Eight paws

It’s been cold and wet and not the best weather for walking dogs, or gardening for that matter. The towpath at Henley is the best bet when it’s like this. You can start at Marsh lock, head into town and go further along if the weather is behaving itself. The path is tarmac and quite good. I borrowed the chocolate Labrador to walk with a friend who was dog sitting one of these doodle dogs. The two have met each other before and got along ok. After stopping in Henley at the Hot Gossip cafe, we carried along and saw this very odd robot lawn mower doing its thing alongside the tow path. It seemed a bit small to be cutting the big patch of grass.

I have booked a couple of visits to the local Reading theatre called the Hexagon. It’s not a very pretty newish urban building but inside it’s quite good. The trips aren’t until June and November. I am seeing Gunter Steiner, one time F1 boss and a journalist called Jon Ronson. At home I have been making a few meals for when I am dog sitting, but also one meals that you can’t freeze, like kedgeree, Spaghetti Carbonara, Spanish omelette and so on. I also made one of my favoured meals Beef Bourguignon. 


It’s too cold to sow seeds, with an average day time temperature of five degrees. I have some broad beans I would like to sow, but it’s meant to warm up soon. I cut my utility pipe in two and have buried it with weed block tied over the end to keep the bindweed out and then buried in the ground.  I probably ought to fork over the plot again to remove any lingering weeds. I have tied up the apple trees that need it, and possibly a tree which is a pear. I have also repaired the netting where there were holes in it.

I made this attractive prune and date cake but I feared the worst as the mixture was really stiff when it went in the tin. Sure enough it was like cardboard when it came out of the oven and had cooled.


Another cake I tried which was a little more successful, was a carrot and pineapple cake. The only thing I would say is it’s a bit like a sort of pudding cake, not stodgy, but you can’t eat it without a fork,  

I have had to turn away a few dog sits because I am too busy or am away. However this last weekend I was sitting another dog and friends had to go away to visit an ailing parent. The original owners were very kind, letting me keep the other dog in their house. The two animals know each other, but aren’t the best of friends. Like most of the dogs I know, they dote on me so it’s like having two young children I expect. So with them we went to Henley again, it was drizzling but we had a decent walk. We went to the Angel on the bridge and met a nice young couple who loved both dogs, and near when we were back at the car, a lady who had a flat haired retriever. So we had a nice chat with her as we walked along. The next day we went to Dinton Pastures and then the Cosy Nook where both dogs made new friends. The Cocker is a real chatterbox and both dogs got jealous of each other as people we met gave attention to them. It’s been a real treat having them both. 




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