Wednesday 24 August 2011

Police on MY doorstep....

Even though you know you're a law abiding citizen isn't it amazing how the police parked outside your house can make you wonder...
what have I done!? lol


Friday 20th August...
The police are responding to a call from my elderly neighbour, Mr Danks, who has phoned Dorset Police from a caravan park somewhere in Dorset, to tell them he's concerned about his dog and that hasn't eaten for a few days....

they found Mr Danks front door unlocked and the back door wide open and one hungry Rottweiller... they fed him... and were sat in their car waiting for the RSPCA

I had a chat with them and went back indoors.... while chatting to Les I wondered if they had found his caged bird and knew the pond was full of koi carp.... so I popped back outside and spoke to the WPC .... she had found the bird at the bottom of the 160ft garden ... its cage placed inside an old aviary....


I've been told its a parakeet.... its tail feathers are all broken from constantly dragging them on the cage... I think he could do with a bigger cage... but anyway I digress...
The WPC is concerned that the dog has been sick .... and this is where I messed up BIG time.... I suggested that they leave the house keys with me and I'd pop in and feed the dog again... as he probably bolted his food through hunger ... she agreed and thanked me taking down my details... well its not like I'd be stuck caring for the animals, the RSPCA were on their way.... right?

Had to go and get fish food as I could find none in the house or sheds... bought biscuit to put with the few cans of meat that were there for the dog.... gave the parakeet some water....


Saturday 20th August:
*looking after Storm, feeding fish.... keeping an eye on the Parakeet

Sunday 21st August:
*Still looking after animals... on Friday the Police said "perhaps you could look after them for a couple days and hopefully Mr Danks will come home and take over....!"

Monday 22nd August:
*Phone police to ask if they have managed to contact Mr Danks and had any idea when he'd be home... they knew nothing as it was being dealt with by Dorset Police... they would phone them and ring me back...

*As it was my 40th birthday I popped out for lunch and a spot of shopping with family and returned to see a missed call...

*I phoned the police again to see if they had any news... Mr Danks was in Yeovil District Hospital... the Caravan park owner had contacted the police on Saturday as he was concerned about the state of Mr Danks health... This was on Saturday! ... The nurses were going to ask him if he had family that could take over the care of the animals....

*police rang back... or did I call them... oh I cant remember... but there were no relatives that they could contact... well actually thats a lie... there are a ton of relatives... however they only turn up to fleece the old boy of money...police officer then says.. "so can you look after them for a couple days as Mr Danks is going to be sent home then... ?"

now this statement concerned me... Mr Danks in my humble opinion was in no fit state to return home let alone care for a Rottweiler...

So I said NO!

the police officer said ... "not a problem..." he would contact Social Services as they had a duty to care for the dog....

So I waited for another call...

7pm the emergency duty team rang and had a long chat... they took lots of details agreed that Mr Danks needed to be assessed and should receive assistance to live at home... phew! someones listening... at last... however they cant do anything for the dog till tomorrow.... someone will ring me in the morning... but if they haven't rung by 11am im to ring the number she was about to give me....


Tuesday 23rd August:
*Still looking after the pets, and I potter about waiting for the phone call.... 11am comes and goes.... so I ring the number given.... *sigh!

*I get through to a receptionist who sounds about 12 and is as about as useful as a chocolate teapot... she cant find the number that I need to ring... hang on a minute... "excuse me but did you say a number that I have to ring?" oh yes! she says and goes quiet... she then takes my number so that she can ring me back with the number....

*Nasha from Somerset Direct rings back with a national number for the Cinnamon Trust... she cant find the local branch number but I should ring them and they give me a number for the local branch... :(

*I ring Cinnamon Trust and talk to Abby.... she takes details ... again.... and passes me to Bob.... (which of course must be said in a Blackadder fashion! lol) ... Bob says how can I help you..... I regale the whole story .... AGAIN! he enquired if the RSPCA had been contacted and I told him they didn't consider the dog abandoned... he laughed and commented at how useless they are... then told me that although Mr Danks qualified for assistance they were not willing to temporarily home a Rottweiler of dubious temperament with one of their volunteers...
I needed to phone the Duty Social Worker at Yeovil District Hospital and if they tried to fob me off I had to quote the "national assistance act" at them... they had a duty of care to Mr Danks animals and should pay for him to be temporarily kenneled...

*cup of strong coffee

*track down a phone number for the Hospital

*phone hospital.... they give me a direct dial number for Social services... if I end up back with the 12 year old I will not be amused....

