The girls meet lots of people

This blogging once a week thing really is a challenge. I am sitting down on Sunday evening looking back over a huge pile of photographs and videos and even with these prompts it is tough to remember the beginning of the week. It has been a really good week all told, from what I can recall, and so I will do my best to communicate that to you.

Simple food for a simple person

First of all here is a shot of my dinner which I mentioned in the last blog post. This was a very successful dinner and I think I will get some more of these chinese chicken thighs. Unfortunately the hot chicken legs which I also bought were not as impressive and I only ended up eating half of them; a waste but I don’t see why I should eat something that makes me feel unwell. I haven’t yet been back to Tesco to restock as I've had enough food in so I don’t even know if I can still get any of these.

Left overs made for a lovely lunch

And so Sunday turned to Monday and I had a really productive day. I spent all morning uploading the videos of the girls to youtube in the background while getting a lot of work done for a heavy target we had in the office. It is good when you have lots to do and are productive while doing it. After my weekend of training the puppies I was also a little bit nervous of how they would cope on the first day of me being in the office but when I got back for lunch there were no mistakes at all and outside toilet was successful on all counts. How exciting this was to me. I finished up the remains of the chinese chicken, having pulled it off the bone, on the side with a bowl of noodles and it was very nice indeed.

Playing in the garden while I eat

It was a lovely day on Monday and so I was able to take my food outside with a chair and eat it in the sun while watching the girls gamboling on the grass. I think they appreciated this as well as normally they are confined to their bed while I’m eating but, being outside, they were able to run around and have fun instead.  I don’t have any deck chairs so I had to bring one of the dining table chairs outside; I had to be careful to bring it back in as it wouldn't have coped with any weather very well at all.

I commented just the other day to my nephew that having puppies really does take over your life and this update is going to demonstrate to what extent that is (if my previous one didn’t make it clear enough). I left the office at dead on 4 to make sure I got back for the girls before any accidents occurred and found none once more; a 100% day. After a ten minute toilet trip to the bathroom it was inside and I got to laugh as they played together with one of their new toys; Mr Sheep. They are getting very good at shaking their toys in the way we want them to shake a rat and it all bodes well for their suitability as rat killers. Only time will tell though.

This is another form of "blocker" a developer can experience

Very shortly after that I heard that the code I was waiting for from work was ready so I logged in and did what I needed to do and of course the girls now wanted to snooze and cuddle so I had to work around them. They absolutely love sitting on my lap and falling asleep and I have to be quite hard hearted to kick them off and make them sleep in their bed when they really do get in the way too much. The evening then followed the usual routine with the aforementioned rubbish chicken legs for my dinner and a feeding time for them followed by play, snuggle and bed. Every single second of my evening revolves around them.

Homemade preserve in lovely greek yoghurt

I have been sleeping better this week which in one sense is a good thing but in another it has meant more of a rush in the morning as I try to fit everything in and still be at my desk for my 7.30 target. On Tuesday I remembered to get a natural yoghurt, and a jam jar of homemade pear preserve, to take for breakfast in the office. It was absolutely lovely however one was really not enough so my attempt at being healthy was scuppered and I had a flapjack as well.

Puppies doing what puppies do best

I got back to the house at lunch time to a slightly less successful day. We had total carnage with the innards from their bed spread all the way over the kitchen floor and also some wees and poos on the floor. Not ideal. They hadn't even made use of the cardboard this time which was even more disappointing. I told them off and then forgave them quickly; as I wasn't totally sure who had done which it wasn't really easy to target my punishment. I think they already know, however, as I barely had to say anything and they were back in their bed looking unhappy.

A large bowl of very tasty noodles

After the success of the noodles (and the garden eating) the day before I repeated it but this time made two packets of noodles and decided to sling the left over chicken instead of eating it. It went down very well and despite it being a slightly cloudier day I had a really nice time sat outside watching them play with sticks. They are really funny with this as they always want whichever stick the other has; I have watched Louise fake interest in a loose stick only to distract Thelma long enough to steal the one that she was previously playing with. They are cunning little things.

A veritable cornucopia of junk

After work on Tuesday I rushed back, let the girls have a quick toilet break, then put them in the cage in Thomas so we could go into Manchester to pick up a fridge which Dan had bought from an auction website I showed him the previous week. The trip was easy but Thelma was a little sick on the way which was concerning. I don’t know if it was because the road was so bumpy and I was driving a little too fast for it at the time but anyway. I found the place after one wrong turn and then had to wait while they acted like I wasn't expected and couldn't find the item. Eventually the correct fridge was found, excavated from behind boxes full of wine, and loaded into Thomas. While all this was going on I was having a good look around at the amazing plethora of items in this warehouse. I particularly wanted the awesome dragons pictured here and there was a very nice looking range oven which makes me hope the rats don’t destroy ours still sat outside the Little Lady’s barn.

