Let's Talk About Things

The thunder this morning was loud enough to wake the dead, wow that was extreme, and I hadn't seen it forecast. The lightening lit up the house and the electricity went off momentarily, of course I got up to switch the router off. We were then battered by hail leaving everywhere white, that was followed by torrential rain. Zeus refused to go out and I decided I'd make us a cuppa and we'd stay in bed to wait out the storm.

It's calmer now, but still raining heavily. The older cats are quite and sleeping but Steve spotted Archie Stanley run off with a pair of knickers off the radiator, so it'll be hunt the underwear later. Gail from the rescue centre sent me a photo of a stray they had taken in on Thursday, wow, I had to check Archie was still here, he's the spit of him. Apparently he's neutered and chipped, but sadly the chip has not been registered, so unless his owners come looking for him there is no way of reuniting them. So many people are not aware that as owners it's down to you to register the chip in your own name or the chip is simply useless. Archie in the photo looking through the window for the "lookylikey," He's singing "There's only one Archie Stanley!" 

To make life more difficult Kaiah reached the peak of her season this week. To be honest I've lost count of days but for the first time this week Orin, Zeus and Ross have eaten breakfast. Actually it's the first meal in over 48 hrs that Zeus has eaten. Ross and Orin have eaten in the evenings, but Zeus ate nothing but carrots and biscuits. Loki just eats, his medication keeps him hungry so he never leaves a thing these days. We have a few more days before reintroductions, but sadly Kaiah will soon be leaving the building and hormonal Hannah will move in for weeks!

Last night Ian and I were looking at photos of some of the young up-and-coming males in the breed. I commented that a couple had feminine heads, one being the spit of his mother. Males should be easily distinguished from females by heads alone, but of course these are young males with plenty of time on their hands. Two judges said that Loki's head would not be masculine enough when he was a youngster, one was kinder and simply said that the whole dog needed to "Fill his frame!" A term I now use myself, without doubt male shepherds take longer to mature, their heads take longer, and yes they take time to "Fill the frame!" These two photo of Loki at 7 months and 7 years explain it so clearly without words. 

Today is the first day since Tuesday that I haven't got a headache. I guess finally I'm starting to relax. Steve is not amused that the salt pot has gone into hiding, but I've preached about his salt intake for 20 odd years, now he has to do without it. He can't drive for a month and he mustn't do anything that involves lifting or stretching. He's not to go outside in cold, wet or windy weather, apparently this kind of weather makes your heart beat faster and at the moment his heart needs to take it easy .. it's going to be a long month, as he's already wanting to do things! 

Photos of Archie, Loki at 7 months and 7 years and Sammi and Loki showing off exactly what masculine and feminine heads should look like!