Mid summer madness

The mad dog woman is taking a few days off. To recover from the mayhem and madness. To be nice to Mr B, and to bond with BriniZozi, and not be Mrs Shouty-Mummy. I'm leaving the chaos behind. The man pulling the kitchen apart, the other man slopping the concrete everywhere, the crazy mole-man, and the annoying pump man who never does what he's supposed to do. 

All these men, who are supposed to be improving the quality of my life but have actually made the last week almost unbearable. On top of which, Dad has been ill and his washing machine broke down. Now, Dad hasn't bought a new appliance in over 30 years, so we had to get the repair man in. That didn't work, so ended up having to buy a new washing machine - on top of the unsuccessful repair bill. It's not worth thinking about, when you're dealing with old Dad's logic.

Anyway, I let them all get on with it yesterday, and I disappeared to the Shackleford fete. I was photographer and dogsbody. It was a busy but fun day. I bumped into Dawn from Me, Myself and I, Himself and Badger Boo. Badger Boo should have won his group in the dog show - shame on you Judge! I wasn't wearing my welly boots, but if I had been, they would have been adorned with the gorgeous purple welly toppers (left) made by the multi-talented Dawn aka Stone Pit Crafts. Get yours here.

Zozi came second in her group, handled in the ring by Mr B, much to my amusement. They both seemed to enjoy it. All the fun of the fete photos are in the Shackleford village photo gallery.

Today is the Woking Cats Protection fundraising event, supported by Jill at Christmas Pie Crafts, who does a wonderful job fostering kittens. Local people, please pop along and give generously, or even adopt a kitten.

Too tired to cook last night, we celebrated our 21st wedding anniversary a few days early with a meal at our favourite little pub, The Donkey in Elstead. It was delicious, as usual. Thank you ♥

'See you' next week with 'Tails from the Forest' ☀ but in the meantime, why not read my new post 'Wild West Surrey' at Surrey Life magazine.

PS. On the Boxer heart health story, I have had several responses and lots of new information. I will be compiling this and reporting back next week.

The Gallery - It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Each week, I follow the prompt by Sticky Fingers and post a photograph which best describes my interpretation of the theme for The Gallery.

A beautiful wreath adorns our front door. Made by the lovely Jill Spain of Christmas Pie Crafts.

Christmas wreath by Christmas Pie Crafts

Hand made tree decorations from a local craft fair

My own watercolour painting for our Christmas cards

Stockings packed and sent to Australia

Gift bags packed for Mr B's staff

I must confess that gifts are bought and wrapped, Christmas cards sent, Christmas cake baked.

And we are really looking forward to the Christmas break.

Now pop over to Tara at Sticky Fingers and see more Christmas.

The Gallery

To see my previous Gallery entries click here.

Photography by Lesley Beeton.

A lovely surprise

A fellow blogger (Ally at everyday miracles) has included me in a lovely project - to hand write a card, post card or letter and send it real mail. A novel idea, given how much we rely on email today.

I have looked longingly at the lovingly crafted cards and envelopes on Ally's blog, and today, joy of joys, my own beautiful card popped through the door. 

Image by Ally T

There, amongst the boring stuff, was this lovely iced biscuit post card, designed by Ally, and sent all the way from Tasmania.

Ally, I take up your challenge. I have made my post cards and one will be on its way to you by the end of the week (I'll post a pic once Ally has enjoyed her surprise).

In the meantime, a blogger more local to me at Christmas Pie Crafts, is running a card-making competition with the theme 'flowers'. I love photographing flowers, and have documented my year in flowers, so I have several dozen to choose from. I have been designing cards this afternoon, and have become thoroughly lost in my projects. I hope to submit an entry to Jill's competition. I particularly like this 'With Sympathy' design using one of my photographs and a quote from the Prayer of St Francis of Assisi.

I'm guest blogging today at Christmas Pie Crafts

Helenium hybrid,
watercolour, 2010, Lesley Beeton

Do pop over to Christmas Pie Crafts to see the lovely, crafty cards that Jill makes, and to read my guest post today.

CHRISTMAS PIE CRAFTS

A BLOG ABOUT THE LIFE OF A CRAFTER WHO DESIGNS AND CREATES BEAUTIFUL ITEMS, INCLUDING GREETINGS CARDS, GIFT CARDS, NOTELETS, WEDDING STATIONERY, DECORATED GIFT BAGS AND GIFT BOXES AND SCENTED CANDLES. PLEASE DO GET IN TOUCH IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT MY WORK: CHRISTMASPIECRAFTS@VIRGINMEDIA.COM

If you have time, please pop over to #BlogFlash2012, where you will find the link to many other contributors to a fun creative writing challenge for August.