*phoned direct dial number.... speak to someone who knows nothing about anything.... she puts me on hold..... comes back to inform me that someone in the hospital is dealing with it and they'll phone me back... everything goes quiet... whereupon I enquire if she'd like my phone number... she says ... uhhh... yes please... AARRGGHHHH!

*Social worker person phones me back... its now 1:30 pm.... she knows nothing... didn't know about the caravan park.... didn't know where Mr Danks lived.... didn't know about the bird or the fish.... didn't know what kinda dog it was... So from the top I retell the story .... again!
She would ask Mr Danks what he would like to happen to the dog and start phoning around to get him temporarily kenneled....

HOOORRRAAAYYYY!

*phone call at 5pm.... I'm excited... I answer it... and she says... "ohh I've been ringing around all afternoon... lol.... unfortunately I haven't been able to find anywhere that will temporarily kennel him... and although Mr Danks has asked that he be re-homed we don't want to take his dog away from him till he's better....."

"can you look after the pets for another night?"

how can I say no.... what are these incompetents trying to do to me...

Wednesday 24th August:
So here I am ... waiting for another phone call....

Storm is sat in his garden howling and barking.... and I am bewildered at how difficult it is for a bunch of people from police to social services that have all these powers at their finger tips to not be able to get this situation rectified...


He just wants to be cuddled, taught to walk on a lead, someone who's not going to feed him biscuits and cakes and fried food.... someone that isn't going to hit him with his walking stick.... he's a beautiful dog... and if it wasn't for Les I know damn well he would be up in my house with me by now....

so frustrated...

Wish me luck... I'll give her till lunch time... then I shall be phoning her again...

xx

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Wednesday 17 August 2011

Plum Crazy...

I have a little Victoria plum tree in my garden.... and it is loaded to breaking point with beautiful plums.... I found a Delia Smith recipe for Victoria plum ketchup and decided that I would start making some after the plasterers had finished..


I easily picked this basket load in the drizzly rain on Monday afternoon


and there are a fair few left to ripen ...


plus the chickens are helping to clear up the fallen ones ... ;D


The plasterers are finishing up, they arrived at 8:30 and its was almost 2 when they finished... its looking fantastic so all I need to do is wait a few days for it to dry out


I have chosen a colour


Make do and mend.... however I do like the enamel green... but the blue will be fresh and light in a teeny tiny dark bathroom...


as the plasterers were packing up I started getting ready to pickle some pullet eggs from the farm shop... and I also popped a half dozen of my eggs in so that the jars contain small and large eggs...


Its odd, but I have never pickled eggs although its really not that tricky...


I do love the old fashioned kilner jars... I bought these last year... but I never got around to using them...


I bought a new preserving pan... a friend of my mums lent me her pan but as its aluminum it won't work on my induction hob... so I bought this one from Lakeland... plus a couple of spoons with hooks on the handles... on checking the recipe I realised I was short of onions so I hopped in the car and headed to the nearest food shop... oh I wish the summer sun would return... but we did have some glorious weather in the spring so I suppose beggars cant be choosers...


Once I got back I started to chop plums, onions and weigh raisins... and I managed to tie my first ever spice bag... lol... any sensible girl would have realized that this was probably not the time to start preserving but I was so excited I didn't notice the time...


TO top it all off I misread the recipe and added to many ingredients and it took me hours to reduce the mixture to a ketchup consistency...



but you do learn best from your mistakes so although I was up till 4am bottling plum ketchup I will now read the recipe very carefully in the future... and do my preserving in the mornings! ;D


I do hope its going to taste okay.... I still have wholegrain beer mustard and Autumn chutney to make...

I am however enjoying making use of the fruits and vegetables that are growing in my garden this year... and I completely thank my hens for making me more connected with my garden... as I tend to their needs I notice the garden and all its bounty...

Well I had better get on... lots to do and I'd better make a start...

xx Alex



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Monday 15 August 2011

Kitchen clear out...

After all the work gutting the bathroom the dust that has spread throughout the house is horrible... So as the worst of it has been completed and the plasterers are coming tomorrow to sort out the walls for us I decided that it was time to strip and clean the kitchen...


There are still pockets of clutter to clear...


However I am feeling very pleased with my clear out and clean up...


Hopefully the bathroom will not add too much more dust and debris but hopefully I can keep on top of it from now on...


and I'm contemplating using a mixed selection of tiles under the window sill, well if we're tiling the bathroom I might as well add some colour to the kitchen too.. ;D


I finally finished cleaning at 11:30 ish... and now I'm chilling out before bed... better head off soon as its almost quarter past midnight....

Just the lounge to clear up! *hurumpf!* lol ... that can wait till tomorrow... or maybe Tuesday! ;D

night all! xx


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Wednesday 10 August 2011

Crocheting at Weymouth....

