One step at a time.

Note to readers (my lovely bloggees): For the avoidance of any doubt - every character in this blog is me!!! No Baggy was harmed in its writing.

Baggy woke up in a very dark place this morning. The clouds outside were as dark and threatening as the one over her head. Furry Mama whizzed outside to check Derek had survived the cold. He was a little feathery ball, but was fine. Then during her morning call to number one furry, he mentioned that the sun was supposed to come out later. Baggy tried to cheer up while she drank a cup of tea, but she felt terrible. She called on Weedy Wilma Willpower for a bit of assistance, between Weedy and Clever Bird they convinced Baggy that she must get dressed and keep busy. So Furry Mama decided to take Minty Mutt for a walk and then find Gloria Gardener.

It was bitterly cold. Baggy had lots of layers on, but was virtually shivering. Mint was happy enough, but Baggy just felt even worse and decided that it was way too cold for Gloria to be out in the garden. Baggy was walking along, brushing tears away when Furry Mama noticed that Mint was bouncing about like a very big puppy, following some scent and doing play bows to her to get her to join in the fun. At the same moment the sun came out. Baggy thanked God for cheering her up. Weedy persuaded her to go home, put even more clothes on and drag Gloria out of the garden shed.

Bit of an anxious panic when Furry Mama got home - she couldn't see Derek. She found him hiding under the turnout rug. Phew. Cup of tea made. Tools and Gloria retrieved from the shed. Weedy viewed the garden and gave Gloria a challenge: the other set of steps!

Encouraged by Weedy and Bit-at-a-time-Betty, Gloria set to, one step at a time. Clever Bird was convinced that this would be easier than the other set of steps. Wrong. But a few hours later a number of things became clear. Baggy was in a happy place. Gloria was loving gardening. Minty Mutt was driving Furry Mama nuts constantly barking to get her to throw his ball. Clever Bird realised just what a good thing it was moving house. Steps appeared - one step at a time.

 



Calum called Baggy just as she was getting to the last step. She realised she'd been out there for hours and it was just starting to rain. She decided that maybe it was lunchtime. It was more like tea time. Then Clever Bird realised that it wasn't raining, it was hailing! Time to go in for a salad - yeah bloggess, you're right, but The Domestic Goddess still hasn't made her butternut squash soup. Creative Clara just needed to admire the garden, the view, the dog, and Derek first.

Well done Weedy, not such a wimp after all..............

Please welcome Weedy to the gang.

Note to readers (my lovely bloggees): For the avoidance of any doubt - every character in this blog is me!!! No Baggy was harmed in its writing.

There's been a bit of an attempt at an internal coup in the gang. Hormonal Hannah has gone for a takeover from Baggy again in the last few weeks. Unfortunately she's been succeeding as well. It's not so much that she's been bringing the black cloud in (although she has), Baggy seems to be able to manage that fairly well now, by keeping the active members busy. So Hannah seems to have re-introduced Baggy to her anxiety, with a vengeance.  Baggy is constantly worried. Half the time, she doesn't even know what about - she's just worried. And it makes her have a sick feeling in her stomach. It's very debilitating and extremely annoying. But the biggest problems with it are twofold: it totally knocks Baggy's confidence, which despite outward appearance, is low in the first place. And it stops her from doing things. When the anxiety really takes hold, the "safest" place for Baggy to be is with her number one furry. But of course from Monday through Friday, she can't be with him. Monday's are therefore a really bad day for Baggy, because it's even more pronounced that she's on her own, having been with him all weekend. So her "safe" place becomes her home and she just doesn't want to leave it.

When the anxiety is really bad, like today, Baggy will avoid it by sleeping. If she's asleep she can't worry. That is of course totally untrue! Last night's dreams: both cats went missing in some huge mansion that Baggy was lost in; Baggy found herself in the middle of a shopping centre where every public loo was locked and she was desperate, only to spot one and then realise she couldn't go to it because she was naked; She was at a new job and couldn't work out how to use the computer. And they're the ones she can remember - you get the gist. Worried. Crazy. But she still didn't get up until after eleven o'clock and it took her another hour to bother to get dressed.

The trouble is when it takes Baggy like this, she starts to comfort herself. At least that's what she thinks she's doing. She'll buy things even if she can't afford to. She'll eat comforting (for that read fattening) food. She'll flob about in comfy old clothes. She'll drink too much tea and coffee. And if she gets really bad, she'll drink drink, as it were, usually wine. It's a minor miracle that she hasn't started smoking again. But all of these things make her feel guilty. They are also making her pile weight back on at a rapid rate of knots! She got to her target weight with Fat Club and stayed at it for about a week. That was two months ago. She is now nearly a stone above it once more. Which of course also makes her anxious!

