In the bleak midwinter

First of all we loaded the car up with lots of stuff, then me, then the Cat. In her suitcase and with her Opinions. I had Opinions in my earhole from halfway across England and all over the Throw-Money-at-it-Bridge.

"Wales, Mossie, Humbug. Powys. We're Home".

For seventeen days worth of Home. We've turned There to Here for a whole seventeen days.

She's been busy adding more Woo-Hooery to the house. It's beginning to look like the control room of the Large Hadron Collider. We've even got some trees outside the front door with attached Woo Hoo. A ring of kindling stuck on the front door. Lights all over the place. And some sparkly attached to me. I feel a right Woo Hoo.

We went over the border to England to see Brucie's family. They're only just over the border so we can sneak through. Also when we go to that bit of England, we don't have to pay to get back. They've got lots of Woo Hoo too, including a big falling-over-so-don't-sit-too-close-to-it-tree. There were lots of people and dogs visiting them. Pretty golden bitch called Abby with a military background. Bit shy and didn't like her toes making click clack noises on hard floors. I gave her an encouraging nose to nose sniff to show her it was alright. And an old boy called Freddie. An Attack Spaniel. Turns out not to be so old and not much of an attack either. I gave him a serious, Don't-Forget-I'm-Top-Dog-Sonny sniff and stare. You know, shoulders back, slightly stiffened hackles, superior kind of look. Well, we ain't none of us got any bollocks so Top-Dog is an open question and it might as well be me. Then I sat down next to my MBNAD woman and let him sit the other side of her. Then there was Brucie. Being, you know, Brucie. Bouncing off the walls Brucie. If you remember last year, I had an ignominious moment when I got so scared of him that I had to hide behind his Man.

Brucie's Woman was specially nice. Was wearing a bright red dress and legs. The kind of legs that I just had to lean my head against for a hug. Cor-Lummee legs, in fact.

Off to the car-on-rails place to collect the Little Dark One. Grand.

Yet but three? Come one more;
Two of both kinds make up four.


Another trip to the car-on-rails place to collect the Tall One. She's really happy now. We're all here.

And there's a large dead bird in the wall-string-cold-cupboard.

The Collie in Winter

It's been a bit cold and sometimes I need a bit more warmth, especially when I've had a bad day. Had an embarrassing moment when I was out walking with my DB. Cool, sauntering along. Fell off the bridge into the stream. Except the stream was more like cold mud. Had to stand there till my DB came and hauled me out. Then I was a bit cold all day, even after being towelled dry.

When we sit down in the evening, I have a special blanket to sit by my MBNAD woman and I make sure that she notices that I like the fire by pointing at it with my nose. Still don't know how she makes it work since she never brings in coal or logs. It's not even a wall-string thing. Probably a bit of magic again since she kneels in front of it and says some incantations before the flames start. Anyway, once it's away, we can sit in front of it all evening without worrying about coal buckets. Grand.

But on the really cold evenings, I need a bit more warming up again with another blanket.



Of course, if the Little Dark One is here, then she sits on the floor and hugs me and I don't need no blankets then. The MBNAD woman brought a spare Little Dark One home last weekend. We were having a Here weekend and she was tidying and stuff like she usually does and the Little Dark One was out. But when she came back, there was another Girlie with her. They said that this Girlie came from the other side of the world where everyone is Upside Down. She looked the normal way up to me. They don't half talk some rubbish. Chatted the Upside Down Girlie up a bit. Tried the blarney. Said I had sad eyes. Heh heh

She's done some stuff for the Woo Hoo Christmas which includes a wall-string-tree and a ring of twigs stuck to the front door. Have no idea why she's stuck kindling on the front door. The wall-string-tree ain't like the one There which has just got little lights all over it. When she ties the wall-string-tree to the wall, it all lights up and changes colour. Very dubious taste.

I had a strange indoor dog moment the other morning. For sleeping arrangements, I have a rug on her floor by the bed. It's convenient for her to hang over the side of the bed and stroke my ears first thing in the morning. Well, ear stroking was so nice and then she stroked under my chin and the next thing I knew, I had stretched out on my back for a belly stroke. That's right, I let her put her paw on my chest. It's not as if I haven't known that she's the Boss in this house all along but I'm just not used to submitting to anyone. In later days on the farm, I was forced to submit when the young dogs bullied me. And I didn't like it one little bit. But you know, this was really rather nice. She just laid her hand very gently on my chest and stroked. And I lay there, feeling really loved and very safe.

Oliver Postgate 1925-2008

The man who, with Peter Firmin, created Bagpuss, Noggin the Nog, Pogles Wood, Pingwings and the Clangers



and made so many children happy, especially one little girl with chicken pox in 1959.

Hiraeth - a problem of Here and There

So we've been There two weekends in a row mainly sorting out the Peeing and Washing [with Peeing] Rooms. Cold, bright, crisp weather and when we haven't been decorating, we've been out walking looking at Views. It's the Views that make her sad when we have leave There.



I don't mind going back from There to Here but I know she really wants to be There all the time, especially now we're getting ready for a Woo Hoo Christmas.

