Christmas Round-Up of 2023

It's been another tough year here at Crazy Towers as my parents dementia continues to erode the people that they once were, adjusting to being their carer and putting my own life on hold has certainly taken some adjusting too, but we have a system that seems to be working now for the most part, Boris, Eko, Himself and my brother have all been my rock throughout this past year

Photo Description - Three people sitting on a sofa, two females each side of a male. From L-R it's my mum, my dad and then myself. I'm laughing at something my brother said as mum and dad stare at the camera

Boris unfortunately fractured his elbow at the end of July which required a specialist surgeon to repair it, thankfully Boris is fully insured which covered most the costs, although there was a large out of pocket expense for an echocardiogram, for the first time ever this year

If I didn't laugh .......

I'd cry about the chaos that is now my life

I seriously couldn't make this stuff up if I tried

Welcome to this week and it's only Tuesday morning

🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

I had to cancel someone from coming round to my parents house to clean the gutters for an extortionate price, mum had booked them because someone put a leaflet through the door, thankfully she let slip about it to my brother who then told me, so I was able to cancel them. My brother will go up and see if the gutters need cleaning at our parents house when he comes over for Christmas 

Photo Description - A fun head shot of Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel and Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel sitting side by side in the garden, both are wearing Santa hats worn at a jaunty angle as they look at the camera

Getting told somebody came round the house to see mum, but nothing is booked on the calendar or I'd have been there, mum can't remember who it was or what they came round for.

Where's the Snow?

All week there's been snow in the air yet none of it has settled, it's been a lot of years since we last had any decent snowfall here in the South of England

On the rare occasion it does decide to snow then disappointingly it quickly goes slushy, then just like that it's gone a few hours later

Photo Description - Full body shot of Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel and Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel standing in the back of our car looking at the cameras as they wait expectantly for their post walk treatos before it's time to drive home

The last time we had any real snow here was way back

A bit of a hiccup

It's been a stressful week with a couple of trips to the vet for Boris, somehow he injured his hip which resulted in him being so much stiffer and lamer than usual, he was given the tried and tested opioid fuelled molotov cocktail of painkillers which soon had him feeling a lot more comfortable, on his return today he was feeling much better and the vet was able too move his hip without resistance

 

Photo Description - A head shot of Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel in the car looking at the camera with a slightly sad look on his face as he's in pain and we're just about to set off to the vets to check it out

I've accepted that Boris will probably never be fully sound again since his elbow fracture, the strain of that

Cute Critters

I had a spare hour to myself yesterday afternoon and decided I'd give it a try at making a cartoon image of the boys together and hopefully create ourselves a new a Blog Badge. We've had our current badge for approx 5 years now and it's so basic, although easily recognisable

Boris was fairly easy to generate being a solid black, but it took me several attempts to get Eko's face markings anywhere near what he looks like in real life, but try as I might I struggled to get Eko's cute white paw, if I did manage to get his white paw I'd then lose the white blaze on his face, it was really strange how it had to be one or the other and not both

Photo Description - A cartoon image of a Black Cocker Spaniel and a Golden Cocker Spaniel playing in a muddy puddle and looking at each other, with the words Two Crazy Cockers written in white across the bottom. The colours are very bright and loud which is common with cartoons 

Eventually I decided that as it's a cartoon it's a representation of the boys and didn't have to be an exact match, eventually I came up with an image that I really liked but

Freaky Friday

Who remembers the film Freaky Friday with Jodie Foster from way back in the dark ages of the 1970's

How I loved that film when a mother and daughter switched places for the day, yesterday felt very much like my very own Freaky Friday as I dropped dad off for his first day at the Adult Day Care Centre  for people with dementia

Photo Description- Head shot of Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel and Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel looking directly at the camera, this was taken back in the summer when the trees were still green and the ground was dry

I've been so worried about how dad would cope with it all, would he make friends, would he get upset and most importantly would he feel abandoned, but I also know a big part of dads anxiety and stress is caused by his recent lack of mobility and therefore interaction with other people on top of adjusting to his Alzheimer's diagnosis

