Walking And Stressing

My dogs are keeping me sane, but life right now is so stressful. My Mum has had another morphine overdose, simply because the patches have been increased to 1 x 20ies, when they were previously 2 x 10es  - so basically she put on two 20ies and ended up as high as a kite. But the current doctor is now reducing all her pain relief because "the guidelines for prescribing gabapentin and strong opioids like morphine patches for chronic non-cancer pain have shifted significantly. Recent evidence suggests there is often limited benefit for long-term pain while the risks of side effects, dependence, and overdose, especially when combined, are quite high. Most guidelines now emphasize multimodal approaches, including physical therapy, psychological support, and non-opioid medications, reserving these stronger drugs for specific cases under careful specialist monitoring." She has been told the way forward is physio, physio and more physio ... but bare in mind that so far she's done nothing, I don't consider there will be much success.

A Social worker should have turned up at 11am today - she didn't. Long stressful story short, she rang at 2pm and apologised because she "Forgot!" Forgot? Fecking hell, it would have come over better had she lied and said she'd been delayed or called to a meeting! All very odd in my opinion. 

My walk are generally really good for de-stressing and clearing my head, but after the calls and messages today, I came home with a banging headache and burst into tears as soon as I saw Steve. I'm trying my best, but I just can't be pulled into two halves! 

I watched Orin on the walk today; God, he's handsome. I know his faults, and as always, I'm happy with constructive criticism of Orin, the show dog, but my mate Orin fills my eyes with his beauty and my heart with love. 

Where we shouldn't be, but we didn't care!

Making Meerah stand in a hole, as without her coat her legs look even longer and I'm careful which photos I share of her on Facebook. After Shonagh's comments recently, I try not to put pics on that show off her supermodel legs too much! LOL. 

Thinking Ahead

With a few days of hot weather forecast for next week, I'm trying to think of places we can go for short walks. A woodland, preferably with a stream, would be best for them and me. 

This short section of the Lon Goed would be great, a sheltered place to park and leave two dogs, a canopy of trees to a stream and back again would be lovely.

Gyrn Coch - again for the same reasons, ideal.

Dorothea, no river or stream, and no "cool place" to park but a lovely canopy of thick woodland. 

Coed Elernion in Trefor, not a great parking place, so just two or three dogs on one walk, but woodland and a lovely stream to play in. 

Of course there is the nursery in Tremadog, but I don't think I'd take them that far in the heat. 

The Same Walk

I rarely do exactly the same walk three times, but with cattle on the alternate route, that's what I did today. I parked at the bottom of the donkey field, walked the footpath to the top, zigzagged on the common and then went back down the track behind the slate mound, finishing with a short road walk back to the van. Happy dogs, with a satisfaction for me that everyone had 45 - 50 mins out.

My lovelies – Orin and Siska

The loonies Ross and Beti 

We never did find a suitable word for this group of three. 

Sammi, Zeus and Meerah

Meerah starting to look pretty rough as her coat is falling out, and I'm sure she's brewing for her season as the boys are definitely starting to pick up on something, and I can't think it's Siska! 

Handling

I'm feeling a little let down, but really I shouldn't be surprised, I'm quite the nobody and have never had the strength of character to push myself forward. With Sarah prefering to take another female in limit than Beti I had to make other plans and I really thought I had it sorted! I'd gone though a list of shows and I honestly thought it was all agreed, but last night I was told that the handler I'd lined up for her could only take her in at Bath, that left me with numerous shows entered, and no handler. Again, this handler has preferd to take in another female at these shows ....  it's left me confused and emoional. Is it me or Beti or both of us that's not good enough for them? I'd love to say feck it, but I can't do it without them! 

Plans Changed

The plans in my head for the day had to change again. I was meeting Nicola in Treborth for tea and cake, but she got there early due to the phone shop being closed in Bangor. Lucky really, I had hoped to walk in Parc Menai, but this morning Steve decided he was coming with me, he wanted to go to Stermart. Great! LOL Oh hell, I didn't mind, as it's nice to do things together, but I missed out on my walks. Anyway, we had lunch out and the guys had fun in the fields! 