I've lost my husband to the chicken house

Hopefully it won't be a permanent arrangement. But for now, his project Chicken Palace is keeping him busy at the bottom of the garden. My other theory is that he is actually hiding away down there, listening to the cricket. Summer days!

Look out for my garden diary guest post on Christmas Pie Crafts - coming soon. And remember that Jill always welcomes guest bloggers (on all subjects) to her Friday blog slot. Don't be shy, get in touch with Jill, and meet some new bloggers.

Muddy Sunday, Monday, Tuesday....

When will it end? Not the World, just the weather! I have been rather stoic until today. Today is the first day of our holiday at home, and it's jolly cold and wet. We aren't going away. For one thing, we've had two weeks in Hawaii and ten days in South Africa already. And for another, I'm afraid to leave Themba at the kennel, in case the worst happens while we are away. Anyway, our PA is back from her holiday in the sun and I have Dr B to myself for a whole week. I remember just a couple of weeks ago, we were blaming the other half of another blogger for the wet weather (in jest of course). 

Jill at Christmas Pie Crafts was convinced it was his fault as he had taken a week off work. Well, this week we can blame Dr B. Who, by the way, thinks it's fun to watch the (boring) Tour de France on telly, even though we don't have a clue what's going on. He is also selectively deaf, and when I told him that the beetroots were doing well, he replied 'Figs? We've never had figs'!

Yesterday was the annual Cranleigh 10km run, normally a pleasant morning, but not yesterday. The runners were sent off with a warning - no mad dashes, the mud is treacherous. I wouldn't know about that, just that I threw his socks away.

Themba had his follow-up heart scan today. I found it all a bit much and was close to tears as he lay on the exam table. Dr B and the Vet, heads together, muttering over measurements. The conclusion? No change. His condition is severe, prepare for the worst. Pay another £100. At least we're agreed he won't have any more scans, just lots of love and attention.

Educating Africa

I am joining Salt and Caramel's blog hop today. Lynn is in Kenya, exploring the issues of life, health and education in Africa. Please do read Lynn's blog to find out more.


I wrote the post below after my holiday in South Africa in May this year. I was struck by how far the country had come since we left seventeen years ago. Then, it would have been almost unheard of for a young Zulu woman to go to school, have a career and decide for herself when and with whom to start a family. Now, we were heartened by the efforts of the recently elected politicians, to educate young people about contraception, having healthy babies, and the prospect of an HIV-free generation. This is good news for South Africa.


Two more brief anecdotes from my life in Africa in the early 1990's. My husband was training to be a doctor, and had to do an obstetrics block in a rural hospital. He said it was gruesome, sometimes delivering three babies at a time. No pain relief, episiotomies performed by experienced but extremely busy midwives. During his training, he delivered one hundred babies naturally and performed thirty Caesarian births. Today, he is a Cardiologist.


I went to discuss contraception with my GP just before we got married. As Dr B was still in training, we didn't need the added pressure of a baby! Her comment still rings in my ears: do you know what they call people who use condoms? Parents! I have been using the contraceptive pill ever since, but I do wonder whether that was the most balanced advice she could have give me.


Please read on, a story about a small part of Educating Africa.

The Cavern escarpment

My story begins with Sthoko, a young South African woman who gave my feet a wonderful pedicure after walking in the Drakensberg mountains in South Africa last week. Sthoko is one of the new generation South Africans, proud of her heritage and looking forward to a happy and successful economic future. Sthoko is educated and has a good job in a resort spa. She hopes to find a good and decent man to marry and start a family. But for now, she lives in a remote region of South Africa where three provinces meet at the escarpment. Mobile phones are plentiful in South Africa, but outside of the metropolitan areas, coverage is sparse and internet access is patchy to say the least. Satellite TV provides most of the news, but it’s expensive. Sthoko is lucky – she can read so will be able to find out about current affairs for herself. She wonders, for example, why the Zimbabwean people are not rising up en masse against Robert Mugabe. But there are many others who are not so fortunate, who are unable to read or write.

Travel conditions in rural South Africa

Royal Drakensberg Primary School

Which is why education is so important for South Africa’s next generation. In the eight years since we were last there, infrastructure has deteriorated. Roads in particular are most badly affected. If children are unable to get to school, or are unable to communicate with a teacher via the internet, using Skype for example, how on earth can they be educated? We spent some time with Megan Bedingham at The Cavern Resort. Megan and her family have set-up and built a school, The Royal Drakensberg Primary School, for local children. This local school means that the parents of little children no longer have to find the money to travel an hour by taxi to school. No money means no school for many children. The South African government provides no financial support for the school, so it must find funding for teachers and supplies from other sources. Parents are, however, expected to pay R400.00 (about £30.00) a month for each child at the school, and that is a huge sum of money for most of these parents whose main employment is at The Cavern Resort or the neighbouring hotels. The remainder of the school fee is generated by tireless fundraising.