So meet Weedy! Weedy is the nickname for Wilma Willpower. Wilma is a really strong old bird when she's on form. In the past she's got Baggy to give up a forty-a-day smoking habit, by getting her to go cold turkey. She's had her do a thousand-foot rock climb even though she has really bad vertigo. She helped her to lose three-and-a-half stone with Fat Club. But when she's not on form, she's a weed! And thanks to Hormonal Hannah, she is currently far from being on form. So Clever Bird is determined to make Weedy a strong bird again - starting sometime soon............maybe............

Grotty is back on top.

Note to readers (my lovely bloggees): For the avoidance of any doubt - every character in this blog is me!!! No Baggy was harmed in its writing.


Yee-hah! Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Yippee yee-hah! Oh yes, oh yes, oh yes! Bloggees who know Baggy well, will understand that this means that Grotty Groom has ridden the Boy Wessles. Having totally run out of day yesterday, she was determined to do it today. As they'd agreed to help their friends with the house move again this afternoon, that meant getting up and riding this morning. Today, alarm set, they actually managed to get up. Derek the dove decided to come out of his cage when his Mum appeared, so Baggy and Calum left by the front door so as not to disturb them.

Calum and Grotty groomed further small animals worth of hair out of the Boys. Then as Freda Fretter made Baggy start to get really anxious about letting Grotty get on, she side-tracked her by going for a cup of coffee. Freda decided that Grotty needed to be safe. Fair enough as the Boys have not been ridden for three months, are not on any turnout (other than for leg stretches), are at a new yard, and the weather is on the turn. So Grotty put on her full-length suede chaps as well as her air jacket. After lots of prevaricating and chatting with one of the grooms, they headed with their tack to the Boys' stables. They were totally chilled out and not bothered that they were going to be ridden. They happily wandered onto the yard. Calum got onto Joey, who stood stock still, looking relaxed. Grotty took Wesley to the mounting block, he immediately turned away from it. She took him back, he turned away. Calum was yacking to the groom and lying on Joey's back. Grotty took Wesley back. He turned away.
"Calum, will you please pay some attention", snapped a very nervous Baggy.
"Why, what do you want me to do?"
"Just put Joey where Wesley can see him".
Calum moved Joey. Grotty took Wes to the mounting block. He stood still, so Grotty could mount. Daft horse.

They started the walk down to the indoor school. Joey planted all four feet and refused to move. Wesley grew by two hands and walked backwards. Baggy's heart rate shot up. Clever Bird realised that a) Grotty needed to lead and b) Wesley was going backwards, because Baggy was so tense that Grotty was actually inadvertently asking him to "rein-back". She dropped her nervous rein contact, gently squeezed and Wesley walked on. Joey followed. Baggy started to sing to calm her nerves and ensure she was breathing. Wesley snorted like a dragon but kept walking. He trusted Grotty enough to ride into the school. Joey followed. Both horses were on full alert and looking for any little thing to spook at. Grotty and Calum walked the Boys around the school as a pair, then separately, then passing each other. They gradually began to relax. After twenty minutes or so Baggy's back was burning with pain, and she decided that that was enough for everyone. They headed out of the school and immediately Wesley went into full alert mode once again. But both horses behaved impeccably and Grotty and Calum were very proud of them. Their reward, a bowl of carrots a few parsnips and a minty treat or four, to go with their hay.

This afternoon much lifting and carrying was done, but a lot was achieved on the moving front. Furry Mama was a little bit worried as they drove home as to where Derek might be. She needn't have been, as he'd put himself back in his cage for the night. She then checked on Terence the toad, who was happily tucked up in his flower pot. It's been a busy weekend. Baggy is going to sleep like a log tonight!................

Where did the day go?

Note to readers (my lovely bloggees): For the avoidance of any doubt - every character in this blog is me!!! No Baggy was harmed in its writing.

Today's plan:

Get up early.
Walk Minty Mutt.
Go to the yard and ride the horses.
Go food shopping - for slimming healthy food.
Go and help our friends to move house.

Today's actuality:

Got up late.
Walked Minty Mutt.
Helped our friends to move house.
Went food shopping - for pizzas, sweets, chocolate cream eggs, bread and butter pudding, biscuits and a bit of salad type stuff.