Snoozing away like champions

The journey back was much calmer and they both were asleep within a mile or so of heading back. I had arranged to meet my boss for a beer again at the pub but was home with time to toilet the girls and then walk (or at least attempt to walk) them rather than drive. Once again Louise was slightly more willing on the way there with Thelma dragging a lot of the time but we got there in pretty good time as I gave up and carried them half the way. We were accosted on the journey to and from by a number of random people who think of puppies as public property and this also held true while in the pub. It is nice to have them appreciated but I also am not that sociable and so having to make nice to randomers isn't really in my nature.

While I was letting the girls have their run in the garden before heading to the pub I was finally able to capture the behaviour I mentioned earlier where one of them has something the other wants. They have both started doing a very cute swivelling motion to take the contested item out of reach of the other. It has an economy of motion that is brilliant and results in what looks like a waltz. Very funny.

Playing with a stick

Wednesday was another really productive work day but unfortunately the weather wasn't good enough to sit outside so the girls didn't get to have their play while I ate. They did get to go outside obviously though as rain or shine they need to get used to heading outside to do their toilet. By the time I got home in the evening the weather had improved and so I had a really nice time watching as they tussled together for a stick which has become a favourite for them. I can only imagine the fun they will have when they get to the school with all that space on the top bank for them to chase around as much as they want.

As is usually the case after such an energetic work out the girls were pretty exhausted and when we came inside had a drink and then asked to sleep on my lap. I was happy to oblige as I really enjoy cuddling them and they were pretty soon asleep. I took three videos of both of them snoring but this one was the best. Unusually it is Louise here who is doing a passable impression of a steam train; normally it is Thelma who snores the loudest.

Destroying the hand grenade

I had arranged for Loz to come over to mine for dinner as the experience at the pub the day before had pretty much put me off. I planned to make my spicy pork pasta for him and was just getting everything chopped ready when I had a text from my boss and it was arranged that they would both come over. I was ready in plenty of time so I gave the girls some more attention with their hand grenade toy, which is now completely battered, and they had fun making the damage to it even worse with a game of tug.

Loz and Gerd with Louise

Once they had been tired out a bit more I went back to cooking and started frying off the pork pieces – this is always the stage which I end up rushing and they don’t get crisped enough but this time I got a good colour to them and some nice charred bits and I was even able to turn them off and leave them until my guests arrived. Gerd was first followed shortly after by Loz and we had a really lovely evening. They said, at least, that they liked the food and we also shared some Bulgarian beer, a few English beers and a small shot each of the lovely birthday whisky bought me by A. This was the first time Loz had met the girls and he was blown away as everyone is; fortunately they were on good behaviour and so were obediently in their bed while we ate. After they left there was time for a snuggle on the sofa and then it was bedtime as we were all pretty tired by that time.

I would NEVER spoil them!

Thursday again was a cracking day in the office, slightly less stressful than the Wednesday but still with so much productivity from the whole team. At lunch time I stopped off again at the pet shop on the way home for more puppy food and impulse bought them another rag toy as they are killing the toys very fast and I thought this new one looks pretty robust.  I also had not been able to find their hand grenade toy anywhere since the night before despite looking for it everywhere.

New toy, and old toy discovered

The girls got straight on with playing with their new toy as I put some butties together to eat inside as the weather was a bit bad and getting worse in preparation for a bank holiday weekend. I sat down on the sofa, having taken it to bits looking for the toy, and complained to A that it was nowhere to be found only to raise my head, glance towards the front room window, and spot it hidden underneath the radiator. Typical. I had done a "man look" as A would say.

Pre-fix bed; a total mess

When I got home from work I had a list of chores to complete before the weekend. The most important of these was to fix up their bed which they had largely destroyed over the previous two weeks. There was quite a large rent right down the front and it was getting worse every day as they worried it and pulled the stuffing out to cause mess around the house. I pulled a chair into the front room by the windows so I would have good natural light and got the sewing kit out and, with some difficulty threading the tiny needle with the cotton, set to work.

The result of my sewing attempts

After only about 15 minutes of effort I had managed to get some (very untidy) stitches in place which were sufficient, I thought, to hold the stuffing in so as to not spread all over my parents’ house at the weekend. I had found an odd sock which my initial plan was to fasten over the area as another barrier to them unpicking the mending but when it came down to it I couldn't be bothered; if they do managed to open it again maybe I will use the sock trick then.

