If I didn't laugh .......

I'd cry about the chaos that is now my life

I seriously couldn't make this stuff up if I tried

Welcome to this week and it's only Tuesday morning

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I had to cancel someone from coming round to my parents house to clean the gutters for an extortionate price, mum had booked them because someone put a leaflet through the door, thankfully she let slip about it to my brother who then told me, so I was able to cancel them. My brother will go up and see if the gutters need cleaning at our parents house when he comes over for Christmas 

Photo Description - A fun head shot of Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel and Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel sitting side by side in the garden, both are wearing Santa hats worn at a jaunty angle as they look at the camera

Getting told somebody came round the house to see mum, but nothing is booked on the calendar or I'd have been there, mum can't remember who it was or what they came round for.

Good Woof

We recently had a fabulous day out at Goodwoof for Dogs which was a lovely birthday surprise from my partner

Photo Description - Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel and Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel sitting in front of a huge orange sign that says "Welcome to Goodwoof a dog event like no other" in white lettering

It was great to be doing something just for us for a change. I can't remember the last time

Some Days are Overwhelming

What a hectic day yesterday and today has turned out to be, Thursday and Friday are normally my days off to catch up with myself and household chores

Late yesterday afternoon I received a phone call from my dad that his leg was sore and he'd shown it to his friend who said he needed to go to hospital

I thought that sounded a bit of an exaggeration because everything is an emergency to dad since his cancer diagnosis, so I asked my son who was at dad's house to send me a photo of dad's leg and sure enough it looked swollen and a bit red, so I  immediately phoned the Doctors for an appointment for him hoping  to get him an appointment for yesterday or at the very least for today as it's another long weekend with the Kings Coronation tomorrow

Bluebell Season

It's official Spring has finally arrived here in the UK, the sun is getting warmer and the Bluebells are now out filling our woodlands with luxurious carpets of blue

Photo Description - Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel and Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel sitting side by side in a woodland glade with a carpet of Bluebells behind them
Photo taken by Fur & Fables

They're a little late blooming this year because it's been so wet and cold as Bluebells usually flower from late March to early May, although it does vary from year to year

They are one of the last spring flowers to bloom before the woodland

Jackanory Part 18 - Throw Back Thursday

This Jackanory Story takes us back to a time before Eko was old enough to come and live with us

I was able to watch Eko formally known as Wash grow from the moment he was born with regular updates, photos and videos from his breeder Sam, I'd booked him (a male puppy) approx 18 months before he was even conceived

Photo Description - A studio portrait of a very cute young Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel sitting on a white chair with a white background looking at the camera with a calm confident expression 📸 This photo was given to me by Eko's breeder, if you're the photographer that took it please DM me and I'll add a credit

But our search and subsequent wait for Eko to join our little family had been so much longer,

Looking for the magic in every moment

For the first time in ages yesterday we had no time limit for our walk, it was great to just have the time to go wherever the dogs led me

We were soon on a part of the common I'd not been too for a very long time, I used to often walk this route with Badger but it always felt so weird walking that way after he'd left us for the Rainbow Bridge, so I've always avoided it, but the boys wanted to go that way and I duly followed as it was their walk after all

Photo Description - A very damp Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel and Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel between two tree trunks out on the common looking at the camera 

The rain soon started and I wanted to turn around and head back but

Happy Birthday Eko 🎈🎈🎈

I can't believe that our sweet crazy boy is 5 years old today, where has all that time gone?

Photo Description - Head and shoulders shot of Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel wearing his birthday hat and bandanna, the hat is navy and pink, it has 4 candles on top and has the words "Party Animal" across the front. The bandanna is navy with the words "It's my Birthday" on it

Eko came to us a year earlier than originally planned, but that was ok as I really wanted a puppy from his mum Juno, we knew her well and she'd had all the relevant KC/BVA health testing done to ensure any puppies born weren't

Vets and Physio

Eko

Poor Eko has been unwell on an off for a couple of weeks with a very upset tummy which is very out of character for him

I immediately started adding some probiotics to his food, this usually helps to clear an upset tummy up in no time if he's eaten something on a walk he shouldn't have

This time the probiotics didn't help so I asked for some advice from the Vidivet app that we use to ask questions when I'm not sure if the boys need to go to the vet or not, I was advised on this occasion that yes Eko should go and see our own vet the next day because of the symptoms I'd described

Rollercoaster Ride

Yesterday was a day of ups and downs, we made it to the end of dad's radiotherapy treatment for esophageal cancer. Even the snow didn't stop us, who'd have thought that 4 weeks could be so long and stressful, now we wait for everything to heal before scans can be done to find out if dad's in the clear

We celebrated by walking The Boys which dad really enjoyed, he's a massive dog lover and has really missed seeing them these past 4 weeks with everything that's been going on

The Bestest Boy

Eko is amazing and I really haven't talked about just how amazingly clever he is often enough

When he was younger he was always up to mischief and his antics soon caste him the naughty one of the two

Yet Eko is highly intelligent and as he approaches his 5th birthday

Snow Drop Season

Yesterday we spotted an untouched patch of Snow Drops growing wild out on the common

 I love these beautiful little flowers and was so pleased to see that they were fairly well spread out with spaces of empty ground between the clumps of flowers, it meant that I could carefully position the Boys between them without causing any damage to these beautiful delicate flowers

Has Spring Sprung Early?