Dad agreed to go on the understanding that I'd pick him up straight away

Happy Halloween

Photo Description - A cut out of Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel and Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel edited onto a spooky white background of a blurred person behind them, with Halloween Trick or Treat written in red that's dripping and splattered as if it were wet paint

You've probably seen the latest craze to hit Instagram with the Disney AI trend. I'm not a great fan of AI and like to keep my photos looking as natural as possible, only occasionally using a filter if I think it'll improve the colours

But I had to give it a go for some Halloween pics of the boys, my editing skills aren't that brilliant when it

Well that didn't last long!

Tuesday was was such an amazing day with the fantastic news that Boris is healing well when we went for his 6 week post op check up at Lumbry Park

Photo Description - Head and shoulders shot of Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel facing slightly to the left with his mouth open, behind him is the blue sky and clouds of a bright sunny day

There are still some restrictions

Pigs in Mud

The weather has taken a turn here in the UK and the gorgeous colours of Autumn have arrived, there's a constant chill in the air that you can feel on even  the sunniest of days, although it's not yet cold enough for coats, just a thin jumper is enough

Photo Description - Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel out on the common, he's hold a twig of Oak leaves displaying the range of autumn colours from a yellowing green to the oranges of the leaves before they fall from the trees, behind Boris is a wall of dead bracken, now changed from its vibrant green of summer to the orangey brown of Autumn as it dies off ready to regrow again in the Spring 

Autumn and Spring are my two favourite

Hello Monday

Looking forward to a new week

Amazingly the calendar is empty of any appointments this week, but that doesn't mean it'll be a slow week, anything can change at a moment's notice when you're a caregiver to someone with dementia

Photo Description - A profile head shot facing to the right of a much younger Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel amongst the dead bracken out on the common. Boris is wearing the distinctive Help for Heroes collar which has three bands of colour, dark blue, red and light blue to represent the armed services. Photo Credit Fur & Fables

The anti anxiety meds dad's GP prescribed him appear to finally be working, last night was

Eko's Nose #WeekendSmile

I love the detail of Eko's face, from the blending of all the gold and white hairs to make up his face markings, the little blonde tufts he has on top of his ears to his unique button nose 

Photo Description - Eko the Golden Cocker spaniel is standing on grass and looking directly up at the camera, the only thing in focus are his nose and eyes as his face fills the frame, what little else there is of him in frame is blurred and out of focus

Did you know that every dog's nose is as unique to them as finger prints are to us. Eko's nose also has the ability to

World Mental Health Day

𝐁𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐬

The only black dog in my life on World Mental Health Day

Photo Description - Head shot of Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel looking at the camera whilst laying amongst some Buttercups in front of a wooden fence

Dawn xxx 

 If you love online Jigsaw Puzzles check out our

The Weekend Smile is Back

I thought I'd restart our Weekend Smile Blog Hop once again

 It's been quite a few years since we last hosted a Blog Hop and I've had to remake a brand new badge, although I've still to figure out how to add all the coding to it to make it a button that can be copied and shared, everything has changed so much from when I last did this, I did it on my PC previously whereas now I do everything on my phone

Basically the hop is about anything that makes you happy and that others will also enjoy

Ordinarily it'll be open from Friday morning at around 0900 right through until midnight Sunday night, but it's started on Saturday today as I forgot to set it up for yesterday

𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 

Photo Description - Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel and Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel laying on the sofa together. Eko is on his side with

Mr Smarty Pants

Last week Boris had a trip to the groomers for some much needed pampering and a tidy up

You may remember we had to cancel Boris's last appointment with the groomer as I didn't think it would be fair on him or the lovely people at Vanity Fur for Boris to attend whilst he was chronically lame and on high doses of painkillers due to his elbow injury

Photo Description - Full body shot of a very scruffy looking Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel sitting in a grassy field, his coat is sticking out all over the place, but I still think he looks adorable 