As they were paying for their mainly unhealthy food at the check out, all Furry Mama could hear was hysterical whimpering from outside the store. The whimpering changed to full on yapping. As they left the store Furry Mama spotted a cute little black fluffy dog, leaping about barking its head off. She spent the next ten minutes sitting on the floor with the little dog, stroking it to keep it calm. The second she stopped stroking, it started whimpering again.
"Cal, I know I could be ages, but I can't leave the poor little thing. It's hysterical".
"That's okay".
Freda Fretter was thinking that someone could have a right pop at Furry Mama for interfering, but she was prepared to put up with it for the poor little dog.
"It's okay little one, I'm sure they won't be long".
By now the dog was half sitting on Furry Mama, completely focussed on the store door. Then Baggy heard a voice.
"Oh, thank you", as a lady came out of the shop.
"That's okay, but I couldn't leave her in that state".
"Thank you, it is upsetting. I've had her five years and she's like this if I leave her at home, so I think I'll bring her with me, then I can hear her all round the store".
By now, the dog is licking Furry Mama to bits.
"Well she's very sweet".
"Yes, her name is Poppy and she's very friendly. I think she knows what she's doing".
"Yep, probably", said Furry Mama, "it certainly worked with me".

Baggy has just eaten pizza and is now feeling sick while demolishing pick and mix sweets. This however is not preventing her from carrying on eating them. Number one furry just said, "Well we don't have to eat them all tonight". Hormonal Hannah just raised her eyebrows at him. It's not good. At this rate Grotty Groom will be too heavy to ride Wessles again. She absolutely must go to Fat Club this week!

Hannah just went to grab another handful of chocolate raisins from the bowl, only to discover that the bowl had disappeared. "Urmmmm?"
"I'm saving you from yourself", said Calum. Probably wise. Except he bought the flipping things in the first place.

Hopefully tomorrow they will get to see the horses and ride. Although Freda Fretter is worried about Grotty getting on Wessles, the sooner she gets on with it the better. Hopefully tomorrow. Hopefully!

Number one furry just said, "I love you bubba". Bless him.
"Do you love me enough to make me a cup of tea?"
"I do".
No movement.
Baggy raised her eyebrows.
"When would you like it?"
Sometimes..........................

Looking forward.

Note to readers (my lovely bloggees): For the avoidance of any doubt - every character in this blog is me!!! No Baggy was harmed in its writing.

Baggy briefly considered getting up and doing the three hour round trip to Fat Club this morning; very briefly. Lots of reasons not to: Baggy has definitely put on weight again (in fact she's merrily creeping up on a daily basis); she has lots more she can usefully do with three hours and unfortunately Baggy felt fairly poorly and Hormonal Hannah had her big black cloud sitting on her head. After a phone chat with number one furry she cheered up a bit, and decided to keep busy (probably because he told her to "Take it easy".)

She felt better still once Furry Mama had walked Minty Mutt on this beautifully sunny, calm day (and people wonder why the Brits talk about the weather all the time). Mint decided that they were going through a little housing estate in the village. This was fine by Furry Mama as it wears his claws down a little and it was a new walk for them both. When they got home, Clever Bird decided to check what the storm yesterday had been up to in the garden. She got a bit of a shock! Certainly nothing serious compared to many, but still! One wheelie bin lifted out of a sheltered corner by the house and its lid broken off. Two massive branches broken off - one a fir tree, with the branch still stuck in amongst other branches. Gloria Gardener managed to pull it down. The second is an Oak, the branch is hanging on by a thread of bark, and is only still up there because it's balanced on another branch. Had it come off it would have landed on Derek the dove for sure and possibly hit the house roof. But it needs to come off, before it does!

Lots and lots of smaller branches and twigs down. Derek's cage full of leaves and a bit flooded. But other than that, everything was good. Derek obviously had a pretty rough night, but as the sun came out he perked up. Furry Mama dried his cage, took the leaves out and added a new towel for him to snuggle in! He's getting used to her now, and seems to see her checks as his prompt to eat. Happily, his Mum comes and checks on him regularly as well. Furry Mama leaves his cage open all day, but he seems to prefer to stay in it.

Gloria Gardener decided to move all the bags of rubbish from the terrace, then Baggy just sat in the sun for a while, watching Minty Mutt and the birds.

Can you see him bloggees? Spot the ears!