A homemade school in South Africa

The problem for the education of girls is even more desperate. In this area of South Africa, Zulu tribal traditions are very strong, which means that boys are born with more advantages than girls. Girls are still growing up and working in domestic service. Of course, this will always happen, but it is said that the education of children is only as good as that of their mother. So, unless we can educate the mothers of tomorrow, children in South Africa will never rise above the basic level. I believe very strongly that there needs to be more focus and commitment on educating girls, empowering them through education, to healthier, happier lives as confident women in South Africa’s future.

The newly appointed health minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi has declared his aim of an HIV-free generation. The recent public awareness ads are hard hitting and make it clear that responsible sexual practice will be a major contributor to halting the spread of the infection. South Africa cannot afford the widespread use of anti-retroviral drugs forever.

While in South Africa, I listened to a debate on broad-based black economic empowerment, which the local people refer to as BBEE. Eighteen years after Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress came to power, this is still the main concern amongst young black South Africans. May is Africa month, a celebration of all things African. But everyone is wondering if this generation will enjoy true economic freedom and independence, that which previous generations have fought for.

African sunrise

Oprah Winfrey has started a girls’ school in Johannesburg to address just this issue. I have previously written about Thandulwazi, a maths and science academy in Johannesburg. And now, I’m asking you to consider the Northern Drakensberg Khanyisela project. Khanyisela means to enlighten. Thandulwazi is the love of knowledge. Two more projects inspiring brighter futures for South Africa and its children.


For a photo story board of our trip and experiences in South Africa, please pop over to Christmas Pie Crafts, where I am guest blogging today.


Photo credits

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What's been getting in the way of blogging this week?

It's been a strange couple of weeks, far too short to get everything done, including in the garden. And to top it all, this little fellow has been stalking me! 

It's Easter at The Gallery

Three months of the year gone already. Does it seem as though time goes faster the older we get? The Easter weekend just flew by with food, family and friends. I've updated my Restaurant reviews and locally sourced food page so you can read all about it. 

Waiting to go out

The Boxers are tired and happy. The Husband has been running and had loads of chocolate. We joined the Greensand Way 2012 fundraising run on Sunday - that was great fun too. What a glorious route around Hambledon - must take the Boxers for a walk there soon. 


I visited the fantastic farm project at Wild Croft Rare Breeds and learnt a little about pig and chicken keeping, and how special this meat is. We must get the chicken palace sorted now, so we can establish a small flock for eggs.


The plans for the house renovations are ongoing. The bathroom details have been finalised, just waiting for the total cost - hope I don't faint!

Rosie cat

I mentioned our lovely old rescue cat Rosie in a previous blog. I found this gorgeous photo of her - we had forgotten how pretty she was. We do miss her.


And just because I can, here are a couple of new photos of the 'boys' enjoying the fine weather.

My stickie!

I want that stickie!

And last, but by no means least, the delightful Jill at Christmas Pie Crafts has nominated this blog for a Versatile Blogger Award - so exciting! Thanks Jill. More on this (and my nominations) here.

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Did Tessie have her pills? by Jill Spain

Yeah, a lovely guest post by Jill Spain at Christmas Pie Crafts. Jill and I have been doing the blogswap thing - it's a lot of fun and I've met loads of new people. We'd both like to do more blogswaps, so please do get in touch. It doesn't have to be on dogs and cats; Jill is a crafty lady too. To read more of Jill's stories and see her beautiful handmade cards, please pop over to her blog and show your appreciation. Thanks, Jill, now over to you.

Thank you Lesley for inviting me to post on your blog – almost needless to say, my post is about my cats.

MAN AND MEDICINE (BETTER KNOWN HERE AS CATS AND PILLS!)

I grew up with cats, dogs, budgerigars and hamsters; Richard came from a cat-loving household and as we both loved cats we decided that when we lived somewhere secure and road-safe, we could have one.

We moved from a flat on a busy road in Carshalton to a house in a quiet road in Worcester Park.  Off we went to the RSPCA at Chobham to ‘buy’ a cat; for some reason I had it fixed in my mind that we would come home with a large ginger boy cat - what did we adopt?  A female tabby cat called Tessie, aged 18 months.  Apparently Tessie had been there for a long time, three months in fact, but when we saw her we fell in love with her immediately and couldn’t understand why she had not been snapped up immediately.