Yesterday we went to Weymouth on the train from Yeovil Pen Mill....
It was packed and we had to stand all the way down... it was only three quarters of an hour but it was an annoyance with bags and people moving up and down the train in the hope of finding a seat... but we got there and I hired a sun bed... and found a spot next to a beach cafe...


I assumed as I was not going to be able to move too far from our bags to get refreshments when the kids had disappeared that this arrangement would be best! ;D ... the area in front of us soon filled up with more wind breaks and family encampments!


Daniel played while he waited for Jamie to return from the toilets ... she's of that age where she cant get changed in public! ;D


They disappeared several times and Daniel, who has had a fear of water, got soaked... thank you Jamie for looking after him so well!


It was quite cloudy at the beach... and Daniel decided a fleece would keep him warm and an ice cream would make him feel warmer... go figure! lol


of course if your going to queue for one ice cream then you might as well buy 2...


Jamie had a hot chocolate...


We managed to get seats on the way home ... and after Daniel mentioned that it had been a very busy day ... and that he'd done so very much... he fell asleep! aww!


The crochet I sat and did was a stash busting bag that I needed to finish...


Its even got an inside pocket....


The tab to close it can also be used to button up the pocket if so desired...

Needless to say ... I think I was the only person crocheting on the beach... and I seemed to be the only lone parent there too! ...

However the kids loved it and I was able to sit and crochet ... drinking cappuccino and enjoying the intermittent sunshine...

I wonder where my crochet will take me next?

xx


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Monday 8 August 2011

Fancy a walk?

Thought you'd like to join Smudge and myself on a little jaunt... You would ... Oh that's splendid .....


We'll walk down through the village and over the bridge and then clamber over the stile and off we shall go... thats good .. the cows are all the way over there...
Glad I brought my brolley... those clouds look a little ... heavy! lol



the next field is corn... looks almost ready too!



thats the river Yeo on our right... pretty low at the moment... it can get quite high with the heavy rains... looks pretty peaceful today...



Good job I always keep smudge on his extendie lead... I don't need him tearing off after sheep with their little-uns... Theres a little island off this field ... we'll pop over the little bridge on the way back...



look a busy bee... love the colours at this time of year...



Sloes getting ready for picking after the first frost... Last years sloe gin was wonderfully warming... ;D



Lets pop down here... haven't been this way before...



It might be considered a weed but its very pretty...



This looks promising ... it a green lane between fields... how wonderful... so many beautiful oak trees...



This one has acorns ... so it has to be 40 or is it 50 years old as they don't get acorns till they reach maturity... I think I read that somewhere! ;D



Oohh a break in the hedge... another big field of corn... what a beautiful day this has turned out to be!



Shall we keep going..? I think so... wonder where it leads to..?



I do love teasels ...



Well would you look at that... we've walked to Hummer...



Its starting to cloud over... the weathers so changeable these days... best head back the way we came...



I have to say for an iphone camera it is pretty good!



These look like gems hanging in the tree!



Not even sure what these are! lol



I'm sorry Smudge... but I can't help stopping and taking pictures! lol



Silver linings and glimpses of blue...



Fabulous corn fields and showery rain....



It really is a beautiful place ... even though I covet other peoples locations and countryside... I really do have a wealth of beauty on my doorstep...



This is the island in the sheep field I was telling you about ... and whomever owns it has installed a bench.. shall we sit a while and take in the view?



What can we hear? the water is babbling over the stones by the broken bridge... how handy that would have been to cross the river here... I dare say the fields are owned by different farmers now! :(
I can hear sheep... the pipping of a family of Morhens... Mum, Dad and 4 babies... I can hear the chirping of a Jenny Wren as she gathers bugs for her babies.. which are hidden away in a weaping willow trunk behind me... and the dog is panting... lol



What a perfect place to fix a bench... I can see this becoming a favorite hide away... bag of crochet... flask of tea... something sweet to munch on... oh yes ... this spot will suit me well!



The sky above is shaded... yet the warmth of the sun keeps the cool of the river at bay...



Smudge thinks we've been here long enough... he could be right you know... shall we head on back? ..... heave ho... and off we go!



The river is a little clogged... a few branches have fallen in and could really do with clearing... plenty of fish in here... you can usually find fishermen tucked away on the bank-side...



Back in the cow field... now we just have to hop over the style and turn left over the bridge...



Then back up the hill... shall we pop in the shop? they do sell some sticky buns... we'll I shouldn't but .... oh go on then.... my treat!

Its been lovely walking with you... so glad you could make it...
come back soon!

xx

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