The Domestic Goddess then took over. Baggy realised a couple of things. Firstly, she's getting old. She'd never have thought that she would ever be "washing her nets" (she'll be scrubbing the front doorstep next - well she might if she had one). Nets washed. Windows cleaned. Nets re-hung. But worse than that, she enjoyed it. Ooops, The "not" Goddess might actually be turning into a proper one.

Secondly, in spite of Hormonal Hannah's black cloud, Baggy is extremely happy. Clever Bird can't quite believe that only a few months ago just the thought of moving house put Hannah into a complete anxious meltdown. Now she realises it was the best thing that Baggy and Calum could have done. They, and Minty Mutt are definitely more relaxed at this house than they were at the soon-to-be-a-holiday-cottage. Baggy is taking comfort from the fact that it was her Dad's house. She loves the fact that Rocky and Mona the robins, are constantly with her when she's outside. Psychic Ploppo takes comfort that it's Baggy's Dad and Step-Mum who've sent them to keep an eye on her. Baggy and Minty love to be outside at this house. But being inside is pleasant as well, because it's not so squashed. It's possible to walk across a room without tripping over the mutt, or stuff, or a cat. The cats are really settled now as well; much calmer than they were before at the soon-to-be-a. At this house they regularly curl up together. They haven't been out yet, but they don't seem to want to anyway. And the horses are totally chilled, even though at present they have no pasture turnout which Grotty Groom was really worried about. They're settled and happy. Grotty is really looking forward to beginning to ride again. In fact Baggy is looking forward to life..........

A storm's a-brewing!

Note to readers (my lovely bloggees): For the avoidance of any doubt - every character in this blog is me!!! No Baggy was harmed in its writing.

Last night Baggy was relaxing on the sofa watching the box, feeling achy but fine. Ten minutes later she realised she had a sore throat. Within thirty minutes some gremlin had made her Geographic tongue feel as though it was burning. Honey eaten, Baggy went to bed. During the night the gremlin stuck a cactus in Baggy's throat. By this morning, she felt as though she had the round bits of a Prickly Pear cactus stuck on her tonsils. Swallowing was nigh on impossible. Clever Bird decided that she should go back to bed.

So much for today's plans: go to the yard for horse cuddles; drive to the soon-to-be-a-holiday cottage and paint; meet a good friend at the soon-to-be, for a catch up and to ask her advice on it; stay over so that Baggy can go to Fat Club tomorrow. Baggy texted her friend, then promptly went back to sleep. She was woken up by Minty Mutt pawing Furry Mama to get up and let him out. She couldn't actually move though as she was pinned down by the duvet, due to a certain two cats being attached to each side of her. When she asked them to move, a squeak came out of Baggy's mouth, followed by an "Ouch". She attempted to "launch" the Hinge off the duvet. Hinge thought this was a great game and used the duvet as a trampoline to dive onto Baggy's stomach - as she weighs over twelve kilograms, it wasn't!

Bracket decided to run for cover, so Baggy managed to get out the other side in the nick of time to let Minty out! It was blowing a hooley. Furry Mama made sure Derek was safe, poured the pond from his cage cover and gave him more seed. Clever Bird pointed out that Baggy was being an idiot. She was outside with just her dressing gown on and bare feet, with a cactus in her throat. She went back in feeling silly, but at least Derek was safe.

Clever Bird decided that Baggy should stay in for the rest of the day. No point in getting cold, and unnecessary driving would be silly. The wind got worse. Furry Mama looked out of the kitchen window to check Derek and realised that his cage cover was on the other side of the garden. She went out again (don't worry bloggees, she was fully clothed and shoed by then) and sorted it out. The Domestic Goddess realised that the bin should probably come in from the drive, so she went out to get it, only to realise that Billy Bob campervan's cover was wrapped around the garage and the bin was banging on the car. When she'd sorted all that out, she went back in to a message on the answer machine from a real human (not a computer), from the electricity company saying that there would be bad storms later, and leaving an emergency number. Freda Fretter wondered just how much worse it was going to get.

A bit of flopping about later, Baggy decided to rustle up The Goddess to do a bit more tidying. But the sun came out, so Furry Mama decided to take Mint for a quick walk. Dumb idea. Within a hundred yards it was raining sideways and Baggy was having to stay away from the very bendy trees. She was only out for about twenty minutes, but felt quite poorly when she got back in. Then the power went off and came back on again, so Creative Clara decided to do an early blog while she still had a Wifi signal and some electricity! The Domestic Goddess might be cooking in Billy Bob later! Stay safe bloggees............

Extra duties.