Craft Market on Saturday. She can't resist it - comes back with bits of recycled glass and all sorts. Eddie Stickmaker was there with his Litter and his Woman. She stayed chatting for ages and I could see that she was tempted by the sticks.

Now we have a tree in the house covered in lights and baubles. Although it is clearly quite mad, I know what to expect now.



All ready to Woo Hoo.

But when we got back the Little One had come back from the Fens and we had cheese in the Jam Room and I did some hugging.

"Night night Mossie, night night Humbug, night night, Little One."

Don't apologise. Don't explain

So once she stopped wearing those nasty leg-wrappers, she started painting. The Jam Room (even though it's mainly glass), The Peeing Room and the Washing [with Peeing] Room.

Every weekend, even when we're Here or There. Painting. Our only respite has been for walks and one evening out. When she comes home from work, if she's going out she normally goes and has one of those all-over-like-it's-pissing-on-you washes and then gets into going-out clothes. Normally when that happens, I go to the kitchen and put on a grumpy look. So, this is what I expected. Down the stairs she comes all tarted up. Right. Humph. I'll go and humph in my bed. But none of that. Out we went to the house where one of the Men-of-Sweyn's-Eye lives with his Woman. And when we got there the other Man-of-Sweyn's-Eye and his Woman were there too. Then the bitches went out leaving us boys there for the evening.



When they came back we were all asleep, a few beers having been taken.

The bitches all sat around on the floor and made a fuss of me. Grand. And then I realised that they had been drinking too. When I thought it was time to go home, we went upstairs and stayed the night in one of their Litter's rooms and didn't go home till breakfast time. Shocking.

Since it's been just about a year since I came to live with my MBNAD woman, we had to go back to the Vet place for my annual check. Got on the scales and found that my winter coat is keeping me warm but not too heavy. Then a Sharp Prick. Yes, I thought that the Vet was one. Then my teeth, ears, heart and gonads. Do they really have to do that? Sniffing my bum would be quite an acceptable way of being sociable but I draw the line at being groped.


The Vet also gazed deeply into my eyes. Didn't much fancy him, after what he just did at the other end. They have a little chat about my tendency to walk into things. Especially when the light isn't so good. Seems to me that posts just get in the way. My MBNAD woman don't see too good either. Sometimes she wears eye glasses but other times she don't seem to need them. She goes into one of the Washing Rooms and gets a little pot which she digs around in. Then she pokes at her eyes, blinks and then she don't need the eye glasses. Don't much fancy that, either.

They said I've got waterfalls in my eyes? That can't be right.

Gunpowder, treason and plot

So there was a great deal of fuss and bother and making of beds and cooking. I know the signs now. Visitors. But visitors don't usually stay Here. Unless it's the Litter. Yes, yes. It's the Tall One. Oh Glory.

It's so wonderful that he came to stay that the whole of the night sky was lit up. Grand.



"Night, night, Mossie"

Yes, well I should have known there was an agenda. The morning after the Tall One arrived, she didn't go off to work, which I thought was a bit suspicious. Daft tart. Legs. She went and did it again. All bandaged up. Both legs this time. Not together, you understand. Separately, so at least she can do that funny stumpy legged walk. But all she can do now is lie down and moan. Serves her right. She said she wouldn't do it again. But apparently the Venous Vet said it had to be done because it wasn't finished. Curse of the Mummy.

Mind, it's nice having the Tall One here. Walks and ball throwing. Grand. And we met my DB with lots of my mates from dog walking. Darcy, the blonde [Blonde]retriever, Whisper, the merle wobble, Jess, the loopy black girl and the Poodlies. The Tall One does lots of helping too.

And then we made cakes. The MBNAD woman likes cooking but she don't usually do it on an industrial scale. But all yesterday, she kept doing little things in the kitchen and then going back to lie down again. When we got back in from our last thing at night walk, the house smelt all warm and spicy. I remembered this from last year. I know what they were about.



They're Woo Hoo Christmas Cakes.

Metamorphosis

A Here weekend and we have to tidy up the garden. When the men came to build the Jam Room, they made a bit of a Mess in the garden as well as the house. Apparently, they were called the Taliban. So she worked really hard and I supervised.

When the rain started, I thought that we could sit by the fire and get comfortable. But, no. Can't resist it can she? More darned junk. She brings in this old table that looks like it would make good firewood and parks it in the Jam Room. Then she spent hours rubbing it to get rid of the top of the wood. That's right, she scraped the top of the wood off till there were no more marks and dents. When she did the legs, she found some little Princess teethmarks. She sat on the floor and had wet nose and eyes for a bit and I hugged her. Never thought that chewing furniture would have that effect but like I said from the outset: Mad

After she'd scraped it clean she got a pot of something strong smelling and rubbed it all over the junk table. Then she did it again and again. Wouldn't let me go in the Jam Room while she was doing it. As if.

Anyway by the time I was allowed in the Jam Room, the junk table had been magicked into a proper table. Supernatural, My Witch