A crazy weekend, and Monday

What a weekend it has been. I'm going to get right into it as this is going to take some time I think.

Can you spot the frog?

It went right inside

First of all however while watering I spotted an interloper in one of our watering cans; this little frog was sat right on top looking at me however as I moved to get a picture it dropped down inside to hide. As of today however it has moved out.

Hitting the road in Thomas

The amphitheatre is looking run down and dangerous

Beautiful view across the valley

The fallen down building is still standing, just

A stunning autumn display

Down the dirt track towards The House..

... which is no longer there!

Rosie with her sausage and chips.. kinda

Sliding fun

Dutch with his new toy

Asleep after playing

Saturday was an epic day. Once we got ourselves all together I jumped in Thomas with Rosie and we headed out for a drive. We were aiming for The House (very long term readers may remember this as a place I've tried to buy a few times but always failed) via a mountain pass with some interesting sights on the way. We stopped at the old amphitheater but sadly it wasn't possible to get inside any more. Next up was another property we have tried to find the owners for in the past but failed; it was a glorious day and the view from there was enough to make me think about trying again. From there we drove onwards, up the windy narrow road and down the super bumpy dirt track before arriving at the turning circle by "The House" to find that it has been knocked down and the whole plot recently fenced in with some fruit trees planted all over it! Oh no! After this visit we headed back to the local town for some lunch, which was ok but not great, then spent an enjoyable time in a park with a bucket swing, some slides and other cool apparatus. Then it was back on the road heading home, via a stop at a garden centre for a load of compost for the raised beds. We got back in time to have a lovely play with Dutch, and gave him his new toy. Then he fell fast asleep on the step.

The first long raised bed is completely full

More plants for Rosie

Sunday was when things got interesting this weekend. Angela was out and planting lots of seedlings in the raised beds, including new ones in Rosie's little area and we are already almost out of space in all the raised beds so I'll be needing to assemble and fill yet another one soon. I popped out into town briefly (or so I thought) before lunch only for the gear stick to break in Betty as I was trying to leave the carpark of the hardware store. I couldn't select reverse and forward gear was only 3rd. A friendly local pushed me out of the space (I was nose in) and then I limped over to the mechanic who was able to arrive just after Angela got there to collect me. He took her in and we went home. Drama over? Oh no. Later on Angela noticed that Thelma was dropping blood and she very sensibly did a lot of research and found that this could be a very serious issue. We rang the vet and arranged an appointment for 6pm for her to be seen and potentially have an operation.

In our ring side seats before the show started

Rosie with her bag of popcorn

Right up in the rafters on some cloth!

Rosie doing her "tightrope" walk

Another short ride on a pony

New noisy toy

Swinging from a ring only by her feet

We then had a rest and had decided to not go to the circus with Rosie as Rosie was feeling a little unwell however she woke from her nap so cheerful that I said I'd take her on my own, while Angela took Thelma to the vet. This is what we did, the circus was not the same one as last two times and wasn't quite as good I didn't think but we did enjoy it and the two younger members were amazing - the girl did some high wire and rope tricks that were astounding, and the young guy did juggling and other tricks that were also great. At one point Rosie went out into the arena to walk the "tightrope" which was fun, and at the half way break she again got to ride a pony around the arena and get a picture. In the second half I got my chance in the limelight as I was called up with three other men, had to dance around the edge of the arena (yes... dance!) and then they did a trick where we all sat on stools, laid back and braced ourselves, and they removed every stool from under us! My legs hurt for hours afterwards. Rosie got a new sword that lit up and played sounds and we got home just after Angela. Thelma, it turned out, did have the potentially life threatening illness and the vet had kept her in to do emergency surgery and we were to collect her in the morning.

Taken the canula (??) out

Thelma getting cuddles

We both took Rosie to school this morning, stopped off for breakfast (which we have missed for the last couple of weeks) and then headed to the vet for Thelma. She was so happy to see us (having spent the night in a cage near cats, which she hates!) but is so weak it's really sad to see. She's now got sole use of the fenced area by the fire so she has space to recover as she has stitches in and they won't be taken out until Thursday. Poor little thing, it's so unusual to see her so lethargic.

Getting set to with more shelving

A new leg was required

Super long screws to hold it secure

Everything is now level

Drilling to secure the work top

The men today worked more in the workshop, though less got done than I expected. They did fit the rest of the shelves around the table saw, which involved lots of measuring and trimming and sanding, and once that was done they got onto the shelf for the mitre saw. They had to put another steel leg in place, which also slowed them down of course, and did make a couple of miscalculations for the height of the saw, but by the end of the day this is almost done. I'm really hoping tomorrow is the final day for working on this.

They are inseperable

I'll leave you with this picture and a couple of videos to show how well Dutch is settling in. He very nearly got renamed today to Bilbo but Rosie changed her mind and now that's set in stone. Honest.

There it is. Thanks for reading this epic update. Back tomorrow.