After completing this task I went round and tided a load of things away, sorting out the front room and back room together so things are a bit more organised ready for packing into the trailer (something I am aware will happen sooner rather than later as time is flying) and then settled down for my usual evening routine of my food, their food and then play time. As usual the girls did not disappoint and the (very short) video above is recommended viewing demonstrating just how much their “break its neck!” technique has come on. They really do give it a good shaking.

Snapped handle

That evening as I tucked the girls to bed and went to my own bed the door to the bathroom blew open slightly so I pulled it shut and gave a tug to engage the latch as it doesn't close very easily. The handle snapped off without any warning leaving me with a nicely shut door but no way to grip the handle to open it again, and the girls inside. I eventually got it reopened using some pliers to grip the very slippery round bit that was all that was left of the handle and had to resign myself to the door swinging and banging until I was able to get a new handle. Oooops.

These girls are really very awesome

I slept really well and woke early enough to get in Thomas and head to the studio before breakfast time for the girls. They ate really well, considering they were in a new room, and spent the rest of the day stealing Winston’s toys and having a few accidents on the floor, unfortunately. It was a really nice day and good to see Dan and a few other people who came past and I was happy to get the fridge out of the back of Thomas. This was a great purchase and at £150 for a £1500 fridge which worked really excellently as soon as it was plugged on I think the worth of this website for items like this has been proven.

This is them "play fighting"

I was making such good progress with the work I was doing that I missed the opportunity to leave before the rush hour so stayed a little later and was therefore home quite late. I was not hungry at all after the lovely butcher bought breakfast and lunch I’d had during the day, so just had a small amount of biscuits and cheese to keep me going for the morning. They girls had loads of energy having slept all the way back and went into a major fight which lasted about 45 minutes and revolved around several of their toys as well as using each other as a rag doll. They don’t seem to hurt each other too much (and, if they do catch, yelp and the other will release immediately) but it does look very violent as you can see from this. We didn’t stay up much later than this as a very busy day was in store the next.

My nephew and my new niece

I was up before 6am as normal with these two as they asked for the toilet (how amazing; I don’t mind being woken up when it is them being good girls and proving their training) and so I was in the car and heading down the M6 early to go to my parents. I arrived before breakfast and was treated to a lovely daddy cooked fry up and then a few rounds of toast which filled the hole very well. I was there to see my Nan again and introduce the girls to the family but most importantly my sister was up with my nephew (mentioned earlier, remember?) and my very new niece who is actually younger than Thelma and Louise. It is a very long time since I have seen my sister, or my nephew, so it was really nice that we were able to get to the parents on the same weekend. Aiden in particular has really grown up and I had a good time with him talking about trains (he loves model railways as well) and playing with the girls (the weather wasn't great so he was the only one to come outside with me when I took them out to fight and have a poo).

My nana holding Thelma

A crowd for the family gathering

As you would expect everyone loved the puppies and everyone wanted to relieve me of them. Even my nana was very impressed and kept picking them up to stroke them as they ran past on the few occasions when I let them loose. Other than this they were superbly well behaved and sat on my lap for a fair while and then stayed in their bed during food even though the room was full of people and noise; they make me so proud.

Holding my new niece

Eventually the time for me to leave came around and then went past as we tried to organise a picture that my sister wanted of me holding Olivia. I am not the most confident of people when it comes to babies but she is a very sweet child and even managed to not cry or scream as I tentatively held her and smiled for the camera. Suffice to say that very shortly after this picture was taken my sister had her daughter back.

Trying to steal a puppy

It was then the chore of gathering everything together (it is like having children, this puppy business) and ferrying it out to the car before heading off. The pictures I had had printed had been delivered to my parents (as well as my new driving license with the new codes on it YAY) so I distracted myself a bit by opening the boxes to show my mum. They have come out really well again the same as the one of Mo I got before. I went back into the main room to collect the puppies and leave to find that my cousin Jason had decided to try and steal Thelma and stuffed her inside his top. She was non the worse for wear when I rescued her but him and his daughter were not pleased at having their cunning plan foiled. Aiden helped me out to the car with Louise and then with a hug goodbye I was off home.

I was feeling quite tired and nodding a bit as I drove so it was with relief I got back, let the girls have their toilet break, and got into bed. My day was far from over as it was the Mayweather vs Pacquiao fight in the early hours of the following morning and I was going over to John’s to watch it as he had bought the package on his Sky. I therefore got a couple of hours kip, woke up for the girls to have their dinner (and me to have a cheese toasty), laughed as they played with their new pig toy and then got back to sleep for a final two hours before the alarm went off and I was in Thomas again to drive to his house before the show started at midnight.

The girls make even more friends

I made good time and arrived at 11.57, having been due at 12 exactly, and I was assisted from the car by both John and Magda with the aforementioned mountain of stuff which I carry around for the girls. As you would expect they were both smitten immediately by the girls and Magda spent the entire night fussing them whenever they were awake; she would not be able to cope with the usual scrap which occurs when they are awake.

