We will remember them

𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒘 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒍𝒅, 𝒂𝒔 𝒘𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒇𝒕 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒘 𝒐𝒍𝒅

𝑨𝒈𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎, 𝒏𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒏

𝑨𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈

𝑾𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎

Image Description - Poppies growing along the left hand side of a country lane with the words Lest we forget written in white on the right hand side for remembrance day

Bank Holiday Weekend

 It feels so strange to be at home today, in the past we'd spend the August Bank Holiday weekend away at the beach, how I miss those carefree days of packing up the camper van at a moment's notice and disappearing with the boys for a few days

Image Description - A beach sunset with Himself, Boris and Eko in silhouette on the beach when the tide is out, the setting sun is behind them casting a red, orange and purple light across the whole beach and the setting sun as a white orb in the centre top of frame

 Caring for my parents is a full-time job these days and I have to be available 24/7, we have a fantastic live-in carer who I honestly couldn't manage without as I struggle to come to terms with the changes in my parents which has made them people I no longer recognise, but the biggest and most definitely strangest change is that my dad's life long chronic stammer has

Touching Base - It's been a while

So much has happened since I last posted

I've been really struggling with my own mental health as well as my parents health problems which has made me feel so very anxious

A couple of weeks ago mum suffered another mini stroke (TIA) it's the third one since her original  stroke, which makes it so hard for me to find both the time and inclination to update my blog for which I can only apologise for my absence

As a family we recently spent a long weekend in Windsor as I was also doing a sponsored 10K to raise funds for The Hunter Centre which is the day centre my dad attends each week for people with dementia and without who's support I'd be really struggling, Boris also celebrated his 11th birthday whilst we were away

Image - Full body shot of Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel majestically sitting on the Long Walk leading up to Windsor Castle, his head is turned towards the left of shot and he's wearing a rainbow and silver coloured rosette that says Happy Birthday in the middle

Since dad broke his hip last

Galloping towards the weekend

Image - Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel in the middle of a green field galloping flat out with his tongue out and ears in the air, under him in blue text are the words galloping into the weekend

Yes that really is Boris galloping along at full pelt and fully extended, I used to love watching him galloping for the pure joy of it

When Boris could no longer gallop flat out due to his Arthritis, I stopped doing Galloping into the Weekend posts

This morning I was in a lot of pain and feeling particularly down about my own Arthritis, when this

Difficult decisions and allotment news

Springtime is my favourite season with all the blossom and new life sprouting from the earth, the clocks have now changed and the days are getting much warmer and longer

Boris is doing really well on the new medication regime for his arthritis, I'd noticed he was starting to struggle more with the stairs and sometimes in the mornings he was finding it difficult to assume the position when toileting

Image Description - Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel sitting in front of a large bush covered in white spring blossom, he's sitting proudly and looking very intenly at something that's behind me out of shot as I take his photo, he's also wearing a grey Y front harness 

I was really starting to worry about Boris and his quality of life as he's such a master manipulator (like many dogs) about hiding his pain, we had a long chat with Dr Tania about how

Fighting Fit

It's been a great week with sunny weather for the most part and some much needed time to myself, I've managed to capture lots of new photos of the boys both together and also individually, I'm finally getting used to the camera on my Pixel 9

I love to use whatever is available as a prop for the boys to stand on and delivery day from Paleo Ridge is always the perfect opportunity for a fun photo, the box is the perfect size and the lighting is always great by our front door

Image Description - Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel and Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel side by side laying atop a large cardboard box with WOOF written in bold black letters across the front on a bright sunny day. Both are facing towards the camera, Eko has his front paws curled under his chest like a cat whereas Boris has his front legs stretched out in front of him, only Boris is looking directly at the camera whereas Eko is transfixed by something out of shot to the right hand side 

The boys love posing for photos together although I find it strange

Spring has Sprung (almost)

After all the dreary weather things have taken a much needed turn for the better down here in the South of England, this past week has been so sunny that it feels as if Spring has arrived early this year

When heading to the allotment to start digging in the beds and prepare them for planting I was so pleased to spot a small patch of early Crocus at the side of the road with their delicate purple flowers poking up through the grass to brighten our day

Once the Crocus and Daffodils start to bloom it really lifts the mood knowing that Winter will soon be but a distant memory 

Image Description - Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel laying on a patch of grass at the side of the road with his head facing towards the camera behind a dozen purple Crocus flowers who's colour really pops against his black coat

🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

This year didn't get off to a great start, first with the whole scaffolding debacle which was then closely followed by a complete nightmare when the Gas Safe engineer we've used previously came to do the yearly service of the heating and boiler at mum and dads house. Without warning the engineer disconnected

My Sunday Photos

I used to love doing the Silent Sunday blog hop every week, without fail I'd been sitting there at midnight on a Saturday night along with many others waiting for the linky to go live and when it did we were off

Image Description - Head and shoulders shot of a very wet Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel in the woods, his ears are heavy with water and he's wearing his green fleece jumper as he looks at the camera 

I've said it before that because of having had such a long break we've lost contact with so

I couldn't make this up!

Why do things always go wrong at the weekend

I arrived at mum and dad's on a Saturday morning a couple of weeks ago to discover my parents are effectively trapped inside their property with no means of leaving it for any upcoming appointments or in the event of an emergency 

The local council had put scaffolding up in the alleyway without any prior notice or consultation with myself about the access or egress required and have totally blocked mum and dads only wheelchair accessibl route into and out of their property since mum had her stroke and dad became immobile after breaking his hip

The support poles for the scaffolding were so close together that