Boris had to make do with

Boris Surgery Update

Boris had the surgery to repair the hairline fracture in his elbow two weeks ago and his recovery is going really well, it's also been a busy couple of weeks with my parents, I can only apologise for how tardy I've been about posting this update

But first a massive thank you to the lovely Ann and June from Zoolatry for making Boris this lovely Power of the Paw badge to wish him well and a speedy recovery in the Blogosphere of our online pets

Photo Description - Head shot of Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel with white background and the words "Paws together for Boris" in bold black lettering, with a red heart on the O of Boris 

Boris had to miss his breakfast the morning I took him to Lumbry Park, which he wasn't overly impressed about but a necessary evil

A bit of a rant

I was in two minds as to whether I should post this, but in the end I felt I need to clarify a few things about why I had to wait for Boris's insurance policy to renew before doing his surgery as I've had some people quite aggressively disagreeing with my decision to wait

Boris's surgery is booked for Tuesday, so today is a lazy day and Boris is having a haircut and coat thinning session, hopefully by tidying his coat before he goes in Boris won't look too horrific sporting his very unfashionable vet style clip when I collect him

I admit Boris's surgery has been a long time coming and believe me it wasn't an easy decision to make, but the simple fact of the matter is this - With a specialist vet you have to pay for the surgery at the time of collection, or you hand them your insurance claim form so they can be paid directly

Photo Description - A close up head shot of Boris laying on grass surrounded by tiny white flowers as he looks at the camera with his tongue out with a relaxed expression on his face

Boris is insured for up to £7,000 per year for vets fees, Boris has three ongoing

Jackanory Part 20 - Gone but never forgotten

Last month was the 8th anniversary of Badger Boo leaving us to forever reside at the Rainbow Bridge

I really didn't want to ignore the date but posting on the day was too hard, even now it still feels like only yesterday that Badger had to leave us so suddenly and unexpectedly

Badger is still the lock screen and wallpaper on my phone, which probably doesn't help, but I still don't feel ready to change it, not even when I change my phone 

Photo Description - A small Blue Roan Cocker Spaniel standing sideways on, out on a woodland path in bright sunshine. Across the top in white lettering is Badgers show name "Boxwoods Bramble" at the bottom in white lettering it says Badger Boo 17/10/01 - 19/08/15

🖤 🖤 🖤 🖤 🖤

When I first started an Instagram account for Boris to follow his journey as my assistance dog, there was some interest in Boris doing some modeling work at the time and I'd signed him up with an agency

As a result

International Dog Day

The terrible twins are back, walking Boris in his stroller has made so much difference to his happiness levels, he's now back to his cheeky happy self again now that he's regularly coming out on walks with Eko and I  once more

Photo Description - Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel and Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel in the boot of my car, I'm standing off to the side of the car for a different angle, Boris has his front paws up on the bumper to be in more light, whilst Eko remains in the darker boot area, both dogs are looking round at me after a walk out on the common and looking happy

I admit was starting to get a little worried for Boris as he always seemed so depressed because he was getting left at home and missing out, no amount of enrichment toys or chews seemed to lift his mood in a way that going for a walk does

On Thurday Boris and I headed over Lumbry Park so that Boris could have an

Boris on Wheels

I recently ordered an InnoPet dog stroller for Boris as he's missing out on so much whilst he's on restricted exercise due to his elbow injury. To start with I set up in the garden with everything open and the brakes on so that Boris could get in and out of it under his own steam and explore it at his own pace, Boris soon made himself quite at home

Photo Description - Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel laying curled up in his new stroller and happily looking out of the open back door

 

Boris is crate trained so I wasn't at all worried about whether he'd get in or not, but I wanted Boris to feel safe and secure in it before I started

Self care is essential

I have so much going on with my parents and Boris at the moment that I've been feeling totally overwhelmed by it all just lately, 

I'm exhausted with putting my parents needs first and worrying about Boris all the time that something had to give