Midnight feast

They had gone to some lengths to cater for this evening and served up a really tasty duo of pizzas which hit the spot about 1am. There were other nibbles available but I’m not much for eating through the night and so I didn't have anything else. I had been undecided on my post-fight plans but as the night went on I stopped at less than 2 pints of beer and decided to get home; the stress of having the girls with me and risking them pooing on a cream carpet was just too much to bear. Eventually the fight happened after a largely uninspiring undercard livened only by a Ukrainian who was really rather impressive and it wasn't really that worth having waited up for. Pacman was out boxed from the word go and never had a look in as Mayweather dodged and smothered and did everything professionally possible to make it his fight. It was not very exciting, but we all agreed that he deserved the win despite a couple of rounds to Manny which had us shouting at the TV.

A huge pile of posh scrambled eggs

I headed home at 6.30am as the day was starting and fed the girls then put them in the kitchen and took myself up to bed. I had to go down to tell them off as they started barking at each other almost as soon as I got myself settled but I slept long enough to get over the night and was up for a very late breakfast of posh scrambled eggs washed down with lots of tea and felt a little more alive and alert.

Fixed the handle; follow those wires!

I was obviously still quite tired and it was quite a drowsy day all told but I did achieve a few things of note. I did my washing and was able to, in between rain showers, dry the large items hung up outside.  I also fitted the new handle to the bathroom door which was actually quite a pain as the screws were “neggies” and the bit kept slipping out; I also use “pozzies” and that is why. Finally I got out the box of electrical stuff which I had brought back with the aim of learning to wire it all up and after some studying, and a bit of sarcastic help from my good buddy Steve, worked out how I will go about wiring up the sub main and putting everything at the school onto a safe electrical footing once more.

We're not sleepy daddy... no we aren't zzzzZZZzzz

With those chores done I set about repacking the canvases that had been delivered to my parents. The girls were pretty good for the most part, despite the temptation of the bubble wrap roll on the floor. Unfortunately one of them (I think it was Thelma) had a poo on the floor without asking to go outside which was a bit of a shame. Never mind, they are young, and they are learning. With this task completed I settled down with the girls on my lap for a bit for cuddle before my dinner and then theirs. They were very cute and sniffy and saying hello and then all of a sudden both of them fell fast asleep without any warning. It is so cute when they do that.

Superb steak for dinner; so tasty!

Dinner for me was the steak bought from the butchers in Blackpool on Friday and it was absolutely outstanding. I am tempted to try and get past a butcher just before I go back to Bulgaria so I can pick some nice steaks up to take back. I was discussing this with S and S, and A, and we all agreed that the lack of good steak is one of the only drawbacks of being in Bulgaria. With the family fed I settled myself to writing the main part of this blog, and editing the videos, and finished about 11pm which was rather later than planned but I didn’t want to lose my flow.

Bright moon behind clouds

As I carried the girls up to bed I was surprised by the brightness of the moon so I popped outside and took a few shots. It was bright enough to read by in its direct light and that is not something you see in this country very often. I was woken a few times by the girls and every time the moon was bright except first thing this morning when it was low and red on the horizon. I didn't have the camera to hand, and could barely open my eyes I was so tired, so I didn't get a picture for you.

Playing in the beer garden

When eventually I dragged myself properly out of bed this morning it was a gorgeous day without a cloud in the sky. I fortified myself with a bacon and egg, and a bacon, butty and set myself to work. It was hard to motivate myself and the girls were wanting to go out and then come back in which broke the flow of my thoughts up however I did manage to achieve my target by the time I got too fed up and chose to take the girls to the pub for a walk. This time they were slightly better than before though I did have to carry them both along the main road as the noise and smell of the cars disturbed them too much. When I got there I was welcomed by the locals who know the girls names, if not mine, and then took them outside into the fitful sun so they could run around. They really enjoyed this and attracted the usual attention with random people, and employees of the pub, coming over to say hello.

I walked them back but this time Thelma was much more awkward and ended up being carried on and off. There was once more a lot of attention from random people (a heavily tattooed man with two kids in the car had actually pulled over to the side of the road to talk to me on the way there) and there was an amusing moment when three huge rottweilers came walking their owner down the path and met us; talk about little and large! I can’t wait for Rambo to meet them. Now I am sitting here waiting for my tatties to cook so I can have cold lamb, tatties and green beans for tea, while playing some of my game which I’ve not touched for ages. I hope to get this blog uploaded tomorrow though I’m working from home waiting for delivery of the tarpaulin so it will depend on that if I get to the office to do the videos.