Note to readers (my lovely bloggees): For the avoidance of any doubt - every character in this blog is me!!! No Baggy was harmed in its writing.

Not surprisingly after Gloria Gardener's super human antics of yesterday, Baggy slept rather well last night. She is however covered in scratches and bruises and has muscles that feel like achy lead. Her hands, particularly her right one, feel rather peculiar too, but Baggy is feeling so much better physically, that she forgets that she's had so much surgery sometimes. But despite all the aches, she woke up happy and determined to have another busy day. Bit-at-a-time-Betty has had a chat with Clever Bird who will try to ensure that Baggy's "bits" aren't too much in future!

Unlike yesterday, the weather was a little more wintry today; grey, windy and drizzling, so Baggy decided to take it easy. But as Furry Mama now has not only furries, but featheries and a warty to attend to, Baggy's first tasks of the day take a while:

* Feed the house furries, Hinge, Bracket and Minty Mutt.
* Clean Hinge and Bracket's litter trays.
* Check on Derek the dove. Change his water and check he has seed. Secure his house from the winds. Open the cage doors so that he can get out-and-about if he fancies it.
* Put food out for all of the village's birds, and for those who've now heard the news about the new Furry Mama in town and are turning up from neighbouring villages. Top up their water.
* Check that Terence the toad is okay in his new house.
* Take Minty Mutt for his daily neighbourhood checking and "marking" walk.

Baggy then had to take Furry Mama to the village shop for more dog food. While she was there she bought yet more coconut feeders for the featheries - apparently the tits do not want the mealworm coconuts she bought, they prefer berry and peanut butter flavoured ones. Their wish is Furry Mama's command.

Baggy then took Grotty Groom to the yard as she needed cuddles from the Boys. Two hours later she had finished grooming them. Baggy's hands were hurting, but she was happy. There really is nothing like a bit of horse therapy. The Boys are so chilled out, it's lovely for Baggy to be with them.

Baggy actually managed to track down The Domestic Goddess when she got back. She's managed to make the house look halfway decent again. The poor woman though, you have to feel a teeny bit sorry for her. She hates doing housework and now she's got two of them to sort out! But Clever Bird has been encouraging her by pointing out how lucky she is to be in that situation, so The Goddess has been vacuuming to music. Furry Mama wasn't too impressed with her when she nearly landed on Bracket as she danced around the sitting room with a feather duster catching cobwebs, but at least Baggy would have burned off an extra calorie or two. Tomorrow she might try painting to music at the soon-to-be-a-holiday cottage. After all, what could possibly go wrong?.........

Introducing Terence.

Note to readers (my lovely bloggees): For the avoidance of any doubt - every character in this blog is me!!! No Baggy was harmed in its writing.

The day started with a long walk for Furry Mama and Minty Mutt. It truly felt like spring! No wonder nature is a little confused. Clever Bird decided that Baggy needed to be outside, as it was way too lovely to be inside. As Baggy is really excited that they will finally legally own their garden, she decided to rustle Gloria Gardener up from her hibernation. Now bloggees, you will probably remember that Gloria is about as keen at doing her job as The Domestic Goddess is at doing hers, but Baggy was determined to start getting on top of the garden.

Gloria had a plan. This was the start point for the day:

Under this, there are steps! This is part of the garden that the neighbour had bought. A friend of Baggy and Calum's who is a professional landscape gardener, cleared it to this stage a few weeks ago, so Gloria wanted to start on revealing the steps. With the encouragement of Bit-at-a-time-Betty, she decided to literally tackle one step at a time. Starting with the little patio next to the shed and working down.

There are loads of bulbs! Rocky the robin was close by Baggy all the time.

Minty Mutt decided he needed to assist.

The bottom of the steps was a challenge.

But a few hours later:

To get to this stage Gloria employed the help of Archaeologist Annie who got her little trowel out to actually figure out where the steps were. She was quite surprised to find the terrace, as this hasn't been visible for at least six years. She did disturb a new friend though. Meet Terence the toad.

Can you see him bloggees? Good camouflage heh? But Furry Mama decided to leave him a new little house that he seemed to like.

It took over six hours. There might be a need for Betty to explain more carefully to Baggy what the definition of a "little bit" is, but Gloria, who generally hates gardening, really enjoyed herself. She is excited to get the garden into the beautiful creation that Baggy's Dad and Step Mum had created.

Derek the dove is also still doing really well. It's been a good if exhausting day. Now Baggy has rather a lot of rubbish to get rid of...........