Breton Bull Dog

 

Its spring on the farm and time to break out the Breton Top.

Fresh and clean but with long sleeves to keep out the chill wind that blows across the moss despite the sun.

And of course dungarees are essential farm kit.

The warmer weather has made a difference with the egg production and I picked up 3 eggs in the morning and 10 in the afternoon.

On my way home my daughter asked if I could pick up a child's t-shirt form the charity shop as the vet suggested it to stop Bud licking his staples as he recovers from the Bullae surgery.

Of course I couldn't resist this little stripey number.

 Phew it's hard work farming in the sun - time for a rest!

I hope you have a sunny day whatever the weather.

Today I wore

Shoes - Converse

Dungarees - Lucy & Yak

Breton - Boden

Bud, Blossom and Bloopers.

 

What a week.

It started so well. 

I was back in school and looking forward to life getting back to some semblance of normality when the phone rang before 6am on Tuesday morning.

An early phone call is rarely good news.

It was my daughter.

Her little French Bulldog, Bud, my gorgeous grandoggy wasn't breathing properly and was clearly in pain.

I advised her to call the emergency vet.

They said they couldn't find anything wrong apart from full anal glands which they released.

They told her to go home.

She did but as soon as she arrived home she could see he was struggling some more.

At 8am she phoned her local vet and they asked for a video of him. It was clear he could barely breathe.

"Bring him in now," they said.

As soon as she arrived they whisked him off to a room and gave him oxygen asking my daughter to go home and wait by the phone.

A little while later they said he needed to be taken to the animal hospital as a node on his lung had burst. If my daughter hadn't brought him in when she did he would have died.

At the animal hospital the vet examined Bud and after a CT scan said they could try and operate but it wasn't certain he would survive. However, as he was a young dog it was worth a go. 

If it was his dog, the vet said, he would operate.

The operation took place yesterday and lasted four hours and part of his lung was removed.

Today he is recovering and has finally eaten some food.

If he continues to recover well he can be home by Saturday.

We knew we loved this little dog but not quite how much.

He will have to take it easy for the next few months but hopefully he will have lots of happy and healthy years to come.

I can't wait to have him back on the yoga mat with me.

And a reminder of the healing power of nature is that yesterday just as we got the good news about our precious Bud, this beautiful blossom in my front garden finally came to its fleeting fullness. 

Today the blossom petals are starting to float away - a reminder to cherish beauty whenever and wherever we find it moment by moment.

On a lighter note, just beware of stepping back when you take photos - luckily Bud was there to check I was OK after I fell into the pond last Sunday.

Today I wore:

Boots - Clarks

Denim Dress- H &M

Heidi Grows Up

Plaits always remind me of Heidi.

Did you read the story Heidi as a child?

It was written by Swiss writer Johanna Spyri in 1881 about a little girl who grows up with her grandfather and her friendship with the goatherd Peter and the seemingly disabled Clara.

I had no idea when I was a child that the book was so old.

After the first novel was published a sequel, Heidi Grows Up was eventually published in 1938 by Spyri's French and English translator Charles Tritten.

I never read the sequel but the title of the sequel always comes to mind when I plait my hair.

To be honest, I am bored with my hair and will try anything while I wait for my hair appointment on April 14th. The style seemed to create a boho vibe with this new to me Zara dress from ebay.

And as it's so cold, I wore the dress with leggings and a trusty tank top.

What a contrast to last week when it was my youngest son's 21st birthday and there were record breaking temperatures for March.

It wasn't the birthday he had envisaged but we did him proud.

How fast those 21 years have flown.

Still, I got the chance to wear the Karen Millen leopard dress I had originally bought for my nephew's wedding which was cancelled last December.

One day I will look back on all this lockdown nonsense and laugh - I hope!

Today I wore:

Boots - M & S

Dress - Zara from ebay

Tank Top - Oasis

Leggings - Dorothy Perkins

 

A Walk On The Wild Side

 

I love the guided walks by Vix and Mike so I thought I would share what is almost my daily walk with you.

It starts at St Luke's Church in Formby which is a mile from my house.

The church hit the national headlines last year with the arrival of the Hot Vicar.

You can read about him here if you have the time or inclination!

Originally built as a chapel, the building was destroyed in a sandstorm in 1739.

 The church we see today was built in 1854.

It is a pretty church and I have been to many services here both happy and sad including the funeral of my friend's sister who died aged 22 due to a botched operation.

It's very popular with walkers and there are lots of picnic tables.