Shame - Now it's in my head!

 Just great lyrics - During the feud I was always team Robbie, but I have to admit, I love them both. 

Friends

Last night a friend had me in tears, before you go knocking on her door and smashing her face in, 😆let me tell you about it. We were chatting about last weekend, and why I was almost a no - show at the National. She said "On no, I would have really missed you had you not turned up, and since we are being soppy," she said " I want to thank you for your friendship and for always having my back." WOW, I  could feel myself getting emotional, but she continued, " you are such a great friend, a nice, kind person and you never judge me for all my faults and regular mistakes. " Well hell, that is how it should be between friends, isn't it? I feel blessed to have her, and many others in my life too ... sometimes I've no idea how I'd function without being able to rant to my mates. 

Recently there has been unrest between two of my friends, and though they are both still getting on at the shows, the tension is sadly obvious. I've heard both sides of the story, and they speak as they found it and as it affected them. According to Robbie and Gary there are always three versions of a story, "Yours and mine and then the truth." The truth is somewhere in between both versions, but no one is lying; they are simply relaying it as they experienced it. Anyway I've listened to both, and all I can say to them is to keep themselves safe from further hurt by building that barrier just a little bit higher. It's not worth losing the friends, but self preservation is paramount. 

Disclaimer (LOL) The recent photos taken at shows may have nothing to do with the post! 

Minffordd Mooches

Having been to Mum's for 9.30am and made sure she was Ok, I set off for a walk with Beti and Meerah. It's surprising how much time you can spend walking in an industrial estate. I suppose they enjoyed it far more than me, but there were some pretty little places; apart from the lake, there were meadows of wildflowers. 

No, Beti, you are not going in. Thank God Ross was at home!

I did see other dog walkers, but not many. One man, who I had a quick chat with was walking one of the oddest GSD's I've ever seen. The tan was so pale it was almost black and white. Bless him, he was no show dog, but as long as he was loved and happy, who cares! I also saw a man with a collie, but he turned tail and went the other way, LOL. Just as I was leaving, I saw another man with a L/C GSD. Another slightly odd-looking dog, the first had been tall and narrow, this guy was smaller and squat with a head that reminded me more of a Eurasier than a GSD. (Google it) 

Finally A Morning Of Walking

Siska and Orin

My main man didn't eat breakfast this morning. I'm not sure why, it's not like him, but he seemed fine in himself. He did bring up some yellow bile on the walk, but otherwise he's been Ok and eaten tonight. 

I fecked up last night and forgot to close Orin's crate; he was sleeping in it and I just got on with things. Around 9.30pm, there was the most aggressive two-way barking and growling. Thank god for the baby gate between the living room and middle room, otherwise we would have had a horrific brother fight! Like I say, more often than not, human error is what lets us down. 

Ross and Beti

These two are so much fun, but I forgot the kong so someone was pulling up roots and sticks. I've been gloating a lot recently that I'm really good with two retractable leads now. Well, thank god no one was watching me today as Beti and I got tangled in the gorse too many times to count, but the low point (if you like) was when the bit she got tangled in came out of the ground and came with her; it was hard enough to untangle as it was ... but Ross "helping" made it bloody impossible! 

Sammi, Zeus, Meerah 

I took these three onto the mountain; the girls ran riot, with Sammi again forgetting her age! I do feel so sorry for Zeus when the others are running, but what can I do? 

Before The Hail.

It's near as damn it midway through May, almost the end of spring. The sky looks like November, and then we got battered by hail! I know I don't like the heat, but a little bit of warmth and bright weather at this time of year is quite acceptable! 

Beti's season has been over for days. Without doubt I missed the first few days, that's not like me, but I am keeping an eye on Siska and Meerah! It's now over 6 months since Siska's last season. Reno goes to France on the 7th of June, so I'm more or less resigned to the fact that there will not be a Blanik litter this Summer. If I hadn't paid the stud fee, I may have looked elsewhere, but really Reno is still my first choice for Siska, so unless she hangs on till July to come into season, then we'll just have to wait till next year!