Although we had both grown up with cats, being ‘owners’ of one was a new experience for us and we were completely unprepared for the first week that we had Tessie!  Thank goodness we were on annual leave the week she moved in because the first few nights were pretty sleepless.  She howled, meowed and ran around the place like a mad thing – she was clearly very distressed and there was very little we could do for her.  Twice we thought she had got out!  Frist time we found her rolled and hidden in the bottom of floor-length curtains; second time was in a hi-fi unit – she had managed to get behind one of the numerous pieces of gadgetry that Richard had.

Not long after Tessie arrived, we took her to a vet for her second anti cat-flu jab.  When it was Tessie’s turn to go into the surgery, one of the assistants came out and called ‘Jessie Spain’!  Jessie!  How insulting, her name is Tessie.  Jab given and advice received that worming might be a good idea.  Once we had got Jessie, sorry Tessie, home, we nipped out to do some shopping and buy some worming tablets.  The guidance on the packaging said give to the cat one hour before their meal time.  Dedication thy name is Richard!  The next day Richard set the alarm clock for one-hour before Tessie’s normal feeding time – it hadn’t occurred to him that she could really wait for her meal and he could administer the tablet when he got up at his normal time.  Oh well, he learnt as the years went on.

The fun began.  He picked Tessie up and placed her against his shoulder.  Imagine the scene; cat clamped to shoulder in one hand, tablet in the other hand.  Let battle commence.  He spent about 20 minutes trying to get the tablet into Tessie’s mouth, keep her mouth closed, tickle her under the chin/throat to encourage her to swallow; he lost count of the number of times he retrieved the tablet from his shoulder, his face, her face, the floor.  Oh the joys of pet ownership!  Eventually the thought struck that as she was likely to be hungry, let’s crumble it up in her food – this worked, we think.  There is every possibility that all of the crumbs of the tablet were secreted in the inside of her mouth and when our backs were turned, she spat them out!

Tessie had a very long and happy life with us – she lived to be nearly 21 and as with all animals we were very, very sad when we lost her.  Today we have two cats: Jazz (many words have been written about him recently on my blog) and Daisy, a tiny, teeny tabby cat.  Daisy reminds us of Tessie in that she is very intelligent and not that keen on tablets!  The good news is that the flea treatment we have to give them now also includes worm treatment.  Thank goodness, because pill pushing is flippin’ hard work.

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A puppy saved my life – Brin’s story

This story first appeared as a guest post at Christmas Pie Crafts. Thank you to Jill for hosting my guest post. I look forward to hosting a guest post from Jill in the very near future. What a really good idea, and very friendly blogging.

  

We never thought it would happen to us. Growing up in Johannesburg, crime was all around us, but somehow we were much more aware of danger then. We moved to a village in Surrey. It all seemed idyllic, just what we had imagined, and longed for. A large garden, neighbours separated by woods, no street lighting. Surely no evil would be lurking here.

Leafy Surrey, no evil here

How wrong we were. Just three months after moving in, still unpacking, decorating and renovating, a burglar broke in to our home.  He forced a bathroom window and ransacked our property. Nothing was left untouched. And he stole just about everything of value, some items of great sentimental value. Our lovely old rescue cat, Rosie, never quite recovered from the fright of it, and we lost her a few months later.

The Police came and rattled off the statistics about burglary in Surrey. It wasn’t very reassuring but we withstood the assault and moved on with our lives. It wasn’t going to happen to us again. We beefed up window and door locks, fenced the garden and secured the garden gates. No alarm system, we said. We don’t need it.

Oh, but we did need it. Four months later, coming home from work early on a Friday afternoon, I saw a man at the front door, inside the front door, inside the house. Almost in slow motion I jumped out of the car, trying to get the key in the front door, while dialing 999 and shouting at the operator for the Police.

Luckily for me, the burglar escaped through the broken window at the back of the house. The Police dog arrived minutes later and gave chase, but never caught him. He took nothing with him, but had caused several thousands pounds of damage breaking into the house.

We had a terrible weekend. I suffered from flashbacks, thinking about what could have happened if he hadn’t run away. I had run into the road to shout for help, but no-one could hear me. There was no-one around.

We ordered an alarm system, with monitoring and a link to the Police. We paid a security company to be first call, so that I would never face a choice like that again.

Darling Brin

And we found our darling Boxer dog, Brin. My saviour. Brin has the most effervescent personality. He’s a real human dog, very sensitive. And he loves his walks. It was because of him that I started to leave the house again. He depended on me and I needed to be brave. Slowly, the terrible migraines lifted. The little panic attacks receded. I actually started to enjoy the walks, too. And Brin grew into my steady companion. He’s a big boy, so provides quite a presence to strangers, too.

I can honestly say that little puppy saved my life, gave me courage, and showed so much commitment to our relationship.

Five months later we brought Themba home. Themba means ‘hope’ in Zulu. You can read Themba's story here.

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