Photo Description - Head shot of Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel looking directly at the camera with his tongue out a little whilst sitting in front of an Ivy covered fence

I finally got around to booking myself an appointment with the

Disappointing Scan Result

My poor sweet Boris

Last Thursday we received a phone call from the orthopedic specialist vets office and we were offered a cancellation appointment for a CT scan the next day about Boris's non weight bearing lameness

Photo Description - Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel sitting out on the common surrounded by dried up brow grass and looking relaxed on a sunny evening

It had looked like there might be a hairline fracture on Boris's recent set of x-rays, but with the amount of remodeled bone due to his arthritis it was hard to tell for sure, so a CT scan was

New Week New Problem

My parents were so organised re sorting out their affairs and paperwork well in advance of the possibility of them ever needing some help with their financial and health decisions in later life in the form of Lasting Power of Attorneys

Admittedly I just stuck them in a drawer thinking I'd never need them but was glad it was all sorted, I then totally forgot all about them until recently

Photo Description - Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel and Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel sitting side by side amongst the bracken out on the common in bright evening sunshine

On Monday the DWP rang me

The Kindness of Strangers

My dad is an avid lifelong supporter and shareholder of Portsmouth Football Club and as our long time followers are aware my dad also has Alzheimer's

 The other day dad broke his favourite cereal bowl which he's had for years and got really upset, it was his much loved Portsmouth FC cereal bowl that he uses each morning to start his day

It may sound like such a small thing to get upset about, but to dad this cereal bowl holds so many of his precious memories about Portsmouth FC

With so many of dads memories disappearing as each week passes, this bowl was important to help keep his memories alive of of his favourite football club

As a surprise I went to order dad a new bowl off the Pompey website only to discover

Happy Boris

Boris is at last weight bearing on his poorly leg but that's only due to adequate pain relief

I drove the boys the short distance to the woods last night so that Boris could have some much needed sniffing and catching up on pe-mails time as we walked the 20 yards or so into the woods

Video Description - Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel slowly ambling down a woodland path on a long flexible lead attached to his harness to prevent him from running around and overdoing it, whilst Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel is trotting around doing his own thing

It's a fine line between exercise

Today's the Day

Today is x-ray day for Boris to find out why he's no longer weight bearing on his left front leg after a second bout of non weight bearing lameness, you can read about the first time here

Photo Description - Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel sitting in long grass on the allotment facing the camera, he has his tongue out and is wearing a light purple harness to aid getting him in and out of the car when I drove him there for a change of scenery, his left front paw is raised slightly to avoid putting his full weight on it

I have very mixed feelings about it, whilst we need to know what he's done to himself so

Never say the Q word

As a shift worker for most of my adult life there's one word you soon learn to never utter

Within minutes of somebody saying it the incidents would start coming in thick and fast and the rest of the shift would be hectic

When I turned the page on my calendar this morning to organise my life around my parents various appointments I got a pleasant surprise

Photo Description - Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel and Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel laying on a Union Jack covered sofa when we were recently at Dogstival in the VIP area, both boys are facing the camera with their tongues out and wearing blue cooling bandanas around their necks as it was starting to get very warm

There's only one appointment for mum at the

Friendships are Complicated

𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭

Wise words from my very good friend whilst cutting my hair the other day

Somebody I once used to consider a very good friend dramatically disappeared from my life overnight by moving house with no forwarding address approx 25 years ago

There has never been any contact to say why they left so dramatically

Image Description - A head shot of Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel and Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel sitting side by side in long grass facing the camera, the weather is warm and they both have their tongues out to cool off after racing around the field 

I had no idea where they'd gone so I couldn't find out if they needed any form of help or if I'd upset them

Unexpected Vet Trip

Poor Boris had an unexpected trip to the emergency vets this afternoon

After racing around on the common with his friends yesterday I fully expected him to be a bit stiff this morning, which is sadly normal with his arthritis when he has a bit too much fun 

