of how far we'd walked. He can be a picky little dog when you feed him scraps. He quite often turns his nose up if you offer him left-overs when you're having a meal, but on this occasion he ate it as fast as he could.

It was becoming quite windy and it took us all our time to keep the crisp packets from blowing away and the put the remains in a litter bin and drove home.

Short Trip To Hospital

Early morning and it's hot. It's going to be another scorching hot day. Just as well we don't have to do much, although Carol needed to pick up antibiotic tablets from Milton Keynes Hospital. We weren't sure where to go to collect them. It would have been easier for us to go to the pharmacy in the hospital.

I took Alfie out for his, by now, daily walk. He's following me around the house, making sure I'm aware that we hadn't been out. We do the usual circuit of the park and we see the two little dogs we came upon a couple of days ago. Chihuahuas both, one a brown-and-white and the other black. The black one, Poppy, obsessed with a rubber ball, very protective of it. Alfie just wants to be friends with them. He's not going to bother with the ball. After all, he's a terrier and not a reliever and don't you know it. He runs rings around both dogs and wags his tail frantically. Just having a lovely time. Really great that he's socialising with the dogs he meets.

Right. Having walked Alfie and had breakfast, we had to go into the hospital to the A.E.C.U.           (Ambulatory Emergency Care Unit) department in the Maple Centre.  Actually we didn't at first know it was there. We parked in the hospital multi-storey carpark and walked to the reception in the new hospital entrance. Well, not probably that new, as it has been opened for about 6-8 months now. It was here that we were directed to the Maple Centre. Had we known, we would have parked at the front of the hospital, in the ground-level carpark, which is actually directly opposite the Maple Centre. Never mind. We were somewhat surprised that there were notices along the top of the low wall outside the main entrance, telling you not to sit on it. Why? What reason was there that you couldn't sit on a wall, particularly at the moment when it's so hot? Might it be because the wall isn't designed to take a person or persons sitting on it? Are they concerned that it might collapse and then be sued for injury? Is it our old friend Health and Safety gone slightly crazy? Oh, never mind, there are a couple of benches further along which are designed to be sat upon and not likely to collapse if you sit on them. It was a relatively short walk around the hospital campus to get there. We spoke to a lady on the reception but then we had to go round the corner to the A.E.C.U., which is where Carol had to come a couple of months ago, when we had to wait virtually all day before a doctor could deal with a situation she had at that time. It wasn't long before on of the nurses managed to find the antibiotics that were needed and handed over a package of these medications to take home. Fortunately, when we returned to the multi-storey car park and out our ticket in the payment machine, we didn't have to pay anything, no doubt because we hadn't been more than half and hour, which means you don't have to pay.

Alfie Makes Some Doggie Friends

It makes quite a difference to take Alfie for his morning walk a good deal later than I have done means that we come across a lot more people, many of them with dogs. This morning we came across a lady with two small dogs, I think they were chihuahuas. One was a light brown colour, I think quite old, the other was black, with a diamanté collar with her name 'Poppy' emblazoned on it.  I think they were chihuahuas. They were around the same size as Alfie, and he was more than delighted to meet them. I had let him off his lead once we'd walked down the patch into the depths of the estate and got to the large grassy area. As soon as we got closer Alfie goes into his excitement phase, running round the two dogs and going up to them and sniffing them, tail wagging madly. The little black chihuahua, called Poppy (same name as our dear old Westie/Schitsu cross, who died around 18 months ago.) was more interested in chasing the ball her owner threw than conversing with Alfie. He continued to run in circles around both dogs, but just wanted to get to know them. I'm so glad he's getting to socialise with all these dogs instead of being cooped up in the house. He's certainly in his element when he's outside and enjoying the park.

We've spent most of the morning hunting for the elusive tenancy agreement document, but without success. We've cleared out a lot of junk in the process, old magazines and goodness only knows what else, and all of it put in pink recycling bags and taken out for the dustmen to take away this morning (Wednesday.) So, it takes the search for something to get us to sort out something that needed doing. Certainly not a bad morning's work.

At last I managed to get hold of our landlord (metaphorically, not physically, you understand.) I rang at about 5 o'clock this afternoon and at first I thought I was going to have to leave another voicemail message, but he did come to the phone. It was about his son who was supposed to visit the other Wednesday and then they cancelled. So perhaps we're going to get the statement or a copy of our tenancy agreement so we can take it to the Council offices in Saxon Gate to get the Housing Benefit claim completed. It's in his interest to sort this out otherwise we won't be able to pay the rent next month. So, hopefully, this can now be sorted out at long last.