Cruel to be kind

I feel awful but it has to be done, Ferdinand has a bad ear and this is the only way to stop him making it worse. He's not happy.

A lively visitor

We have been dog sitting since Friday and things have been pretty lively here as a result. Milou is an adorable 10 month old Jack Russell / Staffy cross BUT she is not house trained, is very very bouncy, barks at cats and wakes up during the night. Carter is incredibly patient with her and tolerates her puppiness whereas Nancy is disgusted with her presence here and has been under the bed since she arrives, only coming out for meals and walks. We try to wear her out with lots of walks and here's a cute shot of her having a siesta with Guy (who looks like he's recovering from surgery of some kind!)

Things are growing here

 Our vine is growing so fast right now, by the time we get to proper hot sun in June it should be giving us much needed shade.

And the other thing that's growing is my sock! It's the first one I've done and after a few false starts I seem to be making progress. Not quite sure whose foot it will fit, it looks a very odd shape but I'm really enjoying knitting it.

and one last picture of the vine plus Rufus the rooster and one of his ladies

disadvantages of a seagull

I spent a long time this morning scrubbing away at the terrace to try and remove seagull poo. Jonathon has been with us since September now and his wing feathers are growing again but his flying skills are still a bit rubbish. He can take off, do a few rather pathetic flaps and then nosedives into the ground. His only other vices are pecking (quite hard) at shoes and trying to get in the cat flap. But on the positive side he is very curious and likes to see what's going on, plays with the cats and has a really sweet way of holding his head on one side and looking at you. We would quite like him to fly off and join his own kind soon though. Maybe Nancy and Carter could persuade him.

That time of year again

Exams are looming and my poor students are spending hours on mock tests, and I'm spending hours marking them. The first one is on May 8th which if past experience is anything to go by means they will start revising in earnest on May 7th.

Calorie alert

Eleanor gave me this fab cookery book for Christmas and I've been working my way through it much to Guy's delight. Today I made these Cherry Chocolate Cupcakes which are delicious. The only problem is that having lost a few kilos in the weeks before Easter I'm now in danger of piling them back on again.