Photo Description - Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel in the waiting room at the vets, he's wearing a cooling bandana as it was so hot today and he's holding his painful left front paw off the ground

What I didn't expect was him to be totally non weight bearing on his front leg!  Coupled together with his usual arthritic stiffness poor Boris could barely move

Good Woof

We recently had a fabulous day out at Goodwoof for Dogs which was a lovely birthday surprise from my partner

Photo Description - Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel and Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel sitting in front of a huge orange sign that says "Welcome to Goodwoof a dog event like no other" in white lettering

It was great to be doing something just for us for a change. I can't remember the last time

Why we Feed Paleo Ridge Raw Dog Food

We've been feeding Paleo Ridge raw dog food for approx 5 years now after our vet reccomended changing Boris onto a raw diet due to his Staph Pseudintermedius skin problem

The Staph Pseudintermedius Bacteria had caused much of Boris's coat to fall out and left him with open sores filled with pus, it was extremely painful for him and for over a year he'd endured daily medicated baths, various steroids and so many different types of antibiotics plus numerous blood and skin tests

Photo Description - Boris the black Cocker Spaniel laying in front of an Ivy covered fence, between his front paws is a red and white box of Beef & Duck from the Paleo Ridge Classic range, Boris has turned his head to face the camera

Nothing seemed to help for long and relief was often short lived, until one day

Jackanory Part 19 - Freedom Day

A couple of weeks ago when walking Boris and Eko in the woods Boris suddenly pulled up lame on his left front leg

I couldn't believe it as Boris hadn't been madly racing around and had only had his Librela injection for pain relief the day before, so it was most unexpected to see he'd gone lame

One minute I was videoing Boris trotting off behind a large bush and when he emerged on the other side he'd gone quite lame, I can only assume he'd probably jumped over something he shouldn't have or put his foot down a rabbit hole, inspection of his paw and nails revealed no injury there

Video Description - Video showing Boris trotting around in woodlands after he emerged from some bushes and was unexpectedly lame on his left front leg

As a result of going lame so

Some Days are Overwhelming

What a hectic day yesterday and today has turned out to be, Thursday and Friday are normally my days off to catch up with myself and household chores

Late yesterday afternoon I received a phone call from my dad that his leg was sore and he'd shown it to his friend who said he needed to go to hospital

I thought that sounded a bit of an exaggeration because everything is an emergency to dad since his cancer diagnosis, so I asked my son who was at dad's house to send me a photo of dad's leg and sure enough it looked swollen and a bit red, so I  immediately phoned the Doctors for an appointment for him hoping  to get him an appointment for yesterday or at the very least for today as it's another long weekend with the Kings Coronation tomorrow

Bluebell Season

It's official Spring has finally arrived here in the UK, the sun is getting warmer and the Bluebells are now out filling our woodlands with luxurious carpets of blue

Photo Description - Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel and Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel sitting side by side in a woodland glade with a carpet of Bluebells behind them
Photo taken by Fur & Fables

They're a little late blooming this year because it's been so wet and cold as Bluebells usually flower from late March to early May, although it does vary from year to year

They are one of the last spring flowers to bloom before the woodland

Jackanory Part 18 - Throw Back Thursday

This Jackanory Story takes us back to a time before Eko was old enough to come and live with us

I was able to watch Eko formally known as Wash grow from the moment he was born with regular updates, photos and videos from his breeder Sam, I'd booked him (a male puppy) approx 18 months before he was even conceived

Photo Description - A studio portrait of a very cute young Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel sitting on a white chair with a white background looking at the camera with a calm confident expression 📸 This photo was given to me by Eko's breeder, if you're the photographer that took it please DM me and I'll add a credit

But our search and subsequent wait for Eko to join our little family had been so much longer,

Looking Forward

Happy Easter to all our wonderful friends and followers

Photo Description - Head and shoulders shot of both Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel and Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel sitting side by side in front of an ivy covered fence. Both boys are looking towards the camera and wearing cute bunny ears 

It sure has been a tough start to the year for us as a family, not only with my dads health but my partners father also being unwell

Some Good News

My dad was discharged from hospital late on Friday afternoon, it's taken a little while for him to settle back in at home hence why I've not been online much this weekend catching up with everyone 

I'm so relieved to have dad back at home once again as he finds the hospital environment so very stressful

Photo Description - Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel and Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel sitting side by side facing the camera amongst the dead bracken out on the common

What a Week!