Perfect Day

Yesterday we had the most fabulous walk in the sunshine at our favourite place, we've not been there in a while due to one thing and another

We had the whole common to ourselves it felt like and unlimited walking time as I didn't have to rush off anywhere

A leisurely stroll with lots of photos, it feels like an absolute age

Valentine's Day Unboxing

We love our monthly subscription boxes from the Collar Club, it's been some time since we last did an unboxing of these amazing boxes

So what better way to get back into the swing of it than with this months Valentine's Day themed box

Eko was so excited to be trusted with his first ever solo post of unboxing our Collar Club box, in the past Boris has always been the one to get photographed holding the items,  recently Eko has finally figured out that to hold things

Jackanory Part 17 - Boris Update

Update on Boris's recent Surgery

I had a couple of unpublished posts I'd started to write but not got around to posting as I've just been so busy with taking dad to hospital for the numerous scans in preparation for his Radiotherapy treatment next week

I opted to write this update in our Jackanory Stories that runs alongside the main blog, as the dates were just so out of sync with  the blog now

30th December 2022

Boris is off to the vets for his Librela injection today, plus we'll be discussing his upcoming surgery as to whether it'll now be as safe as possible due to his heart condition to remove the tumour on his back leg growing on one of his lymph nodes, also the large one that's growing under his ribs as well as two other lumps that felt somewhat strange in texture

If we do decide he's now fit enough to go ahead and remove these tumours, we'll also be getting some x-rays done of his elbows, spine and hips for an up to date picture on the progression of his Arthritis

My Wonderful Dad

Well that's it, dad finally had his last scan done on Friday, the consultants are getting together tomorrow and will work out which treatment plan is best suited to his fight with Esophageal Cancer

Everyday dad seems to be getting frailer and frailer before my eyes, my big strong dad who's always been my rock is fast disappearing into the shell of a person I hardly recognise because of Dementia 

We're still waiting on the exact diognosis of what type of dementia he has since his brain scan which was done about 6 weeks ago

His wit and sense of humour is still there though, usually at the most inappropriate moments which always cracks me up and we laugh together

Jackanory Part 16 - When Boris met Eko

The first time Boris met Eko 💗

As I recall Eko was around 5 or 6 weeks old when we took Boris to meet him for the first time

Only a few weeks previously Boris had been brutally attacked by another dog whilst working as my Assistance Dog and it had badly knocked his confidence around other dogs, which was worrying as we'd had Eko booked since long before he was a twinkle in his daddies eye

Would Boris be able to cope with a new pup in the house at this critical time, would Boris ever be able to return to work as my Assistance Dog, at this point we had no idea what the future would be

A Quick Update

 Busy, busy, busy but so lucky to have such amazing friends keeping me sane when everything gets too much

Also not forgetting Himself who's my absolute rock, who never complains when like yesterday a quick trip to my parents house to collect prescriptions and make up their pill pots, resulted in me unexpectedly doing the shopping and having to reassure dad about something he got the wrong end of the stick about, so I didn't arrive home until really late in the evening

Photo Description:- My mum sitting in her wheelchair in Tescos on our very first trip out shopping, she's wearing a blue coat and a poppy facemask

Also Boris and Eko who are putting up with irregular walks that are usually too short, irregular meal times and the fact I come home smelling like another person's dog that my parents (me) are looking after whilst her owner is in hospital 

Silent Sunday

Photo Description:- A profile head shot of Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel facing left with his mouth open and focused intently at something off screen

Follow

The Queens Platinum Jubilee Weekend

This weekend at Dogstival was a very special moment for The Boys and I

Too finally be able to meet everyone from Paleo Ridge face to face, especially Esther and Will who we've got to know quite well over the phone and via emails was just amazing

Photo Description:- Boris and Eko sitting in front of the Paleo Ridge stand wearing their Union Jack bandanas 

Eko flashed those sweet puppy dog eyes of his and everybody from

Jackanory Part 15 - Glitter Highlights?

I've recently noticed that Eko has developed some white eyebrows and I think they're so adorable. When he was born Eko was a beautiful shimmering light gold with a pink nose and two tone coloured paw pads

A recent photo of Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel laying on grass and looking at the camera with his tongue out and showing off how his eyebrows have recently started changing colour

At only 4 years old I'm inclined to think Eko is changing colour to a more roan like appearance, rather than going grey because of his two tone paw pad colouring