In non covid times there is a tearoom in the grounds.

In the churchyard there is a lovely tribute to the world's oldest Lifeboat Station which was located on the beach nearby.

It was built in 1793.

Sadly, only a few bricks remain but a great meeting point for my Beach Yoga sessions in the summer.

The path through the church takes you through a gate and into the woods.

The pinewoods were created by the local Formby family over 120 years ago.

Once you get into the pinewoods there are so many different paths to take which means the walk is never the same.

The woods lead to an open path towards the dunes.

And then we are here on the beach.

In less than 20 minutes from the car we have an historic church, a woodland and beach walk.

The beach is now managed by the National Trust and quite often used for filming.

It was the setting for the final scene in series 4 of Peaky Blinders with Tom Hardy and Cillian Murphy.

We usually walk along the beach for anything from 5 -30 minutes and take one of the paths back to the woods and return through the churchyard.

Formby beach is one of the finest examples of a moving sand dune system so every day is always different and that's without the weather!

On the way back we saw a little egg hiding in this tree in the churchyard.

I hope you enjoyed the trip and if you are ever in Formby, give me a shout.

Today I wore:

Shacket - Next

Shoes - Nike

Leggings - Sweaty Betty

Kickin' Boots

 

I'm fed up of winter now.

But its still too cold to wear shoes without socks.

I need some boots and I saw these platform white boots in the Asos sale.

I love them.

My husband hates them - he calls them Clown Boots.

He has no taste - obviously - he chose me!

Frankie doesn't care what I wear.

All shoes/boots are equally chewable in his eyes.

In order to hurry the spring along which officially starts on Sunday - I sorted out my wardrobe which was very therapeutic.

While I was watching 'This Is Us' I came across a saying that was new to me - kicking boots.

Do you know what that means?

It made me laugh.

Answer at the end of this post.

Today I wore:

Boots - Asos

Jumpsuit - Next

* urban dictionary definition

kickin' boots: to have sex

E.g I caught them kickin' boots in the back of his pickup truck

This Is Us

 

Have you seen This Is Us?

Its on Amazon Prime and my new favourite programme.

This Is Us charts the Pearson family over several decade and during each episode the action goes back and forth.

It is wonderful - Russell T Davies wrote about how great the storytelling was in this weekend's Guardian.

You can see the article here.

I connect with it so much, especially the mother Rebecca, played by Mandy Moore who ages from her 30s to her later 60s in the programme.

We see Rebecca at the centre of her family life as the mother of three children and on the periphery as her children grow. 

It's so bittersweet.

You want your children to grow up and meet amazing people and have wonderful families of their own - that is how it should be.

But going from the heart of your little family to living life on the outskirts can be painful at times.

This is one of my favourite family photos.

It was taken in a little back street near Barcelona.

We had bought some bread and cheese from a little supermarket and we were eating our picnic before spending the afternoon on the beach.

It was 2005 and we had spent all our cash on a 10 day holiday in a campsite in Spain - there wasn't much cash left over for restaurant meals or fancy hotels but it was fabulous.

We barbecued every night and played cards until the youngest fell asleep and we would round the evening off with a coffee and chocolate.

The children were aged 5, 8, 10 and 13 and were still happy to spend their time with us and each other.

The last time we had a family photo was at my eldest son's wedding in 2018 when we welcomed his wife, Sophie into our family.

This Is Us shows us how time moves on, nothing stays the same forever and neither should it.

And puppies are so much easier than babies!!!!!!

Today I wore:

Boots - M&S

Leggings - Next

Top - Zara

In The Pink (and Blue)

Forgive me bloggers.

It has been seven days since my last post.

It has been a busy one and is set to get busier.

When I look back on my photos of the last week it seems that the sun has created a rare pink and blue bloom in my wardrobe as all my chosen clothes have been in varying shades of the two colours.

So what have I been up to?

As its World Book Day today I created a video for the primary schools where I work using the book, Bark George as a prompt.

I met friends for walks and celebrated by friend Denise's birthday socially distanced of course.

I planted some seeds and managed a few yoga sessions outside.

But then the weather turned cooler and I was back inside.

Paul was on farm duty this weekend so I got to see my favourite pig, Pebbles.

Despite the mud there are lots of new shoots spring out of the ground.

My birthday trainers from my son, Ben arrived.

I cracked on with the baby blanket.

I eked out the last of my birthday flowers in bud vases.

I finished one online course and will start another one tomorrow.

I have also taught lots of online yoga classes.

I think that's all folks.

See you soon.

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