Sunday

At 0245 I was woken from my slumbers to a phone call from Care Line, the phone call I've been dreading for some time now, one of my parents needed help

I was informed my dad was suffering with chest pains and that an ambulance was on its way to him, I quickly got dressed and drove straight to my parents house

As I pulled up I was relieved to see the Abulance crew were already on site and had everything under control, they were just getting ready to pack up their equipment and take my dad to the A&E at Guildford Hospital and I was to follow along behind

Once dad was admitted into A&E and had some tests done it was soon established that his sodium levels were really high and that he was very dehydrated, so he was immediately put on a drip to rehydrate him

After a while dad was taken down for a CT scan to

Spring Wear Essentials

This unique creation from the world famous Jimmy Pooh of Nature's Creations fits the head exquisitely and is worn at a jaunty angle which frames the wearers face beautifully

Photo Description - Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel looking every inch the catwalk model as he wears one of natures unique creations, a piece of dead bracken atop his head, worn at a jaunty angle, as stands looking at the camera at the end of an imaginary grassy catwalk doing his very best look at me model pose

The natural earth tones of this unique piece

Looking for the magic in every moment

For the first time in ages yesterday we had no time limit for our walk, it was great to just have the time to go wherever the dogs led me

We were soon on a part of the common I'd not been too for a very long time, I used to often walk this route with Badger but it always felt so weird walking that way after he'd left us for the Rainbow Bridge, so I've always avoided it, but the boys wanted to go that way and I duly followed as it was their walk after all

Photo Description - A very damp Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel and Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel between two tree trunks out on the common looking at the camera 

The rain soon started and I wanted to turn around and head back but

Happy Birthday Eko 🎈🎈🎈

I can't believe that our sweet crazy boy is 5 years old today, where has all that time gone?

Photo Description - Head and shoulders shot of Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel wearing his birthday hat and bandanna, the hat is navy and pink, it has 4 candles on top and has the words "Party Animal" across the front. The bandanna is navy with the words "It's my Birthday" on it

Eko came to us a year earlier than originally planned, but that was ok as I really wanted a puppy from his mum Juno, we knew her well and she'd had all the relevant KC/BVA health testing done to ensure any puppies born weren't

Vets and Physio

Eko

Poor Eko has been unwell on an off for a couple of weeks with a very upset tummy which is very out of character for him

I immediately started adding some probiotics to his food, this usually helps to clear an upset tummy up in no time if he's eaten something on a walk he shouldn't have

This time the probiotics didn't help so I asked for some advice from the Vidivet app that we use to ask questions when I'm not sure if the boys need to go to the vet or not, I was advised on this occasion that yes Eko should go and see our own vet the next day because of the symptoms I'd described

Rollercoaster Ride

Yesterday was a day of ups and downs, we made it to the end of dad's radiotherapy treatment for esophageal cancer. Even the snow didn't stop us, who'd have thought that 4 weeks could be so long and stressful, now we wait for everything to heal before scans can be done to find out if dad's in the clear

We celebrated by walking The Boys which dad really enjoyed, he's a massive dog lover and has really missed seeing them these past 4 weeks with everything that's been going on

Making Yellow Snow

I can't believe we woke up to find it was snowing this morning, Eko has yet to experience real snow that's settled, whereas Boris is no thank you I don't like this stuff

In the South of England snow rarely settles for long, but it always causes chaos as we're never ready for it and so few people know how to drive in it these days

As much as I want the snow to settle so we can capture some awesome photos, I really want it to be melting before I have to leave today and come back at the later half of next week

Flagging Heavily

Only six more radiotherapy sessions left to complete of twenty, dad is holding up really well and amazingly is experiencing very few side affects apart from a bit of a cough and needing a blood transfusion because his hemoglobin was getting low

Me on the other hand I'm flagging heavily with driving fifty odd miles every day to the hospital and back, I've been so busy ensuring mum and dads prescriptions were filled and with getting dad to the hospital every day, I completely forgot to renew my own prescriptions

The Bestest Boy

Eko is amazing and I really haven't talked about just how amazingly clever he is often enough

When he was younger he was always up to mischief and his antics soon caste him the naughty one of the two

Yet Eko is highly intelligent and as he approaches his 5th birthday

Snow Drop Season

Yesterday we spotted an untouched patch of Snow Drops growing wild out on the common

 I love these beautiful little flowers and was so pleased to see that they were fairly well spread out with spaces of empty ground between the clumps of flowers, it meant that I could carefully position the Boys between them without causing any damage to these beautiful delicate flowers

Has Spring Sprung Early?

Perfect Day

Yesterday we had the most fabulous walk in the sunshine at our favourite place, we've not been there in a while due to one thing and another

We had the whole common to ourselves it felt like and unlimited walking time as I didn't have to rush off anywhere

A leisurely stroll with lots of photos, it feels like an absolute age

Valentine's Day Unboxing

We love our monthly subscription boxes from the Collar Club, it's been some time since we last did an unboxing of these amazing boxes

So what better way to get back into the swing of it than with this months Valentine's Day themed box

Eko was so excited to be trusted with his first ever solo post of unboxing our Collar Club box, in the past Boris has always been the one to get photographed holding the items,  recently Eko has finally figured out that to hold things

Jackanory Part 17 - Boris Update

Update on Boris's recent Surgery

I had a couple of unpublished posts I'd started to write but not got around to posting as I've just been so busy with taking dad to hospital for the numerous scans in preparation for his Radiotherapy treatment next week

I opted to write this update in our Jackanory Stories that runs alongside the main blog, as the dates were just so out of sync with  the blog now

30th December 2022

Boris is off to the vets for his Librela injection today, plus we'll be discussing his upcoming surgery as to whether it'll now be as safe as possible due to his heart condition to remove the tumour on his back leg growing on one of his lymph nodes, also the large one that's growing under his ribs as well as two other lumps that felt somewhat strange in texture

If we do decide he's now fit enough to go ahead and remove these tumours, we'll also be getting some x-rays done of his elbows, spine and hips for an up to date picture on the progression of his Arthritis

My Wonderful Dad

Well that's it, dad finally had his last scan done on Friday, the consultants are getting together tomorrow and will work out which treatment plan is best suited to his fight with Esophageal Cancer

Everyday dad seems to be getting frailer and frailer before my eyes, my big strong dad who's always been my rock is fast disappearing into the shell of a person I hardly recognise because of Dementia 

We're still waiting on the exact diognosis of what type of dementia he has since his brain scan which was done about 6 weeks ago

His wit and sense of humour is still there though, usually at the most inappropriate moments which always cracks me up and we laugh together

Jackanory Part 16 - When Boris met Eko

The first time Boris met Eko 💗

As I recall Eko was around 5 or 6 weeks old when we took Boris to meet him for the first time

Only a few weeks previously Boris had been brutally attacked by another dog whilst working as my Assistance Dog and it had badly knocked his confidence around other dogs, which was worrying as we'd had Eko booked since long before he was a twinkle in his daddies eye

Would Boris be able to cope with a new pup in the house at this critical time, would Boris ever be able to return to work as my Assistance Dog, at this point we had no idea what the future would be

New Years Resolutions

Photo Description:- A white background with the words Hello 2023 

 

New years resolutions

I don't see the point

One day at a time

Is the best I can do 

I hate whinging and moaning

It's why I don't rant

Sympathy and platitudes